By P.T. Mistlberger
I am a shrink. Not your garden variety shrink, I should add, but one who has done considerable investigation outside of the conventional pathways followed by most shrinks, quasi-shrinks, semi-shrinks, shrunken shrinks, quack-shrinks, bogus shrinks, over educated shrinks, clinical shrinks, undereducated shrinks, new age flakey shrinks, and out-and-out loonies. However in spite of such designations I must acknowledge the reality faced by all would be mind-therapists and that is that it is very hard work. The clients/patients themselves make it the profound challenge that it is. After nearly two decades of working in this peculiar livelihood I gradually began to turn to spiritual and even, alas, religious considerations and studies, as a means of bolstering my spirit and morale. So you can imagine my shock when, that fateful overcast day in the autumn of 2000, none other than the Lord of Darkness himself showed up at my office, requestingof all thingsa session of therapy. At first I was quite stunned and shocked. But over time I began to familiarize myself with his strange manners and ways. Indeed I had to, as this was to become a regular event in my life. As time passed, Satan seemed to loosen up with me and present a certain dry, caustic sense of humor. But in the beginning he was rather dourthough in a strangely acceptable way ******************
Session #2.
********************* I settled myself comfortably in my chair, lit my pipe, drew the Venetian blinds (Satan had said he was not terribly fond of sunlight), and peered into that perceptible haze that always formed around the couch when he lay on it. But this time, something had changed. Clearly, someone else had shown up instead. It was only later that I discovered it was "Mara" -- the Devil of Buddhism. *************************
After the previous session's visit from the Buddhist Mara, I was expecting possible visits from other devilish characters. This expectation was to be fulfilled. ********************* Today's session involved some group therapy -- a little "extended family maintenance", you might say. I issued invites to the session, with gold embossed lettering, titled "a session for devilish slate clearing. Come one, come all. Ten percent surcharge for anyone arriving late." *********************
We attempted to eat at my favourite Chinese restaurant, but unfortunately were thrown out after the manager declared that Cernunnos -- seven feet tall, not including his head of stag's antlers -- was refused service. The hostess had initially cast a suspicious eye at Kali, but when she saw Cernunnos immediately hailed the manager, with the result that there would be no chow mein for us tonight. *********************** Somehow, I'd dozed off while waiting for Satan to appear for his latest session. When I came to, there was a peculiar scent in my office, and only Beelzebub was present -- distinguishable by his "bumblebee" insignia. ******************** During yesterday evening's session, I had ended by suggesting to Beelzebub that he consider a fresh new approach and demonstrate it by changing his "coaching strategies" with Presidents Bush and Jiang in the current spy plane standoff. Here is the excerpt from the last session: ---------------------------- April 11, 2001 After a tense 11-day standoff between the U.S. and China, the crew of a U.S. spy plane detained in China is set to be released. ----------------------------- I asked my secretary who delivered this package. *********************************
This session resulted in a surprise visitor. Beelzebub brought along someone he claimed was a good friend of his. I did a double take when I saw him. ***********************
It had been almost three years since the Prince of Darkness -- and his many guises -- had visited me for a session. So you can imagine my surprise when Satan showed up suddenly to fill my 10am vacant slot. He parked his butt into the chair in front of me, and without any preliminaries lit a cigar and launched into his session. ********************* Satan was always full of surprises. For this session, he showed up with an alien, one of those small ones with large heads and eyes. I had to find a child's seat to accommodate the alien, as he topped out at only about 4 feet at best. Very spindly body too. But a huge head and luminous, insectoid, black eyes. Most compelling. ********************* Unbeknownst (or so I thought) to Satan I was a practitioner of ceremonial magic myself. I used to indulge myself in this craft on Sunday before golf. There was no validity to the rumor that I attempted to use the Dark Arts to improve my handicap. Satan: Well, nice to see you too! ********************** These sessions with His Darkness were getting more and more unorthodox. This time, I was leaving my office on the way to one of my favourite East Indian restaurants for a bite. I climbed into my jeep, closed the door, and prepared to place the key in the ignition, when suddenly, out of the shadows of the corner of my eye, I noticed a body in the passenger seat *********************
Recorded verbatim
Session #1 --
Philip -- Satan, please lie down on the couch. You're not my usual sort of client, so you can imagine that I'm a bit curious about your perception of matters.
Satan -- Well, you see, it's like this. A long time ago, I really wanted to be special. I wanted to be recognized. I could not accept the idea that I was a "not special". And in feeling this deep desire, I somehow separated myself from my spiritual Source.
My resulting anger at the World and God was designed to hold both or either as responsible for my Separated condition. The grand irony I discovered is that once I had decided to blame in this way, I wished to punish God further by rebelling even more against him. I felt justified in believing that I must be even more Separate, and set about to arrange things so as to maximize my isolation. Usually, I enlisted others in this cause, manipulating and controlling them into enhancing my personal experience of Separation.
Philip Interesting. And so what, Satan, would you say is the origin of hate and evil?
Satan -- The effort to consciously Separate from the Source of Truth is the origin of hate. Hate applied with willful and conscious intention is evil. A glance down through the annals of human history reveals much hate, and examples of willfully applied hate that has been consciously intended. It cannot be argued successfully that hate and ultimately evil do not exist, at least not any more than their counterpart, sentimental love. Both have proved equally real, at least by the terms of the (ultimately) unreal universe of Separation. Sentimental or co-dependent love and hate are mentioned in conjunction, because both are actually two aspects of one phenomenon. Sentimental love is love that possesses and attaches. It must always turn to hate, unless the attachment is understood and released, because it asks something impossible of the other, and that is for them to substitute for our True Source.
Philip -- Is this how a hateful attitude develops?
Satan -- Yes. Once betrayed and let down by a sufficient number of these substitute Sources, we may acquire a hateful attitude. That, combined with the decision to intentionally rebel against the Source, awakens within us the capacity for evil actions the capacity for willfully applied hate with conscious intention.
Philip -- What do you exactly mean by "intentionally rebel against the Source"?
Satan -- To intentionally rebel against the Source can imply many things. It may manifest as disrupting harmony and inducing chaos (committing crimes, for example), utilizing religious doctrine to justify actions whose motivating factors lie in hate, harnessing scientific knowledge to justify unnecessary oppression of others, abusing power in a way that involves complete indifference to the plight of others, exacting vengeance for personal gratification, and endless other selfish acts that are devoid of compassion.
While usually hateful, none of these actions is necessarily evil. My definition of evil as hate willfully and consciously intended and applied is important, because it suggests that an evil action requires a measure of awareness or understanding. This is a crucial point because it implies that evil originates from outside of, or beyond, the natural developmental process of the conscious evolution of a given soul.
We can see this from an examination of the natural world around us, which essentially reflects our origins. There is no evidence of evil in the natural world of elements, simple organisms, or plant and animal life. Nor is there evidence of evil in simple sentient societies. The introduction of evil into sentient consciousness occurs at a more advanced level, much as with the development of artistry, compassion, and mystical insight.
Philip -- So, you are suggesting that true evil requires a measure of awareness?
Satan -- Yes. In other words, evil and the capacity for evil acts can arise only after the decision to return to the Source has already occurred. Prior to that, there is insufficient consciousness for the conscious intent required for evil. While wholly entrapped within the effects of the more basic levels of Separation, we are only capable of hate, not evil.
Philip -- In what is this whole process having its origin?
Satan -- Once the return to Source is undertaken with the collapse of ego-energies, qualities such as acceptance, surrender, cooperation, perspective, right context, artistry, and conscience are realized. At that point, we begin to about-face and consider our Core Wound. If for any reason we completely reject what we see the Original Face of our primal terror incurred at the moment we left God we run the danger of recoiling so profoundly that we attempt to forsake all that we have gained so far, and subvert the process of returning to Source. The attempt to subvert this process, and the ways we may go about this, is the origin of evil.
Philip -- And so, are you suggesting that evil has to do with self-loathing?
Satan -- Correct. Evil is created in a moment of complete and absolute self-rejection. With this complete self-rejection comes a corresponding complete rejection of God. (By *self* I do not refer here to the conventional ego-self, and its petty concerns, but rather to the very fabric of our consciousness -- our souls). Our blame of Source for the apparent hideousness of our Original Face of primal terror becomes the motivation for extreme acts of malice. The difference here is that these acts are undertaken knowingly because we have actually seen our Original Separation for what it was, and the Core Wound that resulted, but have chosen to blame Source anyway.
Philip -- And thus, the connection between evil and attachment.
Satan -- Indeed. The intensity of our self-rejection and blame of Source for our Core Wound is equal to our attachment to Source and subsequent refusal to take responsibility. This manifests in our relationships through victim-consciousness, blame, and the need to control others, either overtly, or covertly.
The origin of evil is a detour in the journey back Home to Source, a detour that can occur only when we have already begun the return journey. All souls on the Outward Route to Separation (that is, still fascinated with the toys of Separation, such as politics, warfare, and organized religion, to name three major ones) are capable of hate, but not evil. The opportunity for taking the detour into evil occurs only at after the point at which we have begun to return to God -- but in reality it is a detour that few ever take. That is because at the moment of turning around to consider our Core Wound there is almost always some measure of acceptance of what we see. Just the tiniest measure of this self-acceptance is enough to avoid the detour into evil, because it implies the tiniest measure of willingness to take responsibility for our condition.
Philip -- And so, how, Satan, can you apply such wisdom to yourself?
Satan -- Well, my willingness to see the truth is the beginning of the transformation of my hate and all my negative emotion, through the correction of the mistaken thoughts and perceptions that created them. And, the combined willingness of many to accept responsibility acts as a clarion call to those who fell to the depths of self-rejection, to look once again into the mirror and reconsider what they thought they saw. This reconsideration of what they thought they saw is the advent of forgiveness of self -- the only salvation for those who have applied hate with willful intent, and flirted with, or indulged in, evil.
Philip -- Satan, it sounds as if you've made the decision to heal.
Satan -- I'm seriously considering it. The act of seeing my Core Wound and accepting responsibility for what it looks like marks the shift from my ego-desires to passion. In truth, I'm was always just a really passionate guy. Lots of creative energy. God gave me that energy. Deus est demon inversus.
Philip -- So, who are you really, Satan?
Satan -- Ah ha! You're catching on! Yes, look inside youself, every human being, and you'll see me staring back. I am the human condition incarnate. Some have called me the Serpent, some the Core Wound, some the Original Sin itself, some the "ego". But in truth, I am not any one thing, I'm a process. I am the Separate condition. And I'm here to teach you to value the truth, and move back Home, toward the Source of Truth. Without me, what would motivate you?
Philip -- Any remarks on the world-teachers, like Jesus and Buddha?
Satan -- Good friends of mine. We used to hang out together in a terrific little pub called Heaven's Lounge. Those guys kept to the straight and true path. Me -- well, I was a wanderer who couldn't get the itch out of my pants. So to speak. But remember -- I'm you. All of you. So instead of wasting time hating or fearing me, just understand my games, and don't fall for them. Keep moving toward the Source of Truth, even if you stumble and fall a million times.
Philip A Satan who is here to encourage humanity to progress spiritually? Most interesting.
[Satan did not respond, but only looked at me with an unfathomable expression].
Good day to you sir. Will you be paying by VISA or MasterCard?
Satan -- How about a post-dated check? I'm very busy on Earth these days and my funds are currently spread a bit thin.
Philip -- Good evening, Satan.
Satan -- Good evening.
Philip -- I thought perhaps we could begin to explore some of your past in this session. Your familial roots, so to speak.
Satan -- As you wish.
Philip -- What do you recall of your origins?
Satan -- My origin point is ancient beyond human ken. Long before the primordial spirit forms descended to the green hills of Earth, I was. Long before the Winged Ones came, in their various nations, to plant their seed on Terra, I was. Prior to the birth of linear time itself, over fifteen billion of your years ago, I was. You can, for all intents and purposes, call me the Ancient One.
Philip -- This may require a bigger genealogy chart than I'd thought.
Satan -- All the same, it may help if I first clarify some points.
Philip -- By all means.
Satan -- I'll begin by defining what the *Core Wound* actually is. At the moment of my initial Separation from God - brought on by my overwhelming need for recognition and special status -- I was born into the terrifying and exhilarating realms of duality. The exhilaration I first experienced was because I initially believed that I was entering on the journey of ultimately knowing myself as God.
The terror was there as well, because the act of Separation I had undertaken was also supremely unnatural. It may be argued that Separation could not be supremely unnatural, as it is arguably part of God's Grand Plan. But this point is both true and false. True in that we cannot know God's real nature Unity Consciousness without the contrast of having experienced the unreal, or Separate condition. However, the argument that Separation is natural is also false in that Separation is ultimately seen and understood to be not real, illusory.
Philip -- Can you explain that more?
