User:DarkMark

Note: This page contains thoroughly random unfinished musings on life, majik, and everything by DarkMark. Comments and suggestions are best directed to the talk page.

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Magick is not a religion in the way that most people understand that word. Religion, as it is commonly understood is the moral enemy of magick. The one restricts, the other liberates. The one requires that the intellect be twisted to accommodate ludicrous belief systems - the other adopts ludicrous belief systems willingly and for its own purposes. Then it destroys them. Religion requires a single life style for all people, at all time, in all places. Magick demands personalized, flexible tenets of behaviour and belief. — Ray Sherwin, The Theatre of Magick

Confused ramblings

People forget that there were no workdays and weekends in ancient times. Every day was a work day. There is no need for special holidays and remembrance days, except for really big parties where there is more mead than drinkers. Every day is the gods' day!

The world is full of opportunities. The problem is that most people walk through the world and their life in a state that is barely concious. By applying magick, any meditationally based practice, or even just sitting down and thinking about stuff, you will become more aware and able to grasp at the opportunities that cross paths with you every day.

One problem with magickal research today is that there is just so much to read, so readily available. It is possible to run into a situation where all you do is collect and browse texts without actually sitting down and focusing on the words of the author. It is so easy to search for that one passage and factoid that you need and ignore the greater picture that can be integral to understanding the operation.

Finngerth

Finngerth all the way baby! I am the founder, initiator, and great ipsissimus of the Finngerth movement. Accept no substitutes! Great things are coming to those that apply themselves.

Finngerth's purpose is not to recreate some possibly non-existent pre-historic pagan/shaman tradition. Its sole reason for being is to provide both the modern city dweller and the outdoorsy person a common ground to communicate about magickal theory and practice. Because it is based on Finnish folklore, it probably will not speak to a lot of people. However, those with the cultural heritage might find the system easier to relate to than one of the other ones that are out there.

The familiarity with, for example, the deities from common folklore, allows for progression to theorizing about other things besides just the aspect that the deity represents. Practically everyone intrinsically knows and relates Hiisi to a darker, more negative, entity. Similarly that a Lovecraft fan stiffens at the sound of "Iä! Iä! Cthulu F'tagn!" In essence, the thoughtforms are more real from the start, and maybe easier to evoke. Cultural biases, or filtering, are defining factors in psychological paradigms.

Morality

Regardless of all the dark things that I might purvey in magick, my moral standing is actually quite tame. Hardcore pagans will balk at my stance that could be considered similar to one of the teachers of occult philosophy, Iesous. There are things in Christianity that are despicable, just like there are some things that are lamentable in other magickal orders, however, that does not make the ideas of a teacher unapplicable, at least on some level. It is a shame that some pagans resort to Christian bashing without understanding what is really going on with the idea. One might summarize his philosophy in one word — love. It is quite a powerful word.

• Just love god and your neighbour. That means everyone.
• Show the same respect to everyone, no matter their stature or demeanor.
• Show compassion to everyone.
• See the trees from the forest, focus on the right issues.
• Aim to change for the better.
• No need for titles, no need for fancy ceremony to be with god, god is everywhere.
• Evangelism sucks, buying your way to good graces sucks, outward appearances suck.
• It does not matter where you worship, as long as you are honest.
• Real faith does not depend on an organisation, it is all about attitude.
• Anti-religion all the way.
• If people try to get you to follow their religion, turn away from them.
• Expect heavy opposition, but try to love your enemy, refusing to hit back when they hurt you.
• The rest can not see past their next meal and paycheck. Forget about mortal considerations.

Substitute your favorite deity for God in the above, if it makes it easier to read. Sounds great!

Then again, I'm prone to protect my home and family, violently if necessary, just like any sensible northener against any who would not treat me and mine with the above respect.

I also believe in "Live and Let Die", as promoted by such organizations as The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement and the Church of Euthanasia. All of these thoughts make me highly unlikely to ever make it in politics in almost any country. Because it's hard to find candidates in ellections that follow similar ideals, I find it redundent to take a great interest in politics and devote my time elsewhere. So with nothing better to do, I am plotting various nefarious schemes, you can too, by starting to read the Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth.

Roots of the cause

All sciences, among them mathematics, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, were included in the field of magic. — Franz Bardon, Golden Book of Wisdom

I might have read something at one time or another, ranging from the the chaotic Phil Hine, Kenneth Grant, Peter Carroll, and Grant Morrison, the sigilizations of Austin Osman Spare, to Kveldulf Gundarsson's Teutonic musings, Jan Fries, Serge Kahili King's Urban Shamanism, Edred Thorssen, and Thomas Karlsson's darkside Uthark.

I find it interesting that people can, for example, support a war where their fellow human beings have to endure untold tragedies and horrors, and at the same time they can not stomach reading William Burroughs' Naked Lunch or Chuck Palahniuk's Guts. That is something of a dichotomy if anything. Who can justify freedom and what not, when the cost is so radical? Especially when the proponents have never left the safe surroundings of their home town and burger joints.

All this does not mean that I necessarily enjoy deconstructionism. On the contrary, I like order, healthy living, respect for my fellow man, and the simple pursuits of life and happiness.

No man is an island

External fun links:

Calling Cthulhu: H.P. Lovecraft's Magick Realism by Erik Davis

For the history of the occult is a confabulation, its lies wedded to its genealogies, its "timeless" truths fabricated by revisionists, madmen, and geniuses, its esoteric traditions a constantly shifting conspiracy of influences.

The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft, Written Summer 1928, Published April 1929 in Weird Tales, Vol. 13, No. 4, 481-508.

Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries