The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

so like i was at a gaming convention this weekend and i forget how the conversation started, but it ended with my friend saying "oh so you're a solar powered vampire. that has to hurt." or something like that. i thought it was hiliarious.

People absolutely disturb me these days on VR. I mean I post this huge thing on the Origins of Satan/Lucifer and people just ignore it. Well, keep your head in the sand and hopefully by some mircle, you will sufficate yourselves with your own ignorance. It would be better for the world to have less undesirable genetic material in the pool. I swear if I hear one more newbie go "HAIL SATAN" I am going to herd them right off the cliff with all the other hypocritcal sheep.

COMMENTS

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Sinora
20:49 Apr 24 2008

Ohhhh lmao

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THE BIBLE CODES



[See * for latest revision: April 3, 2003]



ARE BIBLE CODES REAL?



The idea is simple: If one takes every 7th letter or

every 10th letter or every 231st letter of the Hebrew text

of the Bible (generally meaning the traditional Masoretic

text used in most synagogues), these letters themselves

sometimes may spell out words, either in Hebrew or in Latin,

Greek or English or other languages. Frequently such words

can be found "clustered" in a "design" around a topic that

ties them all together, such as, for example, the murder

of JFK or the birth of Jesus.



The key to everything is the traditional "Masoretic"

Hebrew text. The Masorete story begins after the burning

of the Temple by the Romans. Rabbis took steps late in

the first century to preserve a true copy of their Bible.

Within a few decades a system for copying the text began

to emerge. This system was perfected by the 3rd century

by a scribal family known as "Masoretes." All of these

efforts were based upon an official Hebrew text rescued

from Jerusalem in 70 AD. That text had been officially

copied from the authoritative index scrolls kept at the

Temple since the days of Ezra, under whom the Scriptures

had finally been completed and canonized.



The only break in this history occurred during those

few years between Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabees,

less than a decade. During that time the sacred scroll

was identifiable by some "astrological" symbols written

on the outside. This text was rescued by the Maccabees

and actually carried into battle because it was deemed

so holy and sacred it was thought to have magical power

to defeat the Syrians. The man who carried it was later

made High Priest when the Maccabees restored the Temple

in the miraculous events commemorated by Hannukah. This

feast was honored and kept by Jesus [Jn 10:22].



* The system developed by the Masoretes is extremely

important to the debate over the codes. When any copy of

the text was made, it was virtually like a photo-copy.

Each page was identical to the one being copied: Every

line was identical, beginning and ending with the same

words as the original. And to make sure that no errors

could slip by, there were "test letters" in each line of

text. These were to be counted off so that a particular

letter had to be, for example, the 17th letter from the

left of a given line and, say, 21st from the right end

of that line. Each line had to have a certain number of

letters. There were test letters for each line. Every

page had to have a certain number of lines.



What all this produced was a text that was so uniform

from one copy to the next that any errors would not make

a major change in the over-all distance from the correct

parts of the text to other correct passages. There were

exactly the same number of letters between these correct

portions of the text, even though a letter might be off

here and there.



* Now it should be obvious that even though some errors

might be in the text, they would have relatively little

effect on the distances between letters on average. And

equally important, if more than three errors were found

in a scroll, it was considered unacceptable for use in a

synogogue.



Thus, the likely effect of an error in the Masoretic

copies would be to eliminate a code that might already

be there, by changing a single letter that would have

been needed to form one Bible Code word. Far less likely

would be an error that created a fake Bible Code word.



To generate Bible Codes by such errors, one would be

required to have such a massive number of miscopied and

faulty words that the Hebrew text would be reduced to an

incomprehensible string of gibberish. The reason Bible

Codes could only be generated by massive errors of this

kind is that genuine codes contain several long words in

a contiguous matrix or design that is statistically not

reproducible by chance. To have such a complex set of

"hits" result requires a large number of errors placed

in the text at just the right intervals. To generate a

hundred or more such codes (and the Bible Codes are way

beyond that total) would so pepper the Hebrew text with

errors that it would become unreadable. This is because

the codes only sample a tiny portion of the text at any

given time. To create even a few codes, the number of

errors needed would be enormous.



Jewish statisticians have verified that some codes do

in fact exist in the text at levels above chance. The

fact of such encoding cannot be refuted by reference to

errors in the Masoretic text. The number of errors we

need to find to destroy the statistical validity of the

codes would be larger than any Masoretic variations we

have found in any copies of that version of the text.

Indeed, it could be argued that the number of errors

needed would be so great that the resulting text would

frequently be impossible to read at all.



THE CRITICS CHIEF ARGUMENT



One of the main issues about Bible Codes is the claim

that they are based upon the complete reliability of the

Hebrew text, which the critics dispute. Their claim is

that the Hebrew Bible exists in "thousands" of different

versions. It would take only a few variations in a text

to destroy the code patterns, they claim (in spite of

the undeniable evidence just cited to the contrary).



To support their contention, they cite all the various

Dead Sea Scroll versions of the Bible, and several kinds

of text related to the Septuagint Greek translation. The

critics also cite a medieval version similar to the basic

Masoretic text synagogues use, but which has a number of

different readings. Moreover, variant wordings are found

in certain references in the Talmud and other rabbinical

commentaries. In addition, one can infer alternate text

readings from some Bible quotations in the New Testament.



Is all this a serious problem for the codes?



Hardly. First, there are NOT "thousands" of different

versions of the Hebrew Bible with a historic basis for any

ancient heritage. Not one document among all the Biblical

manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls can be traced

back historically to a known authoritative source. No one

really knows where these fragmentary and often impossible-

to-read manuscripts came from. One theory is that they are

the "library" of a heretical Jewish sect of Essenes. This

would certainly not be an official Jewish Temple source,

and therefore, it could not be traced to any authoritative

origin. We simply do not have a sufficient history of the

Essenes to provide such documentation for any text these

people might theoretically have used. Tracing texts to

the Essenes is tracing texts to a people whose historical

link to the official Biblical text of the Temple cannot be

verified at all.



If anything, these heretical Essene communities are not

to be trusted to have an accurate text tradition. The very

fact that the Dead Sea texts do have so many variations is

absolute proof that these texts did not represent such an

official and authoritative canon. If these Dead Sea texts

were the work of the Essenes, that may be one reason they

had been rejected by the Temple authorities: The Essenes

were not sticking to the official ancient text used by the

priests.



But there is another possibility about where these Dead

Sea texts came from. Before the Essene theory arose, one

leading explanation was that the caves were a "genizeh,"

or sacred permanent storage site for Scriptures and texts

that contained mentions of "YHWH"--the sacred name of God.

The rule is that such a text cannot be burned or discarded,

but must be preserved in a special sacred storage place.



The genizeh problem for the Bible Code critics is a

major one: One of the uses for such storage areas was for

the disposal of faulty copies of the Bible, produced

by a novice scribe learning his craft. In other words, it

is possible some of the differences in the texts cited by

the critcs are merely scribal errors deliberately discarded

in the Dead Sea caves because they did not meet the high

standards of the Masoretic version.



* In a debate on the Art Bell show, the argument was put

forth that the Dead Sea texts are "older" and, therefore,

more likely to be "closer to their original composition."

But the Dead Sea texts, being in conflict with each other

and from an unknown source or sources, cannot be put in

the same category as the far better documented history of

the Masoretic text.



* It was also stated that the Dead Sea texts had inserted

standard Hebrew letters for "vowels"--whereas these aren't

found in the Masoretic texts, which uses a system of dots

and dashes to indicate vowels. The critic of the codes,

Michael Heiser, insisted that "Medieval rabbis had removed

these Hebrew letters and replaced them with vowel-points."



* Heiser, of course, has no proof for this claim. It is

in fact, quite unlikely to be true. The assertion that it

was Medieval rabbis--as opposed to the original Masoretic

scribes not long after the destruction of the Temple, that

is, around the 2nd century--who invented vowel-pointing is

most doubtful, and is not the accepted scholarly view.



* Moreover, the vowel-points are an extremely cumbersome

apparatus, subject to error, and it would be surpassingly

strange for the offical Masoretic scribes to have adopted

this system, IF THE TRUE TEXT ALREADY HAD REGULAR HEBREW

LETTERS IN USE FOR VOWELS. Given the extreme effort these

scribes employed to preserve the accuracy of their text,

it would have been out of character for these men to have

arbitrarily discarded supposedly genuine Hebrew 'vowels'

in a true text in order to use error-prone vowel-points.



* The Masoretes would have been horrified by any attempt

to discard Hebrew letters from the text in this manner.



* Heiser's proposed historic scenario makes no sense out

of the evidence at hand. The Masoretes would never have

participated in such a wholesale corruption of the text.

And there is no rational reason for them to have done so,

quite the contrary. They did everything they could think

of to preserve the text, as we have shown.



* It should be obvious that the extra "vowel-letters" in

the Dead Sea versions were added to help non-scribes who

wished to read the scrolls. And who were these non-scribe

readers? Probably ordinary Jewish men in the synagogues.

The text Heiser cited was Isaiah, and that was the very

scroll Jesus stood up to read in the Nazareth synagogue.



* These synagogue scrolls may well have had extra letters

added to make them easier for laymen to read, much as we

use transliterations of Hebrew and Greek words today.



* So Heiser's "original" scrolls were not original at all,

but were almost certainly the tranliterated versions with

extra added Hebrew letters to simplify reading by laymen

in synagogues, discarded in the caves (ie, a genizeh).



As for the Septuagint text, ALL ancient sources are in

unanimous agreement that this translation was done under

the command of the pagan gentile king Ptolemy II of Egypt.

It is hardly to be expected that a translation done for the

gentiles would be perfectly accurate. Indeed, rabbis down

to this day consider this translation one of the greatest

tragedies ever to befall the Jewish people. In fact,

according to Jerome, in his introduction to his translation

of Ezekiel, it was forbidden for some parts of the Bible

to be discussed with any person outside of strict rabbinical

control. The Septuagint, in fact, was officially condemned

as faulty and inaccurate--as a bad translation, in other

words--by Jewish authorities in the second century.



It is offensive to believing Jewish people to place this

faulty Septuagint text on a par with the Masoretic version.

They would never take seriously this argument by the critics.



Inferring Hebrew texts from translated commentaries, or

other such secondary sources like the Talmud, is a really

risky venture. It has little value for establishing any

kind of authoritative text because one can never be sure

whether the writer is paraphrasing or what their sources

were, or how accurately the transmission has been.



Finally, there's a Hebrew manuscript that is supposedly

based upon the Masoretic version, but has several textual

differences. The problem with this copy is that there is

no historical link that carries its heritage back to known

schools of Masoretic copyists. It floats in a historical

vacuum, unconnected to the official Masoretic tradition.



In sum, there are simply no real serious competitors

to the traditional Masoretic text, which is the only text

being used by the Bible Code researchers.



BY THE NUMBERS



The other critical issue is calculating whether codes

are appearing by chance, or at a rate so far beyond chance

that some intelligent Source must be considered. Only if

the latter is true in the specific code being cited can it

be considered a genuine Bible Code, that is, an inpired

one. Proving that there is a general validity to these

codes is NOT proof that ALL codes one might "find" were

put there by God (as we shall demonstrate below).



Statisticians are currently debating this issue based

upon pre-set standards. They decide to look for a certain

kind of information and then calculate the odds of finding

it. Then they see how often it appears in codes or they

try to measure how "tight" the cluster of words is.



Unfortunately, what these code studies are not looking

at is the ability of the designs to introduce novel words

and phrases into a topic: Unexpected elements that no one

anticipated or knew might be connected, but which prove to

be extremely relevant. An example would be a code about

the JFK murder in Dallas that includes a name that no one

had heard about, but which later emerges as someone quite

important to the crime.



Some code-hunters have started using two-letter codes

that supposedly represent "UN" or "US" or "NY" or "LA" or

other such abbreviations. Yet many of these do not match

the Hebrew letters used for them. But worse, there is NO

STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE in two-letter codes: ANY code of

two letters (or two digit numbers) will be present in ANY

HEBREW TEXT (or Greek, for that matter, Biblical or not),

if the entire Hebrew alphabet is present in the sample.



EVERY SUCH 2-LETTER CODE IS A FAKE. Those who use them

either do not know anything about statistics or are lying

about their expertise or motives in presenting such fake

codes as genuine.



Not one two-letter code is a true Bible code, for all

such two-letter combinations can be found in every text,

even modern Jewish newspapers! They have no statistical

value whatsoever. In fact, you can find every single one

of the Postal Service's two-letter state-codes in every

English text that has all 26 letters of our alphabet. If

you doubt this, simply glance down at your computer and

look at the keyboard.



Three-letter codes are borderline: It is about even

odds that many such codes will appear in a sample, if a

three-letter word uses common Hebrew letters. Many new

codes now appearing on the internet are mostly two- and

three-letter codes of no statistical significance. This

was the case with the notorious "Y2K" codes some people

claimed to find back in 1999.



Genuine codes have words of at least four letters, and

these are usually inter-connected in designs and patterns

that form pictures or graphics. Typical fake codes make

a pretense at forming a "cluster," but rarely show words

intersecting each other in a meaningful way. Most of the

words in fake codes are scattered around the page in very

random ways.



Fake codes often have a pre-set political or relgious

agenda. The fake code "hunter" uses a computer to "find"

things they were looking for all along. In real codes,

there is usually a surprise factor.



True code-hunters find words and phrases that appear

strange or out-of-place. Only after independent analysis

do they discover the unexpected words and phrases are not

only relevant, but often absolutely essential to the full

meaning of the design. The "GREEN MAN" codes found by

researcher Tom Mack are an example of this phenomenon.

Tom had assumed they were about Al Gore. But as you will

see, the real topic was far more important.



Before we investigate the "GREEN MAN" codes, we need

to see the reverse side of the coin: A code that is not

really there. Some people are "finding" codes where none

exist. But others find legitimate codes and try to make

them say more than they ought to. An example of this

latter problem is the "CHRISTMAS" code, where overzealous

researchers jumped to a totally unfounded conclusion:



THE "CHRISTMAS" CODE



Taking advantage of the Christmas season, a Bible Code

critic turned code magazine publisher, sent an internet

press release out which claimed that the term "CHRISTMAS"

had been found in a favorable usage in a set of Bible Code

references to the birth of Jesus.



Since Jesus was not born at any time near the Christmas

season, but in early September (as we discussed in a large

article elsewhere on this website), we naturally wanted to

see this use of the word "CHRISTMAS" in a Bible Code.



However, when we examined the claimed text in detail, we

discovered that the supposed use of "CHRISTMAS" was totally

absent from the code in question. The word does not appear

in the code at all. The pattern does refer to aspects of

the birth of Jesus, but the word "CHRISTMAS" is not in it.



"CHRISTMAS," or December 25th, is actually the birthday

of Horus and Osiris, hence of Cain, whom we have identified

as Lucifer, the spawn of Satan. It is hardly likely that a

Bible Code would honor this pagan day in any way. We know

that many are already using this false Bible Code claim to

argue for the celebration of Lucifer's birthday as if it is

a day honoring Christ.



The creators of this "Christmas Code" claim are profiting

off their "discovery" by selling subscriptions to their code

magazine. We consider this claim highly suspect, and quite

unjustified. Although other related codes do appear linked

to the birth of Jesus in this pattern, the use of the word

"CHRISTMAS" is definitely NOT endorsed or promoted by this

or any other Bible Code we know of. For those desiring to

decipher it themselves, here is the claimed "CHISTMAS" code:



"Sh-Y-L-W--L-A-M-Ch--G-H-M--W-L-D"



This might mean, "Shiloh for a mother, cures even Lud."

Their rendering is, "CHRISTMAS is a gift to him and to her."

The "Shiloh for a mother" is about as close to a Nativity as

we could translate it, but it hardly justifies the use of a

word like "CHRISTMAS" in their rendering. Presumably there

is some explanation for their version hidden away in their

magazine, but we see no reason to pay for further insights

of this kind.



THE CAIN CODES



At a completely different web-site, unconnected to the

above "CHISTMAS" code claim, another researcher has found

something of far more significant value.



Newly-discovered Bible Codes about "The Green Man" are

being attributed to "Al Gore" as an "Environmentalist."

But we believe these codes are about Osiris (ie Cain) and

are an extraordinarily important new finding.



Tom Mack, the researcher who discovered these really

fascinating "Green Man" codes, has seen them as referring

to current political matters involving Al Gore (who may

have dropped out of sight entirely by the time you read

this article). While Gore endorses the "Green" philosphy

and this does vaguely link back to the ancient belief in

"The Green Man," the connection is very weak. In ancient

times, the "Green Man" was the "Corn King" or the "god"

of AGRICULTURE...and he was not really an evironmentalist

at all. In fact, Genesis says he spread environmental

devastation--perhaps by soil-depleting farming methods.



One of the problems in the whole Bible Codes business

is the SUBJECTIVITY of how the various Hebrew letters are

interpreted. Tom seems to have gotten caught up in all the

year 2000 election excitement and was looking for insights

into Al Gore. We're glad he was, because he accidentally

uncovered something far more interesting.



For example, take the Hebrew letters "Aleph-Lamed-Gimel

-Yodh-Resh" ("A-L-G-I-R"). Are they spelling "Al Gore" or

"El Giyr"? The former is merely an American politician who

had been popular for a while. But if "Al Gore" were meant,

then why use a "yodh" where an "ayin"["o"] would have been

expected? Should it not read "A-L-G-O-R"?



Yet the actual wording found in the text--"El Giyr"--

can mean "STRANGE GOD" or "BURNED TO LIME." These are far

more likely meanings, are spelled correctly, and fit the

overall sense of the codes Tom found in this passage:



"THE GREEN MAN" (literally "GREEN REDMAN"=Santa Claus!)

"TO BE DESTROYED"

"BURNED TO LIME" (or "STRANGE GOD")

"KNIGHT" (ie in a text referring to an 'archer')

"TERROR"

"RENAGADE" (the text specifies a 'looter')

"INTELLIGENCE" (as in mind-reading)

"EVIL"

"SUBMERGE" (in tears, as Haggar does in the passage)



Just who is this "Green Man"? Code researcher Tom Mack

has found several other related codes. One of them also

speaks of "the Green Man" and links him to:



"CAIN" ('QIN'--the correct Hebrew spelling of 'Cain')

"H'YLL" (translated "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14)

"FAMILIAR SPIRIT"

"CURSED"

"USED ENCHANTMENTS"

"TO BE DESTROYED"

"BEAST" (or "LION")

"Used WITCHcraft" (a WITCH)

"TERROR"

"ISLAM" ('submission' in Arabic)



We have long argued that Cain is Lucifer, the son of

Satan, and that he is also Osiris, well-known as 'god'

of agriculture in ancient Egypt, whose face was often

painted green in hieroglyphs. This "GREEN GOD" and the

related gods of Bacchus, Dionysus, Pan, Hearne, and so

on, were extremely famous and widely-beloved 'deities'

of the harvest like the GREEN CORN KING. As recently as

the Middle Ages, he is found in tales of a GREEN KNIGHT.

British pubs and inns have been named after him. Much

of Sir George Frazier's THE GOLDEN BOUGH is devoted to

the myths, legends, and customs of this "GREEN MAN."



The GREEN CORN KING and his GREEN WITCH QUEEN were

remembered in rituals in August, the month of the corn

harvest that pagans began by celebrating the feast of

"Lug Nasa" or "Lucifer the Prince." It is also LEO's

month, the DOG days of Sirius (the star of Isis rising)

and the last hot solar month of the year before autumn.



So the feasts of THE GREEN MAN are directly related

to LEO, the LION, and to LUCIFER, the PRINCE.



Moreover, we have also identifed LUCIFER as CAIN who

becomes the BEAST of Revelation who will revive and be

destroyed in the End. [See our articles on LILITH and

THE JAWS OF DEATH, where we link Lucifer to Cain.]



Tom Mack's third "GREEN MAN" code has these words in

its design:



"H'YLL" (="LUCIFER")

"ISLAM" ('submission')

"PRINCE"

"BAAL"

"MLK" ("ANGEL" or "KING")

"Used WITCHcraft" (ie a WITCH)

"LION" (or "BEAST")

"THE GREEN MAN" (literally "GREEN REDMAN")

"CURSED"



Tom has stumbled upon a breathtaking set of codes

about the famous GREEN MAN of the ancients, the one

who taught the world agriculture. It was not Adam,

but Cain who did this, traveling the world as he who

was condemned to be a WANDERER, the original "Johnny

Appleseed" of myth, planting his "seed" wherever he

went. Called by many names in the lands he "saved"

with his agricultural technology, Cain became a hero

to the pre-flood world. Every culture recalls him.

His color was GREEN, not only for the GRAIN he grew,

but because he was also the lord of the DEAD, having

been the first to kill a man.



Tom Mack found "EL GIYR" lurking in yet another

code. Here are the designs he found this time:



"LION"

"BEAST"

"EDOM" (where CAIN was born and still haunts)

"BABEL" (the first land to which CAIN fled)

"INDIA" (from which OSIRIS/CAIN came to Egypt)

"SYRIA" (ASIR-ia linked to OSIRIS/"ASAR"=CAIN)

"SATYR" (LILITH'S mate in EDOM: Is 34:14 =CAIN)



CAIN is the one person who ties all these codes

together. Son of Satan, the raging LION, CAIN is

also the SATYR GOAT, brother-mate of LILITH. They

are now haunting EDOM, Isaiah says. OSIRIS was said

to have come with ISIS/LILITH into Egypt out of the

land of INDIA, HIN'DI, H'NoD-ia, or The Land of NOD,

which were both geographically defined as all lands

east of the Great Rift Valley and the Jordan River.



The legends of CAIN say that when he turned back

and went WEST, past EDEN, into Egypt, he and his wife

LILITH/ISIS found the Nile Valley suffering famine,

consumed with cannibalism. He taught them to farm,

then went on a world tour to establish a legacy for

himself, hoping to change his "image" from that of a

wandering killer to that of agricultural savior. He

would no more be seen as a CURSED BEAST, but as THE

GREEN CORN KING.



When he returned to Egypt, he was cut in pieces

with the sword of Seth, his half-brother, out on a

mission to avenge Abel, whose heir he was. But ISIS

used witchcraft and enchantments to revive OSIRIS=

CAIN, in the body of her cloned son HORUS, born on

December 25th, the traditions claim.



CAIN/OSIRIS was founder of the first of the seven

heads of the BEAST: Egypt. This head received a mortal

wound by sword, yet was healed by Thoth/Raphael under

ISIS's control. He was the founder of the BEAST, yet

he is not now "alive," although he is preserved so he

can be revived, by the magical arts of Egypt. A twin

of CAIN, an Image of the BEAST, can be cloned again,

as with HORUS, and his spirit, which still haunts the

stones of EDOM, can take possession of this new body.



The whole world would wonder at the BEAST CAIN, his

angelic, glowing face and Satanic horns, as he returns

to rule the earth again, and to inherit the throne of

his father RA, that is, Satan, the angel of MARS...



THE MARS CODE...



Now that we have seen examples of a misconstrued

code and one that contains far more than initially

realized, it is time to look at a code that has both

factors at work: The "MARS" code.



To see the full code, go to pages 154 and 155 of

"THE BIBLE CODE" by Michael Drosnin, the book that

popularized the subject back in 1997.



At first glance, Drosnin has found three separate

codes about three separate "comets" that he thinks are

going to hit the earth in 2006, 2010 and 2012. But as

you examine the three designs Drosnin presents, notice

the Hebrew words in them: They are all the same text!



Moreover, the word he translates as "comet" appears

but once in this design. What makes it three events,

or so he assumes, are the three dates.



Now here's the curious part. Right in the center of

the design, in the midst of the dates, is a seemingly

"out-of-place"--but unmistakeable--name: "M-A-R-S."



What is more scary is that the word "MARS" is crossed

by another unmistakaeable term: "H-E-R-Tz" which is the

standard Hebrew spelling for "THE EARTH."



Drosnin has not even noticed this intersection between

MARS and THE EARTH right in the midst of his design about

the years 2006, 2010, and 2012, even though "MARS" and

"THE EARTH" are both but one letter from the date 2012.

Drosnin has a "collision" between two planets staring him

in the face and does not notice either word!



What makes this all the more strange is that Drosnin

does find a confusing phrase he struggles to explain, but

includes anyway:



"IT WILL BE CRUMBLED, DRIVEN OUT; I WILL TEAR IT TO

PIECES!" This is found touching the date 2012.



Now consider this: The "skip" pattern for the letters

in "THE EARTH" matches this phrase exactly, while the skip

rate for "MARS" matches Drosnin's "COMET" exactly.



The implication is that "THE EARTH" will tear "MARS"

to pieces, but that the "COMET" will "CRUMBLE" (FRACTURE?)

Mars and "DRIVE IT OUT" of orbit into the Earth's path,

where Mars will finally be destroyed when it is pulled

apart by the Earth's gravity.



One detail that sounds familiar: When "THE EARTH" is

crossed by "MARS" in this design, Mars 'cuts off' exactly

a third of "EARTH"... The Book of REVELATION, chapter 8,

describes an encounter with cosmic upheaval that shortens

the days by one-third.



Crunched into that one-letter "gap" between the "MARS"

and "THE EARTH" designs and the date "2012" is the word:

"Y'KOB" ("JACOB"): The time of "Jacob's Trouble."



Michael Drosnin may have found one of the most amazing

of all Bible codes, but he overlooked the most astonishing

part of it: An immanent near-collision between the Earth

and the planet Mars that will destroy the Red Planet.



Only time will tell if this code is valid, but what is

unsettling is that it fits so well into Bible prophecies

about the beginning of the Tribulation.



http://petragrail.tripod.com/codes.html

The word "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14:12 presents a minor problem to mainstream Christianity. It becomes a much larger problem to Bible literalists, and becomes a huge obstacle for the claims of Mormonism. John J. Robinson in A Pilgrim's Path, pp. 47-48 explains:



"Lucifer makes his appearance in the fourteenth chapter of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, at the twelfth verse, and nowhere else: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"

The first problem is that Lucifer is a Latin name. So how did it find its way into a Hebrew manuscript, written before there was a Roman language? To find the answer, I consulted a scholar at the library of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. What Hebrew name, I asked, was Satan given in this chapter of Isaiah, which describes the angel who fell to become the ruler of hell?



