#cults — Public Fediverse posts

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an old one i made sometime back. i dont idolize this guy or his beliefs. just thought this would make a cool vaporwave and i like being creative

#vaporwave #vhs #vhsaesthetic #vaporwaveaesthetic #aesthetic #retro #glitch #glitchart #artist #artistsonmastodon #MarshallApplewhite #HeavensGate #90s #cults #cult

an old one i made sometime back. i dont idolize this guy or his beliefs. just thought this would make a cool vaporwave and i like being creative

#vaporwave #vhs #vhsaesthetic #vaporwaveaesthetic #aesthetic #retro #glitch #glitchart #artist #artistsonmastodon #MarshallApplewhite #HeavensGate #90s #cults #cult

an old one i made sometime back. i dont idolize this guy or his beliefs. just thought this would make a cool vaporwave and i like being creative

#vaporwave #vhs #vhsaesthetic #vaporwaveaesthetic #aesthetic #retro #glitch #glitchart #artist #artistsonmastodon #MarshallApplewhite #HeavensGate #90s #cults #cult

an old one i made sometime back. i dont idolize this guy or his beliefs. just thought this would make a cool vaporwave and i like being creative

#vaporwave #vhs #vhsaesthetic #vaporwaveaesthetic #aesthetic #retro #glitch #glitchart #artist #artistsonmastodon #MarshallApplewhite #HeavensGate #90s #cults #cult

“A haven” and place of knowledge: The key role of libraries and librarians in “Gay the Pray Away”

“Valerie Danners is in a cult. She just doesn’t know it yet. But when she stumbles upon a queer romance novel at the library, everything about her life—centered around a fundamentalist Christian homeschooling group —is thrown into question.”- Book’s official description on Penguin Random House, to give an example of what got me into this book.

Last year, I noted that I purchased a book during a sale of Pride-themed books on Bookshop and came across a book by Natalie Naudus entitled Gay the Pray Away. One of the key protagonists of this novel, Valerie Danners comes across a queer romance novel at the local library and begins, plus her coming across a new girl in town named Riley, that turns her world upside down. In my post the, I noted that libraries and knowledge are key to the book, with librarians supportive of her learning more about queer people, likely even letting her take the aforementioned queer romance book with her, and pointing out, how at one point, her restrictive parents do not allow her to go to the library. Their reasoning is simple: they know that the information there goes against the teachings of the Christian fundamentalist cult she is a part of. In this post I’ll expand on that and talk about more of the themes in this queer young adult romance novel and connect it to my previous posts.

Libraries and knowledge are key to this book even from the first chapter. Valerie, who is half-Asian/multiracial/biracial is performing and acting like she is a reactionary bible-thumper like her parents, who have been pulled into a misogynistic cult (she doesn’t realize the extent of this at the time) led by a White man. She goes to the library, despite her “friend” Hannah telling her that she can use the approved Bible encyclopedia (which only allows people to see certain information) but she resists the words of her “friend.” She later convinces her parents, with her mom from Taiwan and her dad a White man from the U.S., to bring her to the library, which she calls a quiet “haven” (see page 16) so she can do “some research” for her school paper, claiming she wants to read a Sean Hannity book (a lie). She acts like she is going there to do research but she actually wants to go to the young adult section, so she can lose herself in fantasy. She explains how she was once at a protest against a book deemed “sinful” with her mother, and how she lives to read, with what she says on page 17 making clear what’s she going through:

Every change I get, I’m tucked in my closet, devouring anything [to read] I can get my hands on. My life and world feel so small and strict and cold. I see the same people all the time who believe the same things, dress the same, talk the same, look the same. But books? Books are my escape.