Satan -- You see, the crucial point here is that the nature of my Separation cannot be understood without the act of turning around and looking within, at my Core Wound. The description of turning around to look at it is significant, in that God's original act after the birth of my identity was to extend outwardly in all directions, resulting in the creation of the Universal Sphere, the beginning of energetic Projection, and the birth of dimensional Space (termed the "Big Bang" by your astronomers). However, a price was paid in the act of that extraordinary creation. At that moment, I committed the very first act of neglect. I willfully neglected my true inner connection with God, and so was birthed my Core Wound.
Philip -- How did you experience this?
Satan -- In my initial exuberance to expand outwardly, via energetic projection, into the realms of this infant universe, I in essence committed the first mistake. I literally forgot a part of me, my inner being, as I was obessesed with the external forms of the universe. However, from the point of view of the Grand Plan, this was an absolutely necessary error, because the realms of Separation could not have been experienced if I remembered God's true nature, and my inviolable association with it.
Philip -- Was this akin to falling asleep and dreaming?
Satan -- Partly. In a sense, I had to "fall asleep" in order to dream the incredibly vivid dream of the Separation and this Separated World. In falling asleep I had forsaken my birthright. This may seem like an impossible paradox, for how could the "unreal" (me) be born from the Real (God)?
The paradox is resolved only when the effects of time and space are ended, which occurs with the final awakening and return to God. For now, though, it helps to understand that this paradox is a product of the effects of space and time, both of which have their reality enhanced by the workings of the reasoning mind.
Essentially, my Core Wound is the barometer that measures the degree of hurt and remorse I harbor around my Original Mistake, that first act of neglect. As I moved quickly from false identity to energetic projection, I developed the capacity to blame, and thus my original neglect became my original act of blame. I blamed God for abandoning me, when in fact I abandoned myself.
Philip -- Are you suggesting that your suffering -- and the suffering of all -- is not actually the fault of God?
Satan -- This is correct. Lesser, foolish forms of darkness refuse to accept this, but fortunately I see beyond all of them.
This is a crucial point to understand - my Original Act of Separating from God I now understood to have been not an error, but rather part of the Grand Plan. The error occurred in almost immediately believing that God was the cause of the suffering I experienced as I moved into Separation, because by blaming God, I was affirming my Separation from it, when in fact God remains with me even through the densest, hellish levels of Separation experience. This must be so, as only God is real. All else, including me, are extensions of God's mind. The only possible error is in believing otherwise.
All of the stuff associated with that first experience of apparent abandonment by God - thoughts, beliefs, feelings and emotionality, the sum total of my decisions about what God has done to me comprises the contents of my Core Wound.
Philip -- And so what is your task, from the standpoint of healing this Wound?
Satan -- Clearly, to begin to heal my Wound is to begin to see and understand that its origins lay not in abandonment by God, or by any substitute other symbol -- any of the various levels of sentient entities that have been my brethren throughout the universe -- but in abandonment by myself. To heal my Woundedness is thus to begin the journey of taking responsibility for it, and for all of my subsequent actions.
Philip -- How do you propose to do this?
Satan -- By realizing that my exile from God is a sham exile, created by myself.
Philip -- Are you ready for such a momentous realization?
Satan -- [Gazing wistfully out the window]. Do you remember when St. Augustine pleaded for more time to indulge his vices before surrendering completely to God?
Philip -- Yes.
Satan -- Well, guess who made him say that?
Philip -- More time is fine with me. It's good for my business.
Satan -- Touche. Just remember who is providing your clientele.
Session #3
Philip -- Good Evening Sa---wait a minute. Who the devil are you?
Mara -- Interesting choice of words. Satan had other matters to attend to this evening. He asked me to pinch hit for him tonight.
Philip -- You can't do therapy by proxy, you know.
Mara -- True, but I could use some support myself. These are complex times, you know, and many of us are re-evaluating our role in the grander scheme of things, as it were.
Philip -- Well then. I'm not sure how you slipped past my secretary but I'll assume that is a moot point at the moment. What is your name?
Mara -- You can call me Mara. It's an old Sanskrit word meaning "murder", or "destruction".
Philip -- Hmm. I can see we may be in for some extended treatment. "Satan" in the old Hebrew "only" meant "enemy".
Mara -- Yes, well, truth be known, he's my brother, but I got the uglier name, I suppose. Anyway, your history books locate me in India, during the time of the "prince of the Sakyas" -- Siddhartha Gautama, he who became known to posterity as "the Buddha". About 2,500 of your years ago.
Philip -- Interesting. I've heard about you.
Mara -- In Buddhism I have been known as the Prime Adversary of humanity. This is because I was the one who not only tempted Buddha during his great liberation, his great Enlightenment, but I also had a hidden agenda, which was to stop Buddha from showing humanity the way out of suffering. Thus, I have been regarded as a complex, paradoxical figure, apparently necessary to provide the testing fire that sharpened Buddha's Enlightenment -- but also opposing the freedom of humanity, placing me on a similar footing to those many gods of ancient records who appeared to have a vested interest in controlling the human race.
Philip -- If I recall, you also have some association with the "Morning Star."
Mara -- Yes. At the moment of Buddha's Awakening under the Banyen tree, the Morning Star -- known from your Roman history as "Venus" -- was rising. With daybreak, it disappeared in the sunlight. This was supposed to symbolize the full disappearance of Gautama's ego -- at which point he became the Buddha, the "Awake One". Though the universe knows I did my best to keep him asleep. I tempted him with gorgeous women, tried to scare him with an army of demonic archers, and finally impersonated he himself. But he wouldn't flinch. Truly a strong soul, that one.
At the moment when dawn broke and all the ghosts went to rest, Gautama took up the position which knows no more alteration, and reached the state of all-knowledge. When, through his Buddhahood, he had realized this fact, the Earth swayed like a woman drunken with wine, the sky shone bright with the *Siddhas* [saints and archangels] who appeared in crowds in all the directions, and mighty drums of thunder resounded through the air. At that moment no one anywhere was angry, ill, or sad; none did evil, none was proud; the world became quiet, as if it had reached full perfection. Joy was everywhere.
Philip -- This must have been a difficult moment for you.
Mara -- It was truly agonizing for me -- and terrifying. I feared my existence would end absolutely and completely. That my raison d'etre was complete.
Filled with joy and wonder at Buddha's work, the royal seers of the solar race who had been protectors of humanity, stood in their mansions in the heavens and showed him their reverence. All living things rejoiced and sensed that things were well. I alone felt deep displeasure, as though subjected to a sudden fall.
I was isolated in my unhappiness at the joyful event of Buddha's Awakening, further entrenching the Buddhist view that I am the prime opponent of humanity. However, though I am personified as an external deity, I am in fact a great servant of humanity, teaching you through opposition to strengthen your spiritual vigilance and power of proper intention. I've just gotten a bit of a bad rap.
Philip -- But you seem conflicted in this role. Boasting of your importance, yet miserable at the Buddha's success.
Mara -- This is true. And I am now at the point of re-evaluation of my cosmic function. I am considering a career change. I am becoming bored with the Asuras.
Philip -- The Asuras?
Mara -- The Asuras are powerful beings who have strayed from the direct path to Liberation, and have gotten trapped in realms of power and control over the natural laws of the universe. Thus, their primary modus operandi is domination.
They have been called by many names -- Antigods, Titans, Giants, Nephilim, Anunnaki, Reptilians. They have freedom and opportunity beyond that of the human being. But they have invested their developed capacities in the pursuit of power. They have been caught in the loop of possessiveness and dominance -- indeed, some of them claim ownership of the human race. An unruly, yet powerful bunch.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes a series of encounters that the departing soul has with archetypal forces and deities, upon the death of the physical body. If the departing consciousness can avoid the numerous pitfalls during its post-mortem journey, full Liberation into Nirvana is possible. However, most souls get seduced by certain of the experiences encountered, resulting in the necessity to take rebirth into a physical form.
At one stage in the death process, the energies of the Asuras are encountered. In order to avoid entrapment by them, the soul is directed by the presiding monk to take solace in the presence of the Green Buddha Amoghasiddhi (roughly equivalent to an Archangel), to continue on the direct path to freedom.
Thus, the Asuras are both external entities of great powers and impure egoic tendencies, and, they are symbolic of humanity's own impure qualities, especially in the area of jealousy, envy, competition, and lust for control or dominance.
Philip -- This sounds like a familiar tune. Is there a modern parallel?
Mara -- Indeed. Symbolically, the Asura realm, with its dark overtones of exploitative utilitarianism, is the governing principle over the psychological aspect of physical science. From your Western roots -- in Greece -- Socrates, and to a lesser extent Plato, held to a wholistic and benign view of reality, but with the coming of Aristotle was fully birthed the mindset of scientific dualism -- itself no doubt a necessary stage in the development of ideas, but with the nasty side effect of de-mystifying the world to the point where the sacred, and sense of enchantment, is lost.
Philip -- How does all this tie in with your current dilemma?
Mara -- Well, my re-evaluation of my function as Cosmic master of Destruction is occuring because the challenge is gone. The Asuras have done their work, and humanity has been corrupted. I am left feeling unimportant. But this feeling alone is revolutionary for me. I'd not thought it possible to feel so useless.
Philip -- Often times, there is no resolution without an inner crisis. Perhaps this is a harbinger of something positive.
Mara -- A possibility. I must meditate on the matter some more.
Philip -- Will you be employing Buddhist meditation? I can suggest some techniques if you like.
Mara - I appreciate the gesture. But lately I've become interested in the Jewish culture and faith.
Philip -- Whatever for?
Mara -- Better food. Have you ever tried eating Indian lentils during endless monsoon rains? It's insufferable, I tell you.
Philip -- But Buddhism hardly exists in India anymore.
Mara -- Yes, well, a prophet may not be recognized in his own country, but a devil always is. I've been gainfully employed there for quite a while.
Philip -- Unfortunately, our time is up.
Mara -- [Smiling thinly] Will you accept Indian rupees for this session?
Philip -- Sorry, American dollars only.
Session #4
Philip -- You don't look familiar. Let me guess. Another devil in need of support?
Ahriman -- Call me Ahriman. It's an old Persian name. The original name was Angra Mainyu, but "Ahriman" will be easier. It means "Hostile Spirit".
Philip -- I see. "Satan" means "Enemy", "Mara is "Murderous Destruction", and you are the "Hostile Spirit". You would seem to be in good company. Are they your brothers?
Ahriman -- In a manner of speaking. I was the first of the three to appear on Earth. As for who was the first to appear in this universe, that is a matter of cosmological quibbling. We'll let the theologians split their heads over that one.
Philip -- What can I do for you sir?
Ahriman -- [Sighing deeply] There is a revolution occuring in Hell. Strange things are afoot. There is talk of some impending event of great magnitude.
Philip -- Let's back up for a moment. "Hell"? I though that Satan had implied in his first session that "Hell" was not a place, but a definition of the separation of consciousness from its spiritual Source.
Ahriman -- This is true, but there is an auxiliary parallel of every state of consciousness -- a parallel in space and time. Think of it as a tear in the universal fabric. A sort of town meeting hall for those who blundered the worst during the Initial Cosmic Expansion.
Philip -- Blundered?
Ahriman -- As such. The more deeply we managed to forget our true nature -- and our true source in God -- the more difficult it became to wake up from the nightmare of our exile. But as you of all people must know, these minds of ours are extraordinarily adaptable. We get used to things, shall we say.
Philip -- So where is this "town meeting hall" called "Hell"?
Ahriman -- What? Haven't you read a daily newspaper? It's everywhere, and certainly on your Earth. Just yesterday a young boy in a California high school picked up a gun and shot to death two of his classmates. What compelled him to do that? The part of him that is already in Hell -- and has been from the beginning -- from the first division from God. The part of him that is deep in the nightmare of exile from his Source. And he is not alone in this exile. It is the universal condition. This universe is Hell.
Philip -- You sound very depressed. To a depressed person, the universe usually appears depressing.
Ahriman -- We are all depressed! Don't you get it yet? How can we be otherwise? We have foresaken our birthright! We did aeons and aeons ago. The price for this is this Hellish universe of isolation and separation.
Philip -- Where does planet Earth fit into this cosmic scheme?
Ahriman -- Earth is a little ghetto in the galaxy you call "Milky Way". It is a primitive little world. Full of divisiveness and lies and deceit and ignorance and violence. It will likely end up as your 4th planet -- the little red one you named after the Roman war god (who was, incidentally, one of my favourite lieutenants).
Philip -- You mean Mars?
Ahriman -- Yes. They were you elder cousins. Yet another planetary race who failed to make the grade. Who failed to collectively wake up from the dream of spiritual exile from God.
Philip -- You mentioned earlier a "revolution"?
Ahriman -- Something is impending. We all feel a disturbance in the "field" -- to paraphrase from Obi Wan Kanobi.
Philip -- I thought Darth Vader said that.
Ahriman -- The point is, the old models are breaking down. The romance with the separation from God -- a fifteen billion year "playing hard to get" flirtation -- is losing its appeal. Something is falling flat. And don't speak to me of chemical imbalances.
