They crowd our imaginations. They hide under our beds they lurk within the dark recceses of our primal unconcious. you cant run, you cant hide. its going to get you. The beast the ravager the lusus natura. what is it and why do we fear it? what is its name? we have always had our fiends. They have long fired the romantic imaginations of priest and poet alike. At one time we called them trolls. later they were named demons. and then they were witches who brewed evil potions. Still later the monster was said to be the hungry wolf the bogeyman or the godzilla of cold war terror. finnaly some called it human ignorance and intollerance. for a time they tried to tell us that monsters dont exist at all. that everything about the universe was either known or would soon be known. but now we know better, we have made our reaquaintance with the beast. we have learned its true name. now we understand the expanse of eternity. its unimaginable infinitude. the chaos of its structure. and our own petty insignificance. now we have admitted the magnitude of the problems we face. and our seeming inabilty to affect change on the scale neccesary to save us. Today we have cought a glimpse of reality. and have seen the truth behind the viel we have come full circle and rediscovered the fiend. We have regained our ancient heritage. We have found that to which we have given so many names. the source of our mortal terror. We have found the enemy... and it is us. we are searchers, forever looking for the uncomfortable truth of our human condition, searching within ourselves for that which is unclean uncertain or impure. for that which has no name. by looking at the monsters we create. we gain new insights into our "darker half" These fiends express what we are at our deepest and most inaccessible levels of our unconcious. since time imemorial, they have given us a connection to our animal self. the fullfilment of an unadulterated emotional vitality. and the promise of a brutal justice. The vampire is the quintisential fiend. for the vampire is so much our own reflection. Vampires feed as we feed, by killing, and through death can feel the same dread, guilt and longing for escape. They are trapped in the same cycle of fast, feast and purge. They, like us, seek redemption, purity and peace. The vampire is the poetic description of our deepest fears, and the shadow of our most primal urges. Just as the hero of legend must descend into the pit of pergatory to face the tormentor, overcome by personal weakness, and finnally be cleansed in order to return home with the gift of fire, so much we descend into the depths of our own soul and return to life with the secrets we have won. That is the real journey of prometheus. It is the meaning of the myth. Only by embarking on such a journey can we discover our true selves and look into the mirror. The lure of this promise of spiritual connection is well-nigh irresistable. But, in the end, it is a most disturbing undertaking. you must take heed and step carefully. for no journey is ever without its perils. Do not look into your own soul, unless you are willing to confron. that which you find there. so remember there are no such thing as monsters.