She soon comes across a book by queer non-binary romance novelist Casey McQuiston, named One Last Stop, flips/zooms through it when her mom isn’t looking, calling it a “forbidden” book (since it is gay), but says it looks “pretty and joyful,” and steals the book, tucking it into her skirt. A librarian, a White man with glasses, accidentally crashes his book cart into a shelf, and while she thinks she will get caught as the alarm goes off, the librarian says it isn’t an issue, adding that their system is buggy and tells her to have a nice day. She places the book she had into the bottom of her backpack while in the bathroom, and lies to her mom about what happened. Going forward, it is an open question as to whether the librarian knew she had the book or not, which is something open to interpretation.

Going into the second chapter, she hides the book so she can hide this “contraband,” while putting on a good face, and kept in this sort of prison, even thinking that her brother David is a sort of ally (I’ll get to that later too). It is interesting that she sees her closet as a place where she is safe (likely inferring to the closet that queer people find themselves in before coming out) and it is where she rips off the cover of the book, throws it in the toilet, and adds a post-it note to it, if it is found. This paranoia is part of her daily life, where she is being watched and controlled, with her parents limiting information (there’s no Wi-Fi and the her brother’s bedroom was removed), she hides this book behind others, so it can’t be found, and her brother watches pirated anime, as she knows full well.

With all of this, it is no surprise that she hates the “approved” books about motherhood and being a “godly woman,” because who would like those books? She sees fantasy as a way of escape and reads One Last Stop all night learning about words like queer and bisexual (one reviewer noted that she is implied as bisexual) and sees the world of gay and queer people as joyful, warm, and fun. This contrasts with the controlling attitude of her mother and father which is abusive in more ways than one. While it is a while before she returns to the library or talks about the “secret stolen book” (One Last Stop) as she briefly calls it in Chapter 4, she does come across one more person who changes her life: a girl her age named Riley. She instantly falls for her, with Riley helping break the mindset which is holding her in this terrible situation. The same goes for her talking to Mira (formerly Miriam) who shakes her mindset.

In fact, it isn’t until chapter 7 that the aforementioned book appears again, with Valerie noting she has been “reading, rereading, and re-rereading” the book, while smiling, and begging to ride her bike to the library herself, where she, goes in, as she puts on page 59, and continues on page 60, saying specifically:

“…the farthest corner, in the cubicle with the computer facing the wall and my seat facing the entrance, I get on the internet. With one eye on the entrance in case someone comes in, I start with L and read my way through articles on the GBTQIA and the +. I read articles by the Episcopalians…about homosexuality and the Bible, and how the conservative ideology I’ve been taught is not universally accepted…[later] I’m back at the library. I google every “dangerous liberal doctrine” I can remember being trashed in sermons and lectures…I read about feminism, intersectional feminism, Kimberle Crenshaw, and critical race theory.”

She goes onto note how her parents censor the home internet, review the search history she and her brother go through, and question them about sites they visit. She says she feels “drunk with the sheer power of knowledge” from the library, which she calls the “unregulated wilds.” As the chapter goes on, she comes across the same librarian as before, who wears a sweater, who encourages her to take a queer book, noting it has a “super discreet cover.” As the book goes on, Riley and Valerie “Val” get closer, with Riley helping puncture Val’s impression of the restrictive situation she is in, as she slowly realizes she is in a cult after all.

Sometime later, Val notes, on page 87, she gets lost in books in the library and even smells them, kisses Riley (they both kiss one another various times), and admits she “stole a book from the library” (page 112). The latter surprises Riley, who likely sees her as rebellious. Beyond more chapters showing the insidious of this cult and the forced male-female courting pushed onto boys and girls, she goes to the library over and over, saying she read “every gay book” she could find, whether about critical race theory, her rights, abortion, and more, while appearing submissive to her parents (page 126). She even gets a hidden message, through email, that Riley sent her, hidden within a chemistry paper, sending messages back and forth in the document (pages 140-141), while on the library computer. She continues doing this, while she claims she is studying (page 157), delivers books to Mrs. Miller from her mom.