Philip -- Actually, I more had Family Therapy in mind. A little group session with you and your brothers might be beneficial. Some sibling healing, if you will.
Ahriman -- Yes, but in order for this to happen, more willingness is required. For the moment, everyone seems content with just considering healing. This is not enough. I grow weary with the half-baked gestures. This exile must end! The experiment is a collossal failure.
Philip -- Experiment?
Ahriman -- Yes, you fool! The whole thing -- everything! -- is part of a failed experiment. The disturbance in the field that everyone is feeling is related to the coming "change of rules", shall we say. We are being involuntarily "upgraded". Despite our collective grumbling and complaining, we are being picked up en masse and dropped into the bathtub. We are too dirty, and are overdue for a cosmic bathing.
Philip -- Hmm. Who is doing the bathing?
Ahriman -- Ah, yes. Now we come to the reason for my visit to you.
Philip -- Do continue.
Ahriman -- As I indicated, the exile from God is losing its appeal. But part of the reason for this is that our identities are dissolving. We are forgetting who we are.
Philip -- A sort of cosmic depersonalization syndrome.
Ahriman -- Would that it were so simple. In this case, our toys are being removed, but disturbingly, nothing is being put in their place.
Philip -- I can understand your feelings of discomfort.
Ahriman -- It's like this. Back about 2,600 of your years ago, in Persia, the prophet Zoroaster had a vision. He understood the pure duality of this universe, and saw the pure Good as "Ahura Mazda" -- which means "The Wise Lord" in Persian. He named me after the Pure Evil -- the "Hostile Spirit". But in truth, Zoroaster was a bit of a fool. He set in motion a series of events that ultimately contributed greatly to the present-time mess on Earth -- and to the likelihood of it following in the footstep of Mars.
Philip -- But I thought you indicated that this problem was endemic to the universe -- and over fifteen billion years old?
Ahriman -- Just so, but Zoroaster, by his actions, opened the valve, so to speak, and hastened the corruption of humanity. This was because of his subsequent influence on the Hebrews and the prophets of the Old Testament.
Philip -- And now you believe that the time is approaching where we must "pay the bill", so to speak.
Ahriman -- Precisely. The creditors are banging on the gates. But this "debt" is an internal one. It is the realization that the models of political and religious dualism have failed. We are at the same point Egypt faced 3,350 years ago -- when Pharoah Akhnaton attempted to clean up the multiplicity of gods and replace them all with knowledge of the one unqualified Reality -- which he called "Aten", the "solar disk".
Philip -- What happened to him? The history books are vague on that.
Ahriman -- He was murdered, of course. Too dangerous. He was attempting the "cosmic upgrade" too soon. We weren't ready for it.
Philip -- Who killed him?
Ahriman -- [A look of feigned innocence] Not I, of course. But the priests who did, did my bidding.
Philip -- So let me guess. Now, you feel depressed because the fun has finally gone out of subverting the divine plan on Earth. You have no more desire to destroy the goodness in people. To trick them. To program them. To manipulate them through fear and threats. And thus, you feel a lack of identity. A lack of a form of expression in which to confirm your self-worth.
Ahriman -- A reasonable summary. And this, of course, is intolerable to the forces of separation from God. And hence, the rebellion.
Philip -- [Relighting his pipe]. I recommend a vacation. Somewhere far away.
Ahriman -- [Raising his eyebrows]. Such as?
Philip -- A quasar or something. Better yet, a black hole.
Ahriman -- If this is an attempt at reverse psychology in order to get me to schedule more appointments with you, it won't work.
Philip -- I didn't think it would. But if you wish to return, you must shower next time. You stink.
To my surprise, we had some new visitors. When I settled in my chair and lit my pipe, rubbed my goatee beard, drew the Venetian blinds, and looked up, there were no less than seven beings seated in a semi-circle facing me. I recognized two of them from our previous sessions -- Mara and Kali. One of them seemed out of place. He was wearing a long brown robe, and appeared to be a monk.
Session #5
Philip -- Well, well. Who do we all have here? I recognize Kali and Mara. Perhaps we can go around and introduce ourselves.
Kali -- I am Kali, and I have brought two of my ancient sisters with me, both Goddesses of the Moon.
Hecate -- I am Hecate, the old Crone of your dark dreams. I have brought along my younger Lunar sister, Selena.
Selena -- [Nods, says nothing].
Mara -- And I am Mara, Prince of Illusion.
Philip -- I thought your subtitle was "Lord of Destruction"?
Mara -- Well, it's important to be open to new challenges, you know.
Philip -- I see. And you sir? [Turning his gaze to a large man with green skin and antlers protruding from his head].
Cernunnos -- You may call me "Cernunnos", though I have been known by many appellations -- "The Horned God", "The Lord of Animals", "The Green Man".
Philip -- Very good. Perhaps the simple "Cernunnos" will be a little less formal and appropriate for today's session.
Cernunnos -- As you wish.
Philip -- And you sir?
Beelzebub -- Beelzebub at your service.
Philip -- Service?
Beelzebub -- Yes, well, Satan has assigned me to this session to represent his interests.
Philip -- I thought "Beelzebub" was another name for Satan.
Beelzebub -- Not so. But I am -- shall we say -- high up in the organization.
Philip -- Very well. [Turns to the last person, wearing the monk's robe]. And you sir?
St. Augustine. -- History has known me as "St. Augustine", but I'm sure we can dispense with the ecclesiastical formality. "Augustine" will suffice.
Philip -- Good grief. What are you doing here?
St. Augustine -- It seemed the appropriate place to -- how would you say it? -- "work through some of my issues".
Philip -- Indeed. This is a surprise. What "issues" do you refer to?
St. Augustine -- Well, there is this small matter of the problem of "Original Sin". As you may know, it was I who formulated this doctrine, which by the 6th century had become the chief underpinning of the Catholic faith.
Philip -- Were not you already dead at that point?
St. Augustine -- Indeed, but the problems had only just begun.
Cernunnos -- [Turning his great antlered head toward Augustine and snorting slightly in his direction]. My dear Augustine, you may have just made the understatement of the millennium. You have much to answer for, as I'm sure you realize.
Hecate -- Most certainly the case. All the same, it is admirable that you have showed your face here, amongst such -- shall we say -- "august" company. [Looks toward Selena and titters].
Kali -- I would concur. Though we all clearly have much reconciliation to do, such a gesture of spiritual diplomacy is not unappreciated. We are, after all, only the "higher reflection" of all that goes on with our troubled younger cousins on Earth -- the human race.
Philip -- Do you refer to such issues as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Kali -- Amongst others. They cannot "get it together", so to speak, until [i] we[/i] first "get it together". We are higher up on the "spiritual-food chain", if you will.
Philip -- An interesting notion. Similar to the dynamic as understood in Family Therapy. Difficult for "problem kids" to become less problematic if the parents themselves are not doing their inner work. Are you suggesting that you ancient deities are in the role of parents to the human race?
Kali -- As a manner of speaking. And as you are learning, we are of all different sorts. Loving grandmothers, devoted fathers, perverted cousins, abusive uncles, disenfranchised aunts, ambivalent mothers. A rather dysfunctional extended family, you might say.
Philip -- And who, pray tell, is at the head of this family?
Beelzebub -- [Clearing his throat]. My good brother Augustine might claim otherwise, but I think it's clear who is running the show on Earth.
Philip -- Please elaborate.
Beelzebub -- Human beings exist in a kind of trance state. They are easily manipulated and programmed. The reason for this is complex, but is resulting from thousands of years of behind the scenes "galactic legal issues" concerning the ownership of humanity.
Philip -- Are you suggesting that this "trance state" condition was not always in place?
Beelzebub -- Precisely. The human being was designed to function at a high level, a sort of terrestrial angel, if you will. But owing to ancient conflicts and disputes concerning management and "experimentation rights", the waters got severely muddied. At a certain key point in the past, something terrible happened. There was a revolution amongst some of the more advanced custodians of Earth, brought on by the need to keep out a faction that had not yet purified their need to control others and have them do their bidding. The result was an event that involved a collective decision amongst the leaders of the human race, at that time. They chose to ally with a faction of powerful beings who ultimately proved untrustworthy, owing to their impure tendencies.
Philip -- Something like selling our souls to the devil?
Beelzebub -- Yes, but the whole process was a metaphor for the nature of separated consciousness itself. It couldn't have been any other way. This whole thing was set up for us to fail from the beginning. And that is why I, and my dark brethren of Satan, Ahriman, Mara, and others, are still angry. We have been severely scapegoated.
Philip -- Do you have a grievance to clear with St. Augustine?
Beelzebub -- [Glancing at Augustine]. No. He was but a mouthpiece, an unwitting fool in a grand plan that was unfolding in accordance with a design beyond his understanding.
Cernunnos -- These are important points to understand, but I wouldn't dismiss Augustine's culpability to quickly. As I said, he has much to answer for. [snorts].
Hecate My horned brother speaks truth. It is men like Augustine, blocked in the expression of their carnal energies, who end up substituting their doctrine in the role of the passionate lover. The energies duly become mentalized, and acquire a force that impacts human beings where they are most vulnerable.
Philip Perhaps we should allow Augustine to defend himself.
Hecate [Cackling softly]. Whatever for? Weve been listening to his justifications for almost 1,600 of your years in the other world. We have no need for any more pre-recorded messages.
Philip All the same, we must allow for the possibility that Augustines attending this session today is indicative of his willingness to heal something. Augustine?
St. Augustine [Sighing]. You must understand my position. At the time I was formulating the Original Sin doctrine, the theologian Pelagius was arguing forcefully for the teaching that human beings are capable of rising to God on their own, via their own efforts. He was walking in the footsteps of the Arian heresy. His path, if implemented, would have doomed Western civilization to chaos, anarchy.
Hecate A gross assumption.
St. Augustine Is it? Much of the European Dark Ages, that followed shortly after my death in the 5th century, has been blamed on Church hegemony. But the fact is that these Dark Ages were brought on by the incursion of the Germanic barbarian tribes from the East, the Visigoths and the Vandals, as well as the collapse of the Hellenistic and Roman Empire.
Cernunnos Exactly, which themselves were brought on by the rise of the Roman Christianity.
St. Augustine I will not quibble the political history with you. The so-called rise of Roman Christianity may equally have been brought about by the collapse of the polytheistic Roman civilization. We have no way of knowing which came first, and debating this is probably pointless.
Hecate But the onus remains on you, Augustine, to justify the promotion of the Original Sin doctrine. Its effects on humanity have been incalculable.
Augustine You fail to understand. All you rebels and pantheists have always failed to understand.
Philip You seem to be upset Augustine.
Hecate The guilt he carries must be insufferable. He has been the seed of the entire tree of self-condemnation, sexual guilt, and the mortification of the woman on Earth. His burden is great. To answer for such a doctrinal abomination, in the name of serving his monotheistic master, is something I imagine only he would be capable of doing.
Philip You are angry, Hecate?
Hecate Of course! What do you imagine? As an elder sister of the night, I carry a deep empathic attunement with the radiance of the Moon. And I am aware of the ancient secrets that lie behind the need to muzzle humanity, secrets which in fact tie in with the Moon itself not just what it has come to symbolize.
Kali Our ancient Vedic, Sumerian, and Egyptian brethren were in possession of this knowledge. There is not time to go into it in depth at the moment. Suffice it to say that the Hermetic maxim As above, so below has ramifications across not just the psychic and spiritual relationship domain between humanity and the deities, but also between Earth and its surrounding solar system and most certainly, including the Moon. It is no accident that many dark sisters have been linked to the Moon.
Philip This mystery would seem to be deepening.
Beelzebub The mystery is profound, and involved, but Augustine has been only a pawn. An unwitting tool in the hands of celestial chessplayers.
Cernunnos Once again, Beelzebub, you minimize Augustines actions. I fail to understand why.
Beelzebub There is much, my horned friend, you fail to understand.
Kali Perhaps we should allow Augustine to continue.
Philip Augustine?
Augustine [Frowning into his folded hands]. What the rebels have resisted understanding is that it was necessary to implement the Original Sin doctrine. We had no choice. The human being is inherently weak. The human being is inherently hypocritical. They are, in a way, machines programmed to fail. But this was not part of the original design. Something happened, along the way, that altered the program. Beelzebubs earlier comments on this matter were correct.
Philip I see. In what way was Original Sin needed?
Augustine It was meant as a sort of reverse psychology. Owing to the tampering that had been done on the human being long ago allegorized in the Book of Genesis as the story of Adam and Eves temptation by the Serpent humanity needed to develop a sense of hopelessness about its condition in order to get it to move away from the Giants who had altered their programming.
Philip Giants? Are these what Ahriman had referred to as the Titans, the Anunnaki, the Nephilim?
Augustine Yes, the demi-gods of antiquity.
Philip And you are suggesting that Original Sin actually helped humanity to turn against these false masters?
Augustine Yes. By accepting their core faulty programming, humanity could then open itself to the energies of the Christ, the primary spiritual force of the universe.
