E. A. Koetting - staticfly.net

CHArTER THIRTEEN
DARK ASCENT
Through a process often called "subjective synthesis" by modern
occultists and metaphysicians, the Black Magician will force upon
himself a state of fanaticism and unquestionable devotion to those forces
and forms. He will experience what the religionists can only refer to as
t ra nsfi gura t ion.
Before this Work can proceed, the Operator will need to construct
a permanent icon of Ascent: the Double-Armed Cross. While it would be
preferable to have one made of iron, tin, or silver, such may not be
plausible due to finances or lack of the skills needed to do the work
oneself. A simple wooden construct will work well, being cut from a
single sheet of particle board and painted either flat black or violet. As
another suggestion, the image may be painted, sewn, drawn or in some
other way permanently imprinted upon a tapestry or other sheet
material that may be hung in the Temple. The image should be of a
permanent construction rather than sketched on paper or any surface
that is easily destroyed. It should also be easily hung upon and removed
it from the walL The height of the cross from the top point to the bottom
should be at least 3 feet, and should be hung on the southern wall with
the bottom point one foot from the floor at minimum.
The disciple of Darkness will need to engage in a thorough study
of archetypes and godforms that have represented chaos, bane, and
evil throughout history. The Initiate is advised against immediately
choosing the most obvious name and figure in the Western world,
Satan - but instead to look more deeply into the genesis of mankind's
understanding of spirituality, and even more deeply into the original
beliefs of his own bloodline. Uncovering the religious beliefs and practices
of some of the first human civilizations will reward the Sorcerer with
an untainted atavistic power s!Jurce which may be tapped in this final
ritual Operation.
Regardless of which archetypal Dark Deity is chosen, the Initiate
must begin his study by tracing the existence of the godform back to its
point of origin. Throughout the research most often any entity that
can be found in modern books or spoken myth has been changed through
millennia of story-telling, quite often deliberately by the enemies of
the original discoverers of the archetype in question. Most of them also
have a common time and place of "birth," which almost always takes
the researcher to the area that is now called the Middle East and an era
197