It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you the contributors of Grotto Magazine.

Inspired by Platos Allegory of the Cave, each issue will present a unique approach to social issues, while providing individual perspective.
s or ne Jo reat Sin & C r ito Ed

As Editor and Chief, I will be your guide to a descent into the mind.

Venger Satanis Founder Cthulhu Cult

Shawna Stan City Dweller

Lori Robinson Writer, Press Agent

Dan Dread ADM

Michael Grace Occultist

Gino S. Vaglivielo Evolving Satanist

SIN JONES Editor, Creator

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Cover photo credit: Sin Jones

Through an honest approach of social issues, culture, and politics; we offer a peek into the rationality of people who live it. It is through their own personal disciplines, self-awareness, and judgment that we leave no stone un-turned. We are the explorers of the abysmal self, the fearless descent inward before we can ever spiral upward. into the depths of Truth. It is our hope
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that readers will find their own way down

Change Within and Without , Shawna Stan Uncovering Essential Truth, Venger Satanis What in Hell is Wrong Here? , Michael Noxaura How Can I Be the Change That I Imagine?,

8-10: 11-12

13-15:

Lori Robinson
17-19:

Providential Abstractions with Barbarians at the Gate, Dan Dread

23-25:

Changing Your Situation While Staring Down the Face of Reality, Gino S. Vaglivielo
27-28: 29:

Bearing the Cross, Lori Robinson

The Three Little Pigs, Dan Dread : Authority!, Sin Jones

Modern thinkers come together in the Grotto, to share ideas, and provide a platform for a mind to mind exchange.

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Plus a change, plus c'est la mme chose!

This French epigram, attributed to Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1849), conveys that the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same. Karr is best known for his bitter wit and astute observations of social currents. A critic, novelist, journalist, and regular contributor to Les Guepes (The Wasps)1, (a journal he began to extend the sting of his thoughts); in the first edition he writes:
[English Translation]

I speak without anger, because to me the most wicked men are even more ridiculous than bad, and besides I'm sure they do so at the same time more harm and grief. I do not belong to any party, I judge things as they come, men as they occur, I take little things seriously, because not needing someone of my friends , and requesting that their friendship, I feel, I see and judge with the coolness and quiet gaiety of a spectator sitting pretty.

Still, people feel lost. They look for leadership to guide them and show them a better way of living. The trouble then is finding dynamic people with a cache of inspiring ideas. Thats all leadership amounts to, ideas given momentum by the people that believe in them. Some people take the lead, and some choose to follow. In either case, its a coopt relationship. Without followers there can be no leaders. Those that are self-managed lead themselves but the mind needs the ass to follow. Authority is another matter entirely. It doesnt matter which source is pointed to place blame with, each of us play a role in keeping it in power. If you no longer acknowledge an authority it loses its momentum to be an Auctor2 of the people.

Im sure that many can relate to the notion that no matter what social change is sought, each of us may be unaffected on a more personal level. Its not as if each time a new President is elected in the United States some miraculous current of change sweeps over our lives, e.g... In fact, Id be willing to go out on a limb and say: Nothing changes. The day to day grind of making ends meet while pursuing happiness is a lifelong endeavor. We each toil for the things we want and this affects our state of being. Why anyone would seek to hold up the status quo is beyond me, if you want to make real changes in the things you are dissatisfied with; then obviously you must revel against it.

Falls issue of Grotto presents different perspectives on Change. What does it mean to change? How does change occur? What needs to change and why?

Each decision we make, and action we take provides us with map to chart our progress. Life is causal, and no matter whom or what you choose to blame for the current state of your life, only YOU have the power to change it. There are systems that surround our lives that we may feel powerless to change, but it could simply be a matter of changing your perspective. Life then, can become acausal.

1. Project Gutenburg, Les gupes Volume 1 & 2 by Alphonse Karr 2. Auctor, derived from Latin Auctus; to nourish. Auctor is considered an originating founder, and seller of ideas. 4

Shawna Stan: Changes Within and Without Venger Satanis: Changing the Political Landscape: Uncovering Essential Truth Mike Noxaura: What in Hell is Wrong Here? Lori Robinson: How Can I Be the Change I Imagine?, Bearing the Cross Dan Dread: Providential Abstractions with Barbarians at the Gate, The Three Little Pigs Gino S. Vaglivielo: Changing Your Situation While Staring Down the Face of Reality Sin Jones: Authority

Each represents a glimpse into the changes each contributor is focused on currently. Will this focus change? Or, will it remain the same? The ideas we each hold will be maintained by the momentum we give them. Otherwise, they are just passing thoughts in the face of the status quo.

We want things. We need things. What we want isnt always what we need. What we need isnt always what we want. Change takes work, and it may require a complete destruction of your current self. The way you think and behave are plots on the map and where youre heading may be a fools quest. Well, thats if you dont have big dreams, big goals, big plans for the rest of your life. Maybe you are content to live as you always have. Talk is cheap, it may be coin jiggling in your pocket or the talk is an investment into your future.

The Fall season marks the end of the harvesting season. What did you sow? Theres still time before we head towards the hibernation period, one more planting of the seeds to bear fruit in the Spring. Its all very cyclic isnt it? If you want real Change, you have to make it happen. Its time to call a spade a bloody shovel!

Sin Jones, Editor

In the past three years there have been a lot of changes both personally and environmentally. I became single during this period and found myself looking to online dating. I began a relationship through that outlet, in hindsight I would not recommend it to my own worst enemy. Relationships of a conventional nature are difficult at best, but adding the factor of never really knowing a person until you live with them; (let alone learning a person through Internet communique) I prepared a recipe for disaster.

Corporations hire younger folks these days, instead of those with experience because the modicum of todays college youths are little more than programmed yesmen who will do whatever is asked of them with little question of morality or ethical concern, versus my generation whose elders taught them to do a job right the first time and take responsibility for their mistakes.

Live and learn right? Ive learned that its okay to be single and that maybe while Im going through my own personal evolution; single is the best way to be. Still, no matter how awful that relationship might have been, it was still a learning experience that Ive found necessary to aid me my continued development of the person I am today. I think too many women have afear of being alone. I had developed the fear myself but being with someone and not knowing myself at all was far worse. I need time to know myself, to know who I am, what I think and what I feel about my life and while Im living it. I want a relationship again someday, but I want it to be a relationship that compliments the person I am changing into as well as the strength Ive found in myself. So until then, I will wait.

Todays corporate America doesnt want that in an employee and it's as if mediocrity is celebrated. Recently, Ive been contemplating going back to school and finishing my business degree, just to compete with younger people who march into the work force armed with degrees.

