I don’t entirely agree with many of the things this character said on the subject, but I rather like the sentiment here. Though I would add that its also the Masters responsibility to enable his apprentice. Not to do things for him, but to subtley generate oppurunities for the apprentice to do things on his or her own. For the purpose of guiding the apprentice in the artform of seizing them, yes. But also to generate oppurtunities that, if taken, will lead to a somewhat known outcome.

Cunning, subtlety, and mindfullness are integral; on the part of a Sith practitioner in general as well as in the relationship of an apprenticeship. The guide must be perceptive to affect his student towards transforming as an individual and must shroud certain elements of the path in darkness, so that the student can make his own discoveries and, in essence, become a being of the Dark Side in his own right. The student must be ambitious enough to grow and evolve into what I call Sith.

“There were numerous other branches of Sith knowledge that were not taught in the academies or by… masters…. the apprentice was expected to research such things himself. Darth Zannah learned… sorcery from several ancient manuscripts… mastering many unique and frightening abilities.”~Sith Training, (Paraphrasing) Wookiepedia

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There are lots of people that either lead because no one else will or else will not lead at all. And there are others that have an inability to follow and so must always feel that they’re at the top, calling the shots, leading… even when they really aren’t, they have a need to feel like they are.

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In a way, I never wanted to lead…
“I remember people wanting me to take charge in group projects throughout most of my school years, and I remember resenting that they were placing that responsibility on my shoulders. I’m no ones bitch, but neither do I feel like I should have to be someone elses leader, be it with school, spirituality, my job, or whatever… I don’t fully understand why they won’t do it themselves, think for themselves, coordinate themselves.”
~Old (offline) Journal Entry (from who knows when…)

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There are plenty of options for someone in a position of leadership. Some involve being a crutch. Others involve showing how to act without a crutch. And still more dimensions of the process call for nurturing a desire to be angry at the crutch, to want to break it. You simply cannot be in a position of leadership without acting as one in certain ways and at certain times.

The question is how to enable others to walk without one… or at least, to walk with one without being a meager follower. To lead is not to allow followers to tag along, it’s to take adavantage of their inclination to follow in order to show them how to walk on their own, to enable or open their eyes to the choice they have to either walk with you or to walk without you.

Following is just something that’s tolerated in the interim, and it only goes away when no one new is interested in whatever cause, place, organization, or site being led. Dealing with it is a part of the price one pays in being aware of one’s own power and the power of others.

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In the end, in my case, I cannot get what I want unless I’m willing to lead in some form. I cannot see the change I want to see unless I am actively involved in affecting it… as with most things. The alternative is creating myself as a totally secluded, isolated island of a man, and even if such a feat were possible, it would come with a price I’m not willing to pay and would work against my own ambitions.

As far as prodding new kids, I kind of already addressed my own thoughts on that. I say, initially, there’s usually not enough to tell if they’re worth the time, if they have thick-enough skin yet, or if they’re even worthy of the kind of perceptive, sometimes cut-throat attention an experienced Adept can offer. But… if you’re going to do it, the for fucks sake do it with a little finesse.

I was going to post an… inauguration speech of sorts on Valentine’s Day. That was among one of the things I aimed for on the 14th. Today is President’s Day though, so who knows… I might get around to it, I might not. Regardless, if it’s given – today or any other day – I suspect it won’t satisfy those that criticize my ways. Now…

Remember when I said I’d occasionally post links? Here’s one: Forum. That will take you to a back-up forum. Anyone that’s recognized as a Dark Knight or Master is free to ask for a private forum, which is intended for a user to post back-ups of what he or she posts in the Force Academy forums if so inclined. It’s also where the recent lectures, recently removed from the Dark Lecture Hall, are temporarily being housed.

Notes…

It’s not really part of my paradigm, not imagery I use regularly, but it’s interesting to liken emotions to angels and demons. Maybe that metaphor can offer a glimpse of my own experiences, or give someone else a better understanding of their own emotions… That’s not really my intent, but if it happens to kudos to me I guess.

So, in this, I’d be God. And I’d be mankind. Think of man as what is, and God as my potential, as what could be.

