This article was written for the Norwegian "Slayer Magazine" no. 9, in 1992.

PRAISE TO THE BEAST

So, what is it we fear most of all?

Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, we are faced with threats of many kinds. Unkind treatment from hostile individuals on the lowest level, to extinction of the race on the highest one. Rather than being joyous and fertile in creativity, Man seems to prefer the state of depression and paranoia. Sad, but nevertheless very true.

Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, someone profits from these imposed dull states of mind. Not necessarily in a monetary sense, although Mammon is the true ruler of the earth, but perhaps rather in the sense of destructive pleasure. Is it a coincidence that our "rulers" are the ones most removed from the "objective" reality ("Society as it really is"...)? Probably not.

Politics - a refined form of stage magic. Illusions and glamorous wonders form the basis of a play with jokers and jesters and fools, all partaking in a nonsensical and entertaining farce designed to create the impression that it's actually all for real. Does anyone belive it? Does anyone believe in politicians anymore? Has anyone ever?

To believe that the human mind can be liberated through political dogma is perhaps the biggest (dis)illusion of this century. Systems were developed arbitrarily, and against the laws of nature, and thereby naturally had to crumble to dust sooner or later. No big deal.

The western political structure as we know it today ("democracy", etc.) is interesting for one reason only: It is a symbol of the enslavement of the human mind. The egalitarian idea that all individuals were created equal and should be treated as equals all life through is a prerequisite of these utterly destructive tendencies that have ruled for several centuries in the western sphere. It raises the minus-minds to the level of zero, and it lowers the plus-minds to that very same level of zero.

There, they are equal, and a supposed balance brings happiness and joy for all and everyone. Did someone forget that zero only has a value if there exist such concepts as minus and plus? If these are blotted out by force, then zero becomes not a symbol of harmony and balance, but of truly nothing - the great void. Could it be that someone actually profits from this void and its Status Quo-enforcing mechanisms?

What is it we fear most of all? This is naturally a very subjective question, and it's really no business of anyone to pry and probe into the minds of others. But I think it's true what has been said: "There's nothing to fear but fear itself". The human individual has the capacity to analyze herself (but, strangely, always seems to prefer analyzing others...) thoroughly on many levels, depending on intuition, intelligence, knowledge, sensitivity, etc. Perhaps, if we're lucky, the next stage will be the formulation of the Will in the individual. This is the inevitable synthesis of past, present and future in the balanced person with a clear mind.

Fear makes its entrance when this Will confronts the "outside" environment. Instead of imposing the Will in question (please note that the word "impose" doesn't necessarily imply "by brutal force"...), the person withdraws in doubt. The mechanisms involved are extremely powerful, and the only ray of light is the fact that some individuals grasp what's going on. "I withdraw my Will in doubt, because..." A realization of the forces in motion (always striving for non-motion) is at least a beginning on a small scale.

There is a small elite of people who decide that this knowledge is too painful, and decide that life shouldn't be led in agony but in ecstasy. These are the madmen, magicians, true artists... All of those not accepting the mentality of the "common" good. Crossing the border to ultimate Self Control does not automatically imply that one is a genius, but at least it's fertile ground if one wants to develop whatever potentials one has.

The herd tells its judgements through dark and brooding silence, but the genius couldn't care less, and joyfully sings on in rapture. The silence is a "black hole", evolved from the deep agony of realising that each drop of blood in the organism has been wasted completely. The song is a spontaneous celebration of the force of life itself, the centre core of creation on all levels.

Those strong enough to resist the herd in all its abysmal aspects, tend to shine as prime examples of "the human spirit", and they are quite often accepted, after a few generations, as being important and meaningful. "Yes, mad by all means, but he was before his time, you know..." How often haven't we heard that expression? "To be before one's time..." It's a tricky one indeed. If one can be before one's time, this would imply that:

A) Everyone has a time specifically belonging to him/her.

B) It's possible for some people to be "out of time", as they're obviously misplaced in these cases.

C) There are also those who are "behind their time", if we regard the phenomenon "Time" as a continuum which people are trapped in for limited amounts of, of course, time. (This is just a presupposition based on what seems "natural": If there are a few truly progressive plusses on one side of the "zero", then it must be more than likely that there are equally many minuses on the other side...)

