Freedom and Being Free

Ganapati and Catwoman  Getting Freaky

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah.

America, we need to have a talk.

It is time we face some ugly truths about ourselves. Contrary to what many believe, this country was not founded to protect individual freedom. It was founded by religious zealots, criminals, venture capitalists, and slave traders. The intention behind the constitution was to protect the vested interests of those early power-mongers. Fortunately, people learned to hack this tool of the state towards true freedom. The quest for freedom is an always evolving pursuit. In my opinion, the surest path to this freedom is the self directed spirituality called witchcraft by so many today.

The descendants of those self righteous bigots, can be found in today's surveillance state, the Congress, Wall Street, and corporate boardrooms. Equality is a buzzword for equal deprivation. The reason they called it a trickle down economy is because we only get a trickle down here. Have you seen Mad Max? We are in the same boat, trapped between Bullet Farm, Gas Town, and Water and Power. There is no Utopia on the horizon, we must stake our claim here. Those in power fear us, "We the people", and use everything at their disposal to divide and conquer. Ask yourself, who is benefiting from homophobia, sexism,racism, class-ism, and religious bigotry?

Divide and conquer has always been the game. How do we address this? What is the proper response to Power when that power is waiting for an excuse to use all the weaponry it protects itself with. This is Peter Grey's perspective, Beneath the Rose, read it and then come back. There are things I agree with in this article and some things I strongly disagree with. First I do agree that secrecy is the greatest tool a Mutant Mage can have in this day and age. I also agree with the call to return to visceral experience of magic and the world in general. The late Peter Paddon also believed strongly in the execution of Visceral Magic. Before I get into my issues with the article, I would like to address a side issue. I have come to the firm conclusion that although I find some of the ideas expressed in the Traditional Witchcraft circles, I personally am not enough of an anglophile to follow this path. I prefer more homegrown esoteric traditions. One of the many reasons I refer to myself as a Sacred Artist, or Mutant Mage. I am a Twenty First Century American who works with magic.

The main problem I have is the most obvious, going on the internet to argue that the internet is to persuasive is a bit, well hypocritical. Just like all the TV preachers in the late 80's and early 90's, railing on and on about the evils of television. Whenever some one uses the medium they profess to be opposed to, I am immediately slightly dubious. What would Mr. Grey have to benefit from this double-blind? The same thing as every other person doing it, a captive audience guaranteeing a steady income stream. Kind of like the anti-capitalist that sell anti capitalist books, for capitalist dollars. I do not begrudge one making a living, in fact I do not believe that capital and freedom are contradictory. The democratization of capital has lead to far more good than harm. It is the concentration of capital that causes problems. What is the solution? Magical Activism.

Build large street theatre puppets of political and religious figures and race them in the parks. Flood the Internet with nudity, not pornography, plain old nudity, especially nipples. Flood Facebook with male nipples to counter the absurdity. Big Data is running experiments to control human behavior, use social media to run your own experiments.  Counter measure the countermeasures, information technology lends itself to chaos and discord, help it. Meanwhile build cabals and communes both physical and virtual with like minded individuals. Everything is spectacle and theatre now, Break The Proscenium. Perform public curses on your state capital steps, they are doing it to you inside, most of all engage the public. Be a clown for Lucifer.

I see I have struck a nerve, that name, Lucifer gets a lot of peoples goats, so to speak. I believe this may be due to confusion between Sataniel (satan), and Lucifer. Lucifer is an old Roman god, the light bringer, and he was a twin, his brother is Noctifer, the dark bringer. Lucifer has gotten a bad rap for  a long time, all because the Roman Catholic Church does not like competition with its brand. Sataniel was the fallen angel who dared to rebel against God and received his own kingdom as a reward. I do not want to get bogged down in a discussion on Lucifer, one can find plenty of info online. Oh, and the aforementioned Mr. Grey has a book on the subject, if that's your sort of thing.

Ultimately the goal is freedom, personal freedom won out of love and respect for your fellow beings. We are evolvers and so we must evolve always being a Mutant Mage, use science and finance, buy a 3D printer, become a bio-hacker, study sorcery, play RPG's IRL, stay one step ahead, and laugh. If Tank Girl and Delerium have not joined your pool of inspiration it's time to invite them in. I use the methods that work for me; subterfuge, secrecy, outlandishness, and the dead. My ancestors lead me, folk catholic saints sustain me, Rebel Saints inspire me, Hoodoo and Santeria inform me, and angels comfort me. I am a dreamer, a mystic, a spirit warrior, sacred artist, and spirit guide. Above all others I am a Mutant Mage.

Praxis Sasquatch Jones 2015