satanself36
Lincoln, IL
age: 35
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1] The so call founder of the Christian Religion stated an occult maxim when He said: "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter therein" (Mark X:15). All occultists recognize the far-reaching importance of this teaching of Christ, and endeavor to "live" it day by day.
When a new philosophy is presented to the world it is met in different ways by different people.
2] One person will grasp with avidity any new philosophical effort in an endeavor to ascertain how far it supports his own ideas. To such a one the philosophy itself is of minor importance. Its prime value will be its vindication of his ideas. If the work comes up to expectation in that respect, he will enthusiastically adopt it and cling to it with a most unreasoning partisanship; if not, he will probably lay the book down in disgust and disappointment, feeling as if the author had done him an injury.
3] Another adopts an attitude of skepticism as soon as he discovers that it contains something which he has not previously read, heard, or originated in his own thought. He would probably resent as extremely unjustified the accusation that his mental attitude is the acme of self-satisfaction and intolerance; such is nevertheless the case; and thus he shuts his mind to any truth which may possibly be hidden in that which he off-hand rejects.
4] Both these classes stand in their own light. "Set" ideas render them impervious to rays of truth. "A little child" is the very opposite of its elders in that respect. It is not imbued with an overwhelming sense of superior knowledge, nor does it feel compelled to look wise or to hide its nescience of any subject by a smile or a sneer. It is frankly ignorant, unfettered by preconceived opinions and therefore eminently teachable. It takes everything with that beautiful attitude of trust which we have designated "child-like faith," wherein there is not the shadow of a doubt. There the child holds the teaching it receives until proven or disproven.
5] In all occult schools the pupil is first taught to forget all else when a new teaching is being given, to allow neither preference nor prejudice to govern, but to keep the mind in a state of calm, dignified waiting. As skepticism will blind us to truth in the most effective manner, so this calm, trustful attitude of the mind will allow the intuition, or "teaching from within," to become aware of the truth contained in the proposition. That is the only way to cultivate an absolutely certain perception of truth.
6] The pupil is not required to believe off-hand that a given object which he has observed to be white, is really black, when such a statement is made to him; but he must cultivate an attitude of mind which "believeth all things" as possible. That will allow him to put by for the time being even what are generally considered "established facts," and investigate if perchance there be another viewpoint hitherto unobserved by him whence the object referred to would appear black. Indeed, he would not allow himself to look upon anything as "an established fact," for he realizes thoroughly the importance of keeping his mind in the fluidal state of adaptability which characterizes the little child. He realizes in every fiber of his being that "now we see through a glass, darkly," and Ajax-like he is ever on the alert, yearning for "Light, more Light."
7] The enormous advantage of such an attitude of mind when investigating any given subject, object or idea must be apparent. Statements which appear positively and unequivocally contradictory, which have caused an immense amount of feeling among the advocates of opposite sides, may nevertheless be capable of perfect reconciliation, as shown in one such instance mentioned in the present work. The bond of concord is only discovered by the open mind, however, and though the present work may be found to differ from others, the writer would bespeak an impartial hearing as the basis of subsequent judgment. If the book is "weighed and found wanting," the writer will have no complaint. He only fears a hasty judgment based upon lack of knowledge of the system he advocates--a hearing wherein the judgment is "wanting" in consequence of having been denied an impartial "weighing." He would further submit, that the only opinion worthy of the one who expresses it must be based upon knowledge
8] The most logical conception of the World-Mystery of which the writer has gained any knowledge during the many years he has devoted exclusively to the study of this subject. So far as he has been able to investigate, their teachings have been found in accordance with facts as he knows them.That as we advance greater vistas of truth will open to us and make clear many things which we now "see through a glass, darkly." At the same time he firmly believes that all other philosophies of the future will follow the same main lines, for they appear to be absolutely true.
9] In view of the foregoing it will be plain that these words is not considered by the writer as the Alpha and Omega, the ultimate of occult knowledge,the writer desires to strongly emphasize that is not to be understood as a "faith once for all delivered"It is emphatically stated that this work embodies only the writer's understanding of the teachings of satan and the devil concerning the World-Mystery, strengthened by his and her personal investigations of the inner Worlds, the ante-natal and post-mortem states of woman,man,and child. The responsibility upon one who wittingly or unwittingly leads others astray is clearly realized by the writer, and he wishes to guard as far as possible against that contingency, and also to guard others against going wrong inadvertently
10] What is said in this work is to be accepted or rejected by the reader according to his own discretion. All care has been used in trying to make plain the teaching; great pains have been taken to put it into words that shall be easily understood. For that reason only one term has been used throughout to convey each idea. The same word will have the same meaning wherever used. When any word descriptive of an idea is first used, the clearest definition possible to the writer is given. None but English terms and the simplest language have been used. The writer has tried to give as exact and definite descriptions of the subject under consideration as possible; to eliminate all ambiguity and to make everything clear. How far he has succeeded must be left to the student to judge; but having used every possible means to convey the teaching, he feels obliged to guard also against the possibility of this work being taken as a verbatim statement of this teachings. Neglect of this precaution might give undue weight to this work in the minds of some students. That would not be fair to the Brother and sisterhood nor to the reader. It would tend to throw the responsibility upon the Brother and sisterhood for the mistakes which must occur in this as in all other human works. Hence the above warning!
illuminary36
[Edited 9/16/2007 10:39:44 PM]
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satanself36
Lincoln, IL
age: 35
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and heres another one.
illuminary36
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