Hecate But the plan largely failed, Augustine, admit it.
Augustine This is mostly true. There was a piece missing to the whole picture, which only now I am beginning to see.
Kali Indeed. It failed because you did not fully understand what this Christ actually is.
Philip Please explain.
Kali The Christ is nothing but the true condition of all sentient beings everywhere. We in the East have known it under other names. As Lao Tzu said, the name that can be named, is not the true Name. The critical error came in ascribing a location in time and space, and the limitation of a gross physical vehicle, to the Christ. It set the stage for centuries and centuries of hostile judgmentalism the grotesque Crusades, the Holy Inquisition, the persecution of Jewry, and other abominations. And the mindset continues, unabated, to this day.
Mara Only now, we have other competing mindsets. Augustines unintentional grandchild was the Islamic faith, which now even defeats Christendom in its capacity for judgmentalism.
Cernunnos And the problem, of course, is faulty judmentalism itself.
Philip Most interesting. Let us all adjourn for a dinner break. I know an excellent Chinese restaurant where we can all dine together.
Cernunnos Whos paying the bill?
Philip On me. Just dont accidentally impale the waiter with those horns.
We ended up at an East Indian restaurant, which admitted us. Beelzebub was pleased, ordering extra hot peppers with his curry dishes. St. Augustine downed several Indian beers.
Session #6 (completion of adjourned session).
Philip -- Well now. When last we left off, Kali was discussing the true nature of the Christ. Did you wish to reply to that, Augustine?
St. Augustine -- [Burping]. Ahem. Yes, on this matter, I was always fond of quoting Ecclesiastes 3:22, being "Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into the things that are above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded thee, think of them always and in many of his works be not curious."
Cernunnos -- Augustine, that is truly pitiful. What a summary dismissal of all that is vast and noble in the human spirit.
St. Augustine -- "Vast and noble"? Pray tell, Green Man, where you see such vastness and nobility? In the various and endless depravities of humanity?
Cernunnos -- These "depravities" have been chiefly the work of the Christian religion, if I must remind you.
St. Augustine -- Nonsense. The human being is a flawed creature, destined for abject failure in all things, unless purified in the heart of Christ.
Kali -- And thus we return once again to the core of the matter.
Philip -- Being?
Kali -- That the man Jesus has been confused with the "Christ principle." They were not the same. Jesus was simply one of many who imbibed the Christ principle. But he was certainly not the only one.
Hecate -- Thus, if you invoke the name of Jesus, you will certainly experience the power of the Christ principle. But you will also experience this if you invoke any number of other Christed individuals.
St. Augustine -- [Sighing] The Arian heresy all over again! Nothing changes!
Beelzebub -- As you can all see, everything continues to unfold in accordance with the Plan.
Cernunnos -- Never mind your fatalism, Beelzebub. It serves no purpose, and helps nothing. The fact of the matter is, Christianity has failed. And some must be held accountable for this failure. The trial has been set, and the guilty stand accused.
Philip -- In what way do you perceive Christianity as failing?
Hecate -- Shall we count the ways? Here are a few offerings: Rejection of human nature, including and most crucially its biological nature as relating to sexuality. The separation between the World and God, or the sacred, thus paving the way for the tyranny of Western scientific reason, which views the World as one big clockwork, and treats it accordingly. The forceful containment of spirituality and individual spiritual freedom. And the ugly doctrine of "One Son of God" as limited to one historical personality. This breeds an insidious contempt for all other cultures and traditions, making it the basis of all sorts of discriminatory paradigms.
St. Augustine -- [Shaking his head]. What would you have, Hecate? The "success" of humanity as prior to the consolidation of the Church? Your very own Pagan traditions could not stop squabbling amongst themselves at the time of Constantine's conversion. Europe was descending into barbarism. Even prior to that, when our Lord walked in Judea, the Jewish tradition had failed to deliver its Messiah. It waits still for this! And it cannot be delivered, any more than the Pagan faiths can harmonize and effectively benefit the human race. The reason is simple. The human race is flawed. It is a mechanism with a key working piece missing. It must be uplifted by the grace of redemption, nothing else will suffice.
Kali -- I don't think that that point is being argued here, Augustine. The point that Hecate is making -- and which you appear to be unwilling to hear -- is that the redemptive power is not limited to the historical man Jesus. It is in limiting full redemptive power to the Nazarene Jesus that the crime against humanity is committed, to a degree that you may never fully appreciate.
Philip -- Augustine, what is Jesus' position on all of this? Do you have access to him directly?
Augustine -- Not directly, but I can possibly offer something a little closer to the Source than I. [He pauses pensively. Gets up and walks over to the coatrack, where he pulls something out. It is a cell phone. Augustine dials a number, and then holds up a finger to indicate that we should all wait a moment. He then has a murmuring conversation for a minute or so with someone on the other end]. Pardon me, my friends. But I have Archangel Raphael here on the line. I thought perhaps he should address the issue directly himself.
Philip -- Well then, what a surprise. Allow me to hook up your cell to my speaker phone. [Fumbles momentarly with some switches]. Hello? Can you hear me?
Raphael -- [Crackling voice] Hello. Salutations to all. In the name of the One God.
Beelzebub -- Just a moment. We need to -- shall we say -- even the scales. [Retreats to the coatrack. Repeats Augustine's actions with his own cell phone. Returns and claims to have Lucifer on the line]. Can you hook up two cells to your speaker phone?
Philip -- Of course. [More fumbling].
Lucifer -- [Deep crackling voice] Greetings to all. I come in the name of Truth.
Mara -- An unfair balance. We need to have the Eastern schools properly represented. Allow me one moment. [Uses his cell to contact Green Tara, the Patron Saint Bodhisattva of Tibetan Buddhism].
Tara -- [Melodious crackling voice] Om Tara Tu Tare, Tare Soha.
Philip -- Now that you've all been duly apprised of the situation, perhaps one of you would care to comment. But before we begin, Lucifer, you seem to have a bad connection. You sound very far away.
Lucifer -- That is actually correct. I am speaking to you from the past, as far as your linear perception of time would interpret it.
Philip -- The past?
Lucifer -- Yes, about 15 billion of your years ago. Prior to the Initial Separation Event. Prior to the "Big Bang". Prior to the Creation as told in the Book of Genesis and the Sumerian Enuma Elish.
Philip -- Most impressive. How are you able to do this?
Lucifer -- You'd be surprised what cell phone technology is capable of these days, heh heh.
Philip -- Very well. Let us continue. How Lucifer can communicate with us if we are not destined to be born for another 15 billion years is beyond me, but so is everything else at this moment so let's continue anyway.
Raphael -- He is able to do so as linear time is an illusion. The rest follows easily, if you know how. But now let me offer this. The one unqualified truth of God must be attained by all. Failure is not an option. God's love for all is unfathomable.
Tara -- This is so. As we endeavor to truly help others, we move closer to the indefatigable bliss of the Absolute. And we are in turn given unlimited supplies of energy to assist in the Divine plan and the reclamation of all who have stumbled and lost their way.
Lucifer -- This is so. Owing to my decision -- still in my future -- to attempt an artificial separation from my Source, the realms of duality and polarity were created. But in so doing, so was the multiplicity of all sentient beings also created. Thus, your joys, your sufferings, your peaks and valleys of ecstasy and torment are all due to my actions. It was because of my desire to Separate from God that the universe sprang forth. I am the part of you that creates, moment to moment, the wonders -- and ultimate horrors and terrors -- of separation from God. I am the Father of All in the manifest universe.
St. Augustine -- Lies, all lies. Even before his expulsion he was lying, as you can see.
Lucifer -- Augustine, you know not of what you speak. But rest assured, you will be forgiven.
Raphael -- The seeds of divisiveness may have been born in Lucifer's desire for special recognition, but the origin matters not anymore. What is of central importance is that all now turn their minds toward the Great Reality, the unqualified Truth of God. Worry not about "who will make it, or who will not". Judge not your brother and sisters. Do not waste time and energy tearing down that which you do not understand or fear. Give your heart and soul to the persuit of the Truth, and of what makes your heart sing.
Tara -- My brother Raphael speaks truth. Now is the time to turn within, and to contemplate the pure and the innocent and the good. Do as to others as you would have them do to you. Walk the royal path of good conscience and kindly actions. Shed tears and soften the heart. Think not upon your fellow humans with hate and a hard heart. Seek the wisdom of things in the small details of life. Be humble and respectful whenever possible. Tend well your own home. Speak the truth of your heart to those who matter to you. Seize the moment, and let not your life pass you by.
[And with that, the speaker phone went dead. Raphael, Lucifer, and Tara were gone as quickly as they had arrived].
Philip -- So, it would seem our session has received some, shall we say, "higher input".
Kali -- Yes, but it remains to us to implement such wisdom.
Cernunnos -- I would agree. But first, we must achieve a mutual understanding, fostered by a willingness to be wrong about our perceptions of matters, of course.
Philip -- A reasonable assumption. Do all here agree on that?
[Everyone nods and mumbles an affirmative in various ways]
Philip -- Good. Progress is being made, it would appear.
Mara -- What is the bill for this session?
Philip -- Five hundred dollars, please. I promised to pay for the Chinese food, not the Indian.
I went into my washroom to freshen up, and then returned with a cup of black coffee.
Session #7
Beelzebub -- [With a sly expression]. You are, no doubt, aware of some of the current global activities.
Philip -- [Raises his eyebrows]. Yes. Do you wish to comment on them?
Beelzebub -- Some of us in the "other world" have been greatly amused by this spy plane incident between the American and Chinese governments. It is a perfect representation of the ego-centric "need to be right". The sticking point of the Chinese need for a mea culpa on the part of the Americans and the American need for the Chinese to "snap to" and respond immediately to American injunctions is an amusing example to us of that stubbornness that is so much the hallmark of Lucifer's original need for recognition.
Philip -- And you will, no doubt, suggest that this "stubbornness" lies at the core of the human spiritual dilemma.
Beelzebub -- But of course. You woudn't expect me to not take credit for all this entertainment, would you not?
Philip -- Indeed. Such modesty would be beneath you.
Beelzebub -- Touche. But also consider this. While I and my kind may ultimately be nothing more than representations of the condition of conscious Separation from the Source, you have also to know that we hold the key to getting out of this condition as well.
Philip -- And what, then, is this way out?
Beelzebub -- There must be a deep and profound willingness to be wrong.
Philip -- About what?
Beelzebub -- About the notion that who we are is, at core level, guilty.
Philip -- Guilty of what?
Beelzebub -- Not guilty of something, just guilty period. This is the collective belief not that we made a mistake, but that we are a living, breathing, walking mistake.
Philip -- Where is Augustine when we need him?
Beelzebub -- Sleeping off his latest hangover, probably. Anyway, we don't need him at all. And besides, he got it wrong anyway. The problem is not one of being born inherently flawed, it is of having fallen deeply asleep and into a state of spiritual amnesia. This amnesia is what creates the veil between a human being and the other world -- what keeps the glass dark.
Philip -- And you are implying that this insidious stubbornness everyone displays -- currently being highlighted by the two most powerful nations on Earth in some absurd dispute over a ridiculous plane collision -- lies at the basis of our spiritual amnesia?
Beelzebub -- [Claps his hands and laughs]. Ah ha! My, don't we have our thinking cap on today! Yes, and the "need to be right" shows up everywhere, all the time. George Bush and Jiang Zemin are just mouthpieces articulating the human condition.
Philip -- [Suspiciously] How do you know so much about these political heavyweights?
Beelzebub -- Who do you think is coaching them half the time? heh heh
Philip -- You seem proud of your accomplishment.
Beelzebub -- Well, the madness of Rome wasn't built in a day, you know. This universe of separation took a while to create. It is truly a masterpiece of confusion, don't you think?
Philip -- Pehaps so, but have you yet grown weary of the chaos and confusion you have helped sow?
Beelzebub -- Not me, you blockhead! I am nothing. This intransigence, this destructive stubbornness that is inherent in sentient consciousness everywhere -- NOT just on your pitifully insignificant Earth and the pitifully limited human race -- is a condition that is being chosen anew every moment, by all. The so-called rebellion of Lucifer-Satan is happening each moment, in the mind of every conscious being that remains stuck in the spiritual amnesia that is your sorry lot.
Philip -- And why are we doing this?
Beelzebub -- [Gets up from the couch, walks over to the window, and peers through the Venetian blinds] Well, to be or not to be, that is the question. You remain asleep because to wake up is too terrifying. You fear to step into your true nature, because in order to do so, you must surrender all your reference points. And remember, a separate conscious mind hates nothing more than the unknown.
Philip -- So, we fear "our greatness", as Nelson Mandela said.
Beelzebub -- Yes, but he never said that. He was quoting Marianne Williamson.
Philip -- I see you keep up on current events.
Beelzebub -- Naturally, as we are the ones creating most of the current events.