Moral codes strike us as being the most obvious examples/results of destructive training into a structure of complex conformity. Morals have recently been rooted in arbitrary sets of values, such as the monoteistic religions, and the wisdom of what's "right" and "wrong" have no longer been based upon natural (in the true meaning of the word) modes of reactions and behaviour.

What mortal blows to mankind these slave-philosophies have brought! That sheer terror of grasping scale of what enormous damage the egalitarian (so called) philosophies/religions are responsible for, is equalled only by these enemies-of-mankind's realizations along the line that they're completely out of line in the harmonious workings of nature. Realizations of piercing and painful facts like these tend to lead to even stricter regressions in these small minds. A compensation and further movement towards the negative, simply because they cannot live with the fact that they've never even been near the natural positive.

They become jealous of the light (whether that light is "bright" or "dark" is of no importance here) emanating from the "holy fools", and try to impose tighter rules upon these beings of excellence. It very seldom works though...

The enlightened magician tends to aquire a very care-free attitude towards the rest of the Universe. A loving acceptance of all and everything as it is, no matter what he/she thinks of things on a conscious level. This benevolent arrogance works as a protecting layer of grease against the confused drops of water that constantly shower over all of us.

The important thing in all cases, is to never let self-doubt become an entity in itself. Self-doubt should only be a constructive tool in the process of finding new ways and new directions. Because if one does allow it to open the gates of one's garden of Eden, one can be sure as hell that there is an army of demons lined up to take over. An army of ignorance, laziness, mental and emotional isolation, stupidity, servility, and all the other "christian" qualities we've had to put up with for so long now on an educational level.

The extreme corners of cultural expressions, the avant-garde, etc., thrives on the diseased and the perverted in order to clean themselves and be rid of the disease and perversion. This odd predeliction, to be extreme almost for its own sake, is always misunderstood by the source of error and sickness itself - the herd of non-thinking robots called the "common" man. Magicians, alchemists and artists have always been diviners and sooth/truth-sayers, and it's true that the truth isn't always pleasant to hear. One true criterium of strength is if one can live with the insight of truth. Most people certainly cannot!

When popular culture (so called) decides to suck in the work of the clair-voyant in order to make a monetary profit out of the ideas, atmospheres, tendencies, directions, form, substance, etc., it's inevitable evidence that the display (of whatever it might be) is actually well and deeply rooted within the common psyche. It's not surprising therefore, that popular entertainment tends to focus on the grimmer side of life at the moment: In literature as well as in cinema, we are overwhelmed by psychopaths, mutations, natural disasters and disorders, mental illnesses and other diseases, divorce (from practically any- and everything), governmental misuse of power, and so on.

There has hardly been a time when the extremely escapistic adventures have been successful in their escapism to such an extent. Pure love, pure happiness, and pure creation are portrayed in overtly super-glamourous contexts of fantasy and illusion, because otherwise the force of attraction wouldn't be as strong. This also has to do with the fact that entertainment naturally also is subjected to the forces of inflation. Harder times, harder values, harder value.

Psychological horrors have always fascinated man, it seems. Perhaps for the same reason that occultism keeps on fascinating man. We are all aware that there are other sides than those we are taught in school, and the fact that they are hidden is the triggering of their glamourous effects on the mind. Horror in these fields has especially spellbound people since one started to use a scientific language instead of a magical one. One thereby made it more accessible to people in general. Now, suddenly, everyone could see within themselves - for good and bad. The difference between psychology and magic though, is that the latter is rooted in the natural balance of the magician, whereas psychological conclusions could now be drawn immediately after one had read something by Freud, Jung or any of the other pioneers of 20th century psychology. Regardless of whether one actually understood what qualities/terms such as neurosis, psychosis, archetype, and the good old subconscious mean or not...

Horror in culture is only really a bleak reflection of the true horror in society - that of silent and yet very audible suppression, and the conformity to weak standards. Intelligence and creation are not encouraged, except for in very controlled areas (such as the natural sciences, technology, etc.). Is it then, again, so surprising that the cultural safety valves, i.e. the work of those few artists with enlightened minds, turn to more extreme and elitistical expressions? No, it's not. Is it then so surprising to see that mutations and biological disorders/perversions seem to be the main predeliction within modern popular culture? No, it's not.

Isn't it about time that we accept the Beast for what he is - a destroyer of old and creator of new values in one and the same force? Yes, it is.