The answer was a surprise. In the original Hebrew text, the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah is not about a fallen angel, but about a fallen Babylonian king, who during his lifetime had persecuted the children of Israel. It contains no mention of Satan, either by name or reference. The Hebrew scholar could only speculate that some early Christian scribes, writing in the Latin tongue used by the Church, had decided for themselves that they wanted the story to be about a fallen angel, a creature not even mentioned in the original Hebrew text, and to whom they gave the name "Lucifer."



Why Lucifer? In Roman astronomy, Lucifer was the name given to the morning star (the star we now know by another Roman name, Venus). The morning star appears in the heavens just before dawn, heralding the rising sun. The name derives from the Latin term lucem ferre, bringer, or bearer, of light." In the Hebrew text the expression used to describe the Babylonian king before his death is Helal, son of Shahar, which can best be translated as "Day star, son of the Dawn." The name evokes the golden glitter of a proud king's dress and court (much as his personal splendor earned for King Louis XIV of France the appellation, "The Sun King").



The scholars authorized by ... King James I to translate the Bible into current English did not use the original Hebrew texts, but used versions translated ... largely by St. Jerome in the fourth century. Jerome had mistranslated the Hebraic metaphor, "Day star, son of the Dawn," as "Lucifer," and over the centuries a metamorphosis took place. Lucifer the morning star became a disobedient angel, cast out of heaven to rule eternally in hell. Theologians, writers, and poets interwove the myth with the doctrine of the Fall, and in Christian tradition Lucifer is now the same as Satan, the Devil, and --- ironically --- the Prince of Darkness.



So "Lucifer" is nothing more than an ancient Latin name for the morning star, the bringer of light. That can be confusing for Christians who identify Christ himself as the morning star, a term used as a central theme in many Christian sermons. Jesus refers to himself as the morning star in Revelation 22:16: "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."



And so there are those who do not read beyond the King James version of the Bible, who say 'Lucifer is Satan: so says the Word of God'...."



Henry Neufeld (a Christian who comments on Biblical sticky issues) went on to say,

"this passage is often related to Satan, and a similar thought is expressed in Luke 10:18 by Jesus, that was not its first meaning. It's primary meaning is given in Isaiah 14:4 which says that when Israel is restored they will "take up this taunt against the king of Babylon . . ." Verse 12 is a part of this taunt song. This passage refers first to the fall of that earthly king...

How does the confusion in translating this verse arise? The Hebrew of this passage reads: "heleyl, ben shachar" which can be literally translated "shining one, son of dawn." This phrase means, again literally, the planet Venus when it appears as a morning star. In the Septuagint, a 3rd century BC translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it is translated as "heosphoros" which also means Venus as a morning star.



How did the translation "lucifer" arise? This word comes from Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Was Jerome in error? Not at all. In Latin at the time, "lucifer" actually meant Venus as a morning star. Isaiah is using this metaphor for a bright light, though not the greatest light to illustrate the apparent power of the Babylonian king which then faded."



Therefore, Lucifer wasn't equated with Satan until after Jerome. Jerome wasn't in error. Later Christians (and Mormons) were in equating "Lucifer" with "Satan".

So why is this a problem to Christians? Christians now generally believe that Satan (or the Devil or Lucifer who they equate with Satan) is a being who has always existed (or who was created at or near the "beginning"). Therefore, they also think that the 'prophets' of the Old Testament believed in this creature. The Isaiah scripture is used as proof (and has been used as such for hundreds of years now). As Elaine Pagels explains though, the concept of Satan has evolved over the years and the early Bible writers didn't believe in or teach such a doctrine.



The irony for those who believe that "Lucifer" refers to Satan is that the same title ('morning star' or 'light-bearer') is used to refer to Jesus, in 2 Peter 1:19, where the Greek text has exactly the same term: 'phos-phoros' 'light-bearer.' This is also the term used for Jesus in Revelation 22:16.



So why is Lucifer a far bigger problem to Mormons? Mormons claim that an ancient record (the Book of Mormon) was written beginning in about 600 BC, and the author in 600 BC supposedly copied Isaiah in Isaiah's original words. When Joseph Smith pretended to translate the supposed 'ancient record', he included the Lucifer verse in the Book of Mormon. Obviously he wasn't copying what Isaiah actually wrote. He was copying the King James Version of the Bible. Another book of LDS scripture, the Doctrine & Covenants, furthers this problem in 76:26 when it affirms the false Christian doctrine that "Lucifer" means Satan. This incorrect doctrine also spread into a third set of Mormon scriptures, the Pearl of Great Price, which describes a war in heaven based, in part, on Joseph Smith's incorrect interpretation of the word "Lucifer" which only appears in Isaiah.



A Mormon apologist responds.







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The author of The Polytheism Of The Bible And The Mystery Of Lucifer, F.T. DeAngelis, comments on this page as follows



"It seems minor, but - the actual term used in the Greek Septuagint version of Isaiah 14:12 (given that there is no ONE way of accurately transliterating) is Eo(u)s phoros, morning star/DAWN god of light. Eos or Eous phoros [not Heos (as your website claims) or phos phorus (as a Christian website I visited shows)] - although there is a Greek term and English... phosphoro(u)s. Your [site] is pretty accurate.

The actual name, "Lucifer," goes back to the Greeks, before the Romans. Socrates and Plato talk about this "god of light"; surprisingly, not in the context of Eos (god of Dawn), but -- as a morning star -- juxtaposed with the sun (Helios) and Hermes. This information can be found in Plato's Timaeus (38e) and in Edith Hamilton's Mythology."





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On a lighter note, Arthur Clarke, in his fictional book 2061 correctly uses the word "Lucifer". He uses it as a name for a new sun in the solar system which is correct since the new sun is a second 'morning star' of 'original' 'light-bearing' substance--not some evil being of religious mythology.



David Grinspoon comments on the historical aspects of the word as follows: "The origin of the Judeo-Christian Devil as an angel fallen from heaven into the depths of hell is mirrored in the descent of Venus from shining morning star to the darkness below. This underworld demon, still feared today by people in many parts of the world, is also called Lucifer, which was originally a Latin name for Venus as a morning star." (Venus Revealed p. 17) Actually, Grinspoon should just refer to the "Christian Devil" since the Jews never believed in such a creature and still don't to this day.

Personality Scores for



ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



44 N 18 41 96 W 47 53 Tropical Placidus

Standard time observed GMT: 15:10:00

Time Zone: 6 hours West



Planet Positions:

Sun 11 Ari 32 Pluto 15 Lib 26

Moon 24 Cap 44 N. Node 5 Lib 53

Mercury 26 Ari 08 Asc. 15 Gem 37

Venus 28 Ari 27 MC 17 Aqu 53

Mars 27 Can 05 2nd cusp 6 Can 20

Jupiter 28 Gem 38 3rd cusp 25 Can 41

Saturn 24 Leo 09 5th cusp 17 Vir 46

Uranus 15 Sco 42 6th cusp 0 Sco 03

Neptune 18 Sag 17



Given below are your scores in 25 different categories. The titles of the categories are self-explanatory. For example, if your score for category 1 is high, then you have excellent aptitude for any area that requires mental concentration, attention to technical details, logic, or research.



Note that your aptitude is also influenced by your upbringing, your habits and lifestyle. For example, training in mathematics, logic, scientific research, or other area that requires careful reasoning will improve the capability of

anyone to analyze and solve problems in a logical way.



By developing and utilizing your strengths in your career and the activities that make up the greater part of your life, and also by improving your weak points to a point of being reasonable and functional, you can improve your chances

of living a fulfilling, meaningful, and rewarding life.



A score above 150 is very high.

A score from 125 to 150 is above average.

A score of around 100 (75 to 125) is average.

A score from 50 to 75 is below average.

A score below 50 is very low.







Category Totals



1. Logic, technical detail, mental concentration, research: 188



2. Philosophy, politics, education, religion: 38



3. Psychology, anthropology, humanities, literature: 228



4. Poetry, fantasy, fiction: 71



5. Originality and inventiveness: 117



6. Argumentativeness and aggressive in speech. Decisive

and impatient 294



7. Romantic. Need for a mate. Inclination to fall deeply

in love: 147



8. Sexual excitability: 105



9. Nurturing, family-oriented, domestic, devotional,

supportive: 92



10. Emotional reserve and aloofness. Personal detachment,

seriousness: 152



11. Child-like exuberance, lightness of mood, and sense

of humor: 76



12. Impatience, tendency to anger. Fiesty, headstrong,

aggressive: 89



13. Diligent, patient effort. Ability to successfully

finish tasks: 86



14. Dynamic energy, zeal, bursts of energy and effort.

Love of excitement and thrills. Action-oriented: 69



15. Sacrificing, passive, non-aggressive,

non-competitive, cooperative, perhaps evasive: 47



16. Loyalty to friends, family, spouse. Intensity of bonding: 132



17. Gregarious, convivial, warm, friendly, outgoing,

talkative, need to socialize: 93



18. Need for solitude, quiet, retreat: 98



19. Need to be part of an organization, company, or

club. Contributor to group effort: 113



20. Need to receive recognition, attention, status,

encouragement. Drive to stand out or be a leader: 49



21. Independent. Difficulty following orders and

regulations. Loner. Follows own instincts: 174



22. Stubborn, inflexible, tenacious. Dislikes changes

in routine. Regular and predictable. Specialist: 60



23. Flexible and adaptable. Need for variety. Tendency

to be indecisive. Eclectic: 144



24. Expansive. Need to travel and explore. Love of adventure: 49



25. Sense of duty and obligation. Conscience and guilt: 81

The Cosmo Natal Report for



ME!!!!!!







Calculated for:

Time Zone 6 hours West

Latitude: 44 N 18 41

Longitude: 96 W 47 53





Positions of Planets at Birth:

Sun position is 11 deg. 32 min. of Aries

Moon position is 24 deg. 44 min. of Capricorn

Mercury position is 26 deg. 08 min. of Aries

Venus position is 28 deg. 27 min. of Aries

Mars position is 27 deg. 05 min. of Cancer

Jupiter position is 28 deg. 38 min. of Gemini

Saturn position is 24 deg. 09 min. of Leo

Uranus position is 15 deg. 42 min. of Scorpio

Neptune position is 18 deg. 17 min. of Sagittarius

Pluto position is 15 deg. 26 min. of Libra

Asc. position is 15 deg. 37 min. of Gemini





Chapter 1: How You Approach Life and How You Appear To Others



Gemini Rising:



You are always questioning and learning, and you seem young and alive no matter what your chronological age, for your mind is always alert, curious, flexible and open to new experiences. You have a childlike enthusiasm for anything

new and you learn easily, but you also get bored rather quickly. You can be something of a scatterbrain, for you tend to have so many ideas and irons in the fire that it is hard to keep track of them all. You need and crave variety, change, mental stimulation, and an active social life.



Articulate, clever, often funny and witty, you are always a refreshing and interesting conversationalist. You enjoy meeting and interacting with a variety of different people. You are friendly, flirtatious, and charming in a light, playful way, and no matter how badly you may be feeling, you never appear heavy or somber. You may seem frivolous to other, more serious souls. You have a sense of humor and a sense of perspective that prevents you from taking

yourself or life too seriously. In fact, you may seem flippant or unconcerned about matters that others consider very important.



In general, you respond to life mentally and objectively rather than emotionally, and you may not empathize with people very much. You do not like to be weighed down with too much responsibility or with others' emotional

burdens. Furthermore, if you cannot UNDERSTAND something reasonably and logically, then very often you would prefer to ignore it, including your own and other people's irrational feelings, desires, and needs.



Consistency and reliability are not great virtues of yours and your life is apt to be full of changes and movement due to your restlessness. You become nervous and fidgety if things are not moving quickly enough. You are interested in what is current and up-to-date, the newest trends in thought or style.



Your gifts are a quick mind, verbal facility, a flair for language, social sophistication and polish, the ability to communicate, converse, and build bridges between people and between ideas. You tend to become an incessant

chatterbox or gossip if you do not have work or other involvements that utilize your mental, verbal, and social skills.





Chapter 2: The Inner You: Your Real Motivation



Sun in Aries:



You are a person who thrives on challenge, and you often feel that you must battle your way through life, depending upon no one and nothing but your own strength, intelligence, and courage. You believe in being totally

honest, true to oneself and one's own vision and convictions, even if that means standing alone. Honesty, integrity, personal honor, and authenticity are your gods, and you have no sympathy for weakness of character in others.



You crave the freedom to do things in your own way, and you work very well independently. Cooperating with others or carrying out another's will is not your style. You like to be the chief - or to go it alone.



You love action and if others are settling down into a nice, comfortable little rut, then you are always ready to stir things up, do something new, make changes, bring in some fresh blood. Routine and sameness are like death to you.

You are not afraid of trying something that's never been done before, and even though you may be seen as a fool sometimes, you also discover, invent, and initiate things that others will later emulate. Taking risks and following your own star are the breath of life for you, and you wilt (or get very frustrated and angry) if you cannot do this.



You are spontaneous, impulsive, direct, enthusiastic, and assertive. You believe in the power of positive thinking and positive action, and you think of yourself as a strong person - even invincible. You hate being ill or in any way in a position of dependency. Accepting your own human limitations and emotional needs is often difficult for you.



You are basically aggressive in your attitudes and have less facility in the receptive arts of relating to others, picking up subtle messages and nuances, listening, nurturing, and harmonizing. Often you are so fired up about your own projects or goals that you inadvertently run over or ignore other people's feelings and interests. Being receptive and

appreciative of others' contributions, ideas, and feelings would go a long way in improving your relationships. Your impatience to get on with things causes you to be rather insensitive, and to therefore alienate others unnecessarily.

You also frequently try to accomplish your ends by using anger or some version of a temper tantrum. You would gain much by learning to slow down, relax, and just let things be sometimes, but your energetic, restless nature rarely allows you to do this.



Sun in 11th house:



Leading groups and classes, and being involved in community efforts, social activities, events or movements are areas where you really shine and express your creativity. An awareness of politics or the larger social impact of individual actions is natural to you.



Sun Opposition Pluto:



You are intensely willful, zealous, and fanatical, though often you hide the intensity of your feelings and your personal motives and desires. You have an infatuation with power and an almost compulsive desire for personal

recognition, the desire to be Somebody. You tend to worship Heroes who have powerful personal magnetism and charisma, and often seek to emulate them. You also have both a fear of, and an intense fascination with, death and

the hidden, secret, dark side of life.





Chapter 3: Mental Interests and Abilities



Mercury in Aries:



Outspoken and direct, you are always eager to express your ideas and opinions and don't mind opposing the consensus and stirring up a little controversy. You have fresh, original ideas and much enthusiasm for anything new

and untried, but once the novelty has worn off, you are interested in another new idea or project. You never seem to have enough time to do all you want to. You are very honest, speak decisively and convincingly about things you

believe in, and are unable to pretend to agree with someone if you honestly don't. You may be somewhat deficient in tact.



Mercury in 11th house:



You have a good understanding of group trends, politics, mass movements, and community affairs. Sharing ideas with groups of people is something you do well and are likely to be involved with. You collaborate well in group

efforts and are likely to be part of a successful team or large organization.



Mercury Conjunct Venus:



You appreciate aesthetics and have a fine sense of form, design, and beauty. You could develop considerable technical skill as an artist, designer, craftsman, or creative writer. You could also sell objects of beauty - artistic

products, cosmetics, jewelry, etc.



You have the ability to please and harmonize well with others and tend to ameliorate relationships between people. Your sense of humor, tact, and personal charm are of great benefit to you in any work with people on a one-to-one level.



Mercury Square Mars:



Argumentative and rather aggressive and critical in discussions, you tend to turn any conversation into a debate, and sometimes a verbal war. You could be a spokesman for a righteous cause, a lawyer vigorously defending a client, a sharp analyst or critic. You are a convincing speaker, but are not especially receptive to the ideas and opinions of others. You have a forceful intellect and an aptitude for mental work.



Mercury Trine Saturn:



You possess excellent powers of concentration, and enjoy studying or deep thinking in solitude. Discriminating and

highly rational, you get right down to the bare bones in any discussion, and are quick to see the fuzzy thinking or weaknesses in another's logic. You are well suited to any work which requires organized thinking, precision, and a

methodical approach. You enjoy working on problems that others consider too tedious, repetitive, or technical. You tend to become a specialist in some field of knowledge, and to become engrossed in all of the small details of that area, sometimes not realizing that few people share your particular interest, especially to the extent that you do.



Mercury Sextile Jupiter:



You have an ongoing interest in learning and expanding your mental horizons. You enjoy traveling, philosophical discussions, and exchanging ideas with those of different experiences and viewpoints. Broad-minded and fair, you are well-suited to law, consulting, diplomatic relations, and also business. You learn quickly, and can pick up on a new

idea or concept with relative ease.



Moon Square Mercury:



You are not interested in subjects that are wholly abstract or technical. There must be a personal, human element to evoke your interest. Your interest is people and their inner motivations, feelings, personal lives, and experiences. You are a natural listener with a talent for getting others to talk about their lives, dreams, desires - the things that are

personally meaningful to them. You could also be an excellent writer, reporter, or biographer.



You have a particular interest in the past. You are concerned either with personal history (childhood and early family experiences, genealogy, etc.) or with the roots and origins of societies (archeology, mythology, history, etc).



You are nostalgic and love to hear others' life stories and to discuss your own experiences and feelings. You like to read biographies and memoirs, and probably keep a diary or journal yourself. You also have the ability to be a

successful public speaker.





Chapter 4: Emotions: Moods, Feelings, Romance



Moon in Capricorn:



Serious and responsible, you try to carry the world on your shoulders and rarely let others know that you need help and support. You deny or ignore your own emotional needs and feel that others will not accept you if you appear "weak". You are especially uncomfortable with emotional dependency, and will tell yourself and others (even children) not to be a "baby". You need to accept that no one is self-sufficient all the time, and to be gentler with your "childish" emotional needs and wants. To others, you may appear to be rather hard-nosed and tough, with a businesslike attitude toward their personal concerns and feelings. Actually, no one is a truer friend. Your feelings and loyalties run deep, but you often do not let people know how much you care. You also need to learn to relax, enjoy yourself, and play sometimes.



Moon in 8th house:



Though you want closeness very much, you often close yourself off and do not really trust others who may wish to get to know you. You are very wholehearted in your feelings and responses to people, and you want all or nothing from the people you care for.



Moon Opposition Mars:



You are temperamental and impatient and can be very difficult to live with. You tend to respond with a temper tantrum (overt or subtle) if your desires are frustrated. You become very irritable and bad tempered if you do not have enough vigorous physical activities or other outlets for your aggressive, feisty spirit.



Moon Square Venus:



You have conflicting emotional desires and needs which complicate your personal life. You may feel that you cannot depend on your love partner to take care of you or perhaps you cannot decide what you really want in a love

relationship: a parent or a lover. If your needs for emotional sustenance and love are not satisfied, overeating (especially sweets) can be a problem for you.



Venus in Aries:



Your love feelings and desires are easily aroused but it may be difficult to sustain your romantic interest in a relationship after the initial, exciting "chase and conquest". You enjoy a partner who is dynamic and alive, someone

with a strong independent streak, and you do not like things to become too peaceful or predictable in the love arena. You want to see sparks fly once in awhile, even if that means instigating a fight.



Venus in 11th house:



You are a very sociable, congenial person and you wilt very quickly without the company of good friends and people to share good times with. You thoroughly enjoy working with others on group projects or community activities. You are quite happy when you are a part of a club, support group, or team of some sort.



Venus Square Mars:



You are intensely amorous and attractive to the opposite sex, and are not inclined to friendly platonic relationships. There is much tension in your love life - often because you put your desires ahead of your partner's, and are impatient about having your love needs satisfied. The whole arena of love, romance, and sex is endlessly fascinating for you and you are not happy without a love partner. You can "burn yourself out" by pouring so much of your energy into romance.



Venus Trine Saturn:



Loyalty, fidelity, and security are very important to you in love. You are cautious about giving your heart away but true to the one who does win your love. Your tastes are simple, even austere, and you do not appreciate frivolity. You are interested in a person's character and inner qualities far more than their appearance. Casual or superficial relationships don't interest you at all, for love seems to get deeper and richer and more satisfying for you with time.



Venus Sextile Jupiter:



You appreciate beautiful surroundings and congenial company, and though you enjoy helping people, you will rarely put yourself out too much in order to do so. You are good-humored and generous at heart but inclined to be lazy.





Chapter 5: Drive and Ambition: How You Achieve Your Goals



Mars in Cancer:



You avoid direct confrontation as much as possible and are uncomfortable with aggressiveness, competition, and personal power. Your ego drive is not very strong and you are not especially ambitious or eager to push your way to the top. You may feel inadequate in situations that call for strong, forceful action. The only instance in which you will really fight is when you feel your loved ones, or something dear to you, is being harmed, for then you are a fierce defender. You have a very strong protective side. You act on impulse and instinct and may lash out at anyone you

perceive as threatening to your home or family. However, you will rarely initiate a confrontation. Your goals also tend to be very personal and centered around family closeness and inner satisfaction rather than worldly achievement.



You are sensitive to stress and do not handle a high-pressured, competitive atmosphere very well. You are very touchy, irritable, and difficult to live with when there are many demands or tensions at work. Your energy level is inconstant and is very much dependent upon the emotional harmony (or lack of it) in your home. A supportive partner is of great benefit to you in helping you achieve your goals and desires.



Mars in 3rd house:



Quick-witted and sharp-tongued, you enjoy arguing, debating, and contesting other people's opinions. You are quite forthright and sometimes tactless. You can be very convincing about your point of view, but you are prone to a

"hard-sell" approach which sometimes backfires. Challenging mental work is a good avenue for your aggressive intellect.





Chapter 6: Other Influences



Jupiter in Gemini:



You have the ability to see connections between seemingly unrelated ideas or worlds, and to bring them together. You excel in any field requiring clear intellect, and verbal and communication skills. You have an insatiable curiosity and may read or watch television constantly in order to satisfy your need for mental stimulation. Your mind never stops.



Jupiter in 1st house:



You have an optimistic outlook on life and to others you appear jovial, confident, and expansive. You do what you can to be encouraging and helpful to other people, and your generosity and lack of pettiness makes you very well-liked.



Because you see yourself as a lucky person, you may feel that you can "get away with anything", without negative consequences. You tend to go to excess and have little sense of moderation (or even caution, at times).



Saturn in Leo:



You are very self-conscious and have a great need for ego-affirmation and praise. Expressing yourself freely, openly, and unself-consciously is not easy for you. You tend to work hard at playing and "having fun", rather than being light-hearted and spontaneous. Developing self-love and self-acceptance regardless of your "performance" is an important task for you.



Saturn in 4th house:



Your childhood or your relationship with your parents was restrictive, unloving, or unhappy in ways that may prevent you from allowing other people to get close to you in later life. You felt deprived in some manner, whether or not you actually were deprived in some way. Emotional separations or repression of your needs and feelings may typify your early life, at least as you remember it. Forgiving your parents and/or letting go of any resentments you have about the limitations you experienced early in your life is crucial. Also, you need to build your own solid

foundation, and investing time and energy into your home, domestic relationships, and inner life can help you accomplish this.



Uranus in Scorpio:



You are part of a 7 year group of people who break up all manner of taboos regarding death, sex, and any other personal, private, or difficult topics. Your age group is less modest about sex than other age groups and promiscuity is not uncommon. You love emotional intensity, and there are many extremists and fanatics in your age group.



Uranus in 6th house:



Your work habits may be unstructured and you may find it difficult to settle down to a routine task or work situation.



You are interested in new technologies or unusual, even revolutionary methods of solving problems in your work. Nontraditional methods of healing and medicine also fascinate you. You may work in an alternative health field or work for change and reform in whatever field you choose.



Neptune in Sagittarius:



You are part of a 14 year group of people that are extremely idealistic and farsighted in their dreams. Your age group is very liberal and expansive in outlook, and consequently churches become much more flexible and more

eclectic in their approach during your life time. Religions that do not adapt to the broad-minded attitude of your age group simply are unable to attract very much interest and involvement from you.



A great deal of metaphysical musing and speculation is evident in your age group, and there is a very strong interest in all manner of psychic phenomena, UFO's, prophecy, etc. This interest will open many new doors and insights, but will also often lead to a great deal of fantasizing and speculation that is taken more seriously than it should be.



Neptune in 7th house:



You often have very naive, idealistic, or overly romantic attitudes toward people, and it's difficult for you to see others realistically. You may prefer to keep your relationships on an idealistic or platonic level, so that you don't have to deal with the more prosaic, earthy, human aspects of relating.



Thoroughly investigate potential marriage or business partners, as your gullibility and desire to see only the best in people may blind you to the truth about others with whom you form a close alliance.



Neptune Sextile Pluto:



The entire generation to which you belong has tremendous opportunities for spiritual rebirth and awakening. This will not be forced upon you or precipitated by unavoidable events, rather it comes from an inner yearning and a

natural propensity to seek the depths.



Pluto in Libra:



You are part of a 12 year group of people who are deeply interested in personal relationships. Your age group has a deeply-rooted yearning to see people relating and communicating with each other effectively and harmoniously. There is little egotism and a willingness to hear the other person's side of the story and a readiness to compromise and

arbitrate different points of view. In fact, the need for harmonious, peaceful relationships is so strong that there is a tendency to overlook real differences and to focus only on the similarities in an attempt to bring different parties into

harmony with each other.



Interest in psychology and sociology is high in your age group. There is a tremendous heightening of awareness of social skills. Your age group will experiment with different marriage styles, family relationships, and even business relationships in an attempt to bring fair treatment and effective communication between people. Interest and appreciation for other cultures is also strong, and your age group will work hard to preserve and support the cultural

heritage of all ethnic groups.



Your strong yearning for equitable and harmonious relationships is also reflected in major advancements in trade agreements, arms control, and international cooperation that are designed and implemented by your generation.

These agreements and policies foster a much safer and more cooperative environment for all, although there is also a tendency for greedy individuals to take advantage of the conciliatory atmosphere and twist situations to their own

ends.



In short, you are part of a generation of individuals who are deeply interested in other people; you are a humanistic and humanitarian group. You will struggle and experiment with personal relationships, and forge new models for how people can relate as friends, family members, and members of nations as well.



Pluto in 5th house:



You have very strong creative forces and whatever you do, you want to do to the fullest. In love and romance, you get totally, passionately, even obsessively involved. In other forms of creative release and self-expression, also, you are very driven and you have a deep need to prove yourself. Your desire for personal recognition is compelling, and if you do not achieve creative success, you may try to force your children to fulfill your dreams for you.

