How Cults Work

"There is no cult without a powerful, charismatic leader. 

A charismatic leader has ­the uncanny ability to get people to follow him unquestioningly. 
The phrase "cult of personality" refers to this type of group dynamic. 
Cult members are devoted to the leader, not to the leader's ideas. 

The leader has complete control over his followers -- there is no questioning of his decisions, and he is accountable to no one within the group."
Source >>

Here's how it usually goes:

You feel like you don't belong to this world, you feel lonely, disconnected, and have no clue how to live your life.

And then He comes into your life; I don't know, He is different, He sees you, He makes you feel important the way your father never ever did.

He is so wise, loving, caring, and He is so spiritual, He sees things no one else does.
You feel so blessed to be in His chosen inner circle.
Others are not so blessed as you feel you are, for He loves only a few of you.
You feel like you know Him for centuries, and He tells you as much. You belong to Him, you feel.
You are loyal to Him and His Secret Order above everyone and everything else.

His Secret Order has become your life and is important to you and nothing else matters as much...

*  *  *  

As you no doubt have noticed, everything in the above scenario is about, well Him. Not about freedom, lack of responsibility, not even about true personal and spiritual progress.

Power (meaning, energy manipulation) and wonder - that's the trick cult leaders employ.
As long as there are secrets to sell, the game is on.

And it works. And such "leaders" know what they are doing and are abusing others nevertheless. It is a game that both parties play; but why does it work for some?

Not because people are too thirsty but because people can't tell the difference between sand and water.

Nothing lasts forever

Nothin' lasts forever

And we both know hearts can change

And it's hard to hold a candle

In the cold November rain

...

So if you want to love me

Then darlin' don't refrain

Or I'll just end up walkin'

In the cold November rain

...

I know it's hard to keep an open heart

When even friends seem out to harm you

But if you could heal a broken heart

Wouldn't time be out to charm you

...

And shadows still remain, oh yeah

I know that you can love me

When there's no one left to blame

So never mind the darkness

We still can find a way

'Cause nothin' lasts forever

Even cold November rain

Dancing demons and other spirits

Rakshasa demon

The Left-hand Path, looking up to Tantra, embraces all aspects of reality, even the most "dark" ones.

And so, after growing up from rebellion against pretty much anything and after playing out all the teenager's disobedience, sooner or later a LHP follower encounters various spirits and is faced with a challenge to learn from them as an effective way of mastering the inner world... and in due time, transcending both Light ad Dark.

In Vedic and Tantric culture we have various entities that can be employed by a skillful Tantrika (practitioner of Tantric arts)  or magician:

• Pretas or hungry ghosts - souls of a deceased persons who were very devious in human life and had no purification ritual performed upon their passing.

Quite difficult to tame as they are very very miserable. They need help.

• Bhutas - souls of a newly dead who do nor realize they are dead or are still very attached to physical dimension.
  Basically they need help to move on; they can be very possessive and can cause great deal of trouble to humans.

• Karna Pishachini - spirits of some power that know a lot about the past, something about the present and little about the future, they can protect you, provide you with enough to eat and drink, help you with your sadhana; very jealous they are.
  Can be useful, obviously. Once magician has learned from them all they can teach, they ought to be removed.

• Yaksha / Yakshini  - they were advanced spiritual aspirants in dim past, now very powerful and skillful in spirit dimension; they can teach many things and can be white or black, meaning benevolent or harmful; Yakshini, a female spirit, can drive a man crazy by satisfying him sexually a lot more than any woman could and the same goes for male spirit, Yaksha, they can satisfy a woman so much that no human lover can come close.
  
  They can be made to enter a human body and take over it, enjoying sex with a magician. You can imagine how sweet that can be.
  
  Of course, this sounds like fun, doesn't it, but it is not so. Fooling around with these spirits is dangerous as they are notoriously difficult to remove. And, above all, this level of spirits is not really spiritual, meaning that themselves are not yet liberated and so they are still attached to duality and thus suffering.
  
  Many Yakshas and Yakshinis are of good nature and are attendants of minor deities.
  
  In the West, incubus and succubus belong to this class of spirits.
  
  The "black ones", I have dealt with this class of beings on several occasions; they are not easy to deal with and it takes a lot of help from more spiritual beings to resolve the situation. Not easy, not easy at all.

• Ghouls, Pishachas -  much like or the same as demons from the Western traditions.
  They can be difficult to deal with, especially when magician is not really up to the task at hand and pacts are involved. They have much power and can do most of anything, and can be dark and white.
  
  Here in the West we know them from books like Goetia, Grimorium Verum etc.
  These spirits have a hierarchy: Kings, Princes, Dukes, soldiers etc.
  I have had many thoroughly successful evocations with this class of spirits, they can be really helpful. Of course, many spirits in these books are deities (Astarte, Baal etc).

• Gandhaarvas, Kinnaras - celestial dancers and singers, akin to angels.
  They have a lot of knowledge and share it easily if they are pleased by you. They are much higher class of spirits and only benevolent.