The most note-worthy change with in me has been my belief in religion. I have learned so much from people using the Internet who have helped to point me in the right direction towards educating myself in this area. I used to be religious but I no longer am. I used to be among those who believed there was an invisible deity in the sky that could help me solve my problems if only I just believed, but I have seen too much and been through a lot in my life to hold tight to that belief any longer. I believe in myself now. I believe that I can solve my own problems without the help of any so-called supreme being.

Environmentally, I have watched this country go to hell in a handbag and quickly. The economy has spiraled downward at a rate of speed that has not only frightening but just downright saddening. My transitional period has included unemployment which was quite different for me, because I have worked 25 years of my life. It has indeed been a trying time. My faith has dwindled in the system that was supposedly designed to help those who helped themselves.

In learning all of this and in going through all of these changes, I have come to the conclusion that I love the person I am now because I have no illusions about life anymore and am much happier that I am not enslaved by that invisible deity in the sky.

Continued on Pg. 7

I am not held any longer to the standard of a modern society that is still stuck in the traditional way of using religion as a crutch for everything. Nor am I interested in allowing myself to be dragged along on that tidal wave of uneducated beliefs that serve societys idea of what I should or shouldnt believe.

I believe that I can solve my own problems without the help of any

During these changes within myself and the exploration that started it all, I have found that I am no longer bound by a book that has been written and re-written so many times throughout history that the real messages, if there ever really were any to begin with, have been lost in translation and buried in tombs that have been sealed with the greed of men and kings. That greed and that desire of manipulation has set the foundation for what traditional religion has become in this day; an excuse to hate, an excuse to persecute those who dont think, believe or practice the same methods as the other blind sheep of the world. In this discovery have found true freedom.

so-called supreme being.

I am free to be whom I want to be. I am free to be me and thats the only person I ever want to be.
Written by Shawna Stan

Revelation 13:18 Here is the wisdom! He who is having the understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for the number of a man it is, and its number 666.

Artwork by Sin Jones

I posted a new video on my YouTube channel recently. It was about politics, but not as general, nor as specific, as I'm going to get in this article. I just wanted to get my disdain for Mitt Romney out there. To let it be known that I find him to be as terrible a candidate as one could stumble upon. And with the latest Mother Jones secretly taped private fundraiser speech... well, vindication feels nice.

After the election, I expect to read comments proudly proclaiming no responsibility for the outcome because, "It's all rigged, none of it matters anyway thats why I didn't vote."

What surprised me the most after uploading my video was the number of whiners, complainers, and conspiracy nuts out there in YouTube land. I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise at all; folks love to yell at the secret influence in the clouds or under the earth or behind the walls instead of doing something small and concrete to make subtle changes in their lives. However, it did come as a surprise. I'm rather sheltered from nonLovecraftian crazy and that's on purpose. I don't need to expose myself to the nonsense which passes for rational thought in cyberspace. Basically, this was the majority's argument: both candidates are pretty much the same, so why bother voting?

How juvenile! How passive aggressive! How pathetic! How right hand path of everyone! Take no responsibility and there will be no blame, right? That way, everyone can happily remain as lazy and disconnected and ignorant as possible. Yay! No. Fuck that. Do your civic duty and vote. That means becoming informed, taking a position, making sure you're registered to vote, and getting out of bed on the day in question. Invest yourself in the system1, and you'll influence that system without becoming lost in it.

Why bother voting? Why bother voting!?! Are you fucking serious?!? I can understand the alienation a lot of people feel, but that's no reason to not participate. All non-voters are doing is perpetuating the cycle of disaffection. Don't feel like you're part of the process? Well, why should you if you're not even going to cast your political opinion into the ballot box? Of course, without the burden of making an informed decision, one can feel perfectly blameless.
Continued on Pg. 10

Politics can be an ugly business, so on the one hand I get it. No one wants to wholly immerse themselves in the corruption, lies, pandering, special interests, and overall tomfoolery that is the political game. But what choice do we have? The alternative to paying attention and getting involved is hiding from it. How many problems do you know of that resolve themselves by hiding from them?

Ok, so that's one rant out of the way. Now I want to pivot to a related topic: the Republican Party is going down in flames. Between Mitt Romney, the changing ethnic demographic landscape, the setin-their-ways elderly dying off, and hard right uber-conservative platform of the Republican Party, there won't be any kind of threat to the Democrats by 2016.
1. U.S. Government Portal 9

That's great, in one sense, but bad in another. Don't worry, though, it will sort itself out in short order.

Some motherfuckers just have to fall to their deaths. While government dependency is easy, it's not dynamic... There's no triumph of the will if there's no will at all.

If the GOP dies, then what? The Tea Party is already as outdated and redundant as HD DVD. They might have been a great idea when they started, but lost their way in short order - along with being hijacked by billionaire douchebags like the Koch brothers and various ultra-right wing factions of disenfranchised assholes.

No, it won't be the Tea-baggers that challenge the almighty Democratic Party when the Republican Party dies. I don't think it will be an emerging 3rd party, either. I believe the Democrats will split into two different groups. The first will be liberal, the second progressive. I know what you're thinking. At the moment, it seems like those two paradigms are one and the same. They're not. The Democratic Party is a big tent - huge, in fact. That's how they became as powerful as they are. But once they're the only game in town, the divisions will come.

What exactly will differentiate the two Democratic platforms? The Liberal Party will continue to be as bleeding heart [read: compassionate] as it can be in a capitalistic society. Liberals try to give everyone a shot, think everyone has a chance to make it. They are the eternal optimists - which also makes them the biggest suckers. Eventually, the Liberal Party will probably become the minority (I hope) because while safety nets are important, they shouldn't catch everyone no matter how stupid or reckless an individual is.

That leads us to the Progressive Party. These guys should be able to see something which I've noticed for years now. You can't have a great society with a punishment system and no reward system. Rights can be taken away for breaking the law, but what about following it? What about those citizens who go above and beyond what's expected? In the current system, your reward for being a good citizen is being left alone... Perhaps allowing for the opportunity to make a lot of money, which is a kind of reward, I guess. But what if the most productive citizens were given more rights, more privileges, and even more responsibilities? That way, the new central class - the non-voters, those who litter, smoke, drink or do drugs all the time, are obese, never read a book, or try to better themselves, etc. fill the middle strata which isn't necessarily punished, but certainly isn't rewarded, either. Criminals make up the bottom with virtually no rights, leaving the new favored class able to directly influence and shape our nation.

What stops us from having a Progressive Party right now? A few things: Over-reliance on money. That's the entire basis for conditioning people and allowing society to function. Money rules the world and, of course, is the most corrupting influence. Don't you just love capitalism? Another thing is the Republican insistence on sexism, racism, deregulation, shitting on the environment, under-educating the populace, and religion. Don't Republicans know that the majority of people want clean air, water, and food?