Demons, in the sense of fallen angels, aren’t any less than their heaven loving kin. They live in different places, their darkness obvious (honestly displayed) to whoever glances their way, and they probably behave a bit differently. Anger, Hate, Envy, Sadness, and so on… they are Demons.

Angels, light as they may seem, are beings of darkness. The light serves to decieve, hide, and protect their true nature from the imperceptive onlookers. But they are righteous, even manipulative. Their conduct is reflective of their service to God, where as the demons service is harder to see and understand (or appreciate).

With me so far? All of them are powerful, they’re  the same in essence, and they serve God.

(Written November 6th, 2011)

“The Romantics were an eccentric group, primarily composed of artists and intellectuals, living in a society in which they felt they didn’t belong. With industrialization, the rapid destruction of nature, a growing disbelief in God, and the rejection of the abstract in favour of cold and objective science, the Romantics sought to find a world in which they could fit in better. When it could not be found, they created it; through philosophy, the arts, theology, and other avenues, the Romantics quickly set themselves up in opposition to their surrounding culture.

While Romanticism is not romantic in the modern understanding of the word, that level of romance can (and does) factor into a tiny sliver of the equation. The followers of Romanticism sought to elicit strong responses from themselves, and so anything which could make them feel more in tune with humanity or the earth was respected: horror, awe, fear, panic; all of these emotions previously labeled as negative or as a sign of weakness became reassurances of the human nature of mankind.

Any emotion, artwork, or viewpoint which could transcend the Romantics from a society that was becoming increasingly more bleak and mechanized was celebrated, regardless of whether it was regarded as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. Because of this, the Romantics saw beauty in all things, and the previous black and white definitions of good and evil became gray. While love could be romantic, so too could horror, and both were regarded as beautiful and romantic for their ability to move people.

But above all, nature itself was the pinnacle of beauty, as it gave infallible reassurance of life and divinity to the Romantics, and gave constant reminder to them that there were still things in the world which exceeded mankind. In many ways, nature became the adopted mother to the Romanticists.”
~ Nick Kushner, The Nachtkabarett

How much this has to do with the other notes or, if you will, metaphorical flowers I’ve yet to give in other venues… you can guess at, scoff at, or ignore as you please. At least for the moment. About the other valentine(s)… I make no promises it (or they) will be dished out today; that’s my aim, not my guarantee.

Fyi: sentiments expressed in the past might well be relevant to present and future. With this and others, take it as you like.

Embracing Entropy, Igniting Passion aired Feb. 5th, and echoes a lot of the thoughts I’ve had relating (partially) to the forums I frequent and (more so) what I’ve been feeling out and exploring with my own personal obstacles and internal struggles. The way Khaos starts this show actually speaks to a hard part of the process of dark healing; depressing news he says. Verily. And that’s a stage that I think is imprtant to pass through. And pay attention to that: pass through. That means friction, strife, struggle; that doesn’t mean just sitting still and waiting for it to pass. The Path of Pain aired yesterday and is just as worth listening to.

The Archive page links to both of these and will be home to future episodes after they’re aired and recorded. Speaking of which, the show is no longer the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month; instead it’s every Sunday at 3:00 pm EST. To anyone that happens upon this, I’d definately say it’s worth checking out.

Read…

There’s a neat little piece of what I think is called ‘flash fiction’ on a blog called Love The Bad Guy. It was called The Crying Machine. It’s a blog I subcribed to awhile back; I get e-mails when there’s a new post and this one caught my eye. I wonder how many people out there really think along the same lines as the professor when it comes to emotion. Probably more than I would like to think.
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Listen… 

A few recommended songs: Survivalism, Heresy, Into the Void, Get Down, Make Love, and Burn by Nine Inch Nails; Ass Worship and Scapegoat by John Lucey Ferrell; Fame, Let’s Dance, and I’m Afraid of Americans by David Bowie; This Shit Will Fuck You Up and This Is My Rifle by Combichrist.
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…Or not.

“The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems pointless.”
-Steven Weinberg

I have to ask myself, what do I know about emotions as hindrances? Mostly, that the emotions themselves are never the problem. It’s not a question of which are good and which are bad; rather, it’s a question of whether they’re being properly understood and whether I am becoming absorbed and perhaps even overwhelmed by a given emotion.