Darwin’s private papers get Internet launch

First draft of ‘On The Origin Of Species’ published on Web



LONDON - The first draft of Charles Darwin's "On The Origin Of Species" is among a wealth of papers belonging to the intensely private man who changed science being published on the Internet on Thursday for the first time.



Comprising some 20,000 items and 90,000 images, the release on http://darwin-online.org.uk is the largest in history, according to the organizers from Cambridge University Library which holds all the Darwin papers.



"This release makes his private papers, mountains of notes, experiments, and research behind his world-changing publications available to the world for free," said John van Wyhe, director of the project.



"His publications have always been available in the public sphere — but these papers have until now only been accessible to scholars."



The collection includes thousands of notes and drafts of his scientific writings, notes from the voyage of the Beagle when he began to formulate his controversial theory of evolution, and his first recorded doubts about the permanence of species.



It also contains photographs of Darwin and his family, newspaper clippings, reviews of his books and much more.



Giving a more personal insight, there is also his wife Emma's cookbook including recipes for delicacies such as "Ilkley pudding" and a rudimentary recipe for boiling rice, written by Darwin himself.



Other papers include caricatures and notes with his boyhood musings on birds.



Publication in 1859 of Origin of Species after years of prevarication established Darwin — already known to the public after publication of The Voyage of the Beagle — as a leading scientific thinker.



But it also sparked a major public debate and a bitter denunciation by the Church of England, which regarded the book as heretical.



"Darwin changed our understanding of nature forever. His papers reveal how immensely detailed his researches were," said van Wyhe.



"The release of his papers online marks a revolution in the public's access to — and hopefully appreciation of — one of the most important collections of primary materials in the history of science."

Father of chaos theory dies at 90

Edward Lorenz came up with concept that small effects lead to big changes



WASHINGTON - Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday. He was 90.



He was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he came up with the scientific concept that small effects lead to big changes, something that became known as the "butterfly effect." He explained how something as minuscule as a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil changes the constantly moving atmosphere in ways that could later trigger tornadoes in Texas.



His discovery of "deterministic chaos" brought about "one of the most dramatic changes in mankind's view of nature since Sir Isaac Newton," said the committee that awarded Lorenz the 1991 Kyoto Prize for basic sciences. It was one of many scientific awards that Lorenz won.



Lorenz, a meteorologist, came up with the chaos theory concept in the 1960s through his own meticulous work habits, said Kevin Trenberth, a student of Lorenz's. Trenberth is now climate analysis chief at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.



He inadvertently ran what seemed like the same calculations through a creaky computer twice and came up with vastly different answers. When he tried to figure out what happened, he noticed a slight decimal point change — less than 0.0001 — wound up leading to significant error. That error became a seminal scientific paper, presented in 1972, about the butterfly effect.

i think i might have gained an additional rating rule. whinny bitches get ones. why. why do you even need to ask.

DeathsEmbrace: 07:07:05 - Apr 16 2008

lol

imagesinwords: 07:03:54 - Apr 16 2008

Not all rules do. Speaking for societies.

DeathsEmbrace: 07:03:47 - Apr 16 2008

later ayw

DeathsEmbrace: 07:03:37 - Apr 16 2008

well some rules are definatly good, like the no nudity and whatnot, there are young ones here

atyourwindow: 07:03:32 - Apr 16 2008

ok on that note later all.

necrop: 07:03:14 - Apr 16 2008

anarchy

sockpuppet: 07:03:00 - Apr 16 2008

Exactly! No rulez should extend site-wide

imagesinwords: 07:02:45 - Apr 16 2008

wrong is subjective. I don't instill rules here, Cancer does... and I follow them. CIAO!

necrop: 07:02:30 - Apr 16 2008

common sense is something sorely lacking about in some places

imagesinwords: 07:01:48 - Apr 16 2008

I was in the Marines 8 years. We have no rules because common sense is upon all the members... they don't need them.

DeathsEmbrace: 07:01:26 - Apr 16 2008

take it easy Angelus

Angelus: 07:01:08 - Apr 16 2008

..well, I tried for an admin to listen to something that is wrong.. ciao

atyourwindow: 07:01:04 - Apr 16 2008

no rules?.....i thought you were a marine?..lol

DeathsEmbrace: 07:00:55 - Apr 16 2008

lol only coven rule in darkness incarnate is NO drama

imagesinwords: 07:00:34 - Apr 16 2008

And I am glad for myself to be in a very laid back House. We have no rules.

necrop: 07:00:21 - Apr 16 2008

:)

atyourwindow: 07:00:13 - Apr 16 2008

well i dont rate anyone a 1 unless they rate me first , thats just my view.

DeathsEmbrace: 06:59:52 - Apr 16 2008

im glad im in a real laid back coven

imagesinwords: 06:59:52 - Apr 16 2008

And you can't know everything here. That's logic. There are things that just won't be given to the public. Doesn't make it right for people to make up their own truth. You either truly KNOW, or you don't.

Angelus: 06:59:15 - Apr 16 2008

of course they do, coz it's not our concern till it's needed. But you said, rating wasn't dictated.. I know covens where it is.

sockpuppet: 06:59:13 - Apr 16 2008

his journal puts me to sleep

imagesinwords: 06:58:55 - Apr 16 2008

it's blaming Admin with the comments on how this person can stay yet others get suspended. You just don't have the big picture.

atyourwindow: 06:58:41 - Apr 16 2008

cant blame people for what they dont know.

DeathsEmbrace: 06:58:13 - Apr 16 2008

hmm i've always gotten along well with daire

atyourwindow: 06:57:51 - Apr 16 2008

daire is hardcore but fair i respect the irishman.

imagesinwords: 06:57:50 - Apr 16 2008

People assume so much. They don't even know 5% of what I have done for this membership. They don't know what lengths I go to in defense of everyone... they just see a very one-sided view.

DeathsEmbrace: 06:57:07 - Apr 16 2008

pfft haha

DeathsEmbrace: 06:57:00 - Apr 16 2008

i blame the admin cause my arm itches

atyourwindow: 06:56:43 - Apr 16 2008

well ya cant blame the prince he is perfect lol

Angelus: 06:56:39 - Apr 16 2008

..if its applicable, only then.

sockpuppet: 06:56:38 - Apr 16 2008

let daire do his own legwork

DeathsEmbrace: 06:56:29 - Apr 16 2008

whos blaming the admin? lmao

sockpuppet: 06:56:22 - Apr 16 2008

'nuff of the snitching

imagesinwords: 06:56:04 - Apr 16 2008

It's so easy to blame the Administration.

Angelus: 06:55:35 - Apr 16 2008

I can name two of the covens I mean..

Angelus: 06:55:13 - Apr 16 2008

they are.. in a couple of covens.. that hasn't been stopped imagine.

atyourwindow: 06:54:40 - Apr 16 2008

im not one of those people am i image? 0.o

imagesinwords: 06:54:21 - Apr 16 2008

Because he is not breaking a rule. What would be the reason in kicking him off? He's using the 1 option Cancer allows. Read the VR Manual. Ratings will not be dictated.

DeathsEmbrace: 06:54:14 - Apr 16 2008

ohh well on sites like these there always has to be the small annoying people that like to just be idiots

atyourwindow: 06:52:57 - Apr 16 2008

true or why rate at all?

Angelus: 06:52:34 - Apr 16 2008

the fellow who rates a 1 does it out of spite.. for a system he doesn't like. he says so. so why is he still here?

DeathsEmbrace: 06:52:25 - Apr 16 2008

yea, i really dont care what i am rated though lol, its just the internet to me lol

imagesinwords: 06:52:03 - Apr 16 2008

I can only use the rules here, not a bias. There are quite a few people I don't like that I can't 'touch'. Not if they are within guidelines.

atyourwindow: 06:51:59 - Apr 16 2008

i rate what im rated

DeathsEmbrace: 06:51:27 - Apr 16 2008

ahhh yes, i know it is a multiple one

GrieviousDemon: 06:51:27 - Apr 16 2008

Site is based on freedom of choice. Its Your choice what to rate others what You feel they deserve. I personally base it on work done to it not taste

imagesinwords: 06:50:54 - Apr 16 2008

there are things you don't know then... like maybe it was a multiple profile that was a free profile and not premium. There's always a reason that is valid to suspend someone.

DeathsEmbrace: 06:49:59 - Apr 16 2008

lol images, this person is just childish

imagesinwords: 06:49:56 - Apr 16 2008

you know darn well not that many people read my journal... and most of them haven't logged on VR in ages. the number is a facade.

atyourwindow: 06:49:50 - Apr 16 2008

well not booted but suspended

Angelus: 06:49:50 - Apr 16 2008

spoils it for others imagine.

atyourwindow: 06:49:26 - Apr 16 2008

i know of someone who got booted for bombing profiles.

Angelus: 06:49:24 - Apr 16 2008

..spot on DE, if he doesn't abide by whats here, why is he here?

imagesinwords: 06:48:55 - Apr 16 2008

Well- if Cancer gives you 1-10 options... how can you get in trouble for using all 10 options? How can that be against any rule?

atyourwindow: 06:48:16 - Apr 16 2008

polotics

DeathsEmbrace: 06:48:01 - Apr 16 2008

yes, then we have the idiot going and rating everyone a 1, pfft, yet they allow them to stay

sockpuppet: 06:47:56 - Apr 16 2008

100+ on your favorites journal. I should think so.

atyourwindow: 06:47:04 - Apr 16 2008

this is true.

Angelus: 06:47:04 - Apr 16 2008

..and others spend every other page picking on whelps, imagine.

DeathsEmbrace: 06:46:19 - Apr 16 2008

yea... and some journals are just immature and idiotic

imagesinwords: 06:45:55 - Apr 16 2008

hey now... some of our journals are highly entertaining!

DeathsEmbrace: 06:45:30 - Apr 16 2008

im just watching annoying adult swim reruns, they're making me good bored and tired

atyourwindow: 06:44:51 - Apr 16 2008

read some boring admins journal , it will put ya right to sleep bro lol

DeathsEmbrace: 06:43:56 - Apr 16 2008

i seriously hate this damned insomnia

atyourwindow: 06:43:23 - Apr 16 2008

lol

DeathsEmbrace: 06:42:52 - Apr 16 2008

lmao

sockpuppet: 06:42:41 - Apr 16 2008

an emperor penguin is a serious bit of bird.. not sure if it would be healthy to have something like a worm dangling around it.

DeathsEmbrace: 06:42:40 - Apr 16 2008

hmm i know right ayw? lol

Angelus: 06:41:08 - Apr 16 2008

..he's happy, leave him to it.

atyourwindow: 06:40:19 - Apr 16 2008

such pent up hostile attitude is just another reason kids to "just say no" lol

DeathsEmbrace: 06:35:40 - Apr 16 2008

grr

DeathsEmbrace: 06:28:11 - Apr 16 2008

PISSSSSSSSSSS IN A PENGUINS ASSSSSSSSSSSS

DeathsEmbrace: 06:27:55 - Apr 16 2008

deadnessssssssssss

if you are one of those people who feels like their entire existence is threatened with anything less than a 10...Get therapy. You definitely have self esteem issues.

Otherkin FAQ v 4.0.1 (2/8/01)

Introduction

{Editorial comments and credits for specific contributions are in brackets (all questions unless specified otherwise, are probably submitted by the Crisses at one point or another, or by the editorial committee).}



There is no one right answer to many of the questions presented in this FAQ, which is why the original "Otherkin and Awakening FAQ" had multiple entries for each answer. Being an Otherkin is a range of experiences, not only one type of experience, and every person's experiences differ.



Unfortunately, the former format of the FAQ became unwieldy, and the answers became outdated as information was shared and processed in the community, troves of new members joined, and more lists collaborated on their findings. Due to this, a major overhaul of the FAQ was called for, and the committee decided that some questions were better off dropped because they didn't seem relevant to the purpose of the new "Otherkin FAQ". The editors apologize, and a copy of the old, outdated, FAQ remains accessible at http://kinhost.org/res/Otherfaqold.html.



1.0 ON OTHERKIN

1.1 Important: Opening Disclaimer

1.2 Defining Otherkin

1.3 Trans-Species Otherkin

1.4 Genetically Otherkin





2.0 ON AWAKENING

2.1 What is an Awakening?

2.2 Who Awakens?

2.3 Problems with Awakening

2.4 Born Awakened





3.0 OTHERKIN AS IDENTITY

3.1 Identification of your own species

3.2 Unique Kintypes

3.3 Correlations and contrasts between individual otherkin

3.4 Notable physical limitations

3.5 True-Forms/Dire-Forms

3.6 Magick in the "real world"

3.7 Gifts/Curses

3.8 Callings





4.0 DOUBT AND DISBELIEF

4.1 Doubt of the entire phenomenon

4.2 Doubt in yourself

4.3 Doubt in yourself - No Past Life Memories

4.4 Dealing with others' doubt, ridicule, etc.





5.0 COPING AS OTHERKIN

5.1 Coping

5.2 Being the "real you" with other people

5.3 The Other closet: Who should I come out to?

5.4 Panic and Paranoia





6.0 MEMORIES

6.1 Lack of Memories

6.2 Aid for recovering (more) memories

6.3 Painful memories

6.4 Desperation to go "Home"





7.0 MISCELLANEOUS

7.1 Otherkin Subtypes

7.2 Walk-Ins

7.3 On Otherkin Multiples

7.4 Otherworldly Beings - Spirit Folk





8.0 RESOURCES

8.1 Resources for the Newly Awakened

8.2 Race-Specific Resources

8.3 Networking & Outreach





1.0 ON OTHERKIN 1.1 Important: Opening Disclaimer

Are there any patterns that hold true for all Otherkin, or everyone of a certain species of Otherkin?

So far, the answer to that is a resounding "Absolutely not!" Each Otherkin is unique unto themselves, and while there may be popular trends, it is considered a trend in the community before it's a majority.



A trend in the community happens where about 30% of the people it could apply to find that the subject matter is true for them. So if you don't agree with something in particular, in all likelihood, you are in the majority. That's important to keep in mind as you read the FAQ.



A good example is: Are all elves physically or energetically sensitive to metal/iron? No. But perhaps as much as 30% or so are. It certainly seems to be a trend.





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1.2 Defining Otherkin

What is an Otherkin? (aka Fairth, Metahuman, and sometimes Furries)

The Otherkin are those people who believe themselves to be spiritually and/or physically other than human. While mythological species (elves, satyrs, fairies, dragons, and so on) are widely accepted as being included under the term "Otherkin", many people in the community prefer to include aliens, vampires, furries, extraterrestrial humans, and other nonhuman races. A mythological or literary equivalent is not necessary to be included under "Otherkin"; there are types of otherkin that have not shown up in known legends or fiction (star-dragons, Elenari, etc.).



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1.3 Trans-Species Otherkin

What do you mean by "spiritually other than human"?

Transgendered people feel they were born into a body of the wrong gender. Trans-spirited otherkin usually feel they were born into (or are residing within) a body of the wrong species. Some Otherkin handle their displacement better than others, but having a community of understanding friends can be helpful



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1.4 Genetically Otherkin

What do you mean by "physically other than human"?

Some people in the otherkin community believe that they inherited genes influenced by non-human genetic material. It occasionally manifests to a greater or lesser degree in some otherkin.



Some Otherkin who appear to have genetic traits from non-human stock seem to have a natural magickal protection which is either an illusion or minor shapeshifting which is called a "Seeming" in the community. ie: they Seem human.



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2.0 ON AWAKENING 2.1 What is an Awakening?

What do people mean by "an Awakening"?

"Awakening" is a term used in some spiritual practices to denote coming to a new frame of reference, or state of mind. "Awakening" is used in the Otherkin community to denote the point/s of realization that one is not (solely) human.



In Otherkin Awakening, an individual reevaluates their lives in new and sometimes scary ways. They realize that, for some reason, they no longer feel completely human. Some may feel a new consciousness developing, with new thought patterns, new belief structures or new memories.



To some, this 'awakening' to a new life is a quick and complete event. Almost overnight, they 'know' who or what they truly are. For others, and possibly this is the majority, the awakening process is the start of a long process that may take years to complete.{edited from Starelf's entry to the original FAQ}



For more information on styles of Awakening, please see: So, You're Awake by Miaren CrowsDaughter.



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2.2 Who Awakens?

Who is most likely to become Awakened? Are there any noticeable trends?

Anybody. Any age, any profession, any reason...it's an Equal Opportunity Awakening :). It may be more likely with people who have contact with already-Awakened people or who come across something else that may help awakening. Maybe it's more likely with the ones that are open minded, into metaphysics, into magic/energetics, into role-playing, Paganism, Wicca, who have imagination, read or view in the SciFi or Fantasy genre, etc.... {edited from Eyovah's entry to the original FAQ}



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2.3 Problems with Awakening

I'm having a difficult time with my Awakening. What can I do about it? Does everyone have such a hard time?

For some Otherkin, Awakening is a very gradual process and doesn't cause any shock, while for some, Awakening can happen very quickly and be very alarming. Most are probably in between somewhere.



The first thing you can do is educate yourself by looking at this FAQ and checking out the resources listed at the end of the FAQ. After that, you're probably better off seeking a Newly-Awakened-Otherkin email list or contacting Otherkin in your area and getting some friendly support and advice. If you're having a hard time, you're certainly not alone.



If you're questioning your sanity, that's a normal part of Awakening. Our society tells people that elves, faeries, angels, dragons and whatnot don't exist, so realizing you *are* one is bound to cause some consternation. Flashes of sudden, new intuition, precognitive dreams (or waking visions), and so on, may cause some disorientation, but they are not out of the ordinary for an Awakening otherkin. (For more on dealing with that, see the section on Doubt and Disbelief.



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2.4 Born Awakened

What does it mean when someone is born or raised Awakened?

Occasionally someone comes into the community who was born and raised Awakened. Their parents are Awakened Otherkin, of whatever race(s), and raised their children in full knowledge of who and what they were. These people don't have to go through a period of Awakening at all, they're already Awake, and always were.



As the community grows, the chances of coming across people who were Born Awakened increase, as newly Awakened people are having children of their own. However, this is not solely a new phenomena, there are probably well-established communities out there of Born Awakened.



These people probably also have a Seeming (see also Genetically Otherkin above).



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3.0 OTHERKIN AS IDENTITY 3.1 Identification of your own species

How do I find out what am I? I already have a species in mind, can anyone tell me if I'm right?

Only you can tell for sure. There are many theories in the community on the best ways to determine what you are. Some people like to look at the artwork they are attracted to, or what they've collected around the house. Others pay attention to where their body feels out of place. Perhaps the best advice of all is patience and time. Some people will undoubtedly take one look at you and proclaim your species for you, but if the label doesn't fit, don't wear it, and thank them for their time.



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3.2 Unique Kintypes

What if I'm a species-type that no one else mentioned? Am I alone?

Everyone is unique, even if there are hundreds of members of their species around.. You will not be alone in not finding anyone of your particular species. Many people are unique in the community, in that they do not know anyone else who shares many traits of their kind. Perhaps one day you will find someone else of your kind, whether it's a species represented in folklore, mythology or fiction, or whether it's never been heard of before. In the meantime, you should enjoy the great diversity of the community.



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3.3 Correlations and contrasts between individual otherkin

How am I more/less like everyone else?

Otherkin often compare and contrast themselves with others in the community and others of their race. While this is an enjoyable pastime, it almost always accentuates that we're all unique individuals, even within our respective species. Whether you are very average for your type or very unique for your type, your presence helps add to the community, and you can definitely find someone who will be interested in what your experience is as a member of that type.



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3.4 Notable physical limitations

What physical limitations are there in the community?

One thing that immediately comes to mind is that some people have weird allergies or aversions to objects or materials. Not everyone, however. Not every elf is allergic or has an aversion to iron, for instance. But some do.



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3.5 True-Forms/Dire-Forms

Why are people always referring to True-Forms around here?

A persons'True-Form is the energetic manifestation of their nonhuman body, which is usually experienced similarly to an aura field around the body.



Some people have the talent to see or sense True-Forms, and some people can kinesthetically feel only their own. This is considered a mixed blessing, because it's not always comfortable. Sometimes having these phantom body parts is fun or interesting, sometimes they get in the way. For example, people are referring to their True-Form when they complain that their wings are bothering them.



"True-Form" was coined some years ago and is a poor term for what it means, but it has stuck in the community. Another term that has cropped up is "Dire-Form".



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3.6 Magick in the "real world"

Does being Otherkin give me any special abilities?

Sometimes Otherkin have magickal or psionic abilities, and can discuss them with other people in the community, or seek out other magick users or psis to discuss their abilities.



One area that seems to be unique to the otherkin community is that of seeing people's phantom body parts or superimposed manifestation of their otherkin aura, often referred to as "true-forms" or "dire-forms" within the community. This ability is sometimes called True-Sight, or just Sight.



For many or even most otherkin, there are no special abilities; it's more a case of seeing the world differently from others, having different reactions to things and noticing (or ignoring) things that others might not catch (or think are important). Being Otherkin is not about what you can do, your magickal abilities or special powers, it's about the way you think and feel, and how you interact with the world and other people.



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3.7 Gifts/Curses

What are the benefits and drawbacks of Otherkin abilities?

Like any other magickal and/or psi talents, Otherkin abilities are often twofold 'blessings' as well. With each Gift there's at least a certain amount of responsibility in how it is used, and often there are other hardships that come along with it. For instance, an empath gets the benefits of sensing people's pleasant emotions and the drawbacks of sensing people's unpleasant emotions.



There are so many such abilities, benefits and drawbacks, that it's impossible to cover them in this FAQ. If you're having difficulties in this area, please seek advice and help from people in your area, or an email list.



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3.8 Callings

Why do I feel pulled to Heal? to Guard? etc.

There are a number of people in the Otherkin community who appear to have a magickal obligation to perform a task. We call this magickal obligation a "Calling". Callings are not limited to the Otherkin community; many people in various professions feel the urge or pull to perform their duty or profession, and it doesn't necessarily imply any magickal or psi ability on their part.



It's common amongst Otherkin to find Called Healers, Called Guardians and so forth. The community doesn't claim to understand it yet, but there's many similarities in the sense of obligation, even if what they feel obliged to do is different from person-to-person or type-to-type. Feeling the pull doesn't necessarily automatically imply having the skill or abilities needed to fulfill the obligation, which is sometimes a source of frustration for some newly awakening Otherkin.



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4.0 DOUBT AND DISBELIEF 4.1 Doubt of the entire phenomenon

Why should someone believe another person's claims of being otherkin? {Ghostshadow}

It is a matter of respect to acknowledge that people are entitled to their beliefs. Sharing the belief is not at all necessary in order to respect an individual's right to believe what they do. Many people are curious about the paradigm of Otherkinness, the belief system that it entails for each individual. As long as they are respectful, it is easy to respond positively to the curiosity by answering questions and describing our experiences to others.



Even within the community, there is often someone whose beliefs may seem stranger than the average Otherkin's beliefs, but the community has developed cultural policies not to attack individuals for what they believe in. It is also perceived as unkind to try to force someone to change their point of view to suit your own.



This core of respect in the community does not stop anyone from discussions and comparing and weighing and measuring experiences and beliefs. It should not stop you from being skeptical either. All we ask is that you allow each of us the room to explore our own beliefs.



Otherkinness is a phenomenon in which proof is very elusive, and often in the eye of the beholder. You are very unlikely to find anyone proving anything in the community. In return for your respect, you'll probably find a lot of respect for your skepticism.



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4.2 Doubt in yourself

How do I know I'm not making this all up? How do I know I'm not just paying head-games with myself, pretending to be something "cool"? {Ghostshadow}

Worries about one's sanity are common enough in the otherkin community. We know that our beliefs are very different from what society tells us is true. Some of us take these worries as a very good sign, noting that the refusal to even question one's own sanity is an almost sure sign of insanity.



But even more importantly, agreeing with everyone else, and believing everything society does, are not the best measures of sanity. A far better measure is that of _functionality_: can you function as a stable, productive adult in the consensual reality?



For example, if you can keep a stable job, a roof over your head, keep up friendships, relationships and/or a social life, pay your bills, and generally behave like a functional adult (if you're an adult :) ), then it doesn't matter whether you consider yourself a human or a creature from another planet.



On a deeper level, many otherkin find that identifying as such -- identifying as an elf, or a dragon, or a vampire, or a pixie, or whatever -- actually gives them *more* of a sense of stability in their lives and understanding of themselves. If it's simply something you call yourself, then maybe you are just playacting. But more likely, you've found (or will find) that accepting and embracing your identification and your nature as otherkin helps you understand things about yourself that never made sense before. And if it does, then calling yourself otherkin may be helping keep you sane.



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4.3 Doubt in yourself - No Past Life Memories

I have a feeling I'm not human, but I don't remember anything from past lives. Am I just making this up? {Sileniel}

There's no requirement that you have any past lives at all in order to be otherkin. Lots of people are here for their first time, and some otherkin don't even believe in reincarnation. When you get right down to it, being otherkin isn't really about what you were in the past or on some other plane; it's about who and what you are now, here -- on Earth in the 21st century. Whether your otherness stems from a past life or simply from the essence that flows in your blood, the important part is what meaning it has for you, how it affects your daily life. If it isn't something that has meaning for you, then it doesn't really matter much one way or the other, does it? {Ghostshadow}



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4.4 Dealing with others' doubt, ridicule, etc.

There are people who found out (by whatever means) that I am Otherkin, and they don't believe me, they ridicule me. What can I do? {Sileniel}

This is a difficult thing to deal with. It's never fun to be ridiculed, and there is no easy way to just make it stop. You don't have to justify yourself to anyone, so don't feel as if you must. It's OK if people don't believe you, your belief in yourself is what counts. You're not alone.



The best thing is usually to ignore those who ridicule you and they will usually find something else to do when they get bored because you're not fleeing them. If someone stoops to the level of harassment in any form, however, take the necessary steps - including calling the police if necessary. Just because you believe differently than someone else is never a justification for harassment. It's illegal. {Sileniel}



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5.0 COPING AS OTHERKIN 5.1 Coping

How do I cope now that I'm Otherkin?

Take care of all your basic needs, such as work, or home obligations, and explore in your spare time. If you're feeling panicky and need help, seek out something relaxing to do, or have a friendly chat with someone online. In the meantime, there's no rush or reason to think the sky is falling. The world hasn't really changed much, just your perspective on it has.