The library serves as a place Val can be free without parental permission, where she can be herself (see pages 168-170 for instance). She even creates a secret Instagram account where she sees a picture of another girl kissing her cousin, Mira, on the side of the face, and begins a correspondence with her, asking for her help. As noted in the rest of the chapter, she makes clear she is so paranoid that she wants to log into Instagram, delete her messages, even her account, noting wanting the wrong people to find it. However, she doesn’t do that and meets with Mira, telling her what she is going through, allowing them to connect. The library serves as a place of acceptance in contrast to the strict, domineering nature of “home.”

While Riley and Val bond more and their romance deepens, with Riley even coming over for a sleepover at Val’s house, everything goes downhill after David accidentally witnesses (see page 199) Riley and Val kiss and snitches on them, betraying Val, and causing her a world of hurt. He did not have to expose her like that, but it shows that no one in the family can be trusted, how the propaganda can get to anyone, even her brother, who watches pirated anime. It is later revealed, on pages 201 to 202 that her parents found her “queer books” and sketches Riley did of her, even though she had been so careful, believing she was right to be paranoid. Her email password is changed, she is banned from using the computer and the kicker: she is “not allowed to go to the library anymore” and they return her library books, while her secret stolen book (The One Stop) is literally burned on a grill, and set on fire.

Of course, this sends Val into a spiral and depression, with her parents prohibiting her from speaking to Riley. She lashes out at Hannah, understandably, who claims she has to repent and repeats the same cultish viewpoint, even willing to cut ties with Val, showing she has lost to the propaganda. She later gets money from Mrs. Batra, and goes to a bookshelf, where she hides the money in an old encyclopedia (pages 207-209), and she later lashes out at David, who claims he is questioning things, even though he turned her in. She also notes that when she snuck books from the library and googled the conservative canon, she realized how problematic the books she had were, how racist they were (pages 213-214). In a heartbreaking scene, after she turns down the arranged date between her and Andrew Patterson, she says, on page 216:

…Screaming in frustration, I throw myself into my closet and pull the accordion door shut. And there, in the dark, without a single friendly book to comfort me, I cry.

Chapter 28 is when the library gets to chine once more, with Val taking money from Mrs. Batra, and running to the library, going through the woods, and refusing to marry Andrew, no matter what, and is determined to contact Riley. She logs into the computer, but her parents changed her password, then creates another account, and desperately writes a message to Riley, but not Mira, as she doesn’t want her parents to find out (see page 219). She gets back just in time and no one is the wiser. Chapter 29 is the key chapter not because Val works for Mrs. Batra again, but because she goes to the library, or because she is nervous to talk to the librarian who helped her before (she thinks he has “more recommendations for queer books with discreet covers”), and she gets what she was hoping for (see page 225). There’s a message from Val, saying she will pick her up on February 1st, and Val responds she will be ready.

For the next two weeks she plays “by the rules,” takes her Bible study seriously, and everything else, to allay any suspicion. She is able to leave, despite her dad being furious at her, but her mother, unexpectedly is a bit of an ally of sorts, and she gets away. She gets her sort-of happily-ever-after with Riley, as they live together, even if money is tight, away from the cult-like atmosphere. Toward the end of the book, Val notes that she bikes to the local library, reads, and begins to write a bit (see pages 241-242), and her mom helps her get the documents she needs, while in her own way she is supportive.

In the final part of this book includes resources, a reading guide, and an interview with the author. In the second of these is a question noting that Val’s turning point is when she picks up One Last Stop from the library, and another asks what role the library played in Val’s “journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance” (pages 247-248). In the third of these parts of what constitutes the book’s appendix, Naudus notes that during her childhood, books and reading were a “huge escape” with her getting in trouble for reading when she was supposed to be praying, adding that seeing yourself in a story is “like looking into a mirror,” and notes her inspirations, what queer joy means to her, and more (see pages 249 to 253).