Continued on Pg. 11

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That we're part of a society where everyone is entitled to essentials for survival like food, shelter, etc. That a good education has the ability to elevate an entire country? The Republicans of today are corporate ass kissers and bootlickers. Democrats are still bad, but not nearly as bad as Republicans. The corporate takeover of America is a possibility; however, I believe that tide is turning.

How

juvenile!

After watching the first Presidential debate, there's more than one kind of truth. Surface truth can be molded, influenced, interpreted, and reinterpreted. It's a different animal compared to essential truth. Facts and figures can be massaged according to an audience's approval. A point of view is a truth filter - it hears what it wants, sees what it wants according to pre-determined limitations of perspective. Nevertheless, essential truth is beneath it all, above it all. It is foundational. That kind of reality cuts through the bullshit, the facade, the party lines, and all the political chicanery on display. This greater truth has a moral element. The end result will either increase or decrease suffering, and we have to ask ourselves if the suffering we're talking about is conscious or mechanical, essential or surface.

How passiveaggressive! How pathetic! How right hand path of everyone! Take no responsibility and there will be no blame, right?

A lot of people are claiming that Mitt Romney "won" the debate. Did he really? Yes, he looked fine, sounded coherent. I'll agree to that, but any triumph Romney had was purely superficial. The good fight isn't particularly flashy or glamorous or sexy. It needs to be done, and the necessity of doing what's right is motivation enough to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. In other words: Slick answers and a condescending attitude will only get you so far, Mitt. Obama can't lose because he's the people's champion, not corporate America's Snake-oil salesman.
Written by Venger Satanis

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Were in an economic crisis. Nobody denies this. Youd have to be barking to think its about to do a 180 back to prosperity. Blaming a president for the economy is like blaming a wart on your foot for the zits on your face. Instead of blame, why dont we face what the problem IS? Is it Christianity, like some Satanists say? Is it Television? The Internet? Cell phones?

Looks good on paper, doesnt it? However, I have personally talked with a local Salvation Army Minister and several local food closet heads, and they are literally seeing record numbers turning out for food, their shelters are packed, and they are running out of funds.

The problems are: 1. We hardly manufacture anything anymore when compared to pre-1990 eras. 2. Our students are miles behind other countries in math, engineering, chemistry, etc.

It seems to these people that no matter how much they raise, there just isnt enough. Im not the king of compassion, nor consider myself terribly merciful, but this IS a problem! The fact is hunger and hopelessness spawns drug and alcohol abuse. It creates the very crime people complain about.

We need to start with our education. After all, it affects everything, from how well business is run to how intelligent and scholarly our philosophies and religions are. How do we measure the quality of it? How about the dropout rate? Is it racial? Lets take a look at my state, shall we? Its the place I can best speak for.

As Americans, we are supposed to be critical thinkers. As a Satanist, I feel that we, not sheep, who bleat and follow, must answer this. What do we do? Can we really do anything about it?

Total White Black 2003 9.9 6.3

Hispanic Asian Native American 10.9 23.5 3.9 15.0

The one thing I am sure of is there is something that can be done about it. Many things I can think of actually.

Perhaps thats part of it. South Carolina Total enrolled total dropouts Percent drop secondary Job Market 2002-03 191,904 6,231 19.9 3.2 Graduates Post-

35,293

69.1

But is this the whole picture? What about what kinds of jobs people got? How many people got jobs once exiting college?
Previous years This year Change Unemployment 10.4 | South Carolina .................| 9.1 | -1.3

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Here are a few simple solutions:

1. Teach critical thinking. Not just in schools, but in the home. Bibliography:
National Center for Education Statistics.

2. Get active when it comes to being part of the solution. Volunteer at soup kitchens and shelters. 3. Insure the people and make sure they have health care, and make sure it covers drug and alcohol rehab. 4. Spend money wisely. It is a fact that money we spend on foreign goods is money that leaves our particular area, and most likely will never return. 5. Spend the money, tax wise, on better teachers and equipment to get the students the leg up they need. 6. Establish Charter Schools. Competition will be good for public schools, teaching them to provide a viable form of education. 7. Do spell work (prayer) and ritual focused on nourishing the spirit of the community . 7. Teach others to do the same .

South Carolina Budget and Control Board

United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Footnotes: 1. 2. Otherization Reformed Church of Satan (RCOS)

As Americans, we are supposed to be critical thinkers. As a Satanist, I feel that we, not sheep, who bleat and follow, must answer this.

Some readers may accuse me1 now of being Christian, and I deny it. I think that the first responsibility of any good Satanist is to ensure th2 at his/ her community is well cared for. This prevents crime, helps education, and clears the way for spiritual thoughts, instead of fears about survival.

I think we should be able to walk safely down our streets, worship at night as we please, and pursue happiness. Fear over paying our bills and fear of violence from hurt individuals is not conducive to these things.

Written by Michael Noxaura

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Be the change you want to see in the world.

Gandhi

Change arrives in different forms. Reading Gandhis quote makes me think what type of change do I want to see in this world? In this essay, I am going to address physical change, emotional change, sexual change, financial change, mental change, and spiritual change. Be patient, because all of these changes play into being the change that a person wants to see reflected in the world. First, physical change has to do with changing the body. Changing the body could entail improving eating habits, ceasing bad habits such as drug use, smoking, heavy drinking, or any other type of destructive behavior that harms the body. Changing the body also means improving the shape of the body; this could include physical exercise, and taking yoga classes. Changing the body is meant to be a positive, and not a negative evolution. I would like to see more individuals, male and female, be comfortable in the bodies that they have created. That is the physical change that I would like to see in this world. I would like for society to back the fuck off, and allow men and women to develop their own sense of what is healthy for them, and what is comfortable for them. What I would like to see from myself is to be honest with myself about how I treat my body, and how I view other individuals, in the physical sense. This is how I would like to be the physical change I would like to see in the world. I want to have a body that I am proud of, and that others may say I want to look like that. Second, emotional change, in my opinion, is one of the most difficult changes to make. The human emotions are developed at such a young age, and if these emotions are not understood, or not recognized, by parents and others who are close to a child, that child, in my opinion, will grow up to be an emotionally wrecked adult.
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There is hope for an individual who has gone through emotional types of rejection or abuse. An individual does not have to give in, to the idea, that just because the individual was rejected, or abuse by those who were supposed to love, and care for them. Emotional change takes years to develop, because the emotional damage took years to accumulate. In my unprofessional opinion, any person who wants to commit to emotional change; get your ass into therapy. When a person finds the right therapist, amazing emotional changes will occur. I can testify to therapy working, and the type that I am going through is call parts therapy. This therapy has done wonders for my emotional state, but this does not mean that this type of therapy would work for others. When an individual commits themselves to making emotional improvements therapy works, but there is a concept called path working that also helps. Path working is similar to the type of part therapy that I am currently undergoing. Path working, in simple terms, is a meditative technique that helps the individual look at the what, and the why the individuals emotions takes over. Path working helps the individual find the triggers and even the fears to the emotional reaction to a situation. This is all dependent upon the individual. If the individual does not want to make the commitment to make the emotional change, then the individual will stay within that quagmire. I made the commitment to change my emotional state four years ago, and the change is still on going. I do not fool myself, nor should any other person who makes the decision to make emotional changes, that these changes are going to be easy, and quick. Easy and quick are two words that do not apply to making the commitment to making emotional changes. The emotional change that I want to see, in the world is simply this; humans are emotional creatures, but we are also rational creatures. Do not allow the emotion14 al to control the rational.