I don’t know that this is solely an emotional matter though. There are one or two at play for sure, but there’s more to it… the emotions sometimes seem like they’re brought about by thinking about things and looking at them in a certain way. But other times, it seems like the emotions feed a conviction nothing really matters. Maybe it’s symbiotic, a self-perpetuating downward spiral. Breakable – or reversable, to put it another way – but not always with ease, and probably never completely banished.

I call it different things. The Empty. The Void. Hollowness. *shrugs* The thing about it is pretty simple though. Or at least a part of it. If nothing matters, then the individual is free to decide what matters… ’cause if nothing matters on any grand scale, than anything can. Perhaps… it’s up to the person that’s gone into the Void and feels the Empty. Up to him or her to search for something that seems worth attention, time, effort… worth caring about.

There’s a metaphor that’s taken shape over time that involves the imagery of stars, gravity… things like that. Maybe I’ll touch on that in another post.

However, I have to say that esoteric practices relating to a sense and active use of the Force (as I call it) have always been an interest of mine. It’s one that waxes and wanes, I’ll grant, but over the years it’s been something that has intrigued me in one way or another. And there are so many things that are all connected and all fall under the blanket terms people use that I don’t find it surprising that I return to it in whatever different form happens to catch my attention at a given time.

One thing that even other dark pathwalkers have brought up before is a few simple but possibly devastating questions for people that take an interest and believe in these things, be it in magick, psionics, reiki, astral projection, etc.: to what end, what purpose does it serve, why are you after such abilities, and how practical would such skills be even if they were possible to some degree? Why use the Force?

Part of it, especially with younger people – or at least those new to and unfamiliar with such things – is to feel special, which often amounts to feeding delusions of granduer, stupidity, or both (I’d use the word “ego”, but I hate using that word, it’s psycho-babble-bullshit and part of a flawed paradigm in my opinion). Personally though, I don’t really think that’s a bad thing. At least as far as being an ealier stage in someone’s progression; my opinion of someone doing this changes if they never grow out of it.

As far as practical application… let’s assume for a moment that you developed a small but definite ability to move one of those spinning wheels or a candle flame telekineticly. What then, what good does that do? So you can make a candle flicker. Big fucking deal, right? Not really, at least not if the ability or skill itself is the purpose behind pursuing and cultivating it. And it’s probably not that different if we imagine for a moment that, if trained, you could eventually pick up a car with the power of your mind or throw lighting from your fingertips. Let’s say you could. Again, so what? What are you going to do with it? What purpose would it serve?

The way I look at it, it’s most likely a useless pursuit if all you’re doing is trying to gain super powers to feel better about yourself, or to feel special. In all likelihood, it’s just a nifty way to escape from personal insecurities or shortcomings in other areas (i.e. not being able to otherwise deal with teasing or pranks at school, or assholes at work or, really, the world at large).

It could, on the other hand, be a genuine spiritual pursuit for more… realistic or legitimate reasons. *shrugs* In the end… not only do I feel it’s worthwhile either way, I’d fucking encourage a little research and experimentation. It’s called firsthand experience, and it’s worth having in most things in my opinion. If you think uber cool powers would make your world a better place, go ahead and have at it, and pay attention to what it accomplishes. I’d say whether for ‘good’ or ‘ill’, it’s worth learning for yourself.

Facebook has this new thing called a Timeline, an updated format that I’m sure they’ll end up forcing everyone to adopt at some point. I say that because way back when I signed up for a profile under my legal name there was a different layout than the current one and there was a little box asking if I wanted to upgrade. I declined, but a few weeks later the layout of my profile changed anyways. *shrugs*

All well and fine I guess, but the new layout just seems like a slightly updated version of myspace, one that loads a little faster and says Facebook at the top of the page. I realize some people like it and that’s fine, they can have the option, but I don’t want it. If it has a better feel to you then I say go for it. Personally though, for my own profile and usage of said profile, I like the current format a lot more. I find myself hoping facebook will become a virtual ghost town – like myspace seems to be - if they do indeed force the change.