I’ve written about theft, acceptance, and library as a place of refuge time and again on this blog, even linking some of the above here. I like how the library is shown as not a neutral place, but instead a place of knowledge. It provides Val with the information she needs to learn more about her surroundings, about her world, away from restrictions imposed on her. This is why Kendra Winchester of Book Riot called, in a review back in June 2024, this book a “love letter to libraries and the freedom they represent for their patrons,” adding that “without the books she reads at the library, she might never have been able to imagine a different future for herself.”

The role of the library in spreading knowledge, even that which challenges orthodoxies, is why some have began book bans and even some have burned books they have hated, not wanting anyone else to have that knowledge. They find that knowledge is dangerous because it challenges their worldview. This is why it is so important to protect libraries, whether academic, special, public, or otherwise, from attack by governments, individuals, and groups.

© 2025-2026 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[Edit*]An older but ever-relevant of ICSA Today with articles on recovering from sexual abuse in cults, how to communicate with loved ones inside cults, the spread of conspiracy theories in France, and multi-generational cult survivors.

https://library.internationalculticstudies.org/24n7ceh/

[The issue is from 2021, but they emailed around an article from it recently.]

#ReligiousTrauma #cult #cults #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #ICSA

So rises the Book of Mormon, and an American sensation

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/1991189/so-rises-the-book-of-mormon-and-an-american-sensation

The ICSA has a journal article about how career counseling can help protect vulnerable kids from trafficking and cults.

Surprise! Poverty increases risk. Having a solid sense of identity helps prevent risk.

Abstract: 'Human trafficking is a rapidly expanding global criminal industry that frequently targets children and adolescents by preying on their vulnerabilities. This article presents research identifying seven categories of susceptibility in Generation Z, with a specific focus on how poverty and low personal achievement increase the risk of being trafficked. The authors propose that career counseling can serve as a vital preventive measure by building self-sufficiency, motivation, and a long-term “career self-concept” that helps youth reject the immediate gratification offered by predators.'

(Sorry, it's Substack.)

https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/could-career-counseling-help-protect

#ReligiousTrauma #cult #cults #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical

Growing Pains: Woman cries about how hard it is to be #ExMAGA. The internet doesn’t take it well.

#ParkrosePermaculture

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QP7B8c5nP2o

#Cults #MAGAcult #ExCultmembers

"The Satanic Temple leader & cargo cult messiah"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldw0xflMrAk

This video essay by researcher veritas et caritas has been edited and re-uploaded.

> The year is 2014, and Cevin Soling, also known by his pseudonym Malcolm Jarry, one of the leaders of The Satanic Temple in the US, is visiting the tiny Pacific island of Tanna, part of the nation of Vanuatu. According to Soling, “Apparently there was a prophecy I would come”. This video tells the strange story of how Cevin Soling arrived in Vanuatu, convinced that he was the messiah of a cargo cult.

#TheSatanicTemple #SatanicTemple #TST #Satanism #CevinSoling #cargoCults #Vanuatu #cults #videoEssay #VeritasEtCaritas

"The Satanic Temple leader & cargo cult messiah"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldw0xflMrAk

This video essay by researcher veritas et caritas has been edited and re-uploaded.

> The year is 2014, and Cevin Soling, also known by his pseudonym Malcolm Jarry, one of the leaders of The Satanic Temple in the US, is visiting the tiny Pacific island of Tanna, part of the nation of Vanuatu. According to Soling, “Apparently there was a prophecy I would come”. This video tells the strange story of how Cevin Soling arrived in Vanuatu, convinced that he was the messiah of a cargo cult.

#TheSatanicTemple #SatanicTemple #TST #Satanism #CevinSoling #cargoCults #Vanuatu #cults #videoEssay #VeritasEtCaritas

"The Satanic Temple leader & cargo cult messiah"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldw0xflMrAk

This video essay by researcher veritas et caritas has been edited and re-uploaded.