Try doing something creative to channel your energies, and pay attention to your life and surroundings and make sure you don't fall too deeply into overanalyzing yourself and the changes to your life. A sense of humor is always a good prescription. Laugh at yourself the next time someone jostles your wings (if you have/feel any) on the street :) Try to enjoy the changes.



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5.2 Being the "real you" with other people

How can I possibly ever let people know about this side of me? I feel like I'm living more than one life!

You can be whoever and whatever you are at any time. Whether the person you're talking with thinks of you as human, elven, or insane doesn't change who you *are*. So, if you're an elf who loves plants and trees, you can always introduce yourself to people as a "person" (i.e., sentient being) who loves plants and trees.



Of course, if it's really important to you that people actually know that you consider yourself something non-human, then you may want to come out of the closet to them. (See below)



It's up to each individual to define their comfort level with what other people know about them. There are many people in the community who are in the closet about their Otherkinness and many others who are rather out of the Closet, and all in between. Talking to other people may help you to decide what level of revelation to others is right for you.



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5.3 The Other closet: Who should I come out to?

How do I tell people that I'm not human? Who should I tell?

Some people never choose to tell others of their Otherkinness, while other people are out of the Othercloset with almost anyone. It's a personal choice and sometimes a difficult one to make.



The best thing to do is to take your environment and your self into account when making this decision. You might want to think about taking it a step at a time with each person, presenting Otherkinness in a step-by-step manner (see http://kinhost.org/res/multiple.html for one example of a stage-by-stage presentation of otherkinness).



Before you come out to others, please come out to yourself. Realize how special you are. Understand that after you awakened, you will seem different, possibly thinking and believing differently than you did before. Get a handle on these new feelings. Get as comfortable, as possible, with them. When you are happy with who you are, then you might share with a close friend. There will be some you will feel you can talk to and many you will not. You choose the time and place and person that will learn of your new life. {from Starelf's entry in the original FAQ}



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5.4 Panic and Paranoia

I feel that something is really wrong, and that I'm in danger. Help?

Some people experience a widening of sensory input or additional psychic sensitivity with Otherkinness. The new input can be overwhelming, while in all likelihood, nothing has actually changed. The best thing to do is to give yourself time and space to reacclimatize to your new perceptions, talk about your fears and feelings in an appropriate forum, and try to relax into your reality shift. You are probably sensing things that you formerly missed, but which were always there.



In the event that you feel something really is happening, try picturing yourself surrounded by a globe of white or golden light. This is a very common protective visualization. Then seek out some help from someone in your area or online.



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6.0 MEMORIES 6.1 Lack of Memories

I know I'm Otherkin, but I haven't remembered anything, what can I do?

You can be one of the many Otherkin who have no past lives as Otherkin, or have no memories of having been Otherkin in the past.



Forcing yourself to have memories because you feel you "ought to" is not the best reason, and many people chase after memories for a while and are quite unhappy when they finally find memories.



Memories that you force back to the surface of your mind are suspect, possibly contrived, and if they are real, they may hit you like a ton of bricks because you weren't ready yet.



The best thing to do in the absence of memories is to pay attention to what feels good and right to you in the here and now.





The LostKin Project is one place where the focus is on persons who don't have memories.



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6.2 Aid for recovering (more) memories

How can I recover memories?

For some people, memories are the Holy Grail of Otherkinness, while for others, they're just a bane, a nuisance, or totally inappropriate.



The LostKin Project is one place where the focus is on persons who don't have memories, and some things there focus on how to remember more.



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6.3 Painful memories

Death-Trauma and other painful memories

The most likely memories that one will recover are the ones which stand out emotionally or are different from the normal hum of your every-day life in the past. Seeking out memories is sometimes dangerous because one of the things that stands out best are things that are traumatic or painful, or your own death, which presumably only happened once in that lifetime, and are your last experiences there, thus are very close to the here and now.



People who remember traumatic memories may find they need counseling, professional or not. Sharing the memory with trusted friends and finding a good shoulder to cry --or shudder-- on can help a lot. If you can't find a person to share with, try writing it out to stop the recurring flashbacks that often accompany remembering traumatic memories.



Often you can find a message in the trauma, something positive that you can take from the experience. Also realize that the event is in the past and not happening in the present, no matter how closely you relive it.



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6.4 Desperation to go "Home"

I've always had a painful longing to be somewhere else, some former place I called 'home'. How can I get "home"? Have any Otherkin gone "home"?

While some otherkin feel a longing for another world, it is preferable to make the best of this home, to make this your home, while you are here. It is unknown whether or not any Otherkin have successfully gone home, because if they did, we probably wouldn't hear about it.



Not all Otherkin have this longing, and to many, this IS their native home. Speaking to those types about the positive points of this world might help you to make the adjustments needed to be more comfortable here.



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7.0 MISCELLANEOUS 7.1 Otherkin Subtypes

What noticable subtypes of Otherkin might I run into?

As you explore the community, you're probably going to run into a good number of odd people who defy your former experiences. There are Walk-Ins, spirit-folk, Hosts and multiples, people who can channel spirits, and so on. Some of these are mentioned below.



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7.2 Walk-Ins

What is a Walk-In?

A Walk-In is where a new spirit enters a body.



There are various cases where the spirit belonging to the body leaves, or a swap takes place, or both spirits remain in the body creating a situation where the person becomes a Host (see On Otherkin Multiples, below).



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7.3 On Otherkin Multiples

What is a Host (also aspected/faceted/split/multiple)?

A reasonable number of people in the otherkin community are, for whatever reason, not only one person or mind in their body. Multiples in the otherkin community generally are of 3 types: heavily aspected or faceted, split personality, or hosting. For more information on these, you can see the Multiplicity: The Missing Manual project.



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7.4 Otherworldly Beings - Spirit Folk

Are there any other types of Otherkin? {Adara}

Some Otherkin possess the ability to perceive spirit folk, and a good many of the spirit folk are non-human in nature as well. Some Otherkin are channelers, while others simply sport a host of otherworldly beings as escorts, spirit helpers, totemic spirits, and so on. This is not unusual in the community.



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8.0 RESOURCES 8.1 Resources for the Newly Awakened

Where can I locate more information that might be helpful while I'm awakening?

Try some of the links listed below, such as the Otherkin Resource Center (ORC), Otherkin.net (look for the article entitled "So, You're Awake?" in particular, and anything else in the "Introductory" articles section. Also check out listings of personal web pages from there). Some people find The Crisses website to be of help, or



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8.2 Race-Specific Resources

Where can I find more information on specific Otherkin species?

The Otherkin Resource Center (ORC) is a good place to look for race-specific information.



Other things to do is to go to Yahoo Groups, Topica and SmartGroups, and do a search on the name of the race you're interested in, to see if any specialty lists pop up. Take a look at Otherkin.net to see if any race-specific links have popped up since the writing of this FAQ.



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8.3 Networking & Outreach

Where can I meet people I can be the real me with?

At Otherkin.net you'll find a wealth of information for networking with other Otherkin. There is a geographical listingfor Otherkin who choose to be listed there, and there are descriptions of online meeting places such as IRC channels, email lists, other web pages and so on.



You may wish to check out the Otherkin Resource Center (ORC) as well.



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Contributions: Written by Arhuaine, Miaren Crowsdaughter, Thistle Kachunk, Golden Syrpent, Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, Jarin Dreamsinger and The Crisses--volunteer members of Otherkin community from a number of Yahoo-Groups lists. If I left you out, let me know...brain the size of a planet... :)



This FAQ was created with PageSpinner, FileMaker Pro from FileMaker Inc. and the AppleScript-based FAQ-Spinner kit included in the PageSpinner 3.0 distribution.



More information can be found at PageSpinner's home page:

http://www.optima-system.com/pagespinner/

There has been this huge arguement since the industrial age about the huge differences in magic, science, and religion. What if there really is no difference? What if it is all in the approach? I think if you put the three together it does a lot better explaining some instances than not.

Very excellent source for the chaos curious...



http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/chaos_all.php

Chaos Magick

by Ray Sherwin





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Chaos Magick has its roots in every occult tradition and in the work of many individuals. If any one person can be said to have been responsible, albeit unintentionally, for the present climate of opinion that person would be Austin Osman Spare, whose magical system was based entirely on his image of himself and upon an egocentric model of the universe. He did not intend that the system he devised for his own use should be used by others since it was clear to him that no two individuals could benefit from the same system. Nor did he fall into the trap of presuming that the information revealed to or by him was pertinent to all mankind as all the messiahs did. Aleister Crowley came to look upon him as a "black brother" purely because he refused to accept Crowley's Law of Thelema, preferring instead to work beyond dogmas and rules, relying on intuition and information uprooted from the depths of self.

The most recent public expression of Chaos Magick has been through the work of the Illuminates of Thanateros, an order which Pete Carroll and I initiated in 1978. Our aim at that time was to inspire rather than lead magicians interested in the Chaos concept by publishing ideas of a practical nature. Our approach differed to Spare's only insamuch as we were interested in group as well as solo magick. The response to our writings was much greater than we anticipated and by 1982 there were groups working in England, Australia, America, Egypt and Germany as well as allied groups such as the "Circle of Chaos" and many individuals working alone.



The difficulties of running such an order soon became apparent. What seemed simple to us, both in concept and technique, was not simple to people who had not suffered the bizarre and arbitary intricacies of what is now referred to as "traditional magick." This put us in an awkward position because it meant that a magical concept which, by our own definition, could not be taught now needed to be taught. Both Pete and I held guruship and hierarchy as anathema yet now we were being expected not only to teach but also to lead.



It has been said that all systems of magick have the same end result. I doubt that this is true because so many systems restrict their practitioners within such narrow parameters of dogma and morality (even if there is no priesthood as such) that instinct and imagination are stifled by rules and doctrines. A path cannot be chosen sensibly until all paths have been examined for comparison and to restrict oneself to one path would, in any case, limit ones experience and modes of thinking.



A solution was eventually to the problem of how to reach that which could not be taught. No rules or instructions were ever given, only suggestions. No mention was made of notions best left for the individual to decide such as reincarnation and the existence or nature of god. Ideas of that nature have little bearing on the performance of practical magick anyway, and individuals practising the techniques rapidly came to their own conclusions. We knew that we were on the right track when we came to collating the information sent to us by individuals and groups. Without exception everyone who sent results to us considered the techniques they had used to be extremely potent but - and this was the important thing - they had all come to different conclusions on matters of philosophy. That they had come such varying conclusions and still wanted to remain within the loose organisation structure we had set up was more encouraging than anything else.



To detail the methods of Chaos Magick would be spurious since they are adequately dealt with in available publications. It would be useful however, to point out a popular misconception which has been unintentionally fostered by people writing in specialist magazines. There has been some confusion about the word 'chaos', some writers believing the word to have been used in this context to express the techniques themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst it is correct that some modes of gnosis are effective because they confuse the ratio-cinative functions they ultimately lead to clarity and magicians involved in the Chaos current tend to be meticulous in the way they organise their programme of work. This is a legacy inherited from the "93 system". We formulated the term "Chaos Magick" to indicate the randomness of the universe and the individuals relationship with it. The antithesis of chaos, cosmos, is the universe suitably defined by the successful magician for his own purposes and that definition is under constant scrutiny and may be regularly changed. Chaos is expressive of this philosophy and reinforces the idea that there is no permanent model for the individual's relationship with everything that he is not. The word encompasses not only those things we know to be true but also what we suspect may be true as well as the world of impressions, paranoias and possibilities.



If there were anything such as a Chaos Credo it would run on the following lines: I do not believe in anything. I know what I know (gnosis) and I postulate theories which may or may not enter my system of adopted beliefs when those theories have been tested. There are no gods or demons, except for those I have been conditioned into acknowledging and those I have created for myself. I create and destroy beliefs according to their usefulness. In the words of the wise "nothing is true, everything is permitted" - provided it interferes with no-one.



At the group level obviously a consensus of some sort must be reached. I use the word consensus advisedly because other descriptions such as "shared reality" would be quite misleading since no notion beyond the concrete can be shared. It can, at best, be appreciated. Guidance in technique is always useful but reliance on books, even books on Chaos Magick, is best kept to a minimum in favour of working by instinct.



Group workings usually fall into four categories - experimental, initiatory, repeated ritual and celebratory (for which several groups may come together) although by no means all groups include all four categories in their repertoire. More important for a group working any sort of magick is to build and maintain an atmosphere which excites and inspires the imagination. The groups already in existence have, to a large extent, moved away from the idea prevailing in the seventies that theatrical trappings are not necessary. They tend to use any device which will contribute to the magical atmosphere they wish to create. The traditional magical weapons are sometimes used but, more often than not, quite new weapons peculiar to each group are made. Masks and robes are effective and, therefore, widely used although nudity is not frowned upon (See the "Cardinal Rites of Chaos").



As far as experimental magick is concerned, sigilisation has been the most widely researched subject, but telekinesis, ESP and telepathy as well as many methods of raising power have been looked into in varying degrees of detail.



Chaos Magick is not looking for converts but anyone who is already inclined towards magical adventure and who is prepared to break new ground would be warmly accepted by the existing groups.







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BOOKS ON CHAOS MAGICK



LIBER NULL - Pete Carroll

PSYCHONAUT - Pete Carroll

THE THEATRE OF MAGICK - Ray Sherwin

THE BOOK OF RESULTS - Ray Sherwin

CARDINAL RITES OF CHAOS - Paula Pagani

Chaos

by Hiram Gordon Wells



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Chaos is the field that underlies all things which exist. In the beginning there was Chaos. Before the big bang all order was bound into the monoblock, a point smaller than an electron. All else was Chaos. After the big bang the various dimensions of order were spontaneously created by the inherent symmetry of the original matrix. These dimensions continue to expand through the continuum, but still the underlying Chaos remains active and potent. The nature of the Chaos field is dimly understood. Is it the complete absence of order, or does it correspond to an order not comprehended by Man? Fundamentally it is the uncoordinated source of creation. From Chaos does creation rise, to be formed by other forces. The Greeks called this the Cornocopia; a twisted tube within which is nothingness, but from the mouth of which spews all manner of things. This is interestingly similar to modern theories concerning black holes. Physicists, such as Stephen Hawking, postulate that the structure of black holes may be that of a twisted tube, (called a "wormhole"), within which is a chaos without any predictable physical laws, (called a "singularity"). Further it is stated that these wormholes may have a terminus in another spatial/ temporal/dimensional location, (called a "white hole"). It is a matter of form passing through chaos becoming form again in another aspect. Here is a quality of the Chao s field, that it serves to reprocess matter/energy, breaking them down into components so that it may be reused in the various dimensional matrixes. In these matrixes, our universe for instance, the energy matrixes that form planets, stars, bodies, minds, etc, cannot be entirely broken apart, they retain some similarity. For example, the energy matrix of a body, upon deactivation of the governing principle, goes on to combine with similar matrixes. The corpse feeds the tree and the worm. It reshapes the consumed matrix into simil ar organic constructions. If this combining is delayed, say by isolation within volcanic rock, than the matrix will combine with the less energetic rock, the process of fossilization. With sentient creatures there are actually two matrixes working in combination, the physical matrix and the mental matrix. What has been said about physical matrixes generally applies to the mental, with this difference; that where the physical is usually recombined, except when the matrix is very weak or more energy is required to m aintain equilibrium in t he Chaos field, the mental rarely recombines, (this is termed possession when it combines with an already functioning matrix and called reincarnation when it uses a latent matrix ), instead it usually enters the Chaos field, wherein various things may occur. A special set of circumstances applies to mental matrixes in Chaos. These may be generalized in three ways:



It may be reprocessed; When this occurs the individual matrix is broken down completely. This is dissolution.

It may be partially reprocessed; It sometimes happens that mental matrixes enter Chaos, but the primal will to exist is strong enough to prevent it from being completely reprocessed. in these cases the intellectual qualities do not survive, but the remainder retains some integrity. These are just machines of a sort, what Qabalahists refer to as Qliphoths, (shells).

It may preserve its integrity; It may be that the individuals mental matrix is possessed of not only a strong will to exist, but also of a powerfully focused intellectual fixation. the individual matrix can preserve its discreetness if it can maintain clarity, a very difficult thing to do during conditions of discorporation. Managing this feat will raise another question, "what now?"

The individual cannot retain itself in the Chaos field indefinitely, it would inevitably break apart. Therefore the mind must travel. This raises another quality of Chaos. The chaos field has no dimensions, no time, no distance, at least in our mode of thinking. Basic laws that apply in the dimensional matrixes do not apply in Chaos. Different objects can occupy the same space at the same time, effect can proceed cause, and every point in every location is congruent. Everything is everywhere, always. One can enter Chaos from any particular location, and exit it at any other particular dimensional location, assuming integrity is preserved. The major difficulty i n this m ode of travel is navigation. A very nearly infinite number of choices is presented, no easy task sorting this out, and once one makes his exit, his individual matrix will adapt itself to local conditions, perhaps forgeting himself entirely. Most people have no idea where it is they want to be, in fact many do not even know where they are. They would become lost. There is a method for successful navigation. This method is possible because it is not required to die in order to enter the Chaos field. Travelling the Chaos is referred to by the vulgar as "astral travel". Few understand the nature of this. They use it as a sort of mental vacationing, talking to cretinous shells and gawking at illusions. The inhabitants of Chaos are generally useless to the individual, exceptions perhaps being other more experienced travellers (not al ways human), who might provide some insight. There, as here, you must always be on the lookout for charlatans. The use of travelling chaos before death is that it is much easier to keep individual integrity while possessing a body. The individuals body acts as a beacon to draw back the wandering mind. If the individual wants to use the Chaos field to plot his after life travel plans, it is required that the person know his true Will, for this will tell him where it would be best for him to ma nifest. Without this the individual can not go to where he should be, for he would not know what, or where, this is. But knowing ones true will in this area will raise sympathies which will lead one to his particular "portal of becoming". It is important to avoid facination, or the individual may find himself getting exactly what he thinks he wants, which may be hideously inappropriate. The chaos field is not in itself horrible, although it contains some horrors. Chaos is not hell, although it is inhabited by some types of demons. It is potential, the realm where possibility is born. It is the Apsu, the abyss of the Babylonians. The place of naked, formless creation. It becomes existant when given form by Enki, which is Wisdom and Intellect.

Feb. 1989 Hiram Gordon Wells







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Postscript

Upon reading this essay it occured to me that some readers might take it as a justification for inactivity on this particular level. The old, "never mind what's happening now, things will be great in the afterlife, in heaven, on another planet, etc." This may be fine for the christian slave or whatnot, but it is hardly sufficient for those who are driven by that strange need to create, to attain. Only through progression through the multitude of evo lutionary levels can one go beyond, and it is by ones a ctions here and now that this progression is made.

H.G.W Copyright 1989 World Report Information Services

And Old Point That Bears Repeating

From: sgraves

To: zee-list

Subject: It's an old point that bears repeating.

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 17:59:40 GMT





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I don't know much about chaos magic in any academic, I-read-it-in-XXX sense. Here's my recent experience with real chaos magic.



A good friend of mine was in pain, and in an effort to lessen her pain, I "healed" her. Along the lines of an old post Lauranz made entitled Occam's Pot Scrubber, or something similar, I should more rightly say that she reported feeling less pain after I perceived an action on my own part.



We got into a discussion of how I do it. My answer didn't satisfy me, completely, because I'm overly analytical. I told her that I healed because I know it works. That's all.



No paradigm. No invocation. No visualization. I lay on my hands, and I concentrate on the knowledge that it Works, and it Works.



They call it Faith Healing.



I can analyze it. I really can. But my friend made an astoundingly concise and insightful statement that removes my desire to do so: she said, "Steve, it works because it's yours. You didn't read it in a book. It won't fail because you're not doing it Hine's way, or Caroll's way, it will work, because you're doing it your way."



Similarly, her house is "haunted." By this I mean that upon entering a particular room for the first time, I commented that it felt like someone had hung themselves there. They have, or will. Her name is/will be Colleen. The same night, this entity moved into the room we were sitting in, and caused me great discomfort, in addition to lowering the ambient temperature. Rather than invoke some great deity to cast it out, or banish this "ghost," I simply calmed my self inwardly, felt my inner temperature, and concentrated on feeling my temperature rise. I then asked the spirit to bide its time, that the pain it would cause us would in no way lessen its own, and that, in time, I would help it if I could.



Nothing I've read or put supreme effort into has worked. When I want results, I simply focus on what I know is true: that I have a modicum of power within my Self, and that I can use it externally. It is my chi, my Soul, my life force, and my aura.



Chaos magic? This is chaos magic. Chaos magic is doing what works, for you.



Enjoy the story, folks, and I'll be seeing you in your dreams,

Rev.Graves.



MCH(RU) S* W(-) N++++ PCM/NO(++) D A->++ a>++ C*(+++++) G+(++) Q++ Y

The Process of practising Shiva-yoga is as follows:



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The proper time to practise Shiva-yoga is before sunrise and after sunset.



1.Sitting in a lotus posture or in any easy pose, take out the Ishtalinga and gently rub it for a while on the linen cloth.



2.Place the Ishtalinga on the palm of the left hand so raised as to come in a line with the centre of the eyebrows.



3.Behind the back and just above the left shoulder, an oil-fed lamp or a candle should be placed so that the light of the lamp or the candle is reflected in the coating of Ishtalinga.



4.With half-closed eyes the aspirant should fix his attention upon that light reflected in the Ishtalinga, the coating of which is blue-black or indigo serving to widen and deepen concentration.



Then one will begin to see the aura around the Ishtalinga with different colours. By intense practice one will even see the flame of light thereby the mind becomes calm and thoughts become clear. The concentrated gaze generates psychic heat or Tapas which stirs into activity the pineal gland. This produces psychic light or Tejas which, in turn, leads to the release of Ojas or thought force which is at once a power of vision and a power of execution. That light you begin to see in your palm. Christ said, “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” When the third eye opens, the body becomes full of light.

Shiva-yoga lands one into a region of effective will and intuitive knowledge where to will is to create,and to think is to see.









How to Worship Ishtalinga & Practise Shiva-yoga?

There are three processes - Nada, Bindu and Kala. The first stage is Kala - worshipping Ishtalinga. Keep Ishtalinga on the palm of your left hand and slowly pour water on Ishtalinga. When you pour water, please, repeat the mantra OM NAMAH SHIVAYA, OM NAMAH SHIVAYA. Repeat it mentally, not vocally. Then rub Ishtalinga. Also rub the palm. The palm should be warm. The rubbing of Ishtalinga should be gentle. Why should we do this?

















Faraday, the English scientist, has proved that electricity is generated by three modes - by friction, by contact and by induction. Why should it be done? Why should Ishtalinga be rubbed? Because by gentle rubbing or by friction electromagnetic waves are generated. The hexagon is drawn on the palm of the left hand. Hexagon means triangle over a triangle. It forms six small triangles which represent six chakras - Adhara, Swadisthana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Vishuddhi and Agneya (Brahmarandhra). The middle means Shunya, Zero or Bindu. So, here Ishtalinga should be placed. Around it there are the six chakras. In each small triangle, Shadakshara mantra (OM NAMAH SHIVAYA) should be written like this - NAM, MAM, SHIM, VAM, YAM, OM.



The significance of this mantra is this: there are six principles in the Universe. Prthvi, Ap, Agni, Vayu, Akash and Atman. Prthvi means the earth - NAM in Muladhara chakra represents the earth element. Ap or water element in Swadisthana chakra is represented by MAM, Agni or fire element in Manipuraka chakra is represented by SHIM, Vayu or air element in Anahata chakra is represented VAM, Akash or ether element in Vishuddhi chakra is represented by YAM and Atman - the Self, the Soul – in Agneya chakra is represented by OM. This represents the whole Universe, the power of the cosmic energy.



The human body itself is a battery. The two hands are the two poles of the battery. Right palm is the right pole and left palm is the left pole. The right pole contains proton, the left pole contains electron. Electron is more powerful than proton, that is why we place Ishtalinga on the palm of the left hand and we begin to gaze at the speck of the light which is reflected on Ishtalinga. In the mind, please repeat “OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”. This is necessary. This is Nada, sound. The small speck of light which one sees is Bindu, and pouring water over Ishtalinga is Kala.



Three things should be done. Electricity is generated by friction, contact and induction. First, rub Ishtalinga gently. That is friction. Then keep it on the left palm of your hand. The contact is formed. Electricity is generated. Then one has to look at Ishtalinga with half-closed eyes. Look at the Bindu, i.e. the speck of light which is reflected in Ishtalinga. Go on looking at Bindu. That is induction. Friction, contact and induction, by these three modes electromagnetic waves are generated. They go and dash against the pineal gland which is situated in the third ventricle of the brain. When the electromagnetic waves dash against the pineal gland, it begins to vibrate. When it begins to vibrate, it releases light and sometimes one's palm becomes full of light. That light comes from the pineal gland because it is the symbol of the third eye. If we go on practising Shiva-yoga, our whole body would become full of light.



Christ said in the Bible, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." He experienced it. "If thine eye be single" means when your third eye opens. The third eye means the pineal gland. When the pineal gland opens, i.e. when the third eye opens, what happens? Your whole body becomes full of light. And it is the experience of Christ. It is true.



There is no harm whatsoever in practising Shiva-yoga. Everyone is eligible to practise this irrespective of sex, age, caste, colour, race and religion. A boy of 8 can do it, a man of 80 years can do it!



The practice of Shiva-yoga improves physical health and spiritually one gains insight into the psychic being.

Shiva-yoga And Pineal Gland



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The Shivagamas and the Vachana literature of the 12th century, which preserve intact the ancient culture of Shiva-yoga, speak of its glory and greatness in eloquent terms. Yoga then signifies a spiritual condition of universal equality and God union. When the individual spirit comes in contact with the universal spirit, then it realizes its ultimate object of repose and all its movements acquire meaning and significance. This union or contact is to be established in consciousness alone. If the union is effected through the concentration on the light reflected in Ishtalinga, it is Shiva-yoga. The whole process of Shiva-yoga is directed to the awakening of the dormant pineal gland. It is a rudimentary organ in most people but it is possible to quicken its evolution into a condition in which it can perform its function of apprehending events comprehensively. In Yoga Shastra this pineal gland is spoken of as the third eye, the function of which takes place through the middle of the forehead. Physiology has recognized the importance of the middle brain and of endocrine glands. It has therefore set a value upon the pituitary and pineal glands. The pineal is the seat of cosmic thought. When the pituitary and pineal glands have become fully developed and stimulated, their vibrations fuse and stir into activity the third eye, the eye of the soul. This activity provides the mind with a sensitive instrument, a transmitter by means of which vibrations of very differing types can be translated, interpreted and rearranged. This gives man personal access to the wisdom as explained by H.H.Shri Kumarswamiji in the article below.