• Rakshasas - powerful asuras (demons), shape-shifters, blood drinkers, flesh eaters, illusionists and sorcerers.
  They can be killed (read: transformed) only by (the help of) certain deities (we are told by the Vedas). They appear in old scripts, in Ramayana as Ravana and his brothers, in Mahabharata as Ghatotcacha etc.
  These asuras or demons are huge and yet hard to see as they don´t really like to show themselves to a magician in full. but if by some twist of faith you do succeed in "making friends" with such a dark being, you have an unsurpassed helper at your disposal.

In general, that is a list of major players in the spirit dimension from a Tantric perspective.

Beyond these spirits come perfected beings, Yoginis, Demi-gods and Gods and Goddesses and Siddhas. And working with them is even more difficult than dealing with any of the aforementioned spirits.


Before we close, here is a lovely description of the demons penned by Patrick G. (reposted from FB):

So, what do we know about Demons, they are dark, can appear menacing but also take on many other shapes, forms and appearances. They have their own morals and ethics; they have families, feelings, emotions. They are capable of expressing deep love and emotion. They can be cruel, heartless, menacing. They are tenacious and they can get the job done. They are focused, powerful, masters of themselves. They can be dangerous, primal, sexual, aggressive, and possessive. They can possess people; influence them to commit terrible acts. They can toy with the minds of the weak. They can heal people, attract money, opportunity, abundance and help with personal mastery and awakening of one’s true essence. They also have a hierarchy ... but that is another topic.

All Demons harbour within them a black energy. Most people do not have the eye to differentiate between the different types of black energy. Humans have darkness within their own energy field but it is seldom black. A sharp third eye can detect the various shades of darkness within the aura and see the difference. We all have dark energy within our being. It is this dark side that creates our balance. Most humans have dark shades of blue, purple or grey, but black is rare.

A Demon has a specific type of black energy. It is not an evil energy (though it can be used in that way) it is a beautiful black energy that is very powerful. This black energy even exists in the auras of some selective humans. Those few that have this energy in their auras are demonic in essence and have demonic ancestry. A human with this capability can learn to awaken and use this energy and is truly capable of some pretty amazing things.

Very well written, indeed!

Fear is a choice

"The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. 

It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things 

that do not at present and may not ever exist. 

That is near insanity. 

Do not misunderstand me danger is very real 

but fear is a choice.”

- After Earth movie

Light

A burden of a true Master

"We are what they grow beyond...

...that is a true burden of true masters."
- Yoda

Eventually the pupil/student/apprentice will outgrow and surpass the teacher, meaning,
the student should not only learn from their master's success, but from their failures as well.
Student's actions and/or success is part of the master's legacy
and the master ought let go of the student.

I am both

 

"The Flame needs oxygen to live, and I am both..."
- Lilith

No more turning away

Decades ago, I entered the "spiritual path" hoping that it will help me get out of the fucked up life I have created for myself.

Little did I know that the same things I wanted to get out of will have proven to be my path to freedom... so I spent years investing into turning away from the coldness inside...
...until it just couldn't be ignored anymore.

It was a long process to be sure, but the gist of it is that I finally stopped running away and searching on the outside (in relationships, money, meditation stuff, spiritualism, occult, etc.) and dedicated my life energy to embracing my inner disharmony.

And Tantra or LHP contributed a lot in the process.


Here's for all of the turning away:


On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand

Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others' suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away"

It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known

Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud

On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord

Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside

Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?


Pink Floyd
Album: A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Released: 1987

One Night Love Affair

Devotional ritual of evocation and invocation of Queen Lilith.
Deeply it goes, penetrating the most distant reaches of my consciousness.
Touching, beyond Light and Dark, on the other side which is right here and now.

And then:

"...When the mornin' breaks
We go our separate ways
If the night was made for love it ain't for keeps.

But I lose control
As I watch you go
All my senses say I'm in this much too deep
Now you're outta reach..."

And my Lilith replies:
"My dear, think of the Sun, it always shines whether
you see it or not. Think of the Sun, think of me, I am
always with you."

Magic and everyday life

What is the difference between what comes up from your subconsciousness and psychic or black magic attack?

Well, in my experiences psychic attack takes advantage of and exploits, the inner negativity (fear, anger, imbalance, loneliness, hate, helplessness, etc.).

Psychic attack (with or without the 'demons') just multiplies the inner timidness and other insecurities.

So, how do you know if the attack is back?
Or is it your inner stuff manifesting again?

The safe bet would be to use magic protection, maybe employ some skillful means to remove curses, etc., and to start dealing with the inner negativities.

You see, from where I stand, being happy here on earth, feeling good about oneself, having a good job, close friends, and a healthy body - all of this can be attained AFTER inner shadows have been cleared away.

Many simply don't get this, it seems: the success and happiness inside, which must eventually manifest on the outside here on earth, is the highest magical attainment. All else might be just an avoidance trip.

So, the question is:
- are you happy in your life?
- are you happy with your current job?
- satisfied with your sex life?
- have enough money to buy whatever you truly want?

If not, well, maybe its time to do something about it. In short, and on a somewhat funny note, own your shit and stop blaming demons for your sleepless nights.

:)

The frequent situation is that most people that play with magic lead unsatisfied everyday lives. And they are not doing much to improve (apart maybe from some abstract spirit or plants magic).

I can empathize with that, of course, for I've been there and it was not pretty!
No doubt, what we do in life and how we employ magic is up to us...

...even if that means not completely happy everyday life.

At the same time, having a life is the real magical feat!

What do you think?