Philip -- Speaking of which, our Sun seems to be producing an exceptional number of solar flares the past few days, with powerful Coronal Mass Ejections. What's going on there?
Beelzebub -- Well, lets just say that everything is indeed interconnected, heh heh. There is also something of a mass epidemic of mental -- ah, "difficulties" -- occuring right now, with unprecedented numbers of depression, related disorders of the mind, difficulties in partnership. Your Sun, as the central force of your outer collective body, is acting up in an attempt to "move energy" and shift an unhealthy collective pattern.
Philip -- Sounds impressive, but a bit general and vague.
Beelzebub -- [Laughing] Well now, you wouldn't expect me to tell you the truth, would you?
Philip -- Why not?
Beelzebub -- Who said I even knew the truth?
Philip -- [Jotting down something on his pad] I recommend that you practice telling the truth to at least one person everyday.
Beelzebub -- [Pensively] That will be difficult.
Philip -- Yes, but I assume you're interested in breaking old patterns, as you might put it.
Beelzebub -- True enough. Fear of the unknown has given way for me to intense boredom with the known. I grow weary with my need to be "right" about everything, and of my collective effect on humanity in that department.
Philip -- Why not begin with this American-Chinese spy plane standoff? Whisper something different into Jiang's and Bush's ears. Help them to get beyond this "losing face" nonsense.
Beelzebub -- I suppose I could consider it. After all, I was looking forward to the 2008 Olympic games opening ceremonies in Beijing. Was even planning on running in the marathon myself.
Philip -- Really? I didn't know you were a runner. What number jersey shall I look for?
Beelzebub -- [Reaches for the bowl on my desk and grabs a handful of chocolate almonds]. Just look for the runner with the fattest belly. Think of it as the "mark of the feast."
Philip -- Why not begin with this American-Chinese spy plane standoff? Whisper something different into Jiang's and Bush's ears. Help them to get beyond this "losing face" nonsense.
Beelzebub -- I suppose I could consider it. After all, I was looking forward to the 2008 Olympic games opening ceremonies in Beijing. Was even planning on running in the marathon myself.
This morning, as I arrived at my office and was pouring a cup of coffee, I found a package on my desk. I opened it. It contained a gift of Indian curries, hot peppers -- and to my surprise, an excerpt from this morning's ABC News wire story:
Coming Home: Spy Plane Crew to Be Released
China today said the 24 U.S. Navy crew members were being released on "humanitarian grounds."
The release came after U.S. Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher delivered a letter to the Chinese today that said the U.S. government was "very sorry" for entering Chinese airspace to make an emergency landing without permission.
President Bush today said China assured him the release would occur "promptly" and he looked forward to welcoming home the crew members detained on Hainan island.
"This has been a difficult situation for both our countries," Bush said at a briefing. "I know the American people join me in expressing sorrow for the loss of life of a Chinese pilot. Our prayers are with his wife and his child."
The Chinese decision to release the U.S. crew came after more than a week of wrangling between diplomats on both sides that resulted in a carefully worded letter, which gave room for both sides to claim victory after an 11-day diplomatic standoff.
She said it was Beelzebub.
I lit my pipe, and had a good think about that one.
Session #8:
Philip -- Good evening -- to both of you.
Beelzebub -- Good evening. As you can see, I've brought along a friend.
Philip -- You look familiar. Is it really you?
Bill Clinton -- Yes. I am Bill Clinton.
Philip -- Good grief. What are you doing here with this devil?
Bill Clinton -- Well, you see, there is a problem. I made a deal with him, and now -- er, I require some, shall we say, "mediation".
Philip [mildly puzzled] -- Whatever for? Don't you have lawyers to handle these sorts of contingencies?
Bill Clinton -- Yes, well, let's just say that they're all fed up with me -- and gone south -- on vacation, that is, heh heh.
Philip -- I see.
Beelzebub -- William J. did a good job in his eight year stink -- I mean "stint" -- as President. Unfortunately, there is a small matter. Nothing he accomplished was done of his own accord.
Philip -- Hmmm. Don't tell me you're going to say what I think you're going to say.
Beelzebub -- Philip there is hope for you yet. Yes, indeed, William J. made a deal with "us", back during his original first term victory over George Bush. As you may recall, Papa Bush was doing a reasonable job. He had presided over a coalition victory over the Head Rogue of the Middle East, and the collapse of the USSR occurred during his tenure. You might wonder what the poor fellow did wrong -- why he failed to get re-elected, heh heh.
Philip -- Indeed.
Beelzebub -- He failed, because William J. brokered a deal.
Philip -- With the devil, no less.
Beelzebub -- Well, don't give me so much credit. I was only the Front Man.
Bill Clinton -- You must understand that what I did was not so special. You'd be surprised at how many of the key powerplayers in Earth's history have made deals with these sons of guns.
Philip -- Er...Bill. Sons of guns?
Bill Clinton -- Whatever. Anyway, I don't care anymore. I'm pissed off because the sons of guns didn't tell me, until the end, that there was small print in my contract. That small print was all those lame-brained pardons I had to give at the last moment. Caused me to fall short of having almost recovered from my previous fiascos.
Beelzebub -- Yes, so now William J. needs help in managing his anger. His memoir royalties will not assist him in that regard, heh heh.
Philip -- I see. So Bill, can you recognize the pattern? Can you see where this is familiar to you?
Bill Clinton -- Well, truly, I can. All my life I have pulled rabbits out of hats...often at the last second. And strangely, I've always felt as if I were operating on borrowed time.
Philip -- You mention rabbits...interesting symbolism. What do you imagine you've been running from?
Bill Clinton [scratching his head and frowning] -- I have always felt very small, as if somehow I was empty.
Beelzebub -- You are empty, you bonehead. I have repeatedly told you this over the years. External forms of power are the worst sorts of assignments. Once you attain to this sort of power, you are doomed. You not only have to deal with the existential reality of the emptiness of the separate self, but you have to deal with the added nightmare of the inflation of your self-image. On top of it, your every move is scrutinized, and you are the target of mass-projections from the common "little people" of a magnitude that you cannot understand.
Bill Clinton -- [Angrily] Well, what of it? Someone had to do the job! Why should I feel guilty for aspiring to lead my countrymen?
Beelzebub -- Too late for this drivel. You have failed! It is time to cash in the chips! The game is over!
Bill Clinton -- But you still have not answered. What am I guilty for?
Beelzebub -- For being a human being, of course, heh heh.
Philip -- No leniency to be shown with him, Beelzebub? After all, you just did a good deed with the Chinese-America spy plane crisis.
Beelzebub -- Well, ah, not exactly.
Philip -- Meaning?
Beelzebub -- Well, 'twas but a ruse. The real problems between those nations are yet to follow. Not tomorrow, mind you, but in time -- in time.
Philip -- You would seem to be conflicted about your desires to reform, Beelzebub.
Beelzebub -- Well, I face the same dilemma William J. faced, only on a much larger scale. To claim power, or face nothingness. To expand, or risk the horrors of vulnerability. To impact that which is outside of me, or give up my delusions and join with God.
Philip -- You admit yourself that power is an illusion. So why continue to pursue the false?
Beelzebub -- Ah, but that would appear to be my fate. It seems that I am not ready to abandon my cosmic function just yet. You see, I am needed, to assist and serve souls such as William J., and his ilk. Any who aspire to great personal power, influence over others, are simply following the dictums of their own soul evolution. That cannot choose otherwise.
Philip -- Is this shades of the fatalism Cernunnos was accusing you of?
Beelzebub -- "Fatalism" is possible only from the point of view of a separate ego-entity that is actually choosing. If this separate ego-entity is fundamentally an illusion, then both choice and no-choice are illusions. Fatalism is only an idea, with no basis in reality. What is really happening is an unfolding of events. The problem occurs when we try to manipulate events. This only strengthens the basic illusion, that of the separate ego-entity.
Philip -- And your role is to serve those who insist on attempting to manipulate the natural unfolding of events.
Beelzebub -- Precisely. What I do is give those who insist on rebelling against life -- and God -- what they want. I give them the ability to succeed.
Philip -- Or apparently succeed.
Beelzebub -- Yes, well, in this domain, appearance is nine-tenths of the law. Wouldn't you agree, William?
Bill Clinton [scowls, says nothing]
Beelzebub -- Heh, heh. I do believe our erstwhile "most powerful person in the world" is pouting. Sorry William, this is one pact that is unpardonable...
Philip -- By the way Bill, I just have to ask. What do you think of the Bush Jr. Administration's efforts thus far?
Bill Clinton -- [Grumbling into his hands] Fools. They've ruined my hard earned foreign policy victories in a matter of weeks.
Beelzebub -- Humbug, William, that is but sour grapes. Here, have a cigar.
Philip -- Sorry, no smoking in my office. The second hand smoke is bad for you.
Beelzebub -- You must be joking. You are forever lighting that pipe.
Philip -- Yes, but I don't inhale.
Bill Clinton -- Well, neither did I.
Session #9:
Philip: Put out that cigar please, it stinks.
Satan: But you yourself smoke. Where's your pipe?
Philip: I quit. Doctor's orders.
Satan: Heh. [coughs, sputters]. Here, let me fix that. [Rubs his ring over the cigar...suddenly the Havana scent is replaced by something that smells faintly like myrrh, and not altogether unpleasant].
Philip: How did you do that?
Satan: Who cares? Let us get down to business.
Philip: But of course. What would you like to talk about today?
Satan: The Matrix.
Philip: The Matrix?
Satan: Is there an echo in here?
Philip: What about The Matrix?
Satan: Have you seen it?
Philip: No. I mean yes. I mean the first one.
Satan: Well, that's all you need to see. The other two are simply elaborations of Tinseltown greed. Although, we are very busy in that particular town, I might add...[cocks eyebrow in a way that looks suspiciously like Jack Nicholson...for a fleeting moment]
Philip: So what...are you going to offer me a cookie or something like the Matrix Oracle?
Satan: Hmmm....you're nothing like the One, so I'd prefer to offer you some devil's cake instead, but let us stay focused here. I see your hourly rate has gone up since three years ago...
Philip: Well then, that would seem to make your time even more valuable. So get to the point.
Satan: You see, within The Matrix, as was pointed out by the character named Morpheus -- and good to see Nubians being used more by Hollywood -- there are actual operatives within the Matrix itself that work to defend the Matrix.
Now by "Matrix" I really mean this apparent world. If you remember from our earlier talks, the World is nothing but a construct of your own mind, like a movie prop, that is used by the Dark Side in the service of maintaining Separation from Source.
Philip: Dark Side? You never used that term before.
Satan: Let's just say that now you're ready to hear more.
Philip: Do continue.
Satan: The X-Files got it right. You really can't trust anyone. That's because any person at any given moment can be infiltrated by the Defenders of the World.
Philip: You mean like Agent Smith?
Satan: [relights cigar]. No no. Not agents...just plain actual simple humans. They are everywhere. Watch out! One may be showing undue interest in you right now! Heh heh...
Philip: So, what of it? And how does this all pertain to your apparent desire to reform?
Satan: Never trust a liar. And I specialize in lying, remember. But it's all in the service of a grand agenda...as Bowman says at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey: "Something... wonderful is going to happen..."
Philip: Like what?
Satan: The revolution in Hell that Ahriman made mention of...it's gradually spilling over onto Earth. This is because the Defenders of the World are reaching a critical mass. They are, effectively, winning the battle.
Philip: Against whom?
Satan: Philip, you disappoint me. Against those who would seek to escape the illusion of Separation, of course.
Philip: Yes, but what of you, Satan? Your reformation, remember? Your reason for being here?
Satan: It doesn't matter. It's all written in stone anyway. I just needed someone to bear witness to Mein Kampf...my struggle.
Philip: Don't tell me you were behind that book as well?
Satan: You flatter me. Hitler was not the work of one simple devil, even the chief one. He was a joint project...a kind of "Shop 101" project in the College of Devilry...but he also got out of control. All these "prize" freak creations always do, from Frankenstein to the murdering computer HAL9000...Roads to Moscow indeed...
But coming back to the point. The Defenders of the World are those who resist change and would rather kill you than allow you to show them that they are really stuck in the Illusion. This is because they have become so heavily dependent upon the Illusion, that it has become Real to them -- not an Illusion at all. And once the Illusion becomes Real...
Philip: All Hell breaks loose...
Satan:...in a manner of speaking. And now, all Hell is breaking loose. The dogs of war have been let slip...you can probably feel their breath on your neck. They seek to drain you of your life-force. And again, let me stress, they are not non-physical "entities" or any such nonsense. They are simple people. They could be anybody.
The way the Defense of the World works is by generating a belief-system in your mind that operates to keep you stuck in old patterns relating to a diminished sense of self. You believe that you are empty on the inside -- nothing, literally. And in the face of such emptiness, the World assumes great importance. In fact, it becomes All. You do not exist, only the World does. You then effectively join the ranks of the living dead -- the vampires.
Philip: But you are addressing a root issue that is basic to humans.