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The term YOGA has a very ancient history dating back to the chalcolithic age (Copper Age). The inscriptions found in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa have revealed the existence of God Shiva, seated in a yogic posture. The term Minakanna obtained in the inscriptions suggested the early ideal of yogic discipline. In those remote days the yogis noted for their asceticism and discipline, were addressed as Minas. Father Heras observes, "that life of asceticism was practised in the pre-Aryan proto-Indian period, is evident from the fact that one of the inscriptions mentions "the learned Minas who dwell in the caves". Cave-dwelling was not ordinary in those days, when beautifully built brick houses were common. The learned Minas dwelling in caves could not but be ascetics".



Shiva-yoga has been sponsored by these learned Minas. Three things stand out into bold relief about Shiva-yoga.



1) It is historical for it has a history of more than 5000 years. It goes as far back as the chalcolithic age. It was prevalent in the Indus valley civilization. And from there it spread to Egypt, Sumeru and other Mediterranean countries.



2) It is democratic in the sense that everybody is eligible to practise Shiva-yoga irrespective of caste, colour, creed, rank, age and position.



3) It is scientific in the sense that it is entirely based upon the laws of light and electricity.



The term Minakanna is pregnant with meaning. In later days, it was translated into Sanskrit as Animishadristi or unwinking gaze. Crystal gazing is as old as the hills and the belief that it generates magnetism is equally old. It was only in 1850 that Baron John Reichenback discovered this magnetism and described it as odylic force. He announced that odylic force could be generated by crystal gazing and by crystal magnets on the human body and human hands. His experiments were conducted in the natural waking condition of a subject. Since then, odylic force has been photographed and there are reasons to believe that magnetic crystals and human bodies, send forth emanations which can be felt and sometimes seen by similar persons. The Ishtalinga, which is an indispensable means of Shiva-yoga, is a stone with a glazing covering. Since the steadfast gaze on Ishtalinga generates magnetism, Ishtalinga is a crystal magnet.



Ishtalinga is a miniature of Shivalinga. The worship of Shivalinga, in India, dates from a very long period. The worship of Shivalinga, as we have it in the temples, is the characteristic feature of Shaivism. There is another mode of worship known as Ishtalinga form of worship, and Veerashaivism or Lingayatism advocates this mode of worship. Ishtalinga is worshipped by placing it on the palm of the left hand so raised as to bring it in line with the centre of the eyebrows. Ishtalinga is made of light grey slate stone and to be kept intact it is coated all over with a fine durable paste prepared out of certain ingredients. The colour of the paste is blue-black or indigo. The colour of the naso-ciliary plexus or Ajna chakra situated in the centre of the eyebrows is also indigo. This colour represents Mahat or intuition. The colour of the covering of Ishtalinga and that of Ajna chakra being akin in nature, they act and react upon each other thus enriching the magnetic force or intuitive power. Animishadristi came to be identified with Samyama. Samyama or the concentrated gaze is the secret upon which the whole of Patanjali Sutra hinges. When one has succeeded in mastering this Samyama, one will come into the possession of occult powers. But Samyama is to be practised stage after stage, the higher one is to be resorted to only after the lower one has been won. Samyama should pass from gross to the subtle, from the subtle to the causal, from the outer to the inner, from the inner to the innermost. This gradation has been recognized by Shiva-yoga. In Shiva-yoga the process is threefold which involves Samyama on Ishtalinga, Pranalinga and Bhavalinga - the outer, the inner and the innermost. The concentrated gaze of the Ishtalinga reveals the inner light which is known as Pranalinga or Jyotirlinga. The gaze on the inner light leads one to the realization of the innermost light or Bhavalinga. When this innermost light is realized by the yogin, the knowledge of subtle things will be intuitively revealed. The Shivagamas and the Vachanaliterature of the 12th century, which preserve intact this ancient culture of Shiva-yoga, speak of its glory and greatness in eloquent terms.



The term Yoga has a variety of meanings but the generally accepted meaning of the term is union or harmony. The term Yoga is derived from the root "Yuj", to join or weld together. Just as in welding two pieces of the same metal are made to become one by the process of heating and hammering, so in Yoga the embodied spirit is made to become one with the universal spirit by certain physical and mental exercises. Yoga then signifies a spiritual condition of universal equality and God union. When the individual spirit comes in contact with the universal spirit, then it realizes its ultimate object of repose and all its movements acquire meaning and significance. Be it noted that, this union or contact is to be established in consciousness alone. If the union is effected through the repetition of Om, Soham or any other name of God, it is Mantra-yoga; if through the catches, postures and breath control, it is Hatha-yoga; if through the control and concentration of the mind, it is Raja-yoga; if through the discrimination between spirit and matter, between self and not-self, it is Jnana-yoga; if through the development of finer emotions, it is Bhakti-yoga; if through the disinterested performance of actions, it is Karma-yoga; if the union is effected through the concentration on the light reflected in Ishtalinga, it is Shiva-yoga. In all these cases, union with the Universal is the one dominant and recurrent note, however different may be the process.



In Shiva-yoga the concentrated gaze on the light reflected in the Ishtalinga is of vital importance for it generates magnetic force which helps to galvanize into activity the dormant pineal gland.



The whole process of Shiva-yoga is directed to the awakening of this dormant pineal gland. It is a rudimentary organ in most people but it is evolving though slowly. It is possible to quicken its evolution into a condition in which it can perform its function of apprehending events comprehensively. It is the organ of cosmic thought as the eye is an organ of seeing and ear of hearing. The mathematical time which is only an illusion produced by the successive states of consciousness as one travels through the eternal duration. In Yoga Shastra this pineal gland is spoken of as the third eye, the function of which takes place through the middle of the forehead, which is marked by the Hindus with a tilak or spot therein. Hence in the symbolic representation of Shiva, we see in the middle of his forehead an opening with red flames issuing therefrom. This third eye or the pineal gland is atrophied in man, simply because his tendency has grown downward and his mind has got immersed in sexual pleasures. This eye and kamic organ are said to be like two pans of a balance, one of which has to kick the beam when the other grows heavy. Only when we outgrow Kama, lust or libido and make it as light as possible, that this pineal gland will reopen, that it will flower out into brilliance.



"We are wonderfully made", says the writer of the Psalms. But how wonderfully we are made, we hardly care to know. Few of us have any idea of the amazing variety and intricacy of the processes that take place in our bodies. We fail to understand the mysteries of our own bodies, which are as it were, nature's crowning master-pieces. The Yoga science furnishes us with an authentic information of our body in the light of the most modern discoveries of medicine and physiology. The foundations of Yoga are laid in the solid physical structure of the human body. Man's body is indeed a miracle. The different systems that make it an organic whole show an extremely beautiful arrangement of parts and great skill in operation. The most important and complicated of them all is the central nervous system with its stem and innumerable branches spread out in all directions. This gives it an appearance of the tree. The flowers that blossom on this Tree of life are the Chakras and plexuses. The fruits at various places are the ductless glands. The fruit and flower are not visible to the physical eye. Only the bare tree with its branches and branchlets is to be seen. To enjoy the fragrance of the flower and the sweetness of the fruit, that is immortality, definite steps have to be taken. This forms the practical part of Yoga as an occult science.



Physiology has discovered functional hierarchy, and the levels of function are three - the humoral, the autonomous and the voluntary. Of these three the humoral is the basic and it plays an important part in the preservation of the body. The Yoga science has recognized this fact long ago with an insistence on the electro-structure of the physical body. The humoral has for its essential function the regulation of all the chemical processes going on within the cells and is called metabolism. This function is under the rule of the glandular system. The chemical elements absorbed in food or otherwise are first turned into colloids by the various digestive processes and then passed into the blood, finally to be distributed as reserves by the endocrine glands. The research has been carried far enough to have gained for physiology synoptic vision of the whole humoral system and of the wonderful subtlety with which it meets all the needs of the organism and keeps the specifically human equilibrium. The thyroid deals with iodine, the pituitary with bromine, the parathyroids with calcium, the suprarenals with alkali, the liver and the pancreas with sugar. The equilibrium is constantly maintained by vitamins. Physiology has ascertained the correspondence of vitamin C with the suprarenal hormones, of vitamin A with the thyroid, of vitamin E with the kidneys and gonads. Vitamin E acts exactly like the hormone secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary, vitamin D like that of the parathyroid and vitamin B has an antagonistic action towards the thyroid gland.



The theory of life as combustion is now superseded by one of electrical induction. The body can no longer be likened to a machine run by heat, whose activity is measured in calories; it has become an electric engine. In humoral system electricity is found to play an important part. Since living substance is in its nature colloidal, its isolated particles carry electric charges. These charges constitute a highly differentiated electric lining to the somatic substance of the body, whose chemical and organic complexity it arouses and whose activity it commands. J. C. Bose has already shown the existence and the physiological importance of this electro-structure in the plant, Professor D'Arsonval of Paris and Professor Tchijewsky of Moscow have investigated its activity in the animal and in man. Now it has been established that the vital tonus is maintained by the electrical charges inbreathed with the air and carried by the blood from the lungs to the cells. Just as in the body the purely physical function is found to be a dynamic entity flowing along the nerves and ruling organic activity, so has the humoral and cellular function been seen to be equally electric in nature. The colloidal constitution of living substance has for its counterpart an organized lining of electrical charges. The chemistry of the cells and their metabolism has to be maintained by borrowing food and air from the environment. What we really eat and breathe are ions, that is, molecules plus electrical charges. These charges represent an all important factor in the maintenance of the vital tonus of the organism. It is on the basis of the electro-structure which maintains the vital tonus of the organism, the Yoga science asserts that the physical body could be electrified to such an extent as to be literally free from disease and death. Allama Prabhu, a master-yogi of the Veerashaiva faith, who flourished in the 12th century in Karnataka had attained such an electrical body which is known as Vyomakaya.



Physiology has recognized the importance of the middle brain and of endocrine glands. It has therefore set a value upon the pituitary and pineal glands. A special relationship unites the pituitary gland with the roof of the third ventricle on the one hand and on the other the whole system of ductless glands throughout the body. The third ventricle is a narrow slit lying near the base of cerebral hemispheres and separating the two thalami from each other. At the posterior end of this slit a small nodule of grey matter projects backwards and overhangs corpora quadringamina of the mid-brain. This is the pineal gland. It represents all that remains of the third eye which used to adorn the forehead of some of the lizard ancestors in far off times. This type of lizard is found only in New Zealand and it dates back to the end of the Paleozoic period in the Permian epoch. One of this lizard's features is that it has a quite developed third eye behind and between the usual two. This is known as the pineal eye and is represented in man by the pineal gland.







The Pituitary gland is situated at the base of the skull with its two lobes, anterior and posterior. The pineal gland is connected with the posterior portion of the pituitary. The pineal gland is like a tiny pine cone about one eight of an inch in size and coloured grey, while the pituitary is about the size of a ripe cherry and attached to the brain by a stalk. The pineal gland is the negative pole being a counterpart of and complementary to the pituitary body which is the positive pole. It is for this reason Yoga science observes that the pineal is to the pituitary what Buddhi is to Manas, what intuition is to reason. The pineal is of considerable importance for it acts on the nerve endings within itself and through them on the whole middle brain. The function of the pituitary is to control the development of the body to suit the development of the consciousness. It exercises this function through the other ductless glands. The chief change which it brings into organism is the awakening of the genetic functions by stimulating the sexual glands. But the pineal gland is there to prevent the pituitary from awakening the sexual functions too soon and acts as a check on anterior lobe of the pituitary. This is why the pineal is associated with the spiritual nature of man.



The Pineal gland is the seat of cosmic thought. Human thought may be regarded as a result of suspended action, which the subject does not allow to proceed to its full realization. At each step new inhibitions intervene to prevent energy from immediately discharging itself in motive channels. This necessitates introversion or inward storings of energy until little by little thought is substituted for the inhibited action. It would therefore be a pity to confound introversion with an open retrogression, since the latter marks a stage backwards in the line of evolution. Introversion is an indispensable condition of self-realization. It is a rich and luminous simplicity which achieves the dispersion of analysis by surpassing and overcoming it. It is the fruit of the true intuition, the state of inner freedom. Hence in the complete introversion there is no loss of consciousness but a displacement of attention. Consciousness is dynamic, it is in fact something intensely mobile. When the exterior world has disappeared, the circle of consciousness contracts and seems to withdraw into the pineal where all organic functions and all psychic forces meet and there it enjoys unity. Herein lies the secret of Samadhi, herein lies an instrument for penetrating to the depths of functional consciousness or the supernal light.



All nervous energy which is connected with the pituitary is electro-positive and all somatic energy, that is, cellular and humoral which is connected with the pineal is electro-negative and the balance of these two polarized electricities is maintained by the electric ions in-breathed with the atmospheric air. The pituitary is physical in nature while the pineal is spiritual in nature; to raise up the physical to the spiritual constitutes the secret of Sadhana or worship, for by the meeting of the two energies which starts from the one and produce the other is enhanced and fulfills itself. This is how the union or the harmony between the two is achieved by Shiva-yoga.



The process is as follows: place the Linga on the palm of the left hand so raised as to come in a line with the centre of the eyebrows. Behind the back and just above the head an oil-fed lamp or candle should be placed so that the light of the lamp or candle is reflected in the coating of Linga. With half-closed eyes the devotee should fix his attention upon that light reflected in the Linga, the coating of which is blue-black or indigo serving to widen and deepen concentration. The concentrated gaze generates psychic heat or Tapas which stirs into activity the pineal gland. This produces psychic light or Tejas which, in turn, leads to the release of Ojas or thought force, which is at once a power of vision and power of execution. Shiva-yoga therefore lands one into a region of effective will and intuitive knowledge where to will is to create, to think is to see.



The pineal gland is an oval shaped body about the size of a pea lying in the middle of the head, behind and just above the pituitary. It contains pigment similar to that found in the eyes and is connected by two nerve cords with the optic thalamus. Since it controls the action of the light upon the body scientists have suggested that it is a remnant of the third eye. The third eye is an enigmatic organ having a universal history. It is the middle eye of Shiva, it is the eye of the Horas Egyptian tradition. It is the horn of the unicorn. The third eye is an organ apparently dormant but innately acquired by mankind, whose awakening is the right of every individual. It is an organ of inner vision which embraces eternity while our physical eyes look before us seeing neither past nor future. He who has opened this third eye can direct and control the energies of matter, see all things in the eternal now and therefore be in touch with causes, reveal the etheric records and see clairvoyantly. It is through medium of the third eye that an Adept can at any moment put himself in touch with his disciple anywhere.



The mechanism of the human body is composed of six systems, namely the nervous system, the respiratory system, the circulatory system, the digestive system, the excretory system and the endocrine system. The endocrine system consists of many glands situated at various places in the body. The pituitary and the pineal are in the head, the thyroid and parathyroid are in the neck, thymus in the thoracic cavity, the adrenals and gonads are in the abdominal cavity. They are called ductless glands because the hormones produced in them are thrown directly in the blood stream. Of all the glands the pituitary and the pineal are the foremost. Physiology and anatomy have already described the various functions of these two glands. But Yoga science goes a step further and says that the pituitary is the seat of individual consciousness while the pineal is the seat of the universal consciousness. In the normal man these two states of consciousness are not in harmony. To bring about the harmony between these two states of consciousness is the object of Yoga. In Shiva-yoga the cosmic consciousness descends to meet the individual consciousness through the optic thalamic nerve. The meeting takes place in the centre of the eyebrows or the Bhrumadhya.









Anatomical location of pineal gland





Pituitary gland





Pineal gland







Image Courtesy -- www.biomagnetictherapy.net/ pineal_gland.aspx, http://www.tcc.fl.edu/courses/psy2012/units/u03ca.htm





When the pituitary and pineal glands have become fully developed and stimulated, their vibrations fuse and stir into activity the third eye, the eye of the soul. This activity provides the mind with a sensitive instrument, a transmitter by means of which vibrations of very differing types can be translated, interpreted and rearranged. This gives man personal access to the wisdom.



During the embryonic development of the human race man's only organ was the one eye, or the etheric eye, with which he used to see all non-solid matter. As the earth solidified man developed his two physical eyes which can see the solid world but his etheric eye or the third eye receded, its etheric sight spreading all over the nervous system and having its seat in the third ventricle of the brain. The earliest people used only that middle eye or the third eye and were known as cyclops.



As physical eyesight developed, the etheric eyed recessed, but although dormant as the pineal gland, it is only awaiting development and training to be reawakened. This training was a part of deliberate yogic process which was well understood and thoroughly provided for in the ancient wisdom. When the third eye is opened, the individual begins to see all the activities of the etheric plane, and he approaches much nearer to the causes and realities of life. He can see the thought-forms, entities and complex types of life which make up a vast world of teeming energies which the limited capacity of ordinary physical sight is unable to register.



The ancients knew all about the third eye and indicated it on the statues of their gods by a knob on the forehead. The Egyptians trained the people in the use of this psychic centre in the temple of Maat. The god Maat was vulture-headed, because the vulture has a sight so keen as to be almost clairvoyant. When people responded to this training they became seers. They could see with the trained third eye, right through the body, as the X-ray does and diagnose a disease. All over the East and India, we find statues of historic man of wisdom with a knob or other mark upon the forehead indicating this type of achievement.



The scientists and medical experts have laboured in the field of biology and physiology to find out facts about the pineal gland. They opine that the pineal gland contains the most astonishing qualities which would be of immense benefit, if only we learn how to develop and use them. It can become a window of life through which we can realise a new dimension of consciousness. The pineal gland is a link between the physical body and the nervous system and holds the key to the opening of the third eye or the sixth organ. The third eye, far from being a spiritual symbol is in fact the pineal gland.









Anatomical location of pituitary and pineal gland





Pineal gland, Posteo-lateral view of brain stem.







Image Courtesy -- www.biomagnetictherapy.net/ pineal_gland.aspx, http://www.tcc.fl.edu/courses/psy2012/units/u03ca.htm





Three things emerge from the labour of the scientist and medical experts about the pineal gland:



1) The pineal gland is made up of two types of cells - pineo-cytes and astro-cytes. The latter are found throughout the nervous system, but they are not present in any other gland except the pineal. This is the first peculiarity.



2) Every organ in the human body depends on something else: nothing works entirely by itself. Even the heart which has its own nervous system is governed by magnetic currents flowing from the centre but the pineal, though linked with the brain, is not activated by the nerve cells that surround it. It appears to be activated by messages that reach it from the eyes - messages conveyed by the pupils rather than by retinal images. This is the second peculiarity.



3) The third peculiarity is that the pineal acts as a kind of built-in cosmic ray receiver. Cosmic radiation is now known to exercise a considerable influence over our everyday lives. Probably for this reason, occultism opines that pineal is the seat of cosmic thought.



Occultism suggests that pineal is the uterus of the brain. In sexual reproduction man uses the organs and Chakras below the diaphragm and friction is the mechanism. In the higher creative acts, the organs and Chakras of higher trinity are used. In this higher process, the mechanism is the spiritual discipline and endeavour. Hence the increased creative activity leads to the opening of the third eye.



The human brain has a fundamental resemblance to the human embryo. It represents the component parts of a bodily form, with the repetition of the endocrine glandular pattern which is hermaphrodite. The pineal and pituitary represent the male and female elements, while there are two perfectly formed little breasts, known as the mammary glands. When the pineal and the pituitary are aroused to a new livingness, they are stimulated to the point when finer vibrations and new radiations are set up. These finally impinge upon each other. Then the wonderful marriage within the head, between the pituitary and the pineal takes place. When this happens, the real consciousness is born and the sacred third eye flows into being.



In Shiva-yoga the steadfast gazing at Linga is of vital importance because it generates magnetism which galvanizes into activity the dormant pineal gland. As a result of a sustained look at Linga, the transmuted energies rise up the nerve channel into the medulla oblongata through the pons, then pass down into the pituitary behind the eyes. The increasing pituitary radiations finally pass through the third ventricle until they awaken the dormant pineal and the third eye lights up between them. Thus Shiva-yoga teaches us the technique of opening the third eye.



All eyes need a lens to give meaning to the light sensations. The third eye is not exempt and a lens is built into the aura in front of the forehead. The construction of the lens is the part of the necessary discipline that leads to the accurate perception with the organ of the inner vision. The crystal gazing indicates the nature of the mistery. Ishtalinga which is an indispensable aid to Shiva-yoga is a crystal magnet. For the formation of psychic lens to the accumulation of the material in the aura a focal point is created with the provision of a steadfast gaze.



The human eyes use a lens to concentrate rays of light on a sensitive region of the retina. Here photo receptors register light impression in clearly defined patterns which are then conveyed through the optic nerves by electrical impulses to the brain. It is the optic thalamic nerve that connects the pineal with the pituitary. Light energy flows from the pineal through the optic thalamic nerves to the two eyes. Eyes pour occult forces or unseen emanations which have been discovered by Dr. Oscar Brunler. He showed that the written manuscripts and the great works of the art carry impressions with them, the radiation of the human eyes which pour over them lovingly during their creation. Measuring in degrees biometric Brunler gave an average seize as 350. He found out that Bacon showed 640, Michelangelo registered 689 while Leonardo gave a reading of 725.



The third eye is a four-dimensional organ. Hence it flourishes in a situation in which control of time has become a developed capacity. Any sort of slowing down of time will enable activity of the third eye to become facile.



Man is but a spiritual embryo. His potential is immense. Man has powers latent within him and they show everywhere in the paranormal phenomena witnessed as ESP, that is, extrasensory perception. All men manifest ESP when they are asleep. If man could retain consciousness while the physical body is asleep, his psychic powers could be recognized and used up by him. Restoration of that memory or self-remembrance constitutes the unfoldment of the third eye.



Sahasrara or the crown plexus, where the pineal resides, when stirred into activity the Sahasrara becomes the most resplendent of all the centres full of indescribable chromatic effects and vibrates with extreme rapidity thus opening the third eye through the awakening of the pineal. The realm of the Sahasrara is characterized by Chinnada, Chitbindu and Chitkala by life that pulsates, by the light that illumines and by the law that governs.



Finally, Shiva-yoga Pradipika, a valuable Yoga manual, speaks of Shiva-yoga as having four aspects - Shiva-bhakti, Shiva-jnana, Shiva-vrata and Shiva-dhyana. Shiva-yoga in one sense is integral, for it integrates Bhakti-yoga, Jnana-yoga, Karma-yoga and Dhyana-yoga all in one.



Shiva-yoga Pradipika defines Linga as the connecting and co-ordinating link between Shiva and Shakti or as the unifying principle of truth and will. This concept of Linga is significant and valuable. Shiva is the Sat aspect of reality while Shakti is its Chit aspect. Shiva and Shakti are the transcendent and immanent, static and dynamic, personal and impersonal aspect of reality. There seems to be an apparent opposition between the two. There is no opposition because Sat and Chit become one in Ananda. That is why reality is spoken of as Sacchidananda. The one saving feature of Shiva-yoga is this that it has endeavoured to resolve this apparent opposition not by taking the aspects one after the other but by ascending to a height of spiritual intuition where the two are melted and merged into a perfect whole.







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This article 'Shiva-yoga and Pineal Gland' is taken from H.H.Mahatapasvi Shri Kumarswamiji's book,



'Technique of Opening the Third Eye'.

Historical Aspects of Shiva-yoga



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Shiva-yoga, the secret name of which is Animisha-yoga, has been addressed as Prachina-yoga or the ancient Yoga in the Upanishads. Shiva-yoga has a very ancient history dating back to the chalcolithic age (Copper Age) which goes as far back as 5000 BC. The recent findings of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa have proved the existence of an advanced stage of civilization of a people that flourished in the Indus Valley. In the Proto-Indian period, the worship of Linga in the temples as also the worship of Linga worn on the body was in existence. The decipherment of the Mohenjo Daro inscriptions helps us to have a glimpse about the religion and philosophy of Proto-Indians or Dravidians. The self-existence of God is evident from the name of God Iruvan, the one who exists. Linga is the unifying principle of Shiva and Shakti, of Sat and Chit aspect of Reality. The concept of Linga as the union of positive and negative principles is conspicuous in the Shivagamas. H.H. Shri Kumarswamiji has discussed the historical aspects of Shiva-yoga in the following article.





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The recent findings of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa have proved the existence of an advanced stage of civilization of a people that flourished in the Indus Valley. They exhibit that the Indus people who belong to the chalcolithic age(Copper Age) which goes as far back as 5000 BC are in possession of a higly developed culture in which no vestige of Indo-Aryan influence is to be found. Sir John Marshall in his Mohenjo Daro Indus Civilization devotes one full chapter to the religion of the Indus people. Therein he concludes that those people worshipped Mother Goddess, Shakti, and a male deity Shiva. He identified the male deity with Shiva because of the prominent characteristics of the deity having three eyes and being a Mahayogin as represented on seals, images, carvings and other signs discovered in different sites. Thus remarks Sir John Marshall:









Map of India (pre-independence)





Seal obtained in Harappa excavation





Seal obtained in Harappa excavation





Mohenjo Daro and Harappa sites







Courtesy -- http://www.harappa.com





“In the religion of the Indus people there is much of course that might be paralleled in other countries. This is true of every prehistoric and of most historic religions as well. But taken as a whole, their religion is so characteristically Indian as hardly to be distinguishable from the still living Hinduism or at least from that aspect of it which is bound up with the animism and the cults of Shiva and Mother Goddess – still the two most potent forces in popular worship.”



The term Minakanna, obtained in the same inscriptions, suggests the early idea of yogic discipline. In those remote days, the yogis noted for their asceticism and discipline were addressed as Minas. That life of asceticism was practised in the Proto-Indian period is evident from the fact that one of the inscriptions mentions, “the learned Minas who dwell in the caves”. Cave dwelling was not ordinary in those days when beautifully built brick houses were common. The learned Minas dwelling in the caves could not be but ascetics. Shiva-yoga was sponsored by these learned Minas dwelling in the caves. “One marble statue has the head, neck and body quite erect and half shut eyes fixed on the tip of the nose. Another is draped in the upavita fashion passing over the left shoulder and under his right arm. His shawl has rosettes having a form of the Bilva leaf, the most sacred material for worship in the Shiva cult. The philosophy of the age crystallized in the discipline known later as Brahmacharya. Sexual restraint is in evidence in the urdhvamedra representation of Shiva on the seal. It is not phallic orgies but their conquest that constituted the essence of yoga at that time.” Shiva-yoga has a historical background though we are unable to formulate all the details of Shiva-yoga prevailing at that period. In course of time, the practice of Shiva-yoga and even the shape of Linga seem to have undergone changes. Shiva-yoga is democratic in the sense that everybody is eligible to practise it, irrespective of caste, colour, creed, rank, age, sex and position. It is scientific in the sense that it is entirely based upon the laws of light and electricity.