Have empathy when needed, but also make sure you can still smell the bullshit. Third, sexual change, in my opinion, knowing your sexuality. Sexual change can range from changing how a person looks at sexuality to changing your physical sex to match who you know who you are. Humans have sexual changes every day. A human may encounter a transgender, or a transsexual individual, and that human may change their own idea of what sexuality means to that human. Then again some human may not change their own idea, when encountering a person who transcends sexuality, and just call that person a freak. The porn industry has done wonders for human sexual changes. Any person can pull up any type of unusual sexual act, via the Internet. There are books that any human can read to glance into the sexual mind of another. Media has overloaded the sexual nature of humanity, and for a human to make a healthy sexual change is almost impossible but sexual change can occur. An individual can step back, from their own sexual experiences, and even from the influences from parents, religion, and society, and question why this individual looks at sex, and sexuality, in the way that they do. The important part, about making sexual changes, is to step back. Sex, as a whole, is still a taboo, and embarrassing subject for so many individuals. To take that step, and to understand why sex is embarrassing for any person, is a major step towards understanding human sexuality as a whole. To be the sexual change that you want to see in the world; understand your own sexuality; understand why certain sexual acts may disgust you; take a look at how tolerant you are of a person who is sexually free. Fourth, financial change is a doozy. Humans, in the Western world, live in a materialistic world, and could not imagine living, in a part of the world that does not have the basic amenities of life (clean water, shelter, and food). The poorest individual, in the United States, is still richer than most individuals in this world.

I am not discounting individuals, in the United States, who struggle day in and day out to survive, but I am putting this into perspective here. As bad as your financial life may be, there is someone out there whose financial situation is a hell of a lot worse. Financial change is not easy. Individuals pay a lot of lip service to the idea of making drastic financial changes, but to do follow through, because, in my opinion, individuals take too much on at one time. An easy first step, in towards financial change is getting rid of the things that no longer suit a purpose in your life. Do you really need ten pairs of tennis shoes? How about those size 8 jeans that you are hoping you will fit into one day? How many times are you tripping over shit that you just do not need? Consignment stores will pay money for clothes, and other objects, as long as the clothes and other objects are in good condition. Another easy step is taking a look at bills, and where your money goes each month. I do this through www.mint.com. Great way to set up a budget for yourself, and I will admit that my own financial changes have had me kicking and screaming the entire way, but I know that my personal financial changes are for my better good. Financial change is difficult for some, because some individuals do not want to give up the social status of having the newest gadgets, cars, and keeping up with the fashion world; all the while going further and further into credit card debt. This makes no sense to me. Go into debt just to keep up appearances. To be the financial change that you want to see in the world; stop blaming corporations for your financial situation, and start taking control away from these corporations. Start taking personal responsibility for your own financial actions.
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First they ignore you,

Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you, Then you win.
-Mahatma Ghandi

Think about, at least once a day, of a person, or a people who are not as fortunate as you, and what you can do to help, even if you are not in the greatest of financial situations. Even if you dont do anything to help, just think about that person, or people. This is not a guilt trip. This is to have you think beyond your own situation, and maybe motivate you to take a look at what you can do to improve your own financial life. Last, but not least, spiritual change is up to the individual, and if a person has a spiritual nature, spiritual change is inevitable, and an individual will make many spiritual changes in their life. Spiritual change is supposed to occur, in my opinion. I do not think that a person can be spiritually healthy if that person does not allow their spirituality to evolve. I think that every spiritual human encounters small evolutions, within their spirituality. Individuals may go to a conference, or may read a book, and then viola the spiritual change has happened. Then there are the big spiritual changes that occur, and these changes usually entail a human being renouncing one belief structure for another. This type of spiritual change can take years, and in those years that person may change course again. There is this unfortunate side effect to individuals wanting to find a spirituality that works for them. The individual will dabble in all sorts of religions and non-religions, and may wind up more confused than before then left their original spiritual upbringing. I am for a person educating themselves about all different types of spiritual and philosophical belief structures. What I am not about is a person committing themselves before they are ready. Baby steps, asking questions, reading, and asking more questions leads a person to critically think about what spiritual or philosophical belief structure works for them. To be the spiritual change that you want to see in the world; cultivate your own spirituality; do want is right for you; keep your mind slightly ajar, so your brain doesnt completely fall out.

I am going to conclude this essay with the same question I began this essay with; what type of change do you want to see in the world? How will you be the change that you imagine? If that doesn't work, I always have my fictions. I still believe in the old adage though, LIFE is stranger than fiction.

Written by Lori Robinson

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Grotto Magazine is in need of contributors, illustrators, marketeers, proof-readers and Graphic Designers. Send inquiries to: sales@the-poison-apple.com

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Satans Providence
Resistance is critical
Each of our perspectives is built on a platform of memes that comprise our entire worldview, as are the ideas and actions that flow from it. As we experience, many of these memes are altered, expressed though a similarly altered worldview and the actions that might flow from that. An ebb and flow of abstractions that is effectively the god of this world, as we experience it.

Satans providence is indeed to figure-head the journey of sinister experience, to move against, not just in spite of, but directly against the enshrined, to identify the limits that have been put into you, and through the fire, through practical sinister deeds, and shatter them. Doing, acting, and manifesting Evil. Presencing the dark. For what is evil but for your own limitations? It is the nature of the human mind to defend its boundaries, and this is why some boundaries can only be eliminated by crossing them. Think of this in terms of what one thinks one would react in any given situation versus how one actually reacts. They are often drastically different. Mind-space, however vast, can only take you so far.

How free are any of us, really? Free to choose what we prefer surely but do we own our preferences? If anything can be called a fact, it is that advertising works. Ideas repeated get into our head, shape us, become our own. In example, every person that prefers coca cola to the no-name brand may tell you; it is a matter of their own personal choice, that coke just tastes better. It cant but be wondered if there isnt better tasting soda on the market. So it is with all we believe, including those things thought of as foundational. What most identify as themselves is naught but a web of externally introduced causal abstractions.

The providence of Satan then, it could be said, is a move away from belief, away from hypotheticals, a process of shaping those that represent him as their transgressed paths give him strength. His providence lay with those that make the choice to resist, rather than rationalize. His fire is such as it burns away the abstractions that cloak our acausal essence. Satan is the spirit of identification and elimination of limitation.

Abstraction by Design
When touching the dark a certain essence is known, this allows for a resonance with others whom also know it. Certain similarities, certain shared extrapolations, of those that go beyond will bind travelers of this way together insofar as the world is perceived, insofar as vectors are established. The essence is separated from the form, and both are known for what they are.

This flow of what is orthodox, what is accepted and most oft-repeated is what comprises the right hand path for all intents and purposes. The greater good is greatest. Human life is sacred. Be monogamous. Higher power. Nuclear family. Prepackaged success. Being a good person, and a prefabricated definition of what that means. National pride. Love democracy, spread democracy, nothing can be better. All that is accepted and embraced, and almost expected of you to believe, represented by the abstraction of the Nazarene monotheism that has powered the worldview of those that have built and continue to build our societal omni-memeplex.

So then, if one is to accept that the mechanics of Western Society is built and rooted in the Abrahamic, who better that their own named adversary to represent the causal structure of active resistance of what is antinomian and heterodox.

The mind is bound to abstractions as thought is bound to language. Abstractions are never truly destroyed so much as they are replaced, we replace morality with honour, we replace magian notions of justice with personal justice, impersonal society with our own tribes, nexions, and family. Blood or no. The form is made to meet the essence head on, in practical ways shaped by our own pathei mathos, our own understanding built of personal gnosis.

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Continued from pg. 17

Barbarians at the Gate

Satanism is an abstraction. A tool, a way of communicating certain concepts and ideas to others of a certain type, an expression of something numinous, something raw and visceral. When it is said Satanists are born and not made within LaVeyan1 circles, it is often understood as meaning only those that conform to what has been written are des cribed by the term, but I have always taken it to mean that certain types can SEE what LaVey was looking at, realize the essence, while others lack the character, experience or intellect to do so. The debate whether Satan should be viewed as an archetype or as a very real being has raged between those describing themselves as Satanists for many decades now. Ultimately an extension of the atheism vs. theism debate that serves as jingling keys to distract us from the true source of mental slavery, I find both positions, and the argument itself, fairly meaningless. Viewing Satan as another superstitious figurehead, built into a dualistic framework that is separated from any other western religion only by the names and regulations seems an exercise in onanism3, while on the other hand viewing him as little more than a psychological figurehead for being yourself or being your own god ultimately understood as a feelgood excuse to be just like everyone else but feel superior based on the existence of said figurehead, regardless of any actual praxis, doubly so. Modern or theistic, I just find most contemporary Satanism to be worthless. Perhaps this is why I continue to write.

Yet just as those that have touched the dark might share ground, so too must forms differ. No two paths tread can ever be the same, as personal experience is necessarily just that; personal. When any two paths mirror identically you can be sure one is following the other, as it is when a thousand mirror the one. So fell the work of LaVey, as many before him into the pool of RHP vectors to be taught and followed rather than experienced and walked. When the form no longer represents or expresses the essence it is but an empty, hollow shell.

In the Autodiabolic framework, Satan is both real and figurative, both descriptive and prescriptive. He is simply the destroyer.

That this cannot be taught, that it must be a praxis to be of any substance is something that has been lost to all but the very few, and is part of the reason for the AutoDiabolic Method.

ADM too is an abstraction. A causal form that exists to cannibalize and run rampant upon other causal forms. An abstraction known as an abstraction, a tool known for what it is that it may be sharpened with awareness. A form that to remain vectored as an obsidian blade must shift as I shift, allowing for replacement of abstractions as they fall, as they fail, as the fire burns them away. A defragmentation for the mind, built on a foundation of exeatic experience and neuroiconoclasm. A foundation of conflict and direct and merciless opposition to all ideas, traditions, and beliefs until only what is true, what is real, remains. A distillation of reality. To breath life into the white-washed husk that the devil has become, through sinister deeds, through fire. This is what it is to be autodiabolic2.

In an esoteric context, He moves you beyond limitation, into the dark places most fear to tread (both figuratively and literally). He is that pathei mathos resultant from doing his deeds and walking in his shoes, and he is the resultant personal change born of this. He is the principle and praxis of that which leaves your personal sacred cows in a mutilated bloody heap, crunching that which was once certainty under cloven hoof, exposing what lay beneath, often horrifying, often painful, yet always true, to the light of day.

In an exoteric context, He is that which destroys the old so that the new might be, the sword, fang and claw that rends the flesh from the bone. He is the deeds done that tear down walls, ripple the still pools and tip over the canoe. He is the fire that burns what it can, leaving only that which it cannot. Without him, meaningful change, meaningful progress would not happen. Yet we are told to shun him, to fear him (or at least, all that he represents). In many ways this makes perfect sense. If you like how things are, enjoy your comforts, and are down with the status quo, why would that which challenges it not be a sort of evil? After all, we are wired as animals to protect our territory, amplified by our ability for abstract thought to extend that territory to ideas.
3. Order of Nine Angles

1. 2.

Anton Szandor LaVey Auto-Diabolic

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It isnt like there is a better way, for surely that is not the point of view I am offering, but only diversity. To most the dark is scary; the unknown is a source of unease. To those that value most highly their comfort, as we are taught to, the entirety of Satans providence is an alien and inhospitable landscape. The principle and praxis of burning down that comfortable place, to those, will always be the barbarians at the gates. Yet to a certain sort, to my kind, comfort has been dethroned as the prevailing psychological authority base. To those like me, the stagnation of sameness and stillness is the greatest evil. To those like me, the society we live in, enshrining mediocrity, placid mentality, egalitarian valuation, and all the other safeguards to the great stagnation that is the body and blood of nomos, is a sickness. For my kind welcomes those same barbarians to dine at our table, to burn down the fort. If they can. To some, the beauty lay in the spires of the emerald city, for others in the flames that consume it.
Written by Dan Dread

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Many people go through life not questioning or caring enough about their life situation. In my own case, I think about my education, financial status and the influences of family and friends. I want to change my situation and the reality of it is Im disabled and on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In my experience, most people think people on SSI like me love taking money from the government and being nonproductive. This is completely false! Being on any form of government financial support is not all its cracked up to be. Its really no different than being over-worked and und paid. In both cases, we are constantly getting beat down by the slave master. Im sure many readers would say: Stop complaining and get off SSI! Heres a bit of truth, let's look at fact 1; SSI bases your income on your condition. What do I mean by this? If you have physical disabilities you get more money than someone with a mental illness. The supplemental income for mental disabilities is $698 a month in most states unless if you live in New York or California, where it is in the low to mid $700's. And in some states it is even lower than $698 believe it or not look it up on the net. Now people with physical disabilities can range from $800 a month to over $1,900 a month, each state is different so the scales shift from state to state. A disability is a disability, something is wrong with this picture. In my opinion, a person with a physical disability still has their mental faculties and will most likely have more opportunities to earn an income than a person with maladies of the brain/mind. The person with a mental illness is like hiring Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. There is a percentage of mentally ill people who cannot be rehabilitated to function well in society. So why is the guy that is paralyzed from the waist below worth more money to the government? Why is his price tag higher?

I have called the Social Security Office many times in the past trying to get an answer to that question. The SSI office doesnt seem to have one. The only answer I have ever received was, that is just how things work, and things happen. That to me is not an answer at all just a cop-out! They may as well just tell me: Shit happens Sir, suck it up!

Living with family friends: Rejection

Now lets look on how life goes day to day being someone on disability. First, living alone is problematic if you are disabled. If my income is roughly $698 a month then having a nice pad of my own is damn near impossible. Unless of course I want to live in a drug infested neighborhood, I dont. It can make you feel worthless. I can keep myself motivated each day but stepping outside my own head I see missed opportunities, and its easy to slip into bouts of depression. In my case, Im living with my family. It helps to have family support but Im a grown man and should be fairly independent by this stage in my life. I lack privacy and live in an environment filled with the noise of family bickering. Then of course, there is the issue of leverage. People expect you to do their bidding because they are helping you out. The perception of you as a person is much like adults treat children. In reality, its a temporary living situation and one that was offered to me so I could get back on my feet. Forget having a social life. You can lose many friends being on disability.
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Lets face it, you dont have all the freedoms that other people do and people tend to start treating you differently. It doesnt seem to matter much if the situation is temporary. Which brings me to dating. Physical attraction is natural but it doesnt mean that there isnt a rational mind at work. A physical attraction can fizzle out rather quickly when a love interest finds out you are on disability and disabled. Even if a person is willing to rough it out with you, eventually its the piety game and the kiss of death good-bye. Disabled people seek love and family as much as the next person. In my opinion, its a bad idea. There are so many variables working against you from the start, and it makes little sense to even think about starting a family.

Adaptation and keeping yourself motivated

How can I change my situation? What changes need to occur in me? Not only do I have to adapt to my living situation but also reflect on my mindset and make adjustments when needed to manifest changes I want. This also makes one look deeply into the consciousness to really evaluate how I nourish my spirit What has my spiritual philosophy done for me lately?

Social Security: Meet your new Mom and Dad

Social security leans over you like your parents. Say for instance you have to move. If you move to a new place, not only do you have to report all of your expenses but theres a good chance your monthly check will be cut if they can find a way to demonstrate you need less to survive. Supplementing the income check is Food Stamps, but that can be cut too. The reality is, I eat twice a day because if I eat any more than that, I will run out of food by the end of the month. Adding insult to injury, if they find out you own a car worth more than $2,000.00 you are cut off completely. In supplementing your income (that you are in no position to earn mind you) means that you cannot have more than $2K in your checking account at any given time. Its much like earning an allowance from Mom and Dad, if you dont spend it wisely your allowance isnt increased, you are told that you have to make the most of it.

Let me tell you first, that it has been a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs. I have always been drawn to the one they call the Devil, Satan the liar, the deceiver, and rule breaker. I was fascinated with the stories because the church hasnt exactly proven the attributes of Satan at leastNot as facts. At first, I was looking for the proofs to support what is peppered out as truth.

My teenage years were full of rebellion, intrigue and thought. So I started reading all these books and even though I found them fascinating, I really started to form my own ideas about Satan. I started thinking about him as this guy that got a bad rap, and thought to myself, Everyone is looking at him completely wrong! I figured that I could be the guy that releases him from this prison created by religion and society. I figured, he was everywhere and knew everything. I saw him as a higher power that promoted freedom from oppression but also a teacher that I could turn to. He was teacher, philosopher, father, mother, sister, brother and a protector of me and mine. In essence, I dedicated my mind, body and soul to the devil Satan. It was a major release from my consciousness, and I felt myself breaking away from the religion that I was brought up in. It refreshed my very soul, I felt anew. I also felt empowered knowing the road ahead changed that very night.
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This was merely the start of seeing things in new ways. I did not just follow some crowd of devil worshipers. When I looked around for others of my kind what I found was something nothing at all like me. I did not destroy grave sites, vandalize churches and I was not promoting hate towards the Catholic Church. My relationship with the church was over. My relationship with my higher power didnt belong to the church, it was mine and mine alone. It was personal. I discovered a web site called The Church of Satan; the first thing I saw was that they were looking for a few unique individuals. I felt unique, so after reading the content on their website, I decided to find a book entitled The Satanic Bible, written by Anton Szandor LaVey.

You would really have to experience it yourself.

I meditated anywhere from two to six times a day for 10 to 20 minutes. It was mental and physical torture at times. Imagine trying to sit still when you really want to be active. Try to sit there and not be distracted by anything, but especially your own thoughts. When I wasnt meditating, I was working out on a ski machine for 25 minutes a day to keep my body in top physical condition. I should add that in addition to being classified as mentally disabled, I also had a knee injury I was trying to repair.

Little did I know that this would change and open my mind to even more thoughts and ponderings. This book was not Witchcraft, Black Magic, or fanatical fairy tales; instead this was about selfworship, and realizing you are your own personal Satan of your own life. It was about selfempowerment, and the courage self-rule. What I read encouraged personal growth, and tearing down the walls of suppressed sexuality. It was also about taking what you want and tear into which stands in your way.

Today, my interests stay focused on anything possible to empower the self. I show my respect, loyalty and admiration for Satan by working on myself. I do not grovel, plead or go down on bended knee to Satan. I believe the Greeks had it right when they strived to become like the gods. I can tell you, the road is going be laid out before me for a while longer. Im in my early thirties and feel Im more rational, reasonable and use the tools that I feel help me grow as a person. If Im thinking the wrong way then I change the way I see things. Its in my power to do so. I adapt to my situation while striving towards the goals I want to achieve. Any obstacle in my path is a challenge to embark upon.