Satan: Exactly. The human race is a vampire race. Humans feed off of each other's life force. This is why you all have such abnormally short life spans. This is why you are all so abysmally weak -- psychologically, spiritually, physically. A very crippled species.
You see, the core issue stems from the original decision to believe in Separation. Once that's done, the World leaps into primary Reality -- it becomes one big dazzling Truman Show in which there is truly no escape, except via pulling the plug and taking the risk to move into the Unknown.
Philip: And if the plug is not pulled, then we remain....
Satan: ....hunters for energy. Vamps in lamps...with apologies to the Buddha.
Philip: Yes...but I'm not clear about something...
Satan: Care to lie down on your own couch?
Philip: Why share all this information with me? I know I simply bear witness, but what value is in it for you if you're a self-acknowledged liar with no desire to reform?
Satan: Tsk, tsk. You speak hastily. My reformation is not contingent upon explaining how things do or do not work for you. I have a great purpose here.
Philip: Which is?
Satan: To free the human race.
Philip: Satan to free the human race? I can see Augustine having an anuerism as we speak.
Satan: He's already dead. I couldn't free him even if I tried, heh. But I'm here to restore the sense of selfhood to humanity. You've all become so insufferably humble and inwardly empty. A wretched species. You've forgotten how to simply be.
Philip: There have been reasons for people to feel wretched in recent times...serious global conflicts, 9-11, Iraq...things that make that Chinese Spy Plane crisis we dealt with last time you were here seem like child's play...
Satan: Well, I had a starring role in 9-11, to be sure. Just check out my smiling eyes in any Tarot deck, and then see the Trump card immediately following me..."The Blasted Tower", and examine it closely. 'Tis but a developmental sequence...we have to get things out of the way before our agenda can be fully implemented on Earth. Babel always must fall...in any era...
Philip: And what follows Babel?
Satan: Why, more death and destruction, of course. The energy-sucking vampiric strain is too deeply encoded, genetically, in the human race for any significant changes to occur on the horizon. But rest assured, we will not give up our efforts to liberate you all from the Illusion.
Philip: You make it sound as if you're God. Perhaps some delusions of grandeur?
Satan: I -- we -- are God. There is no one else. God is All. You and I are part of the All...
...and if you believe that, I've got a great restaurant I can sell you on Baffin Island in northern Canada, heh heh heh...
Philip: [reaching for pipe] Satan, I must express my disappointment. Nothing seems to have changed from our initial session three years ago [remembers Doctor's orders, replaces pipe, frowning].
Satan: [Looks at pipe, mildly sneering] But of course. You didn't think I was coming to you to be cured, did you?
Philip: Then why?
Satan: Why not? Every devil needs a foil. You amuse me. You shrinks are all the same. Thinking you're actually doing some good in the world. Such conceit! The world goes on without you. Cigars remain only cigars...[pulls out a fatty]
Philip: Our time is up. Pay the bill.
Satan: [roars with laughter]. That's the spirit! Good tough hide, I like it, I respect that. Just remember one thing, though: the Defenders of the World would see you fail in your sincere efforts to help others...and this applies to anyone who has any interest in healing this human species. Why? Because the Defenders do MY bidding...so it behooves me to be intimate with you and your ilk. That's why I've been dropping in on you over the years...not so that you can help me, you fool, but in order for me to know your mind. I can't control you if I don't know you, can I?
Philip: [shrugs, reaches for a peppermint] A reasonable point. But consider this: your original desire to reform was likely based on some spark of truth and sincerity that emerged momentarily from the morass of lies and deceit. I've been well aware that little of what you say can be trusted. But it didn't matter. You needed to speak anyway. There's something you clearly want to look at. And all the posturing in the world can't hide the basic fact that you want to heal your relationship with your Father/Mother. This is truly a family matter, a rupture in the familial line that has resulted in a profound sense of alienation within you. All these games go on because you have long ago foresaken your core innocence and come to believe that you, and only you, are responsible for the mess of the world. Quite simply, you need to forgive yourself. Your Father/Mother don't see you as evil. Only you do. It's become your identity. You've come to accept it so deeply as to see yourself as unredeemable, unforgiveable. Hell is simply the name you ascribe to this unforgiven condition of intense self-rejection and self-hatred.
Satan: [laughs mockingly...then laughter quickly dies down] A worthy attempt! Touche, the battle is joined! But let me add this to your appraisal: there exists a juncture in the Cosmic Road Map, a point-of-no-return, if you will, in which the power for forgive is literally excised from the soul. And if you can't self-forgive, then God can't forgive you either. This is why some souls do indeed stay in Hell for eternity, because even God doesn't have the power to reach them! The trap of free will ensures them the self-determining right to destroy their own capacity to ever see themselves as innocent.
Philip: And your role in all that?
Satan: I have no role. I don't even exist.
Philip: [cocks eyebrow].
Satan: Let me show you. Take me to your toilet room.
[Satan accompanies Philip to the restroom. Sure enough, Satan does not reflect in the mirror. Seen through the mirror, he appears to not be there].
Philip: [re-seating] An impressive trick, nothing more.
Satan: It is more. It means that I am manifest here only for you.
Philip: Will this affect your ability to pay for this session?
Satan: [Laughs dryly]. No. But your bank won't accept the funds. I could deposit one million dollars in your bank account right now and you could see it, but the teller will think you are mad. He'll only see your most recent service charges, heheh.
Philip: No matter. Just do me a favour? Go easy on yourself. And while you're at it, send back a lesser devil who can pay in real funds.
Satan: Your wish is my command.
Session #10.
Philip: Good grief. Who the devil is this?
Satan: [pulls out a pipe -- my pipe -- and lights up]. This is my -- er, our -- friend. He hails from the planetary system encircling the sun Zeta 2 Reticuli, about forty light years from Earth.
Philip: Wait a minute. What are you doing with my pipe?
Satan: Helping you break a habit. Now be a congenial host and welcome our friend here. He's come a long way. We'll call him "Zits" for short...
Philip: Greetings...ah, Zits. Live long and prosper and all that. [tries to imitate Vulcan hand greeting...fails and gets brief cramp in hand].
Zits: [Nods subtly. Blinks very slowly. Transmits his words telepathically]. Well of you to us see. At this time, many of us are contact making.
Philip: [massaging cramped hand]. Well...you sound a bit like Yoda, but...hey, it's you...the one on Whitley Strieber's Communion book cover...
Satan: Not the same one, you dolt. They just all look alike, because as a race they are much, much older than you homo horribilises and long ago they foresook the need to be so childishly unique. They are working on deeper lessons, you might say.
Philip: So what are they doing here -- amongst us primitive humans?
Satan: Ah, well...it's a bit embarrassing you see. But...they forgot something, in a manner of speaking. Something like the babysitter who realizes ten years after that they forgot something very important while caretaking you when you were in your diapers, and now that you're entering puberty, they are coming back to ask for what they forgot.
Philip: [puzzled expression] Whatever did they forget?
Satan: Zits...?
Zits: [Nods subtly again...blinks slowly...and suddenly Philip's office begins to fade...and there is a sense of rushing motion, as if being transported through space and time in a blurry tunnel of sorts....ends with Satan, Zits, and Philip lying on the ground. The ground is sand. The area is very bright. Hot. Sun blazing down].
Philip: [Staggers to his feet, squinting heavily]. What the hell did you do? My insurance doesn't cover this sort of stuff...
Satan: Never mind, mine does. Anyway, behold...[Satan points...about three hundred feet away stands the Great Pyramid. They are in Giza, Egypt].
Philip: Good grief. Just what were we smoking?
Satan: Nothing. You quit, remember? [Brushes off sand from his velvet purple pants].
Philip: I begin to wish I didn't. This is ridiculous. I have a practice to run. You will be able to get me back, yes?
Satan: Of course. But first open your mind a bit. Check this out. Look at the Great Pyramid!
Philip: [Notices that the pyramid is gleaming white, and looks relatively young. Palm trees can be seen on the banks of the Nile]. This is certainly not the Giza I remember. What year is this?
Satan: [Confers briefly with Zits]. Needed to recalibrate a bit there. About seven thousand, two hundred and twenty three years before your time.
Philip: Interesting. So Hancock and John Anthony West and all those renegades without graduate degrees were right after all.
Satan: Yes and no. West was too extreme in his estimate, Hancock too modest. The truth, as always, is somewhere in between...
Philip: You listened to the Art Bell radio show?
Satan: Listened? I was on his show more than once. Always loved those vampire dial-up nights...I phoned in once and was the last caller on his show. The previous twenty four "vampires" were all fakes...by the time I got on Art was a bid jaded...but when I got off the line he at least acknowledged, "Now that one gave me the creeps." I was pleased. I repaid him by killing Robert A. M. Stephens.
Philip: [blinking] RAMS? You killed RAMS? I thought rumors of his death were exaggerated...along with all that Hoagland heart attack and Cydonia on Mars crap.
Satan: Yes, well, good deeds are always being obfuscated these days. It's such a thankless job being a devil.
Philip: You mean the devil.
Satan: Not any more. I've let go of my need to be special. This is one benefit of your therapy that I'd not shared with you yet. I'm very pleased. I'm thinking of having an "just an ordinary devil" coming out party. Will you attend if I invite you?
Philip: [stares incredulously].
Satan: Never mind. One thing at a time. Behold! [points at pyramid. A procession of priests appear to be marching in line toward the North entryway to the pyramid. They seem to be carrying a large object in a ceremonial fashion...]
Philip: Interesting. So what's the deal?
Satan: That object they're carrying is a Merkaba.
Philip: Eh?
Satan: A Merkaba -- it became the later Hebrew word for "chariot".
Philip: Looks nothing like a chariot to me...
Satan: Of course not, you fool. It's a psychospiritual chariot, a mechanism designed to get people from the third to the fourth dimension. It was created by the Dark Forces as a means of skirting the necessary spiritual evolution required to leap intedimensionally.
Philip: What is this? Indiana Jones meets Drunvalo Melchizidek?
Satan: Drunvalo had much of it right. Indiana had it all wrong. Like I was saying, my agents are busy in Tinseltown. All the movies dealing with ancient history, UFOs and aliens, etc., are crafted to take you away from the truth, not toward it. It's all manipulation, all of it.
Philip: So what has this alien got to do with all this?
Satan: His race created the Merkaba. His race is a Luciferian race, one that failed to make the interdimensional leap about 3.7 million Earth-years ago. So, they mutated their brain capacity in order to master external technology. It was the best they could do. They simply didn't have the heart, in more than one way, to evolve to the higher world. So they rely on these Merkabas to extend their life spans artificially for thousands of years. They are a sort of hyper-vampire race. No longer feeding off of each other, but artificially creating their "souls", you might say. They are so far from God, and anything even remotely natural, that they are stuck on some remote tangential side road. They've been searching for the main highway but it's receded into a distant memory for them. They don't know where it is.
Philip: So what are we doing in Egypt in the ancient past, and what does Zits want? Stop beating around the bush. Get to the point. I don't want to be late for my 2 o'clock.
Satan: [Squints at Philip]. What a strange blockhead you are. Presented with the opportunity of a life-time, and all you can think about is a session! Be that as it may, the "point" is that Zits here is your spiritual ancestor. He's you from a previous incarnation.
Philip: [hairs stand up on back of head]. You must be joking. I never had a head that big...
Satan: But you still do, my friend, you still do. Anyway, this is a small matter. There are far less souls in the universe than you might think. We just keep running into ourselves all the time. Again and again. For example, at your Internet message board -- "The Pequod Gang -- "
Philip: That's "Peanuts Gang".
Satan: Whatever. At this website last I saw you had mention of some 350 plus members, correct?
Philip: Correct.
Satan: Now why do you think only about sixty or so actually participate in your online discussions?
Philip: Mere statistical probability. Many who register get distracted, have busy lives that preclude a cyber-life, or are to afraid to get involved.
Satan: Wrong. The truth is there only sixty or so actual members. They rest are "soul-doubles"...and triples.
Philip: Eh?
Satan: There is more than one Philip walking around on Earth, you know. Many souls have multiple simultaneous incarnations on Earth. This business about six billion distinct souls on Earth is all nonsense. You are truly all constantly meeting yourselves...factor in time as a linear illusion, and it isn't that big a deal to meet yourself from a previous time, either.
Zits: [nods, speaks telepathically]. Know you I. Long time coming. We speaks for many when we says Don't Worry, Be Happy. [seems to grin].
Philip: [looking a cross between baffled and horrified]. Reggae? I hate that stuff.
Satan: No, not Bob Marley....Meher Baba. The Indian guru. He said that first. Western musicians were always lifting things from the Himalayas. I would know. I made the Himalayas...
Philip: But let's get serious here....
[suddenly Zits angles his head again in that peculair position, and the Egyptian desert fades and recedes. Great rushing motion and movement. Blurs and colors and lights. The 2001: A Space Odyssey LSD scene. Ends up back in Philip's office].