Shiva is addressed as Lingodhbhavamurti, the self-existent Truth. The image of Shiva, called Shivalinga, found in all the Shaivite temples is only a plastic representation of this self-existent Truth. In the Proto-Indian period, the worship of Linga in the temples as also the worship of Linga worn on the body was in existence. As time rolled on, a distinction arose in the mode of worship. The worshippers of Linga worn on the body were known as Virashaivas. The Linga worshipped in the temples goes by the name of Shivalinga or Sthvaralinga and the Linga worshipped and worn on the body goes by the name Ishtalinga. “The only explanation applicable to them (the Lingas found in the Indus Valley) is that they were sacred objects of some sort, larger ones serving as anconic amalgamate, the smaller as amulets to be carried on the person, just as miniature Lingas are commonly carried by Shaivites today.” Ishtalinga is a miniature of Shivalinga; it is worshipped by placing it on the palm of the left hand so raised as to bring it in line with the centre of the eyebrows. Ishtalinga is made of light, grey slate-stone and to be kept intact it is coated all over with a fine durable paste prepared out of certain ingredients. The colour of the paste is blue-black or indigo; the colour of Ajna chakra, situated in the centre of the eyebrows, is also indigo. The colour of the covering of Ishtalinga and that of Ajna chakra, being akin in nature, they act and react upon each other thus enriching the magnetic force or intuitive power.



The term Minakanna is pregnant with meaning. In after days, it was translated into Sanskrit as Animishadristi or unblinking gaze. Crystal gazing is as old as the hills and the belief that it generates magnetism is also equally old. It was only in 1850 that John Reichenback discovered this magnetism and described it as odylic force. He announced that odylic force could be generated by crystal gazing and by crystal magnets on the human body and human hands. His experiments were conducted in the natural waking condition of a subject. Since then odylic force has been photographed and there are reasons to believe that magnetic crystals and human bodies send forth emanations which can be felt and sometimes seen by sensitive persons. Ishtalinga which is an indispensable means of Shiva-yoga is a stone with a glazing covering; since the steadfast gaze on Ishtalinga generates magnetism, Ishtalinga is a crystal magnet.



Crystal gazing enables one to observe the emanations extending from the etheric body and to determine the state of a person’s health by the colour and intensity of the aura. The etheric body sends out longer and shorter or positive and negative vibrations and this is why the appearance of those vibrations outside the physical body is known as the etheric double. The aura depends upon the etheric power which the etheric body sends out, permitting greater ease in the transmission of those rays where the vibrations tend to neutralize, the negative long vibrations tend to curve in and contact the positive vibrations causing short circuiting which makes the aura dull and spotted. The etheric body is the connecting link between the physical body and the ego, when the main positive-negative vibration at the glabella, that is, at the centre between the eyebrows is neutralized, the silver cord connecting the body and the ego is said to have broken loose. The steadfast gaze on the speck of light reflected in the coating of Linga placed at the palm of the left hand so raised to come in line with the centre of the eyebrows, keeps the silver cord intact making the body disease free and ego care-free.



Minakanna or Animishadristi came to be identified with Samyama. Samyama or the concentrated gaze is the secret upon which the whole of Patanjali sutra hinges. When one has succeeded in mastering this Samyama one will come into the possession of occult powers. But Samyama is to be practised stage after stage, the higher one is to be resorted to only after the lower one has been won. Samyama should pass from the gross to the subtle, from the subtle to the causal, from the outer to the inner, from the inner to the innermost. This gradation has been recognized by Shiva-yoga. In Shiva-yoga the process is threefold which involves Samyama on Ishtalinga, Pranalinga and Bhavalinga – the outer, the inner, the innermost. The concentrated gaze on Ishtalinga reveals the inner light which is known as Pranalinga or Jyotirlinga. The gaze on the inner light leads one to the realization of the innermost light or Bhavalinga; when this innermost light is realized by the yogin, the knowledge of subtle things will be intuitively revealed. The Shivagamas and the Vachanaliterature of the 12th century which preserve intact this ancient culture of Shiva-yoga, speak of its glory and greatness in eloquent terms.



The decipherment of the Mohenjo Daro inscriptions helps us to have a glimpse about the religion and philosophy of Proto-Indians or Dravidians. The self-existence of God is evident from the name of God Iruvan, the one who exists. The early idea of yogic discipline can be perceived from the images of the figure of An, the male deity, seated in a yoga posture. The female deity is called Amma. Amma is the common word for mother in Dravidian languages and a good number of clay statues of Mother Goddess have been found in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. The concept of Linga among the Indus people was in the sense of union, the union of male and female principles or Shiva and Shakti. Father Heras observes thus: “Before ending we must refer to another link still existing from those ancient days between Mohenjo Daro and Karnataka. The modern Lingayats of the Kannada country depict a sign on the walls of their houses, the meaning of which does not seem to be known to them – the sign X of Linga. This sign is often found in the inscriptions of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. It reads Kudu and means union. The sign very likely refers to the union of male and female principles which is so prominent in the religious tenets of the Virashaiva religion.”



The concept of Linga as the union of positive and negative principles is conspicuous in the Shivagamas. The attempt to identify Shakti with woman and Shiva with man is a blasphemous error. As a matter of fact, they are neither male nor female nor even neuter, for the Shivagamas declare in unmistakable terms, that Shiva is the Sat aspect of reality while Shakti is its Chit aspect. Shiva and Shakti are, as it were, the transcendent and immanent, the static and dynamic, the personal and impersonal aspects of the Reality. But the Agamic seers have endeavoured to resolve the verbal opposition between these two aspects not by taking these apparently incompatible aspects one after the other, but by ascending to a height of spiritual intuition at which they are melted and merged in the unity and perceived as the completing opposites of a perfect whole. Linga is therefore the unifying principle of Shiva and Shakti, of Sat and Chit aspect of Reality.









Seal obtained in Harappa excavation





Seal obtained in Harappa excavation





Seal obtained in Harappa excavation





Seal obtained in Harappa excavation







Courtesy -- http://www.harappa.com



The Indus people believed in the Supreme Being whose quiescent attributes were omniscience, benevolence and power of generation and destruction. The Supreme Being had three eyes and eightfold form. His names were Iruvan, Enmai, Tandavan, Munkan. The Dravidians worshipped Linga in the temples, the Linga which was the amorphous representation of Shiva. They worshipped Linga by sprinkling it with water or milk, by offering prayers, by meditating on the deity. Shiva had the emblems, namely, the trident, the snake, the axe which are still the characteristic emblems. They had an idea of death and judgement after death which was the basis of moral life. But to crown all these, they had a concept of the Triad – An, the Supreme Godhead; Amma, the Goddess; and Anil, the Son. These are the later day Shiva, Shakti and Sharana of the Agamas. Madame Blavatsky in her Key to Theosophy says that theosophy means divine wisdom or Brahmavidya and it comes to us from the Alexandrian philosophers called the lovers of truth. The name theosophy dating from the third century A.D. began with Ammonius Sacas and his disciples who started eclectic theosophical system. They were also denominated Neoplatonists. But its origin is much earlier as it is attributed to the Egyptian priest, Pot Amun, who lived in the early days of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Diogenes says that the name is coptic and signifies one consecrated to Amun, the God of wisdom. Here we venture to say that Amma, which is the correct form of Amun, is not originally the Egyptian deity. In reality it belongs to India and especially to Dravidians in whose trinity Amma constitutes the middle term. Amma, Uma, Maya, Mata are all cognate terms implying the divine power and wisdom of An or Shiva, the transparent Reality.

Another name of Shiva is An which becomes clear from the evidence obtained in the Puranas and Epics. The Mahabharat refers to Anu which means Shiva. The words Anu, Sthanu and Anudharma imply the religion of Shiva. Father Heras observes: “The word An – Shiva – travelled to Sumer, Egypt and other countries. The word Anu, in the feast of the striking of Anu in Egypt, is actually connected with the followers of An – Shiva.”



Dravidians lived not only in the Indus Valley and the Deccan but were spread all over India. They had developed their civilization and language and had commercial relations with Egypt, Chaldea and other Mediterranean countries. It has now been proved that the names of certain articles which King Solomon’s trading ships brought him, were not originally Hebrew. These articles are sandalwood, ivory, peacocks, apes and teak, which could easily be traced through the Hebrew corruptions, have all along been set down as Dravidian words. In the ruins of the ancient Ur of the Chaldeas, built by Ur-Ea, the first king of the united Babylonia who ruled 3000 years BC, was found a piece of Indian teak and it is to be noted that teak grows on southern India from where it was exported to Babylonia. These facts simply point to a well-established commercial intercourse between the Dravidian India and Babylonia. It is but natural that with the export of commercial commodities, the cultural ideas must also have been exported into Chaldea from the Dravidian India. One of the cultural ideas that dominated the Chaldean mind was Minkan. In the Dravidian religious life Minkan or Fish-eyed represents the Supreme Deity. We read in the story of Chaldea that Fish-God is the civilizer of Chaldea.



Apart from this historical significance, Minkan has a metaphysical meaning fruitful for investigation. Minkan signifies ever vigilant vision that carries with it ever vigorous execution. Shiva is therefore the Godhead that has the inherent power of effective will and intuitive knowledge which unmistakably refers to the divine Shakti or Amma as a counterpart of An or Shiva. The Agamas wax eloquent upon this inherent relation of Shiva-Shakti and Linga represents the unifying principle of Shiva-Shakti, of being and becoming, of truth and will. The Agamas evidently emphasize the dynamic principle Shakti which is integrally associated with Shiva. But Shiva transcends Shakti in the sense that the remains calm while Shakti is the moving principle. Shakti is immanent in Shiva and it is the force of projection in creation and the force of withdrawal in liberation, through the emphasis on the principle of becoming. The Agamas, unlike Bergson, insist upon the locus of becoming to a centre. Becoming or dynamism is the ideal unfolding of the divine but behind this ideal unfolding stands Shiva – the Supreme consciousness which energizes this ideal unfolding. Shakti is the source of all possibilities – spiritual, psychic and vital, both cosmic and individual. Shiva is beyond all actuality and possibility.



In mystic experience there is a tendency in man to become God and a contrary tendency in God to become man. Without these tendencies there can be no spiritual life in the concrete. Indeed the mystery of concrete spiritual life implies a fulfillment through contradiction. Virashaivism which preserves the triad of An, Amma and Anil in the crystallized form of Shiva, Shakti and Sharana, also exhibits this contradiction. The Son, Sharana, becomes God Shiva; the divine Mother Shakti reveals the Shivahood, where the sonship is sincere and complete. The Son becomes the Father even as the Father becomes the Son through the intervention of the Mother. Allama Prabhu, the Virashaiva master mystic was the best representative of this sonship. One of his sayings runs thus: “Father produced me through the Mother and I became identified with the Father through the Mother.” This cryptic saying suggests that the Son or Sharana who is the divine individual, has to attain Shivahood who is the transcendent Divine, through the medium of Shakti, the universal Divine.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



This article 'Historical Aspects of Shiva-yoga' is taken from H.H.Mahatapasvi Shri Kumarswamiji's book,



'Technique of Opening the Third Eye'.

Social Ethics

by Vexen Crabtree





1. Major Satanic Social Ethics

"The Satanist [...] should have the ability to decide what is just" - Satanic Bible7



Do whatever you want as long as you harm no undeserving person



Lex Talionis



Social Stratification3



Respect people, their territory and belongings. Let others do the same to you, else destroy them.1



You can do whatever you want, but you pay the consequences



Responsibility to the responsible2



Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself1



2. Approach this subject with caution

Legalism



"The main point of Satanism is that we do what is best for ourselves. The laws are secondary to that. A Satanist who breaks the laws of Satanism is either short sighted, stupid, or has a good reason. The rules are also for the protection of Satanism, so that outsiders (who easily pick up "rules") can quickly get an overview of the type of theology he is dealing with in Satanism.

Satanism is individualistic, not legalistic, especially when it comes to morals and rules. Outsiders to Satanism sometimes approach the rules and laws too legalistically; they assume that like religions they are familiar with that there is a taboo involved in breaking the laws of Satanism. There is no taboo. It is not compulsory for Satanists do follow these "rules". It is not expected. Satanists never engage in debates over whether someone has broken these. A Satanist who absconded another and said "Hey, aren't you forgetting this particular Satanic Rule of the Earth..." would be laughed at and generally considered a legalistic sheep.



Left hand path is a path where the individual mostly learns for himself what is right or wrong. According to one's personal beliefs "right" and "wrong" can differ greatly. There are very few absolutes or universals in Satanism."



"Laws, Sins and Rules of Satanism" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 July 24



These ethics are, however, generally agreed on by Satanists before they convert to Satanism and are still good as a summary of how many Satanists think.



Religions and Ethics

When people approach a religious text, or any large book from which they intend to derive ethical teachings, nearly without exception the person will pick up the book and pay very particular attention to all the morals they already agreed with. A homophobe will pick up the Christian Bible and realise that Homosexuality is an evil sin. A misogynist will pick it up and realise that after all this time he's right: Women are inferior, and he can quote the Bible to prove it. People get, from religious texts, what they put into them.



Satanism is no different, just a lot more honest. A hateful person will pick up The Satanic Bible and use it to justify hatred. A compassionate person will use it to understand Human Compassion and increase it within themselves. More sexually minded people will absorb the wealth of sexual text in The Satanic Bible. Etc.



So I am under no delusion. As I work through the ethics I find in Satanism I know full well that I am merely picking out things that I agree with and interpreting text in a way I like. Sometimes consciously so. It is impossible to read ethics derived from large texts in any other way, it is inescapable Human nature. That's not to say I don't try. In places I disagree or ignore LaVey's text, and I will say so where I feel this is true. I am trying to present working ethics, and sometimes that does involve a little imagination with the text.



Deterrents and Promotions

Several of the laws and sins given by LaVey serve as general advise that only really applies to the young, immature or overly rebellious Satanists. They serve to deter these people from joining Satanism by making it clear that Satanism is not for them and they also serve to act as advise on how such people can improve their lives by abiding by these rules.



3. The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth

1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked

2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them

3. When in another's lair, show him respect or else do not go there

4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy

5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal

6. Do not steal (paraphrased)

7 is not relevant.

8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself

9. Do not harm little children

10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food

11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him

The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth

Anton LaVey 1967

Click to view list on Church of Satan's home page



1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked

For an experienced, young, stupid or naive person operating within a Satanic community, or in any formal setting, this is very good advise. Knowing your own naivety is a high blessing. However it is not universal advise and there are many times when your opinion is warranted even when not asked. For example, I could voice my opinion on something to aid someone's understanding, or for many reasons, and derive many benefits such as friendship, constructive debate, a sense of accomplishment. This rule is good advise, but if you are a mature person then it is not relevant in most situations. I call this a "neophyte" rule, something that you can ignore once you've got your bearings.



Proceeding to interpret this Rule in a way that results in an obvious Rule that is best obeyed nearly all the time. I feel that this Rule is more related to discussions of religion, as it is a religious statement itself. I employ it to mean "Do not give opinions on Satanism unless you are asked" which is damn good advise. Unless it comes up and you are asked about it it is very good advise not to casually talk about Satanism. Even the most evangelistic Satanists do not wonder around introducing themselves as "Simon, a Satanist"... this would be the height of self destructive rebellion in the name of cheap thrills at the expense of all respect. If you are the type of person to show yourself up with pretentious and immature public Satanic declarations then this rule is very much for you! Simply do not give your opinion unless asked!



However, mature and sensible people will be able to give their opinions when appropriate, with particular reserve about statements of their own affiliation. When in doubt, say "I'm an atheist" and debate as such.



2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them

This is wise advise. I had in mind initially to write that this advise is simply ignored... but thinking about it, it is common sense and it something I adhere to. I don't whinge, publicly moan or attention seek through telling people my problems. My friends and those that trust in me are the ones I divulge my troubles too, because I know they benefit from doing that to me, a trusted friend, in return. The disadvantages of whinging to those who aren't interested are manifold, they will think you are immature, failing, a psychic vampire leeching off of their attention.



I interpret this to apply in normal social situations, as part of normal relations. Professional relations are different. If you pay an analyst to listen to you, then you should tell them your problems even if you suspect that deep down they don't really want to know!



3. When in another's lair, show him respect or else do not go there

4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy

There have been multiple times when someone in my "lair" has annoyed me. Sometimes I forgive, sometimes I don't. However I don't think I've ever treated anyone cruelly and without mercy. Likewise I have definitely annoyed people (sometimes even intentionally) when in their own domain. They haven't treated me without mercy either, and I don't believe they'd have warrant to do so (authoritive condemnation of my actions would be a much better start)... My conclusion is that these laws are broken, or that I am not capable of interpreting what LaVey meant by them. I think he may meant "you have a right to treat people in your home how you wish", which would explain why you have to give respect in someone else's place, because they too have this right.



5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal

People have asked what is the mating signal, I interpret this to mean, simply, that you should take care. Be careful not to make up signals due to your own wishful thinking.



6. Do not steal from people (paraphrased)

Exceptions abound to this and always have done. I needn't give examples. I think this rule is designed to make neophyte Satanists and young rebels think before they steal, to make them reconsider if what they are doing is truly good for themselves. Without rules like this, Satanism could fail be a prop in a person's development if they need such a prop. It's a "just in case you're a moron, I wish to tell you not to steal" kind of rule.



"Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved" is very similar to rules of other major religions. In Buddhism it is reflected in the Second Precept (of the Five Precepts of Right Conduct in Therevada Buddhism), "not to take what is not given"6 and Christianity's Eigth Commandment, "Do Not Steal". What Buddhism and Satanism have, common sense, is sometimes lacking in the Christian consideration of this as an "absolute". For example, who wouldn't steal a weapon from a maniac? It is only meant as a simplistic guide.



7 is not relevant.

Satanic Rule of the Earth 7 is a rule about the application of magic and not a statement about ethics.



7. Acknowledge power of magic if...

8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself

This is one of the greatest pieces of social advise ever. Satanists aim to be powerful people, taking their lives into their own hands because if you can't look after yourself, no-one else will. If something is wrong that you could easily change then change it. It's pro-active. Don't moan, complain or whinge, simply deal with it. Life is not fair and never will be, you need to not complain about that which is not fair and go about rectifying the problem.



9. Do not harm little children

Similar to rule 6, I think this acts as a statement to deter some of the crazy people that Satanism attracts. These people will either avoid LaVey Satanism or adopt it and change their ways. In either case there is no excuse for the harming of our young, LaVey expands on this law along with most the others in his writings, and states "do not harm little children, for they are our future".



10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food

Similar to 9 and 6, in that this serves to act as a prompt to those who think that Satanism involves animal sacrifice. Harming animals is stupid and pointless. Once this statement is understood, along with others, to be a kind of disclaimer as to what Satanism is not about, you can also understand the exception to this rule. For example farmyard animal are frequently killed for food even if not for your own food. Sometimes killing animals that are suffering and in pain is good. These exceptions distract from the literal interpretation of this rule, but not from the intended function of this rule which is to point out that Satanists are not (and should not be) immature animal torturers.



People are messed up and some of these messed up people find their way to Satanism. If they take it seriously, such advise will aid their development past rebellious and misguided behavior that involves animal abuse.



"Historically animal sacrifice has gone hand in hand with religion. It is only the post-Roman Empire religious world that has fully rejected animal worship. It remains in the holy books of the world's major traditional religions, and is still practiced by some Earth religions. In order for Satanism to be out of the ordinary, it would have to actually reject animal worship. Satanism does see man "as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours", so it can be expected that Satanism has an untraditional attitude towards animal sacrifice."

"Animal Sacrifice" by Vexen Crabtree 2001 Jan 20



11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him

It is not ethical to allow our species to decay and self destruct because the individuals that make up society are too meek to confront aggravating behavior. This statement accords with Lex Talionis that we will get to later in this text.



"I do not interpret "destroy" to mean "kill", as this would be stupid to kill those who merely bother me. I interpret this to mean that you should not take any shit whilst going about your life. Don't let yourself get trampled on. "Destroy" means that you remove that person as a risk"

"Satanism and Violence"



4. The Satanic Statements 4-6

Essays about the Nine Satanic Statements

4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!

5. Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!

6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!

The Nine Satanic Statement

Anton LaVey 1969

Click to view list on Church of Satan's home page



4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!

In reality, kindness is bestowed upon those people who are grateful. In society, kindness is given most freely to those who reciprocate as normal members of society should. If you do not grant a person respect when they are kind to you, they and people around you will cease being kind to you. Satan as reality is harsh. If you are kind to someone and they do not act appropriately then cease being kind because you are not (in many circumstances) going to help them by fuelling their self destructive social retardness.



5. Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!



"Without punishment for the wrongs we do, even on a personal level, we allow ourselves to be run over. We allow the wrongs of society to multiply. Two wrongs don't necessarily make a right... but if a person would commit three wrongs, and you punish them (and therefore stop them) after the first the overall total of wrongs is actually one less than it would have been otherwise..."

"Satanism and Violence"



It is simply and unfortunately true that if you do not look after yourself, if you allow yourself to be trodden on, your life is going to suffer. All of society suffers when wrongs can freely be committed. Not all wrongs are illegal. Not all vengeance is illegal either.



6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!

Psychic vampires are social parasites. LaVey expands on this in The Satanic Bible. Those who are capable should rule, those who can do a job should be the ones doing it, etc. Those who are capable of delivering social justice should be the ones to do it.



Also see:



Elitism and Satanism essay: Those in charge should be the responsible

5. The Ethic of Reciprocity

The ethic of Reciprocity is called "The Golden Rule" by Christians and "The Wiccan Rede" by Wiccans.



"This Golden Rule is called the Ethic of Reciprocity and is the most universal moral code known; appearing in nearly all cultures, being derived from multiple teachers, religions and philosophies at different times in different ways (including Zoroastrianism); dated to at least 1500bce."

"The Golden Rule" by Vexen Crabtree 2001 Dec 28



It is "Do not treat people in a way that you would not accept them treating you".



Criticism of the Ethic of Reciprocity



"What you have described there is essentially the Wiccan Rede. Nice concept, however (IMHO), doesn't work in the Real World, where the vast majority doesn't follow the rule and are always willing to push you down downhill in order to gain some shortsighted narrowminded goal. And thats what we have, an endless power struggle. It might work, if you would isolate yourself from the rest of the society (until you start developing multiple personalities in your isolation)."

Mikko, in a post to the London Satanists on 2002 Oct 28



The ethic of reciprocity in Satanism

The version that appears in Satanism is "Do what thou will, as long as you harm no undeserving person". I think "as long as you harm no undeserving person" adds a large quantity of realism to LaVey's version. It is ethical to "Do whatever you want as long as you harm no undeserving person". Satanists are not ethical all the time. I wouldn't believe someone if they claimed to be!



I don't expect many Satanists to agree with the Golden Rule as the Wiccans or Christians see it. The former version is not a practical ethic, as Mikko pointed out, and the latter version (turn the other cheek...) is just a plain disaster. I return to Satanism and Social order when talking about Lex Talionis.



It means you must accept they anyone has the same rights as you to do whatever you do (and more, if they don't mind you doing it to them too). Such ethical systems are egalitarian (now that I think of it), just plain wrong, in my opinion! Although, it is still a popular ethic and many (I bet some Satanists do) repeat it. Sometimes it's because they haven't heard it criticised.



Related essay:



The Golden Rule (including more criticism!)

6. Sex

"Satanism is pro-sexuality. Sexuality is a pure form of pleasure, something that satisfies our deepest purpose in life. Modern life allows us to enjoy sex without the risks of unplanned pregnancies and sexual diseases assuming that sense is taken. Which it should be. Satanism supports any fetish, kink or flavor of sexual encounter as long as all parties involved are consenting. Some people like quality, some people like quantity.

A number of essays and texts by LaVey concentrate on the use and expression of sexual energy, but as social tools and energy within ritual. Boyd Rice says 'LaVey understood that wasn't one cookie-cutter for everyone [...] Sexual freedom doesn't mean having as much sex as possible, it means having the kind of sex you want.' Our strongest emotions and desires are sexual, we are sexual beings, it drives and motivates us more than any other factor.



Our sexuality is fluid: It cannot be oppressed. Denying our sexuality simply causes its waters to flow into other areas, sometimes in very unhealthy ways, honestly and expression fare much better than repression. Satanism is informed by modern and learned psychological, medical and scientific opinions on sex, there is no dogmatic principles or religious intolerance of sexuality within Satanism. It is very optimistic, positive and healthy: This can only be expected of such a carnal religion of the flesh such as Satanism!"



"Sex, Sexuality and Satanism" by Vexen



7. Lex Talionis

In physics terms all actions have an equal and opposite reaction. All of our actions have consequences. The worse the action, the worse the consequences will be. This is why stupidity is the cardinal sin of Satanism. There is no divine retribution for wrongs done in life and no karmic system of rewards for the rights we do. We pay directly for everything we do, through direct cause and affect.



Your life can only be wilfully changed through your own actions. Satanism thinks more in terms of cause and effect, of Lex Talionis, than it does of morality or ethics.



Satanism has adopted a less literal approach to the Law of the Talon, as retribution and punishment (the effect of actions) may be greater than the actual if people wish, or less, if we wish. Depending, of course, on the cause and effect of the actions of the retributor on himself!



Strategic self preservation actually results in moral behavior, and self empowerment is a route to social stability.



8. Stratification

Social:



"Stratification - The point on which all the others ultimately rest. There can be no more myth of "equality" for all - it only translates to "mediocrity" and supports the weak at the expense of the strong. Water must be allowed to seek its own level without interference from apologists for incompetence. No one should be protected from the effects of his own stupidity."

Anton LaVey, "Pentagonal Revisionism" point One



More on Equality:



Equality, Egalitarianism and Stratification in Satanism by Vexen 2005 Jan

9. Stupidity

Stupidity is the cardinal sin of Satanism. As the cardinal sin, Stupidity is the cause of all other sins. Anti-stupidity is also the source of most Satanic ethics. Most of the above can be boiled down to a discussion of what is most self-beneficial to do and most the time, because of the way our species is, this frequently means social effects are of utmost importance. A Satanist is not stupid and we know that long term consequences should always be taken into account and this is main step in making sure that the strong, yourself, survives. The rest may do as they please.