To me, Satan was a chaotic force within nature, and I was going to bring Chaos to my life because something had to give. I was in pursuit of any/all knowledge that I could use to transform myself into what I envisioned myself to be. I focused on many eastern philosophies such as Taoism, Wabi Sabi and many forms of Buddhism. It was like a drug to me and it inspired me to create nearly every day. Most people view Buddhism as a passive and laid back philosophy. That part is true, but its more of a personal discipline. Some aspects of the philosophy train you to focus your mind and it is something truly amazing that no words can describe.

I am becoming more mentally sharp, physically fit and will have happiness, joy and laughter for the rest of my days and Im well underway to changing my situation and reaching my goals. I strive to do many amazing things in my life. I am going to be as productive as I can be. Better to have little and be free then have a lot but someone pulling your strings!

Gino S. Vaglivielo

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A Fiction, by Lori Robinson

There was no way to know that this was going to happen. No way to know that society would just collapse and wed be out here trying to cope with the changes. But it did and we are. The plague wiped out about half of the population. Whats left is a mix of the dredges of humanity and those who had made it pretty decent in the old world. This combination proved to be a volatile and sometimes explosive one. Those who had made it just fine in the former society struggled every day to make it through in this new one where the thieves, the criminals, the lower classes of man, thrived. The have-nots were used to functioning with barely nothing or nothing at all; while those of us who had done our duty to God and Country, who abided by the rules our government had set forth upon us, had to learn a hard, brutal lesson about survival. My husband and two children were some of the first in our city to be taken by the mysterious illness that some now say was a form of population control by our government that backfired. I was left alone in our giant house; alone and ill equipped to be that way. There were so many things Id never done up to that point; things Id never had to do. Like shoot a gun, steal food, take a life. All of those things were now common place for me. The world changed and some of us had lived to see it happen. When the airplanes became grounded because of the plague and the power plants useless with no one run them, those of us who had survived were given a glimpse at just what wed done to the planet we lived on. Within days, the smog began lift, within weeks; the sky was a different kind of blue, far from the dingy, dirty, faded blue it had become throughout the 20th and first part of the 21st century. Now, it was nearly crystalline in its color. A few months passed and the air was different; purer, without the odor it had carried for all of my lifetime. Those who noticed the way the earth had begun to heal its self and to take back the territory we had once encroached upon marveled at these changes that lay in stark contrast to the ruin of mankind. Buildings were beginning to crumble, sidewalks cracked; carefully pruned parks and lawns became overgrown and wild in their habitation of what had once been rightfully theirs before we had put our invasive footprints over every inch of land available. It was as if the earth was saying, Never again never again will you take what is mine; watch while I wipe you from existence. It was awe inspiring, humbling, beautiful and horrific all at the same time and we learned just how powerless we humans truly were in the face of our angry planet. All around, small colonies of survivors began to crop up. With the military long dead and no governing authority left to dole out food rations, people did what they did best, looked to the strongest they could find to provide and lead them.
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I walked for days, it seemed. My food ran out and I was dehydrated. The sun beat down on me from overhead during the day and by the fifth day of walking, I began to stumble. Disorientation sat in as hunger, thirst and exposure to the elements took their toll. The last thing I remembered was collapsing in the middle of the road next to a field in some obscure country side. Hours passed or maybe even a day before I opened my eyes and found myself not lying in a road, but lying in a bed. Candle light flickered all around me and I struggled to sit up. Dont try to get out of bed, came a voice from the corner that was swalThe Fourth Sorrowful Mystery solved:

lowed by shadow. Just try to rest. Where am I? I asked, my mind fuzzy. Who are you? Im David, he said. You wandered close to my colony and we found you while we were out foraging for food. You were half dead. I remembered how his words had filled me with a sense of relief. Id been alone for a very long time after the death of my family and the idea that someone had picked me up off that deserted road and had brought me into the fold gave me hope that that loneliness had come to an end. Throughout the days and later the weeks that came to pass after having been found by Davids group, I grew stronger. The people who lived within his protection were already strong in their own right and it was because of them that I learned how to truly survive in this world where humans had rapidly come close to extinction. They taught me how to shoot, how forage for food, how to find water and how to purify it and they taught me how to kill. The killing part came surprisingly easy to a former housewife and soccer mom and when Id made the first of many, I felt elated that for once in my life, I could stand on my own.

The heavy Cross, so willingly carried by our Lord, and ask Him to help you to carry your crosses without complaint.

Matthew 27:32

Even as I write this to you, the anonymous someone who might happen upon this page in this journal that we use to keep track of our kills, I am about to make the shot that brings my body count into triple digits. There was once a world where I used to believe the death penalty was inhumane; that all animal shelters should be no kill and that animals were friends rather than food. As I lift my rifle and peer through the scope at the shuffling intruder about to cross our territorial line into the compound, I take a breath, clear my head of all that used to be and I pull the trigger.
Lori Robinson

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There are far more than three piggies, piggies are legion. Piggies everywhere, doing their little piggy things in their little piggy ways, just like the other piggies.

Most piggies dont build their own houses anymore, that sort of thing is pass to modern day piggies. Prefabricated piggy houses are given to each piggy, which they happily live in, in such a way that a pig does. Each piggy house is just as the next, and though not too roomy or wellconstructed, they serve the purpose of the piggy to keep him from the big bad wolf.

Some piggies prefer more room in their piggy houses, or will have his little piggy house fall apart from the fierce and incessant blowing of the Big Bad Wolf. Being quite lazy or incapable as most piggies are, they make only a minimal effort to reconstruct their home, of straw because wood is much too hard for them to work with. These houses are not so bad, say these particular piggies, for there is much room to move around, and surely the wolf wont be back, or doesnt exist at all.

Every now and then a piggy will lose his house to the wolf and come face to face with its grim visage of teeth and snarls. Those that manage to not be consumed when meeting the wolf do so though their own cunning, and will not often forget the wolf, or what it can do. These little piggies come to realize the reality of the situation, and set about building a house of bricks instead. The other piggies laugh, they mock, and they give funny little piggy looks.

This rare piggy, having knowledge of the wolf other piggies do not, continues unphased.
Written by Dan Dread

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30 The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows by Sin Jones

Each person assumes the role of authority over their own lives; its when they presume to be the authority over the lives of others that conflict ensues.

1. Do you have full authority over your life? If that's the case, then why are laws in place to ensure that YOUR life is held in the hands of a higher-authority? Don't believe me? Test it. Try to take your life, and what consequences you will face if you don't carry it out fully.

The English term 'Authority' has had an interesting evolution linguistically speaking. The Latin term Auctoritatem implied some invention, advice or opinion that was given by an Auctor. The Auctor is where we get the English term Author. There was a time when the Auctor was considered to be a master, commander, and leader that demanded respect and acknowledgement as being correct. In 13th century France, the term was adopted Auctorit under the dominion of Kings. The divine sovereign was considered to not only be correct, but held prestige and with the gravity of the scriptures. By the time the term was adopted into the English language in the 16th century, it simply meant the power to enforce obedience. By the 19th century, the term indicated the powers held by those in charge, such as the police and governmental agencies.