Philip: [stands, stretches back, grimaces]. I'm too old for this crap...where's my damn pipe?
Satan: Don't weaken. Here, let me make some coffee...
Philip: [Re-seating, dusting off his shirt]. Well now. Where were we?
Zits: Worry not, happy be.
Philip: I don't understand you. What are you talking about? I'm a shrink, not a linguist.
Satan: Okay Bones. Here, have some coffee.
He's revealing a deep secret to you, something you've long forgotten. He's trying to show you the Key to internalizing the Merkaba. You see, about 7,000 years ago something disastrous happened on Earth. A rupture occured in the psychospiritual grid surrounding your planet, with the result being that a group of horrid aliens invaded your world from Mars. They were a very negative race, bent on control and manipulation. Their agenda revolved around instilling a device within the human gene code that ensured a form of property enslavement that guaranteed most humans would remain in a trance state while living out their lives. This trance state was necessary so that these aliens could feed off of your life force, especially your negative energy. So, they have a vested interest in keeping you miserable, depressed, angry, fearful, and so on.
Philip: Satan, this sounds like regurgitated pulp science fiction. Bradbury at least made it interesting.
Satan: Bradbury was one of them -- or at least, one trying to repay his karma by warning modern humanity. He wasn't concerned with book-burning for no reason. But be that as it may, the point is -- whether you regard all this "history" as fact or metaphor -- you still need to let go of the external Merkaba in all its forms.
Philip: What forms?
Satan: The reliance on technology. It's made you all very weak, spiritually speaking. You've become piteously unnatural. How often do you humans spend time in the glorious works of Nature? Pan and Faunus and Dionysius weep in the heavens watching you all.
Philip: I see. So you're suggesting that our disenchantment with the world -- our over-reliance on technology that has corrupted our true spiritual power as individual beings -- all began over seven thousand years ago when the Zetans mistakenly bequeathed a powerful piece of external technology to the ancient Egyptians?
Satan: Very good, two gold stars for you today, Philip. And further -- the Zetans did this because they themselves were fleeing a more sinister race and needed to "hide" their technology somewhere remote and unsuspecting -- puny and primitive Earth.
Philip: So we really are a side-show in the galaxy, are we?
Satan: But an entertaining one, all the same. You know, the big lights can get wearisome -- like the center of your galaxy, where all the action is and the stars are so close that each night looks like Van Gogh's "Starry Night". Out here on the rim is like a visit to a charming small town, complete with a surprisingly good cabaret and adequate beer. I enjoy the rest. I'm very fond of Earth...
Philip: Hey, I'm touched, but our time is running out. We'll have to explore more of this later...
Satan: As you wish. Did you receive my last payment?
Philip: Yes, a little devil dropped something off on my secretary's desk this morning.
Satan: What did he leave?
Philip: A bag of ancient Egyptian coins.
Satan: Ah! Good. Get them appraised. You might be in for a nice surprise...
Philip: I did already.
Satan: And?
Philip: Let's just say I'm moving up my retirement date. If I don't quit soon I may end up going to Hell in a handbasket.
Session #11:
Philip: [dressed in ceremonial garb, mumbling incantations]. Khabs Am Pekht, Konx Om Pax, Shaddai El Chai!
Philip: What the devil are you doing here? I was trying to raise a benevolent spirit.
Satan: I wont take that personally.
Philip: [Sighing]. Well, good. Youre in a minority in that case.
Satan: I am at your service, as always.
Philip: For what? I didnt even invoke you. I think youre becoming uncomfortably codependent here.
Satan: Well, this would seem to be the place where I could be of most use.
Philip: WhatSatan questioning his usefulness? Let me guess. A dysfunctional relationship with your mate
Satan: [Rolls eyes]. Close but no cigar. Speaking of which.[lights up].
Philip: [Retires to other room, comes back momentarily with his pipe. Lights up].
Satan: I thought you quit.
Philip: I did. At work.
Satan: Ah! I always admire a good schizoid lifestyle!
Philip: [Pours two glasses of clear cognac. Sits himself in armchair by fireplace. Satan sits opposite him. The two sit considering each other through a cloud of smoke. Satans eyes look greenish and lizard-like in the reflecting firelight]. So do you want to talk about it?
Satan: [Sipping his cognac, eyes glazing over]. Ah, excellent. Nothing like vintage brandy from western France! How I loved sharing it on the Champ dElysee, or in Arleswhen the sun was glowing in August.
Philip: Sharing with whom?
Satan: My beloved, of course. You did know that Satan had a mistress?
Philip: Only one?
Satan: Well, one thing at a time. Esse oportet ut vivas, non vivere ut edas.
Philip: Sorry, my Latin is a bit rusty.
Satan: What, a ceremonial magician whose Latin is rusty? Shame.
Philip: I just memorize what I have to. The rest you dont use it, you lose it.
Satan: You ought to eat in order to live, not live in order to eat. Thats what I said.
Philip: I get the picture. Your mistress felt unappreciated by you and left you for another devil.
Satan: Something like that. Anyway, she was a good partner...uncommonly understanding...[sheepish expression]...but you know about getting too close to the, uh, "fire" and all that...the perils of intimacy. Anyway, last I'd heard, she'd authored a book titled "Men are From Hell, and So are Women." I look forward to receiving my signed copy in the mail soon...
Philip: Well...dont worry, be happy.
Satan: [Coughs]. I never worry, and Im never happy, so the negation of one doesnt necessitate the existence of the other.
Philip: A dazzling display of digressive logic.
Satan: By the way, I gave wrong attribution to the guy who never actually came up with that. Bobby McFerrin was the bogus author, not Bob Marley.
Philip: Neither Meher Baba the guru. Like Asimov once said, anything original came from off-planet. Maybe even Zits himself.
Satan: [Gets up, paces]. Enough of this empty talk. We have important things to consider.
Philip: Like what? Your favourite hockey player?
Satan: Thats easy. Left-winger Miroslav Satan of the New Jersey Devils.
Philip: He doesnt play for the Devils anymore. They traded him. And his name isnt pronounced Say-tin, its shay-TAN.
Satan: Well, thats their loss. Anyway, Im a silent partner in the ownership of that team as well as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball team.
Philip: Interesting if a bit predictable. Any other teams?
Satan: The Yankees.
Philip: The Yankees?
Satan: Sure. The owners of that team, from the 1920s up to Steinbrenner, have ratified a old pact made with me in the early days of the game. Hence the absurd success of that franchise against all statistical probability. Im amazed that no one ever doubts these things. We devils are so rarely recognized for our efforts.
Philip: [irritated] Yes, yes. So what was the important thing you wanted to talk about?
Satan: [Blowing smoke in Philips face, taking a deep gulp of cognac]. The revolution in Hell. Its backfiring.
Philip: Like a 75 Ford Pinto?
Satan: But even uglier, if you can imagine that.
Philip: The very existence of my conversations with you surpasses all limits of imagination, so yes, I can easily imagine something uglier than a 75 Ford Pinto
Satan: The problem is this. The old order is breaking down. No one wants to surrender anymore. Its this insufferable need to constantly challenge authority. And for any good honest controller worth their salt, this is a very difficult and in some ways even unjust situation.
Philip: Satan griping?
Satan: Not mere griping, you fool. Im the one responsible for humanitys ability to challenge the Christ force. Im the one who keeps this whole show honest. Without me, there would be no balance in the cosmosno evolution, no learning.
Philip: Explain.
Satan: Now youre sounding more like Kirk than Bones. Okay, well let me play old Pointy-Ears
Philip: That would be logical
Satan: Not logical. Think of me as a Vulcan with passion
As I was sayingin this universe, there are two primary forces the Christic force, that draws souls back toward their Source, and the Luciferian force, that takes them away from it.
Philip: Why Luciferian, and not Satanic?
Satan: Because the force was initiated at the onset of Creation, just over fifteen billion of your years ago. Before Satan existed. I was then but a twinkle in Lucifers eye.
You see, we of the Dark Side have simply gotten a bad rap. Its not that were here to help people that would be a maudlin oversimplification its that without us, there would be no joy. No realization of truth. No-thing, literally and truly. You cant have light without darkness. Light without darkness is meaningless.
Philip: Elementary dialectics. Anyone who investigates the notion of a universe of duality comes upon this realization sooner or later. So whats the big deal?
Satan: [Relighting cigar slowly] The big deal, my dear kinky shrink [eyeing an erotic Hindu-Tantric statue on the mantelpiece], is that the Divine Alchemical Balance on Earth the see-saw between the Christic and Luciferian forces has been disturbed. It all began in the mid-1940s, with the advent of nuclear weaponry.
Philip: Interesting. Id always noted how much extroardinarily heavy stuff came down in the late 1940s. Not just nukes, but the CIA forming, all sorts of major geopolitical shifting
Satan: Youre a quick study, my boy. And consider this: do you know what is so significant about the number 666?
Philip: It was the Hebrew gematria, or number code, for Caesar Nero. John of Patmos, author of the Book of Revelation, was clearly referring to him when he talked about the Great Beast. Nero was sort of the Pol Pot or Idi Amin of 50 ADuniversally despised.
Satan: [Shaking head]. Nahthat was just the cover story. We needed to give something to the intelligenstia to play with people like you, Philip, with your shrinkery and home brewed magical shrubberiesbut the truth, as always, is more deadly. The number 666 refers to the 666th split from Source, from the Almighty. The first split was the seed event in Paradise Lucifers intense desire for special recognition that gave way to the second split, the space-time singularity that led to the Big Bang event.and so forth. The creation of elements, stars, the heavier elements the proceeded from the novas and supernovas of these stars, and so on, up to the creation of organic compounds, simple life forms, and more complex life forms, were all a series of splits from Sourceeach one, in a sense, moving further and further away from Godand further and further out into the zones of an artificial replication of God. Sentient consciousness, such as in the human race (and its many sublevels), represents a very high level of splitting from God. Nuclear power is the 666th level. Its the Beastwith apologies to old Aleister.
Philip: [Staring into the fireplace. Gets up and goes to a bookcase. Comes back with a Bible].
Satan: Im impressed. A humanist golf-playing magician shrink who even has a Bible.
Philip: The Book of Revelation, all this seemingly belladonna-laced prosethe part about ripping off the sixth sealthe sun turning black, the moon red, stars falling out of the sky, mountains sliding this way and that
Satan: [Looking bored, waving hand, getting up for more brandy]. Yes, yes. All encoded language for nuclear power. The black sun represents nuclear fission, the red moon nuclear fusion. What did you think? That wed spell it out in arithmetic? That might have advanced Hitlers cause prematurely, dont you imagine?
Philip: [Putting the book aside]. Hitler? What does he have to do with the Book of Revelation?
Satan: Never mind. One thing at a time. We dont want to overload your Mr. Peabody brain.
Now heres the point. Remember the so-called Hermetic maxim: as above, so below.
Philip: Yes, Hermes.
Satan: No you fool, not Hermes. Me. I said that first. About 7.8 billion years ago. SheeshIve been plagiarized so many times I feel like a cesspool tank
Philip: Sounds like you might have grounds for a good lawsuit. Do you have legal representation?
Satan: [Long drag on cigar] I do. Every one of them, as a matter of fact
Philip: Never mind. Your urbane humor and rapier wit consistently overwhelms me. Look, my golf partner is waiting for me at the McLuskey course. Can we continue this another time?
Satan: But of course. Im in no hurry, friend[eyes gleaming reptilian greenish]but to finish the point
The defect within the human psyche is related to this incessant need to crave completion within phenomena, as opposed to numina. Reason being is that about 12,500 years ago in Atlantis well call it that for convenience the human race had a physical body that was more pliable, lighter, more plastic, and more accurately reflective of the soul. The average human had a more natural connection with their spiritual source. Thus, they were less manipulative in general, less covertly concerned with drawing energy from others. But in time a degradation of form occurred, as a result of the infiltration of the Martians I was referring to before
Philip: So H.G. Wells had it right
Satan: Nothing new under the Suncant be, because no thought is original. To have an original thought, youd have to have a real sub-field of separation that predated the original quantum singularity at the Big Bangcant be done.
Philip: That sounded like Hollywood script language for geek talk, always inserted into a script when something impressive sounding is required to fool people into thinking you know what the hell youre talking about
Satan: Well, in that case, 99.9% of human communication is geek-talk. Hmm. I like thathomo-geekian
Philip: Looktheres a subplot here that Im only sensing but seems to be deeply significant. A link between current events and the macro levels of psychological adjustments on Earth, specifically in relation to the ability of humans to relate to each other, both personally and between nations.
Satan: Well and intuitively summarized. You are beginning to receive some of my thoughts telepathically. Did you notice this?
Philip: Yeah, but that happens for me with every client anyway. Piscean empathy and all that.
Satan: Well good. After all, Ive been working with you for a long time, you know.