Sin, that which is bad for the self, is nearly always a form of stupidity and ethics are generally geared towards teaching and educating people to avoid that which is bad for the self. As sin is bad for the self, any system that eradicates stupidity is ethical... or at least hugely desirable.

Front PageRelated Essays:



Laws, Sins and Rules of Satanism

The Sinister Left and Fear of the Moon

Essays about sin

Essays about the Nine Satanic Statements

Stupidity is the cardinal sin of Satanism

References: (What's this?)

LaVey, Anton [Who Is?]

"The Satanic Bible". 1969, Avon Books Inc, New York, USA.



Notes:



The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth, Anton LaVey 1967

The Nine Satanic Statements by Anton LaVey 1969

Pentagonal Revisionism, Anton LaVey 1988

The Nine Satanic Sins by Anton LaVey 1987

The Satanic Bible, Book of Satan 5:3 [Return to text]

The Social Face of Buddhism by Ken H Jones, p161, original 1989 edition. [Return to Text]

"The Satanic Bible", Book of Lucifer 3:para26.

Who is Satan?

By Vexen Crabtree



Introduction

Satan is not a real, living entity, conscious or a physical thing that can be interacted with. It is a symbol, something ethereal, something that basically doesn't exist except as an emotional attachment and personal dream. Just like Buddhists do not worship Buddha, Satanists hold up Satan as an ultimate principal rather than an object of literal worship. Satan inspires and provokes people, like all (honest) religions the ultimate point is self-help. God believers have a different opinion on what Satan is, but their opinion is a result of their religion. Satanism's Satan is much more eclectic and multicultural than to be defined by Christianity or Islam.



Satan is the dark force in nature representing the carnal nature and death of all living things. Satan is the best word to describe our powerful and independent symbolic figurehead and our opposition of God and organized religion accords with even traditional views of Satan. The materialism of Satanism (even the spiritual components are highly reductionist) is a direct challenge of God, Allah, and all or other religious symbols. Satan wishes to replace God. The Christian Bible and other artefacts of religion may be plundered and misused as required as they're merely Human inventions. The social engineering aspect shows through with our imagery and style, we control people with it.



Of course Satanism has denominations and widely varying beliefs. Many types of Satanism exist including some where Satan is seen as a living being. I think if there was a god, it would probably be an evil one. In these, thankfully, the basis of the belief is not the Christian Bible and I call these beliefs "Righteous Satan" theologies. All the elements of Satan I have just mentioned are discussed in more depth below and on the essays linked from this page.



Satan is inseparable from good. It only exists in our limited minds as we try and explain the world. A Satanist does not treat Good/Bad as Light/Dark. The descriptions are arbitrary. The Dark Force cannot be avoided, tamed, ignored or resisted against. We create it as we view the world. Every Satanist defines it differently. We feel it all the time - it is our ego, our intelligence and our errors all warping to form our observed reality. It is the potential for nothingness that exists wherever there is something. It is real life, necessity and materialism.



"Satanism is not a white light religion; it is a religion of the flesh, the mundane, the carnal - all of which are ruled by Satan, the personification of the Left Hand Path."

The Satanic Bible, The Book Of Lucifer p52



Satan is Not Real

A sociologist of comparative religion, Professor Chrisopher Partridge, once described Satanism in a most effective manner:



“Satan is understood more in terms of a useful icon that encourages self-interest and individualism, and promotes opposition to institutional religion and the dominant culture. Indeed, in this sense, Satanism is essentially a self-religion or human potential movement, which utilizes the rebellious, offensive and provocative symbolism the figure of Satan provides.”

"Encyclopedia of New Religions" by Christopher Partridge, p336-342



In 1999 R Merciless posted a brilliant illustration of this position to Usenet:



“Communists do not believe in a deity called Commun but they do revere and hold up communes as an ideal.

Taoists do not worship the god Tao but, instead honor the philosophy and symbolism of the Tao.



Atheists do not worship the god Athe. Instead, they seek to live a lifestyle that is a-theist, i.e. "without god(s)."



Ventriloquists do not bow down and beg before the demon Ventriloqu. They study and practice the art of ventriloquism.



In the same way, many who use the term "Satanist" to describe themselves follow a cogent philosophy of life modeled upon the mythical literary character known as Satan, honoring his qualities, his rebellion and applying his name to the natural forces which so many white light religions oppose.



The narrow use of the term "Satanism" to mean only the worship of a devil deity misses the more robust and complex nuanced development of the word over the past 33 years or so. Perhaps considering it through the above contexts will help to understand the broader definition. Or perhaps the stupid and narrow-minded will continue to fail to grasp the concept.”



Posted by RMerciless on alt.satanism, 1999 Sept



I add to the above post by R Merciless: What is Buddhism, and do Buddhists worship Buddha? No, Buddhists respect, revere and strive to be like Buddha, but they do not worship him. A Buddha is an enlightened person, Buddhism is atheistic and believes in spiritual life and reincarnation without the help of Gods.



Satanism is not the religious worship of any deity but rather a religious uptake of a humanistic philosophy. We recognize ourselves as gods, and we hold our own perspective on life as holy and revere our own experiences as the only truth we can ever know. See: "Masters of Existence" for Vexen's page on self worship. Satanism is the utter rejection of the spiritual way of theistic religions, and the honest admittance that we are just animals who evolve as any other complex system. The following justifications go further on the discussion on the Church Of Satan's idol, Satan:



Satan is the Dark Force in Nature 1

"Most Satanists do not accept Satan as an anthropomorphic being with cloven hooves, a barbed tail, and horns. He merely represents a force in nature - the powers of darkness which have been named just that because no religion has taken these forces out of the darkness"

Anton LaVey, The Satanic Bible Book of Lucifer IV



"Satan is the dark force in nature. Satanists do not see that nature contains a dark and light force, the dark force is nature. Nature is uncaring, part of its natural processes is death. Satan is death, a returning to the Earth of one's own elements. Good is derived from chaos and evil and not from will or motive. Altruism is long term selfishness and the recognition of this forms the Satanists' reverence for the dark force in nature.



Satanism is called dark or evil by many because unlike white-light religions (such as Christianity, Islam, Paganism, Wicca and most other religions) it does not try to isolate what is "good" from what is "evil". There is no cosmic struggle between good and evil; all is gray and natural goodness is dependent and the same as natural evil."



"The Dark Force in Nature" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 July 22



Satan is the Self God

“To the Satanist, he is his own God. Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates. [...] Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshipped, rather it is a name for the reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will.”

"The Satanic Scriptures" by Peter Gilmore11



In my words:



“People create gods in their own image according to their own desires. Gods are our creations. Within organized religion, people's opinion on their "god" is always individual and subjective but merely uses the terminology of their religion to describe their own god.

Outside of religion, people come up with their own terminology to describe "Gaia", Pantheism, Paganism, monotheism... depending on a person's will and need they search out gods that closely match what they themselves want. Gods are created according to our needs.



If a real God does exist, then we cannot perceive it. We can only perceive ourselves and our own expectations projected into the heavens. It is our own sense of ego that we feel from god. It is our own pride that makes us think we know the truth. God is the individual, and each individual may as well be his own god.”



"Masters Of Existence: Subjectivism and Self Worship in Satanism"

Vexen Crabtree (1999)



“The first and second Book of Lucifer in The Satanic Bible expands on this idea greatly. Between religions and within religions, people have their own personal idea of what god is. Each individual has created their own god, in accordance with their own imagination and experience, and such a god is purely a projection of the ego. "Man has always created his gods, rather than his gods creating him" (The Satanic Bible: part of Book of Lucifer 1:1). The logical philosophy of god is that it is only ever a reflection of the self: That there is no universal god, that each of us is both his own god and redeemer. For Satanists, this state of affairs is represented by Satan, as a symbol of the prideful ego, rather than God, a symbol of homocentricity and all of its errors.”



"The Homocentricity of Religions" by Vexen Crabtree (2003)



Satan Represents Death 10

"The victory of death over life is inevitable. Both the introverts and extroverts gain from the acceptance of Satan as the clearest symbol of death, worthy of exaltation: It is the denial of social mores and fear surrounding the concepts of death (the direct fear of death is of course healthy), and focus a person on their life in a more balanced manner. Not wanting to waste their life, positive and enriching lifestyles are embraced rather than ones that are either too compulsive or too introspective. Compulsion is a lack of freedom and vitality, and nihilistic internal despair is a lack of Satanic energy. By accepting Satan, you are accepting a savior from death, whilst alive, so that the cost of admitting the power of death is paid by an enriched life. To look to the skies for redemption from death is an imbalance, a distortion of healthy life-embrace for the emotional drunkenness of a belief in afterlife. The stupefying affect of a belief in afterlife denies the truth of the matter, whereas life-empowerment through the acceptance of death is revitalizing. The affect of this acceptance is purifying."

"Satan Represents Death" by Vexen 2003 Jun 25



A Personal Relationship with Satanism



Devil's Notebook

"My brand of Satanism is the ultimate conscious alternative to herd mentality and institutionalized thought. It is a studied and contrived set of principles and exercises designed to liberate individuals from a contagion of mindlessness that destroys innovation. I have termed my thought "Satanism" because it is most stimulating under that name. Self-discipline and motivation are effected more easily under stimulating conditions. Satanism means "the opposition" and epitomizes all symbols of nonconformity. Satanism calls forth the strong ability to turn a liability into an advantage, to turn alienation into exclusivity. In other words, the reason it's called Satanism is because it's fun, it's accurate, and it's productive"

Anton LaVey, 1992 Aug 31

Durango, Mexico

Introduction to "The Devil's Notebook"



Satanism inspires. The word and title of Satanism is part of that. All Satanists' have personal reasons which are multiple and varied; Satanism thrives on individualism, personal reflection and non comformity. Everyone has their reasons.



"I had hoped that, now the greater part of you no longer believe in me, I would have a modicum of leisure pour cultiver mon jardin... but the flood of speaking engagements shows no signs of slackening. Your interest in me has somehow failed to wane alongside your credulity.

[...]

You treat me as a backwards God [...] despite being quite unable to decide whether you want the frontwards God himself any more. [...] It is a deluded role, a scrap, a travesty, an incoherence: apparently you like it all the same."

"The Chatto Book of The Devil" Introduction. [More Quotes]



"I look at our organization, the Church of Satan, and see that its present moment is one of great health and exuberance. [...] Our Church has always been and will continue to be the sum of what its members achieve, and we now have a particularly strong association of truly talented diabolists. They use Satanism as a tool towards enhancing their lives, inspired by the symbol of Satan as exmplar"



Peter H. Gilmore in "The Trident", Issue 17



Satan may not exist, but we like it all the same, and more: Want to be like it!



Satan Represents Evil 4

"Satan represents the state of affairs recognized by Satanists: That all good is based on evil: That love and altruism are both selfish and carnal. Satan represents the evil and uncaring attitude of the dark force in nature. It represents good being dependant on evil and life being ultimately defeated by death. Satan represents all of this evil which in turn creates all good. Without our evil sides we are lost and Satan represents acceptance of this."

"Good relies on Evil" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Oct 14



Satan Represents Doubt 5

"Satan represents Doubt. God did not want Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil. Allah did not want his creation to doubt his word. In both theologies, it was Satan, the most intelligent created being, who stood up against this enforced ignorance. Satan tells mankind: Search for knowledge, even in taboo places. Shaitan told the Djinn: Let us test God's word, let us not mindlessly believe all that God says. Although these myths are irrelevant to the modern world, the role of Satan is very much relevant to our lives and our search for knowledge. Enlightenment is the ability to look past stated truth and dogma, and Lucifer is the Crown Prince of Satan that represents our search for enlightenment."

"Doubt" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Dec 11



"Without the wonderful element of doubt, the doorway through which truth passes would be tightly shut. [...] Now is the time for doubt! The bubble of falsehood is bursting and its sound is the roar of the world!"



The Satanic Bible, Book of Lucifer introduction



That Which Makes us Happy 8

"Satan is said by some Satanists to represent their loves in life, their hobbies, the internal things that make them happy. So, for one person, a stable job is Satanic. For another, physical fitness is the most Satanic thing, for another intellectualism is more Satanic than finance or fitness. All agree that failure is unsatanic... so Satan represents the points of life for Satanists. Anton LaVey comments on this and says that if collecting trains is a Satanists' thing, then that is his religious rosary and that is Satan's Will."

"Search for Happiness" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Dec 24



"For me Satan is the personification of the driving force in my life: it is darkness, the inevitability of death that encourages me to live life fully whilst I'm still alive! So... Satan is what I love in life... in particular at this time Satan is: Love, affection, music, large cities, computers and self empowerment."



"Why I am a Satanist" by Vexen Crabtree 2001 July 29



Irrelevant Question

The fact that the question "Why call it Satanism" is irrelevant can easily be overlooked. The reason for the irrelevancy is the simple excuse that I did not call it Satanism. When I became a Satanist I did not choose its name. You could not ask a communist, "why did you call your system Communism?" because the question is pointless - he did not call it Communism but he joined a system that was already called so.

If we wish to find out what the beliefs of Muslims are, do we go and ask a Christian? When we want to know about anthropology, do we ask a White Supremist? When we want to know about Satanism do we ask Jew's for information? It doesn't matter what Christians think about Muslims, the best way to find out Islam is to ask a Muslim, and buy the Qu'ran. The worst thing you could do is ask an enemy of one religion what he thinks of it and hope to get at any truth! If you want to know what Satanism is, you do not trust Christians, Scientologists, Devil Worshippers, Jews or the Press Office of your local paper: You ask Satanists and you buy The Satanic Bible



The concept of Satan is not the property of Christianity - modern monotheistic religions generally use the term Satan to describe their anti-God, but these concepts evolved from older pagan polytheistic concepts. Christianity overuses the term, but we do not accept their definition of Satan of course, because we don't believe in the Bible. The word Satan is not property of any Church! Least of all foreign ones! The only people who are qualified to describe Satanism is the Church Of Satan - how could it be otherwise? The Church of Satan does not use the Christian image of Satan. But sometimes we do, just to scare the theists.



Language

The word "Satan" originates from a transliteration of the Hebrew word "an opposer" or "an accuser": And therefore a Satanist is someone who follows this route - the opposition. Like the Shadow Government we do not endorse the status quo unless we can justify it for ourselves. The word Satan became to mean opposition to the Church, to the Holy Church, not through our own actions but through the actions of those who wished to rule over us in the name of a fictitious God. Linguistically we have always been Satanists and the Church Of Satan is our Church.

This is an excerpt from "Critique of Religion and Philosophy" (1958) by Walter Kaufmann, pp 46 - He is not, nor am I implying that he is a Satanist in anyway, I am simply using his words to express that which I was trying to write...



"Part of the excitement of the quest for the truth comes from the scent of freedom: What is wanted is what is new, different, original: A hitherto unknown fact, a novel distinction or an unconventional perspective ... to dislodge as much as possible of what had seemed fairly established."

[ and he continues on pp46 ]

"... above all, we want to triumph over falsehood and deception."

Therefore, we are Satanists, opposition to Stupidity and Conventions that are based on untruths. We are certainly not "Devil" worshippers, as the word "Devil" originates from Greek, meaning "a great deceiver" and therefore is a bad metaphor to use in place of the word Satan2. The word Devil is not included in The Satanic Bible's list of infernal names. But if we wanted to, we could use the word Devil, for fun, if the word is effective.



"In Satanism, Satan is an archetype, a representation of certain qualities that the Satanist embodies including rational self-interest, avoidance of oppressive mentalities, the questioning of all, and a perseverance towards success and human potential."

From www.satanism101.com/satfaq.htm, written by Rev. Matt Paradise.



A Satanist seeks the truth in the opposite way to the Religious Bible Basher - through trial and error, inference and intelligence, rather than the theistic methods of heart-searching, Bible reading or trying to find truth in myths! The opposite to divinely inspired knowledge, we learn through empirical observation and hard work!



Satanism, the Opposite to God

If you read The Satanic Bible you will find a list of seventy seven infernal names preceded by the Four Crown Princes of Hell, including Satan, the rebel. These names come from lots of different cultures and lots of different time periods.

They all have one thing in common: They were/are seen as the primary force working against the dominant Gods within those cultures. The Church Of Satan could have been called The Church of Set (Egyptian), The Church Of Shaitan (Islamic), etc, but the most famous adjective to describe our Church is Satan. The accuser, the rebel. Given that the COS is a Western phenomenon, it is only right to adopt a figurehead of what is in the Western World the most famous symbol of anti-deity sentiment.



Satanism is a rich eclectic religion, and our figureheads a diverse and from many cultures. To fully understand what Satanism idolizes you cannot rely on merely the imagery of Satan, but on the imagery and doctrines of the Four Crown Princes and the seventy seven infernal names, both found in The Satanic Bible, along with further details than I give on these pages.



Atheism and anti-theism

Atheists are opponents of gods. A god is only as powerful as its followers, and every atheist denies every god that little bit of power. A Satanist plays this game, too, and rejects all gods, including the Christian Satan, and demons as false.



So many atheists are conservative in their opinions towards gods. Not so, the Satanist. Satanists are explicit atheists, and proud of it, much like the Humanists. Being more goodevil in their approach to life, a Satanist will happily side himself with the principal and traditional enemies of the gods of the religions.



The Church of Satan is founded with mankind in mind, with the Earthly world as our guide. We do not like hypocritical white light religion. One good thing that is often found within the most hypocritical monotheistic lines of thought are the bad guys ... the darker elements and characters from white light religions are useful to us as examples, heroes and pillars of strength against what are always stacked odds, and overwhelming enemies.



We are the ones who choose knowledge rather than stupidity, we choose the tree of knowledge and not innocence from it. We question anyone who suppresses the truth. We question anyone who follows something blindly. We oppose theism, we oppose externalisation of guilt as dishonest and harmful. We believe in happiness of the body and self, rather than scoring up points for the afterlife through abstinence.



"The Devil has the most extensive perspectives for God; on that account he keeps so far away from him: - the Devil in effect, as the oldest friend of knowledge."

"Beyond Good and Evil" Nietzsche p94



Throughout History every culture has had a figure which represents the carnal, The Satanic Bible lists seventy-seven of these Infernal Names, and it does not matter which name you apply to us: We are the unreligion, we are the scientists who deem ALL religious constructs to be false.



Materialism and Allah

"Islam is a monotheistic religion centered on the belief that the Human Species were created with the sole purpose of worshipping Allah, the Islamic supreme God. A Muslim must always seek to worship the creator, and not the creation, therefore worshipping Allah, and not the material world. This abstraction is seen as good, whereas the worship of material things is the utmost evil.

It highly obvious that the Islamic Shaitan (or Shaytan) is a being that promotes the non-existence of Allah, or at least one who worships himself (as the only true existential object) instead of his own creator. The Church of Satan KALAM is a religion of self worship and it is named to reflect that fact. The highest opposition to Allah is Satan, where a Satanist worships and self and denies Allah the respect or time of day. [...]



The Church Of Satan represents the Shayatin (Islamic plural of 'Satan') of the Islamic religion: The source of its evil, which is the devotion of Human life TO Human life and not to any externalized creator."



Notes on "Islam"



Satan as Opposition and Replacement of God

A Satanic mission: The abolition of the concept of God by gradually increasing the intelligence of the Human Race. This includes the abolition of Christianity, Judaism, all Orthodox Churches, all Bible based religions (including Qu'raan, Injil/Torah/OT and the NT Canon). Should Satanism succeed in its this aim then once again, the name "Satanism" will have been justified.

All of the Crowned Princes within Satanism represent ungodly and healthy doctrines that develop the Human Race towards being independent of religion, making us accountable for our own actions, forcing us to take responsibility for the Earth and society, all without the dominating presence of belief in god, eternal punishment or heavenly rewards.



Satan is the champion of being human, the messiah of your mind, the idol of ideal behaviour and intelligent conduct, and above all, the accuser of pop society and the accuser of organized religion;



"I question all things. As I stand before the festering and varnished facades of your haughtiest moral dogmas, I write thereon in letters of blazing scorn: Lo and behold; all this is fraud!"

The Satanic Bible: The Book of Satan 2:1



Bastardize the Bible

The Bible is the main part of Judeo-Christian religions, why should it be mentioned here? Well it is undoubted that it has had a large influence over the years especially in the West and the Middle East. The Bible and its side affects has caused a lot of misfortune, war and suffering as a result of the innumerable denominations that sprung from this ambiguous source.

The Bible's structure and myths have developed through time, along with our interpretations of them and translations, and as atheists we are free to bastardize, misuse and abuse as much of the text as possible.



I can pick and choose myths, stories and text from the Bible to suit my need, sometimes taking the text out of context, sometimes merely using its words. If I like a part of the imagery, i.e., one of the many monsters that feature in the Bible, then I will not hesitate to use it. Unless I can find something better from another book.



My website Holy Shit! contains some descriptions of parts of the Bible that are bound to shed some bad light on the Bible.



Bastardizing the Bible has these advantages:



There may be some good imagery you wish to copy.

Even small Bible quotes can make you appear more intelligent and more learn'ed.

The Bible is not copyrighted.

Making the Bible appear less sacred or holy and more like a bog standard (poor quality) book that can be bastardized without fear or shame.

The fourth point is worth pausing over. For many people the 'taboo' of the Bible and words like "Jesus Christ" can istil a psychological power on people. Overuse and misuse of Biblical texts and the name "Jesus" can help to make these concepts appear less important.

Social Engineering

Calling Satanism by any other name would lessen its effectiveness as a social engineering exercise (which it is), and therefore make it less efficient, which is not in the Satanists interest.

It is incredibly useful to us that the dumb, bigoted and ignorant will presume that a Satanist is an immature person who sneaks around graveyards at night time because it allows us to immediately filter out a whole set of people who are not ready (and may never be) to perceive us. Satanism is not about accepting people for what they are: We change people. We teach people. We do not want to become inundated with dumb-asses whom we have to spend time coaching them, rather than using them.



I wear a pentagram, I did at University, I do now. The pentacle has this effect:



If you are stupid and judge me by appearance, the pentacle will keep you away. What a shame.

If you are religious, then you suddenly feel nervous about talking to me of religion. Oh well.

If you are sensible, you ask me about it. Ahah! A question! There's nothing better than good old knowledge!

Finally: It sounds good. It allows the rebel to rebel, and yet remain logical and factual. It allows those who become dissatisfied with their faith to defect and revel in truth rather than descend into petty faith crime, or self deluded "sin". It is a net to catch the elite who see past what they were presented with.



One of the reasons I became a Satanist was to aid in the giving of religion a bad name (Satanism is a ludicrous example of a bad religion to many).



Righteous Satan 3

There are other Satanic groups (besides the Church of Satan), including groups who believe in Satan as a righteous being, who will one day defeat hypocrisy and stupidity across the whole world. I call these "righteous Satan", there are quite a number of theories with varying justifications of how Satan can be the best being to worship.



"Some theologies and theories that place Satan as saviour, releaser and defender of righteousness, and the White Light God as oppressor and Evil. These are common themes in Satanic music, and are also present in nearly all schools of thought that are labelled as Devil Worship. There is no known historical group that accepts the White Light definition of God and Satan and also worships Satan within that dualistic context."

"Righteous Satan" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Jan 06



The Traditional Devil

Click to read full essay on The Traditional Devil.

According to monotheistic white light religions, and especially in conservative views, Satan is not the same as how Satanists' see it. Satan is seen as a symbol of temptation towards bad choices, a symbol of defeat and failure and a symbol of deceit and hatred. Except for those there are areas where even conservative Christians and Satanists agree on when it comes to discussing Satan. These are that Satan is Unholy, Carnal, Earthly; that Satan is Death and its followers are not going to Heaven; Satan is not caring and that Satan's followers are frequently subversive and secretive. The final point in common is that Satan wishes to oust God.



Worship 6

Satan is a metaphor that symbolises all the things in life that are necessary for survival. Satanism is the worship of the self, it is an existentialist movement where we admit that there is no way of experiencing an objective reality and that everything we do is clouded by our own imperfect perceptions. Satanism is, amongst other things, the worship of clarity and overcoming self deceit.



Satanists Worship themselves (if anything)

We worship truth and science

We worship the vessel that brings us reality: our own bodies and consciousness

Conclusion

Satanists are not passive atheists, but explicit atheists. Theologically, we are certainly evil, as the very label we give ourselves portrays that we oppose the concept of God. Our very existence denies God power and credibility. The essay on Dualism goes into this deeper.

Satanism is the unreligion, whose adherents are sided squarely with the opposition to concepts of gods. There is a Jewish proverb, "If God lived on Earth, people would break his windows".



"Why do you call yourself a Satanist?"



Because Satan is the accuser of all gods and religions, the rebel in the world of theology, and the firm and powerful denial of gods. Satan wishes to kill god, and we feel this is a good cause. Given that gods do not exist, we're all already Satanists. The Church of Satan is however for those who feel that abstinence is not enough, mere atheism does not have the sharp edge of Satanism. Satanism is not a religion, it is the unreligion.



See Vexen's personal testimony.

Front PageReferences: (What's this?)

Anon

"Chatto Book of the Devil".



Gilmore, Peter

"The Satanic Scriptures" (2007 Hardback). A collection of texts by the High Priest of the Church of Satan (as of 2001+). Published by Scapegoat Publishing, USA.



LaVey, Anton (1930-1997)

"The Satanic Bible" (1969). Published by Avon Books Inc, New York, USA.



Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900)

"Beyond Good and Evil" (1886).



Partridge, Christopher (Ed.)

"Encyclopedia of New Religions" (2004 Hardback). Published by Lion Publishing, Oxford, UK.



Notes:

The earliest text on this essay was written around 1999 Sep but was written and editted heavily during 2000.