2. Do you have full authority over your property? Then why is your property used as collateral and taxable asset? If you live in the U.S. you will NEVER own the land your dwelling stands on. If you do not pay the property taxes on the land leased to you by the government, not only will your property be seized as collateral damage, you will still owe the taxes in balance even if they seize everything you 'own'.

3. Do you have full authority over how you live your life? Today, the term authority takes on a similar aura but when used by a private person, it can be problematic when deciding: Whom has the authority? It may lead to the individual asking many questions such as: By what authority do others have the power of an Auctor to dictate the daily lives of human beings? If you think you do, perhaps you might consider the constraints placed upon it by the Auctors and in full support of the 'all the Kings men'. Government manages the daily function of society so that each person living will have the benefit of having basic survival needs such as food, energy, and shelter. Beyond that? There is added legislation to ensure you live by the divine authority of Kings.

The question seeks an answer but do you dare? The answers may lead you to the realization that You are a Slave. I can lock my door, I can enact my personal authority to not allow you entrance, unless of course there is probable cause for an Auctor to over throw my power and enter with a warrant issued by Law. Well, then that places your personal authority in a different light now doesn't it? What authority do you actually have?

We do enjoy the delusions of freedom don't we? The Plebian role of eating cake. We are left with crumbs and we do what we can with it, but does it truly provide us nourishment? Hardly. We are emaciated all the while stuffing our faces with porridge masked as a feast. What will it take for mankind to realize how truly far we've fallen from Grace?

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Isaiah 14:12-15

Revelation 13

How hast thou fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn! Thou hast been cut down to earth, O weakener of nations.
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13 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and I saw out of the sea a beast coming up, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon its horns ten diadems, and upon its heads a name of evil speaking,
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And thou saidst in thy heart: the heavens I go up, Above stars of God I raise my throne, And I sit in the mount of meeting in the sides of the north. For menservants and for maid-servants, And they have been captors of their captors, And have ruled over their exactors.
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and the beast that I saw was like to a leopard, and its feet as of a bear, and its mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon did give to it his power, and his throne, and great authority.
3

And I saw one of its heads as slain to death, and its deadly stroke was healed, and all the earth did wonder after the beast,
4

I know, I know... You really believe this story is telling a tale of literal God, an over-seer, an over-man...An Auctor in the sky. He will save you, from yourself.
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and they did bow before the dragon who did give authority to the beast, and they did bow before the beast, saying, `Who [is] like to the beast? who is able to war with it?'
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And there was given to it a mouth speaking great things, and evil-speakings, and there was given to it authority to make war forty-two months,
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I go up above the heights of a thick cloud, I am like to the Most High.

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Only -- unto Sheol thou art brought down, Unto the sides of the pit.

and it did open its mouth for evil-speaking toward God, to speak evil of His name, and of His tabernacle, and of those who in the heaven tabernacle,
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and there was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and there was given to it authority over every tribe, and tongue, and nation.

And you wonder why Venus rises and falls each day, crying for the monotony of it All! Perhaps you are falling, falling, falling...Into the pit. No way out. No sign of Sun to bring in the dawn of day.

And bow before it shall all who are dwelling upon the land, whose names have not been written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;
9 10

if any one hath an ear -- let him hear:

The idea of a messiah saving the human race from the Demiurge isn't exactly original. The essence of man pitted against the physical world of labor, toiling and for what? How much of your life do you really spend living?

if any one a captivity doth gather, into captivity he doth go away; if any one by sword doth kill, it behoveth him by sword to be killed; here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.
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And I saw another beast coming up out of the land, and it had two horns, like a lamb, and it was speaking as a dragon,
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and all the authority of the first beast doth it do before it, and it maketh the land and those dwelling in it that they shall bow before the first beast, whose deadly stroke was healed,
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From Ancient Sumer to Modern Judeo-Christian-Islamic societies, it's much of the same. How much has man really learned about himself during his existence? Not much by my account. It's all blah blah blah, we are the people, we have Authority! Not while you live in the dominion of Kings.

and it doth great signs, that fire also it may make to come down from the heaven to the earth before men,
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and it leadeth astray those dwelling on the land, because of the signs that were given it to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling upon the land to make an image to the beast that hath the stroke of the sword and did live,
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and there was given to it to give a spirit to the image of the beast, that also the image of the beast may speak, and [that] it may cause as many as shall not bow before the image of the beast, that they may be killed.
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For me? I dont bear another mans cross. I dont allow ideas to enslave my mind, I hang around the tree of knowledge but Im not living the life of a fool allowing it to corrupt me and rob me of my immortality. Theres a distinction to be made between holding knowledge and having wisdom. In knowing, I use it to achieve more autonomy and control. The Devil in man asks the questions and its up to each of us to seek the answers.

And it maketh all, the small, and the great, and the rich, and the poor, and the freemen, and the servants, that it may give to them a mark upon their right hand or upon their foreheads,
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and that no one may be able to buy, or to sell, except he who is having the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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Here is the wisdom! He who is having the understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for the number of a man it is, and its number [is] 666.
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Continued from page 33

Turn it on its head, and its 999. So whether you see this parable as a prophecy of mankind or the number of millennia it will take for it to sink in. Man is still dancing the Fool's Jig in the court of Kings.

Are you living in the city walls of the Empire or are you outside of it a midst the Barbarian Class? How do you justify your slave morality? How does it feel to live under the Dominion of Kings? When the Devil rises, you might learn to become the Auctor rather than bending to authority. Until then

The piper is calling.

References: Youngs Literal Translation Bible To Be a Fool The Roman Empire The Book of SIN: Pagan Push

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Send articles, essays, poetry, prose and artwork to: Sales@the-poison-apple

Further Reading: Horrors! The Pied Piper

Winter Issue theme: Falling Down

! views e our r ? in y prove Send tto im t it! n Gro ubmi w ca Ho po? S y eat Notic

How do you get back up? What keeps you motivated? Is failure the forerunner of Growth? Winter Season: A time to do nothing?

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Whats Inside
Dynamic individuals come together in the Grotto to approach CHANGE, what needs to change? How do we change it? What really changes?

Change Within and Without Changing the Political Landscape: Uncovering Essential Truth What in Hell is Wrong Here? How Can I Be the Change That I Imagine?, Bearing the Cross Changing Your Situation While Staring Down the Face of Reality, Providential Abstractions with Barbarians at the Gate Authority! And more!

Are we merely shadows dancing on the wall?

Take a Descent into POWER
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