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CHArTER THIRTEEN<br />
DARK ASCENT<br />
there something that is more important to you than your Magickal and<br />
personal development? If the answer is affirmative, then there is little<br />
that you can do aside from dabble until you either drift back into<br />
spiritual slumber or choose to Ascend above the everyday prison. If the<br />
answer is a shouted "NO!" however, then there is obviously something<br />
in your world that could use adjustment. Anything that is not necessary<br />
which consumes the time that could be better spent Becoming something<br />
more than a slave needs to be discarded or destroyed. If the parasitic<br />
tick will not release when it is shaken, it must be burned out.<br />
"Why am I still struggling?"<br />
Even while proclaiming their personal freedom and their hard<br />
won ability to walk a path that is much different than most, the Black<br />
Magician may often find that others in his life are either acth'ely or<br />
indirectly keeping him from Becoming all that he is. Sometimes a<br />
spouse or other relationship partner does not fully understand the<br />
Sinister Path, and mistakes your Temple for a place where you retreat<br />
to, rather than the place wherein you create your reality. E'-en more<br />
subtly and more difficult to detect is the effect that others may ha,'e on<br />
your ability to pulse with Power throughout your daily life, afraid that<br />
others will strike at what they fear; and they do strike, but as they do<br />
they know that their fear is not misplaced. This is the reason that the<br />
Neophyte often presents himself as "evil" or "dark: with black clothing,<br />
piercings, and cosmetics, intentionally making himself ugly and<br />
undesirable: it is far easier than being sinister and evil, walking into a<br />
room and stopping people's breath with an aura of Darkness, becoming<br />
that which they can only portray through costumes. That Darkness<br />
can be had and manifested in your presence at all times, however,<br />
regardless of image or appearance - once the Black Magician ceases to<br />
halt its flow when he is around others. Either his fear or the object of his<br />
fear needs to be destroyed in order to Become his self, unrestrained.<br />
Most often, however, the enemy is within. in the form of fear,<br />
lack of confidence, psychological rivets to dying belief systems or<br />
variable morals codes, feelings of powerlessness in the face of oppression,<br />
or other illusions cast on the self by the inferior parts of the brain. Most<br />
often, this is why you are still struggling. These obstacles, whether<br />
self-created, self-perpetuated, or entirely external. need to be destroyed<br />
entirely, turned to sulfur in the Lake of Fire.<br />
In his Ascent, the Black Magician is moving towards a being<br />
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