2002 July 22. The text here was removed to form part of the text of a new essay The Dark Force In Nature and replaced with a quote from the opening paragraphs of that essay. [Return to text]

Disputed. Click here for details. [Return to text]

2002 Jan 06. Section added on "Righteous Satan". [Return to text]

2002 Oct 14. Added quote from "Satan represents Good relying on Evil". [Return to text]

2002 Dec 11. Added quote from "Satan represents Doubt". [Return to text]

2002 Sep 26. Text on "Worship" is moved here, it is the remnants of a chapter I deleted from a different essay. Written in 1999. [Return to text]

2002 Dec 13. Added quote from Chatto Book of The Devil.

2002 Dec 24. Added text on Happiness. [Return to text]

2003 Feb 21. Added text on Self God. [Return to text]

2003 Jun 25. Added "Satan Represents Death". [Return to text]

Peter Gilmore (2007 version) "Satanism: The Feared Religion". Gilmore is the High Priest of the Church of Satan. Published in the compendium of essays "The Satanic Scriptures". Essay originally published 1992. Added to this page on 2007 Sep 23. [Return to Text]

The link I have provided below has links to essays on wicca. Take the time and read a little, since I have taken the time to research them in order to provide a better background for your religious knowledge.





http://www.geraldgardner.com/essays.php

Wicca and Celtic Paganism: Why Wicca is Not Celtic Paganism

By Epona Perry







Why Wicca is Not Celtic Paganism



There are many out there who believe that Wicca and its related forms of NeoPagism are a type of Celtic Paganism (and vice versa), but this is simply not true. The following article is meant to be a comparison of Wicca and Celtic Paganism in order to demonstrate this, and to educate the public about Celtic Paganism. While Wicca certainly contains elements of Celtic mythology, folk magic and religious belief, its basic tenets and beliefs are radically different from those of Celtic Pagans. I intend only to show that these two religions are indeed different and distinct; this article is not meant as an attack against Wicca or those who are Wiccan. There is a list of the sources I used at the end of this article, and it is my hope that whether you agree or disagree with what I have to say, you will at least go check it out for yourself by reading some of the sources listed. I hope that this article will encourage the active pursuit of knowledge and spiritual development though knowledge.







There are many modern people who are finding fufillment in following modern versions of the ancient religion of the Celts. But what is Celtic religion? When we refer to the Celtic peoples and their religion we are talking about what existed in Gaelic, Gaulish, Brythonic and other Celtic religions during the golden age of the Celts. This would be from 400 BCE to roughly 1300 CE. While that date includes the beginnings of Celtic Christianity (which is almost a religion in and of itself), in this we will only be discussing Pagan Celtic theology. The pagan roots of Celtic spirituality has existed longer than Christianity. Unfortunately, much of what was known about classical Celtic pagan religion was either lost or combined in with Celtic Christianity, and so much of what we have to draw on is from Christian or other non-Celtic texts, and the wealth of knowledge contained in Celtic Mythology. These sources present their own problems when trying to accurately asses the cultural and spiritural practices of the ancient Celts, and those who follow the Celtic path must dedicate themselves to careful examination of what we do know and continual study.







Even with the problems facing modern Celtic scholars today, we still have much information to go on when practicing Modern Celtic Paganism. There really is little or no need to look outside the scope of the Celtic world when looking for guidance in how to shape our religious practices, due to the large amount of mytholoical material left behind by Celtic peoples, most of which come from the Gaelic Celts in Ireland and Scotland and the Brythionic Celts in Wales. There is also much to be learned fron the modern descendants of the Celts, i.e. those in the so-called "Six Celtic Nations". In the past an now, there is much diversity to be found within Celtic Paganism, and so it is sometimes difficult to say what is right and what is wrong. But by study and examination of the two paths, Celtic Paganism and Wicca, we can see that even this diversity still does not allow the two to be considered as one, for they are fundamentally different.







Was there more than one form of Celtic Paganism? Undoubtedly, based upon the extreme diversity between the tribal Celts themselves. The other reason for the marked differences in regional Celtic religion is, of course, the influence of outside peoples through trading and invasion. Of course many customs and religious practices of neighboring or conquering tribes were incorporated into the Celtic tribes of the area, and through time spread to other Celtic nations as well. There are some who even believe that Celtic culture and language spread even faster than the Celtic peoples, which may indicate that the Celtic Spirit went beyond genetic ties alone.







The Celts as a tribal society were very different from the way we live today. Their ways of expressing themselves (which we can see in their language, art and music) require a different way of looking at things in order to understand, other than the Christian/Greco-Roman viewpoint that most of us are used to.The way they approached their spirituality and religion was also unique, and cannot be easily categorized and understood within the contexts of most other forms of spirituality and religion. Why is this?Because Celtic religion was a unique approach from a unique people, just like many other World religions.







Despite this, there are many (especially in the NeoPagan community) who continue to fail to recognize Celtic Paganism as a distinct, valid form of NeoPaganism that is different from other NeoPagan reilgions. And as a result of the recent renewed popularity of things Celtic, it seems almost everyone and anyone is calling themselves Celtic these days, especially NeoPagans. The most common misconceptions are that Wicca is a form of Celtic Paganism and that Celtic Paganism is just another tradition within Wicca. This can easily be seen to be false when honestly examining the two religions.







Let's start by comparing the basic moral/ethical code of each religion. Wiccans use the "Wiccan" or "Witches' Rede" as their foundation ethic. The whole morality of Wicca is based on the ideals of "harm none", "perfect love and perfect trust", and the "Threefold Law". While these are theoretical statements and made with good intent, they have little real-life practice in the context of Celtic Paganism, and ignore a fundamental part of Nature. This is because one (harm none) is a rule that must be broken just to survive (eat or be eaten). This leaves interpretation and application to each individual instead of being the unifying, ethical standard it was meant to be.And "perfect love and perfect trust" is a nice idea but unattainable in real life, and so it becomes an unmeaningful by-line instead of inspiring personal truth and responsibility. The "Threefold Law" is a Wiccan belief that presupposes a belief in some sort of Karma which is *not* a basic part of Celtic religion. Modern Celtic Pagans follow a moral/ethical code based on those of modern society and those found in the ancient law texts and other writings. These include:







· Respect for Nature and all its creatures



· Honour (as defined by the community)



· Truth



· Service to the Community



· Loyalty to friends, family, and local community



· Hospitality



· Justice



· Courage







Respect for other living things is a key element of Modern Celtic Paganism, and is self-explanitory. Honour means conducting yourself within and without your community in a way that garners other's respect for you. The other elements that follow help guide you, as well as the examples of the Gods and Heroes of the Celts as found in Celtic Mythology. Unlike the individualistic tendencies of Wicca, community was the probably the most important thing to the ancient Celts. Therefore, as modern Celtic Pagans, how you help your community and how the community views you are very important in your self-perception and should shape your self-conduct.







Besides these basic differences of morals and ethics in Wicca and Celtic Paganism, their basic cosmology, they way each system views the world/universe, is very different also. Wiccans use the Greco-Roman idea of the "Four Elements" (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) in their view of cosmology. Celtic Pagans see their cosmos as being comprised of the Three Realms: Land, Sky and Sea. There are also the three planes of existance: ThisWorld, the Otherworld, and the Underworld. There are other sub-systems (called the dhuile) in addition to this which are all interwoven and connected, much like a Celtic knot. As you can see by these examples alone, the way Celtic Pagans view their universe is much more complex than "Earth, Air, Fire and Water", and these "four elements" could never hope to encompass the Celtic viewpoint; therefore they are not considered by Celtic Pagans. In addition, unlike Wiccans, Celtic Pagans do not break their universe and its contents down into components like the Greco-Roman "elements", with correspondences and correlations, color-charts and rules as to what God should be prayed to if you want Love. Instead, all matter is seen as being interconnected in some fashion, so that the Divive can be said to be inherent in all things. So where the Greek elements are what *defines* the Wiccan cosmos, the Three Realms, "dhuile" and others are ways for a person to help understand aspects of the cosmos and their place in it.







Where the Wiccan ideal of the cosmos is based primarily on duality (twos: The God and Goddess, Male and Female, Light and Dark) and quadrality (fours: The Four Elements, The Four Seasons), the Celtic cosmos and most aspects of the religion are triune in nature ( based on threes) or rely on odd numbers as models of balance. Even the Celtic Pantheon is divided into three: the Gods of the Upper Realm (sky), the Gods of the Middle Realm (land) and the Gods of the Lower Realm or Underworld (related to the sea).







Another looming difference between Wiccans and Celtic Pagans is the way each views the Dieties and the Divine. Wiccans believe in archetypical God and Goddess, with all the God/esses in the World being but facets of these archetypes: "All Gods are One God and All Goddess are One Goddess". So a Wiccan makes no large distinction between say Osirus and Odin, except when they are "using" specific dieties for specific purposes, such as dedicating a ritual or a spell to Cernunnos as a God of Forest and Animals to try and effect a good deerhunting season. For Wiccans (and many other NeoPagans) all the Gods and Goddesses (just like their cosmos) are categorized by function, such as Brigit being "the Goddess of creativity", Venus "the Goddess of Love" and Isis "the Goddess of Death and Rebirth". Gods and Goddesses from many cultures and pantheons may be mixed together in Wiccan practices, something known as "eclecticism".







Celtic Pagans believe that each deity is different and individual, and should be respected as such. They are not associacted with specific functions like "love" and "healing" and "creativity" but some dieties will be better known for some aspects over others. Many Celtic dieties span many functions, making it difficult if not impossible to "classify" them as in the Wiccan system. Most Celtic Pagans honor three types of dieties in their practices: personal dieties (ones that provide special inspiration and guidance), tribal dieties (when working in a groups), and the dieties and spirits of the land they live on. Ancestors and land spirits are honored as separated entities and are an integral part of Celtic Paganism, whereas they may or many not be included in the beliefs and/or practices of a Wiccan.







Celtic Pagans and Wiccans also differ in their approach to ritual. Wiccans will "cast a circle" to "create" sacred space, using set fomulas of chants, props, symbols, and "magic". Wiccan rituals are based mainly off of the Western Ceremonial Magic tradition (some of which is drawn from Celtic lore), where formulas of ideas and objects combined in a specific way for a specific outcome are believe to achieve a material effect. This reflects their elemental view of the universe and so is in-keeping with their religion.







Celtic Pagans recognise that sacred places are found, and not created. Therefore most Celtic Pagans will conduct their rituals in a natural setting, or will conduct no such casting of a "circle" in order to pray, meditate, or conduct other religious practices. Because Divinity runs throughout all things, there really is no need to find a "sacred" place to hold a ritual in, although most prefer a setting that will be appropiate for a spiritual activity. Celtic Pagans also know and respect that some places that are sacred are not meant as places to hold rituals, large or small. Places for ritual are found and selected beforehand, and honor is given to whatever spirits inhabit the place. For Many Celtic Pagan groups finding and selecting the appropriate ritual grounds is the first task they undertake as a group. Celtic Pagan ritual will incorparate many of the same elements found in the Wiccan ritual, such as meditation, visulization, group singing and dancing to attune to one another, and special time to honor the dieties of the group. The focus of the ritual is not a specific material outcome, but is more directed at re-focusing ourselves and our community with our gods and Nature in order to better understand and work as a part of our universe.







Most Wiccan rituals involve the working of magic and spellcasting. The idea of Magic as a force that can be directed with one's own will and the practice of spell-casting are integral parts of Wiccan belief, but they are not a part of Celtic Paganism other than as an additive. There are Celtic Pagans who hold this belief and add spell-casting to their religious practices, but that is a matter of choice. The belief in "magic" and the practice of spellcraft are not a part Celtic Paganism in its basic form. Most Celtic Pagans do not cast spells, and it is not a prerequisite of being a Celtic Pagan.







Wicca is a highly individualistic religion that is just as easily practiced on a solitary basis than as a large group. Most rituals are based around the welfare of the individual or the coven rather than the whole community. The Celts did indeed place a high value on individualism, but tied very closely to that was their duty to their families and tribe. Their individualism was allowed to flourish *because* of the safety and comfort their close-knit communities, thus the importance of the survival of the "all" was greater than the importance of the self. This is difficult for most of us to understand today, as most of us grow up in small families in separate home with little connection to the rest of the family or community.







The very foundation of Celtic culture was the home. The hearth was the cornerstone of the spirituality of the people. In Celtic religions great emphasis is placed on the sanctity of the home, and strength of the family. Families, to Celtic Reconstructionalist folk, include people who have adopted each other in the context of that culture. The individuals are encouraged to walk in strength and to fulfill their responsibilities to their "families". These components are only found in Wicca in the loose sense of the "coven" or "circle".It could therefore be argued that the foundation of Wiccan culture is the individual.







Wicca is an initiatory mystery religion.You have to fufill certain requirements before you are allowed access to the complete scope of their religion.In Celtic religion the only requirement you need is to have a connection with the Celtic culture through family or study, and to be dedicated to the betterment of your "tribe", with very few other initiatory elements. Within Wicca (and many forms of modern Druidism) there are the various degrees and levels, each having its own mystery, each mystery being revealed by someone in authority.We cannot be certain how the ancient Celtic clergy funtioned, but we do know that *any* person could approach so seek to communicate with the Gods.You did not need a "cord" or the title of "priest" to have access to the greater mysteries of life.The mysteries of the universe are found in the lessons of the Gods, the order of Nature, and within ourselves.We learn about ourselves and our place in the universe through our study of these things.And this includes understanding our place in and how we affect our global community.







In Celtic religion life lessons are taught through mythological stories which are a central feature of the oral tradition of the culture.In Wicca, little emphasis is placed on this. Myths and story-cycles form the core of Celtic magical practice, through teaching and through what ritual exists. In Wicca there is no clear teaching of what is required to break past the cycles of rebirth. Yet in Celtic religion, the requirement can be clearly and concisely stated, that being to fulfill one's duty, to always be honorable and to stand for the truth come what may, and while understanding *why* what is honorable is considered so.







Wicca and is a relatively recent addition to the religious paths of humanity. There is a lot of mis-information regarding it. It is sad that a great many of its followers have to do the religion such a disservice by claiming an ancient unbroken line of tradition that doesn't exist.There are many well-known Wiccan writers and teachers that continue to claim a great antiquity for Wicca, or the origins of Wicca. Yet mythological Druids (who are a product of the British Revival effort of the 18th century and contain as much if not more mis-information regarding their Celtic roots than Wicca) have nothing to do with modern Wicca. The Wicce of Saxon origin have even less to do with the historical Draoi.Perhaps these are the only myths that Wiccans can agree upon.Loretta Orion (herself an initiated Gardenarian witch) in her book "Never Again the Burning times" states clearly that there is little solid proof of modern Wicca's ancient origins, and that Wicca is a modern creation.







There is also the entymologistical evidence of the discrepancies surrounding the word "Wicca".Some claim it stems from a Saxon word, others a Welsh word, and yet others a Gaelic term.None of these agree with each other about the root or the meaning of the word.And as for claiming it as a Gaelic term (Witta), the letter "W" was never a part of the Gaelic language except for in borrow-words, so neither Wicca nor Witta as a derivation could be Gaelic.As a student of Irish Gaelic, I have found that the sound [w] does exist in Irish and Scootish Gaelic as a "mh" or "bh", like the [w] in the current pronunciation of Samhain [SOW-ihn]. But the "w" rarely occurs at the beginning of a Gaelic word, and even more rarely in front of the slender 'i' sound. So there is next to no linguistic evidence that the word "wicca" or "witta" could be a Gaelic word.







Anyone can call themselves a Druid (or a witch, or a Native American Shaman, etc.), there are no requirements to earn these labels. Many are hungry to find a teacher to show them the "mysteries" that they long to understand, and get too caught up in the romantic imagery inspired by these labels to really check out the teacher or the material they are being taught. This is something that each one of us needs be responsible about. Any good teacher will encourage the student to so some studying on their own, or will at least bring in outside sources to corroborate what they are saying. Beware of studying under anyone who relies primarily on their own writings and sayings as sources of wisdom. Unfortunately, thanks to some publishers (we won't mention any names), there are plenty of unscholarly books out there that unethical teachers can use nowadays to make them *seem* more reputable and knowledgeable than they really are. These situation can readily be uncovered if the student asks enough questions and reads the source material on their own to judge its veracity. Remember, just because you are a learning from someone doesn't mean you have to give up your own powers of reasoning.







Most Pagans nowadays will agree that Wicca is a modern reconstruction, even if they dispute the veracity of Garner's work. Some refer to modern Wiccans as Neo-Wiccans, for the purpose of showing that there is little to no connection between Gardner's creation and the Wicce of the middle ages, and no connection to the Celts; except for what modern Wiccans have borrowed and incorporated. I must point out here that there are in fact many Wiccans out there who speak openly and outright about the young state of Wicca, and also about the confusion and mis-information surrounding its inception. Many of these people are also dedicated to re-educating people about Wicca and its origins and purposes. Sláinte (cheers) to them! As a Celt would say, it is the honorable thing to do *grin*.







I will close this article by saying that Wicca (and other groups in the occult community that take from Celtic culture) and Celtic Paganism can both co-exist happily, as long as the histories and philosophies of each group are both treated with respect, presented truthfully, and given credit where credit is due.I have to say that it was very hard for me to analyze my Wiccan beginnings with an "open mind" even after I felt the Celtic call and understood that Wicca was not the right path for me, but I am glad I did so.I hope that others will take up the call for truth concerning this matter and help to spread the word by referring them to this article or other helpful sources.







Part of what drew me to Wicca and Paganism in general was that it seemed to be a religion and philosophy that encouraged study and the evolution of the spirit through knowledge of the world around us, and I hope further that through this article and my website. Some will notice that I still have many of my old references to seemingly contradictory Wiccan sources on my website and think me a hypocrite -- but the purpose of this site is not just to serve Celtic Reconstructionalist Pagans, but *ALL* Celtic Pagans, including Celtic Wiccans, Druids, and the like.My own original content is of course Celtic-Reconstructionalist-Pagan oriented, but I still offer forums and links to other forms of Celtic Paganism as well, in the hopes that we can still exist as an occult *community* and continue to share the knowledge and spirituality that has helped so many.







Cead Mile Beannachtai!







Epona







Sources:



1. The World of the Druids, Miranda Green



2. The Druids, Peter Berresford Ellis



3. The Druids, Stuart Piggot



4. The Pickengill Papers-The Origin of the Gardnerian Craft, W.E. Liddell



5. Pagan Celtic Britain, Anne Ross



6. Dictionary of Word Origins, John Ayto



8. Never Again the Burning Times, Loretta Orion



9. Drawing Down The Moon, Margot Adler



10. The Celtic Tradition, Caitlin Matthews



12. The Celtic World, Miranda Green



13. Druid : Priest of Nature, Jean Markale







And of course I must thank and heavily credit Iain MacAnTsaoir for his original essay, Why Wicca Is Not Celtic as inspiration for (and for providing the bulk of the arguments of) my article.Follow the link to read the new version of that article.







Epona Perry



http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Wicca_and_Celtic_Paganism/id/35252

COMMENTS

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markus666
17:23 Apr 05 2008

Great info about the older religion. You touched every angle of the subject and for that, I say: Thanks!!

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POST COMMENT

Wicca - History of Wicca



Wicca - Origins

The history of Wicca is much debated. Gardner claimed that the religion was a survival of matriarchal Pagan religions of pre-historic Europe (see Völva), taught to him by a woman known as "Dafo" or "Old Dorothy" (identified by Doreen Valiente (1984) as Dorothy Clutterbuck, although modern researchers such as Philip Heselton have theorized that Dafo and Clutterbuck were two separate individuals). Others posit that he invented it himself, following the thesis of Dr. Margaret Murray and sources such as Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland, and the practices of Freemasonry and ceremonial magic. While Clutterbuck certainly existed, Ronald Hutton concluded that she is unlikely to have been involved in Gardner's Craft activities. Nonetheless, a widespread theory [citation needed] is that after Gardner retired from adventuring around the globe, he encountered Clutterbuck and her New Forest coven in the region. He was supposedly initiated into the New Forest coven in 1939, where he stayed for years until England's ban on witchcraft-related books was repealed. At this point, and later claiming to fear that the Craft would die out (Gardner, pp. 18-19), he worked on his book Witchcraft Today, releasing it in 1954. He followed it with The Meaning of Witchcraft in 1960. It is from these books that much of modern Wicca is derived.



While the ritual format of Wicca is undeniably styled after late Victorian era occultism (even co-founder Doreen Valiente admits seeing influence from Crowley), the spiritual content is inspired by older Pagan faiths, with Buddhist and Hindu influences. Whether any historical connection to Pagan religion exists, the aspiration to emulate Pagan religion as it was understood at the time certainly does.



Gardner probably had access to few, if any, traditional Pagan rites. The prevailing theory is that most of his rites were the result of an adaption of the works of Aleister Crowley. Gardner was chartered by Crowley to form an encampment of Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis in England, though he never did (Sutin, pp. 409-410). There is very little in the Wiccan rites that cannot be shown to have come from earlier extant sources. The original material is not cohesive and mostly takes the form of substitutions or expansions within unoriginal material. Roger Dearnaley, in An Annotated Chronology and Bibliography of the Early Gardnerian Craft, describes it as a patchwork.



Philip Heselton, writing in Wiccan Roots and later in Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration, argues that Gardner was not the author of the Wiccan rituals but received them in good faith from an unknown source. (Doreen Valiente makes this claim regarding the "basic skeleton of the rituals," as Margot Adler puts it in Drawing Down the Moon.) He notes that all the Crowley material that is found in the Wiccan rituals can be found in a single book, The Equinox vol 3 no. 1 or Blue Equinox. Gardner is not known to have owned or had access to a copy of this book.



Some, such as Isaac Bonewits, have argued that Valiente and Heselton's evidence points to an early 20th century revival predating Gardner, rather than an intact old Pagan religion. The argument points to historical claims of Gardner's that agree with scholarship of a certain time period and contradict later scholarship. Bonewits writes, Somewhere between 1920 and 1925 in England some folklorists appear to have gotten together with some Golden Dawn Rosicrucians and a few supposed Fam-Trads to produce the first modern covens in England; grabbing eclectically from any source they could find in order to try and reconstruct the shards of their Pagan past. Crowley published the aforementioned Blue Equinox in 1919.



Today, Gardner's role in Wicca's origin is controversial. Some criticize him for breaking the secrecy of Wicca, and that his explanation for his fear that the Craft would die out wasn't substantial.[citation needed] Others hail him as the savior of the Craft, and argue that Wicca would still be unknown today had he not publicized it.[citation needed]



The idea of primitive matriarchal religions, deriving ultimately from studies by Johann Jakob Bachofen, was popular in Gardner's day, both among academics (e.g., Erich Neumann, Margaret Murray) and amateurs such as Robert Graves. Later academics (e.g. Carl Jung and Marija Gimbutas) continued research in this area, and later still Joseph Campbell, Ashley Montagu and others became fans of Gimbutas' theories of matriarchies in Old Europe. Matriarchal interpretations of the archaeological record and the criticism of such work continue to be matters of academic debate. Some academics carry on research in this area (such as the 2003 World Congress on Matriarchal Studies). Critics argue that matriarchal societies never actually existed and are an invention of researchers such as Margaret Murray.



The idea of a supreme Mother Goddess was common in Victorian and Edwardian literature: the concept of a Horned God — especially related to the gods Pan or Faunus — was less common, but still significant (Hutton, pp. 33-51). Both of these ideas were widely accepted in academic literature and the popular press at the time (Hutton, pp. 151-170). Gardner used these concepts as his central theological doctrine and constructed Wicca around this core.





Wicca - Later developments

Wicca has developed in several directions since it was first publicised by Gerald Gardner. Gardnerian Wicca was an initiatory mystery religion, admission to which was limited to those who were initiated into a pre-existing coven. The Book of Shadows, the grimoire that contained the rituals, was kept secret and was only obtainable from a coven of proper lineage. Despite the fact that several versions of the Book of Shadows have now been publicly published, many traditions of Wicca still maintain strict secrecy regarding the book and certain other aspects of the religion.



Raymond Buckland introduced modern Wicca to America after moving to Long Island. Buckland continued writing the Book of Shadows. Further degrees of initiation were required before members could found their own covens. Interest outstripped the ability of the mostly British-based covens to train and propagate members; the beliefs of the religion spread faster by the printed word or word of mouth than the initiatory system was prepared to handle.



Other traditions appeared that gradually brought more attention and adherents to the extant Neopaganism movement.[citation needed] Some claimed roots as ancient as Gardner's version, and were organised along similar lines.[citation needed] Others were syncretistic, in that they imported aspects of Kabbalah, romanticised Celtic Pagan concepts, and ceremonial magic. In 1971 "Lady Sheba" published what she claimed was a version of the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, although the authenticity of this book has never been validated. Increasing awareness of Gardner's literary sources and the actual early history of the movement made creativity seem as valuable as Gardnerian tradition.



Another significant development was the creation by feminists of Dianic Wicca, or feminist Dianic Witchcraft. This is a specifically feminist faith that discarded Gardnerian-style hierarchy as irrelevant, amongst other aspects. Many Dianic Wiccans taught that witchcraft was every woman's right and heritage to claim.[citation needed] This heritage might be best characterized by Monique Wittig words on the subject: "But remember. Make an effort to remember. Or, failing that, invent." This tradition was comparatively (and unusually for that time) open to solitary witches. Rituals were created for self-initiation to allow people to identify with and join the religion without first contacting an existing coven.[citation needed] This contrasts with the Gardnerian belief that only a witch of opposite gender could initiate another witch.[citation needed]



The publications of Raymond Buckland illustrate these changes. During the early 1970s, in books such as Witchcraft - Ancient and Modern and Witchcraft From the Inside, Buckland maintained the Gardnerian position that only initiates into a Gardnerian or other traditional coven were truly Wiccans. However, in 1974, Buckland broke with the Gardnerians and founded Seax-Wica, revealing its teachings and rituals in the book The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft. This "tradition" made no claims to direct descent from ancient Saxons; all of its then-extant rituals were contained in that book, which allowed for self-initiation. In 1986 Buckland published Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, a workbook that sought to train readers in magical and ritual techniques as well as instructing them in Wiccan teachings and rituals.



Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History of Wicca", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

I don't care if your friends can see your page. I really don't, so please don't send me hate mail or whatever saying your page isn't messed up or what not. If I can't see it, it doesn't work and you still get the rating you got.



My rating system is also not rigid. I rate on context, appropiate use of imagery, layout, colorscheme, etc. If you have a good looking layout and the page tells me about you which is most important I'm not going to pentalize you for a broken link as much as if your page is just filled with crap.

do people actually read up on the background of the people and religions they start following? I mean really do they. I am so kind of tired of seeing these new age twists on things that just dont make sense anymore. if you have the money for one of those 101 spell books spewd out by Llewellyn Publications, you have the money to spend on quality publishing. it just might take some research on your part.



read this article on more disgruntled people...



http://branruadh.blogspot.com/2005/10/toward-better-pagan-books.html