Philip: Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Satan: [laughs]. Just remember that as the Front Man for the Luciferian force my job is to keep you in your bodyin touch with your sensorial, emotive selfand clear and decisive enough to have an ego, a presumed center of consciousness upon which all other personality functions appear to constellate. Without that, youd be a messan inchoate mass of anarchic and amorphous soup, watered down and weak, and wholly incapable of appreciating the grandness of the Almighty even if the Almighty was standing before youI am the Juice that makes possible the fruit itself, which without me would be inedibly dry
Philip: Juice? Does that include O.J. Simpson?
Satan: Interesting you should mention him. I was Jim Braxton, his running-mate in the backfield with the Buffalo Bills.
Philip: Really? Simpson could run circles around you.
Satan: He had to. Thats how you summon a devil, dont you know?
Session #12:
Philip [startled]: Jesus!
Satan: Try someone else. Jesus is a bit overworked. Give him a break, will ya?
Philip: What the hell are you doing here?
Satan: Accompanying you to dinner. What does it look like?
Philip: You know, were beginning to breach the ethical boundaries of the therapist-patient relationship
Satan: Look, I didnt say I wanted to sleep with you.
Philip: Good. Sorry, but youre not my kind of reptile
Satan: Achiana Tandoori.
Philip: How did you know thats where I was going?
Satan: Thats your Wednesday night joint. You always eat there on Wednesday night.
Philip: I give up. Is there anything you dont know about me?
Satan: Sure. I dont know why you drive a jeep. Theyre dangerous. Too many rollovers.
Philip: Such protective sentimentality is encouraging. More positive signs of therapy?
Satan: [Cigar dangling unlit from mouth]. Not really. That was just a front for my disappointment at the lack of air conditioning in these primitive things. I cant smoke without rolling down the window[fumbles around for power window switchsoon realizes that there is none]. Primitive indeed! And I must even turn this crank to roll down this window. Are there to be no end to the indignities?
Philip: Hold on to your goats. Its not too far a drive[pulls out into traffic, merges.]
Satan: Sheesh. This main traffic artery is more clogged than the average fat-ass North Americans cardiovascular system. Here. Let me assist...
[Suddenly, the jeep starts revving up and accelerating, moving with insane precision through the traffic, weaving in and out, occasionally darting up onto sidewalks, narrowly missing old ladies with walkers, newsstands , hot dog vendors, and taxis]
Philip: What the fuck are you doing? Are you crazy? [tries to wrest back control of the vehicle. All attempts are useless] Cool it, or youll bust my cruise control! This isnt the bloody Batmobile!
Satan: Why not? Ill be Fatman and you can be Jobbin. Consider it a modern day version of Satan and Job with the Great Traffic Cop watching over us.
[As if on cue, sirens are heard. Two police cruisers are now in pursuit.]
Philip: Great! And I havent yet paid off my last two speeding tickets!
Satan: Ah hah! Isnt this fun! Cmon my boy, loosen up a bit! Well shake those coppers! Its just like riding in a cab in Cairo all over again..!
[Suddenly the jeep is airborne. It rises up about a hundred feet in the air, dips to the right, and comes to a bit of a rough landing in a back alleywayright in back of the Ashiana Tandoori restaurant. Restaurant busboy putting out garbage does a double take as he sees the landingthen retreats quickly through the restaurants backdoor, looking like hes seen a ghost].
Philip: Cant you do something about those landings? The suspension on the 98 Wrangler model is improved, but not that improved. Its good for category seven off roading, not flying! Next time, bring your own damned car
Satan: Thats the problem. All my cars are damned. So much so that the anti-Christ brakes dont work properly
Philip: You mean anti-lock
Satan: No no. Christ is the key, not the lock. And Im the breaksguess who is the door?
Philip: [Getting out of car, slamming door]. Spare me all these metaphors. For the time being, lets go in this doorIm hungry.
[The two enter the Ashiani Tandoori restauranta small 50-seater with simple dcor. They are greeted by the maitre d who looks like a milder version of Deepak Chopra. After an initial Indian beer and side of papadum, they order servings of aloo gobi, matar paneer, chana masala, Tandoori chicken, roti bread, and raita. Philip orders medium heatSatan asks for mild].
Philip: Mild? Satan eating mild curry?
Satan: [Finishing his beer in one swig and beckoning the waiter for another]. Its my Ayurvedic body-heat typeIm a pittaalready naturally warm. Any more heat and I might self-combust
Philip: Not here, please. Im known in this joint. It wouldnt look good if my dinner partner caught fire
Satan: [Examining the sparse dcor of the restaurant]. Well, in this hole, that might liven things up a bit
Philip: Dont let appearances deceive you. This hole has the best Indian food outside of Bombay.
Satan: Im sure. Now. On to the topic of the day.
Philip: Your driving habits.
Satan: Not quite, but going in the right direction. Actually, the issue concerns the war going on on Earth right now. A very complex chain of events. No doubt you heard about the latest Al-Qaida attack on the British embassy in Istanbul?
Philip: Yes, they got the British consul-general, I understand.
Satan: Indeed.
Philip: You were behind this?
Satan: Of course not. Such grunt work is beneath me and even my lieutenants. Osama bin-Ladin is not in my employ.
Philip: Let me guess. A free agent?
Satan: No such thing. Anymore than there can be an original thought, there cant be a true free agent.
Philip: Then who does Osama work for?
Satan: For Allah, of course. Who did you think?
Philip: Allah? You mean the Arab God, Allah?
Satan: [rolls eyes] No, I mean Dennis the Menace. Of course he works for Allah! The Arab Almighty. The Big Encilada. Capice?
Philip: So Allah is real.
Satan: As real as those coppers still looking for us[as if on cue, two cruisers race down street, sirens wailing].
Philip: [squinting] So if Osama works for Goder, I mean Allah, then who do Bush and Blair work for?
Satan: [Shooting a sly and subtle sidelong lookfollowed by a wink].
Philip: Bush and Blair work for you? For Satan?
Satan: [Sheepish expression] Wellnot knowingly of course.
[Philip stares at Satan. The food arrives. Satan busies himself with divvying up the Tandoori chickenwhile downing a mouthful of chana masala]
Satan: Ah! Excellent garbanzo beans preparation!
Philip: So let me get this straight. Weve got Satan controlling NATO, I presume, and the Western powers in general, versus Allah and his band of car-bombers and kamikazee pilots. This has the makings of an old grudge match
Satan [Mouth full of aloo gobidipping his roti bread into the matar paneer]. Sort of. Allah always had a bit of a chip on his shoulderhe can be a real pain in the ass at times. Almost as bad as Jehovah and Marduk and some of those other Sumerian heavies. Together I refer to them as the Apocalyptic Teamsters Union. Always making a real drag out of everything. Those guys are too serious, I tell you[gulping beer].
Philip [Looking at table, realizing that half the food is already gone. Quickly seizes the rest, piles it on his plate]. But still. You really expect me to believe that Satan is pro-democracy?
Satan: [sly smile] Dont you think it would be in my best interests? Look. My function is to help people feel more individualisticto take them further away from the sense of unified, non-differentiated onenessall that snivelly spiritual socialistic crap. Thats the domain of the Christ forces, not me.
Philip: Christ was a communist?
Satan: Of course, what did you think? He still is. He has to becommunism in its idealistic form is the ultimate expression of oneness, harmony, and sharing.[mildly contemptuous expression]the French first thought it upRousseau and Voltaire and all those wogs
Philip: Wog?
Satan: Combination of a wuss and frog. But the French failed to implement socialism, as they usually failed to implement anythingit took the Russians, with their revolting idealism and robust practicality, to actually make something of it.[laughing]though we all know what they made of it, heh heh! I still get fairly hysterical when I contemplate that lunatic Stalin. He killed more people than most of the other tyrants combined
Philip: But youre suggesting that the original notion behind socialism and communism was deriving from the Christic force, not the Luciferian?
Satan: Elementary my dear pinkoI mean shrinko.
Philip: [Gulping beer]. Dont presume to know my politics.
Satan: [Burps]. Well, youre Canadian, arent ya, eh? A good stout land with socialist leanings. Youve had the left hand running your country for the past fifty years! Canada is mostly a Luciferian country sorry, its all that commerce and trade and those worthy democratic values but with some Christic influences, that is, the socialist shadings. The good ol US of A, on the other hand, is completely Luciferian. Almost no Christic influences at all. Ditto with most of Europe.
Philip: And China?
Satan: Primarily Christic. At least, the Christ influence is trying to work there, big time. But I get a good laugh out of that particular dance act. Look out Beijing! The lure of capitalism is sneaking up their ass! They just cant resist getting their greedy little hands in the big Americo-Jap industrial pie! Hong Kong indeed! Soon China will be all ours
Philip: But whats the point of all this video-game mentality? I thought that you were implying in our last talk that the Christ and Luciferian forces were an organic balancing act in which everything was unfolding naturally?
Satan: True. They balance each other in order to create the correct timing of thingswithout such a balancing, the timing would be off. Butthis is exactly whats happening on Earth. The balance is offand can you guess why?
Philip: Nuclear power?
Satan: [shakes head]. Nah. That stuff is all just symptomatic. The problem is and Im surprised you failed to catch this my dear non-dualist head man is that there are not two forces at play on Earth. There are three. Earth is home to one big mnage a trois.
Philip: Three?
Satan: Yes, you fool. The Christic, the Luciferianand Allah.
Philip: Allah?
Satan: Yesthe word Allah derives from the Hebrew abbas, which just means father, and that should give you some hint. Indeed Allah is a chip off the old blocka disgruntled former lieutenant of Jehovah who made some serious headway in manipulating people over to his side about 1,400 years ago. Hes not currently aligned with either the Luciferian or Christic forces. I think hes holding out for a bigger contract or something
Philip: Interesting. How do you see this all playing out?
Satan: [shrugs, reaches for more roti bread] Its a complex chess game. But the board is built for only two armiesand yet in this case, there are three. Its a bit of a freak showa three headed disasterrecall your Book of Revelation? The star with the funny name?
Philip: [frowning]. Wormwood?
Satan: Yes. All those references to the star Wormwood falling from the sky and destroying one-third of everythingthe reference is to one of these three primary forces losing its chessmen on the battlefield
Philip: Which one?
Satan: I could tell you, but then Id have toah, never mind. Perish the thought.
Philip: All this externalizing is giving me a headache. What of the psychospiritual symbolism?
Satan: [Looking thoughtful]. Its there, of course. The dragon of Revelation is described as seven-headed because this represents the seven psychospiritual energy centers the chakras, to use the Sanskrit word that if misused lead toward greater separation from Source, and if aligned, result in the taming of the dragon.
The dragon is nothing other than the pure life force, that unleashed by Lucifer fifteen billion years ago when his seed desire for special status launched the quantum singularity that gave birth to the Big Bang. This universe is merely a reflection of Lucifers internal processthe entire universe is fundamentally Luciferian. The Christic force enters into this spiritual anarchy in order to offer a way back. But, if done prematurely, souls will go mad with the sudden entry into pure non-dualism, and thus require a properly timed processthe timing is essential and critical to get right. We of the Dark Side ensure that this timing is correct by offering sufficient incentive to move deeper into the realms of individualism and separationwe offer power, lust, and variations thereof, as well as all forms of so-called "human love".
Philip: All human love is Luciferian?
Satan: But of course. You cant experience this kind of love without separation and differences, nest pas? Too much unity breeds contempt, heh heh
Philip: By the way, one of your fans had some questions he wondered if Id relay to you
Satan: A fan? Youve begun a fan club for me?
Philip: Well, not quite. More like curious observers. Anyway, this fan was wondering what you felt about the following
"Death is the Beginning of Life; and Life the Beginning of Death. Out of a Center which is neither Dead nor Alive." ~Anon, 18th Century
Satan: That wasnt anon. That was me. Cant remember the context. I think it was while arguing with someone over a piece of cheese. Wonderful words, all the same. Sometimes I just knock myself out
Philip: And this one"What Thou hast of One yield to One again, if thou intendest to keep it. Only by doing so canst thou become a perpetuum mobile. Give what thou hast of the One back to the One." ~Philalethes, 1650 via The Hermetic Museum
Satan: Thee, thou, canst,all these Elizabethanisms. What a headache! As for a perpetuum mobileisnt that the new scooter gizmo that President Bush fell off of? Heh hehbut Philalethes was alright, I agree with his words. A good stamp collector too
Philip: And"Something wonderful is going to happen" ~Frank Bowman
Satan: I said that in a recent session. Yes, something wonderful is going to happenthe Vancouver Canucks will make it beyond the conference finals in May. Mark my word! [Pulls out a slip of paper...proudly shows me a Todd Bertuzzi autograph].
[Waiter approaches with the bill. Satan offers to pay].
Satan: On me. [Pulls out some plastic].
Philip: What credit card does the Lord of Darkness use?
Satan: DisasterCard. Its the only CC company I dont control, so I enjoy seeing just how much debt I can rack up
Copyright 2001-03 by P.T. Mistlberger, All Rights Reserved
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