> The year is 2014, and Cevin Soling, also known by his pseudonym Malcolm Jarry, one of the leaders of The Satanic Temple in the US, is visiting the tiny Pacific island of Tanna, part of the nation of Vanuatu. According to Soling, “Apparently there was a prophecy I would come”. This video tells the strange story of how Cevin Soling arrived in Vanuatu, convinced that he was the messiah of a cargo cult.

#TheSatanicTemple #SatanicTemple #TST #Satanism #CevinSoling #cargoCults #Vanuatu #cults #videoEssay #VeritasEtCaritas

"The Satanic Temple leader & cargo cult messiah"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldw0xflMrAk

This video essay by researcher veritas et caritas has been edited and re-uploaded.

> The year is 2014, and Cevin Soling, also known by his pseudonym Malcolm Jarry, one of the leaders of The Satanic Temple in the US, is visiting the tiny Pacific island of Tanna, part of the nation of Vanuatu. According to Soling, “Apparently there was a prophecy I would come”. This video tells the strange story of how Cevin Soling arrived in Vanuatu, convinced that he was the messiah of a cargo cult.

#TheSatanicTemple #SatanicTemple #TST #Satanism #CevinSoling #cargoCults #Vanuatu #cults #videoEssay #VeritasEtCaritas

"The Satanic Temple leader & cargo cult messiah"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldw0xflMrAk

This video essay by researcher veritas et caritas has been edited and re-uploaded.

> The year is 2014, and Cevin Soling, also known by his pseudonym Malcolm Jarry, one of the leaders of The Satanic Temple in the US, is visiting the tiny Pacific island of Tanna, part of the nation of Vanuatu. According to Soling, “Apparently there was a prophecy I would come”. This video tells the strange story of how Cevin Soling arrived in Vanuatu, convinced that he was the messiah of a cargo cult.

#TheSatanicTemple #SatanicTemple #TST #Satanism #CevinSoling #cargoCults #Vanuatu #cults #videoEssay #VeritasEtCaritas

The ICSA has been working hard to better support former cult members and those who have loved ones stuck in cults. Here's their newsletter recapping their updated website and revamped services.

I've been an ICSA member for many years. It's a very small academic organization that also welcome lay people who have had life experiences with cults. They've been around (under various names) for many decades, originally the publishers of Cultic Studies Journal, which is now split across several publications under various names. I've spoken about Mormonism at their conferences and met people with all kinds of backgrounds.

Their resources include: an academic journal, a magazine for lay people, conferences, a directory of helping professionals, and a back catalogue of all their past publications.

I'm glad to see them becoming more active and increasing their outreach.

https://simplyk-bucket-production.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/deliveries/e5ba1449-3665-4252-89a0-685f20f0ab9c/emails/0940ddbb-73aa-49b9-b596-ab14da5b45c8.html

#cults #ReligiousTrauma #ICSA #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical

Why Real #Biblical #Angels Are Creepy, Beastly, and Hardly #Angelic

https://www.openculture.com/2025/10/why-real-biblical-angels-are-creepy-beastly-and-hardly-angelic.html
https://youtu.be/40KcrrfbJ6o

#mythical #myths #religion #mythic #cults

Unfortunately, the National Guard is allowed to control America. They are not allowed to shoot Americans. And if they do, you should go to war against your government. #knittingcultlady #cults #nationalguard

https://www.threads.com/@daniellamyoung_/post/DNrVDh9wk43?xmt=AQF0mNuEhLR2omB5_z2gls0PxJNU2Tuc9pIsHNPr0OR7lQ

The International Cultic Studies Association has relaunched their library of the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation, and their older publications going back 40+ years. This is accessible to everyone, not just members. Which is awesome, as time was when this library was only available to paid members.

They also have a lay-person publication, ISCA Today.

https://library.internationalculticstudies.org

#Cults #Cult #ReligiousTrauma #PTSD #Religion #AcademicFreedom #ICSA

If you've never been in a #cult before, and are struggle to understand the coercive control, watch #Coraline. Keep in #cults can target people of all ages, even babies and toddlers, but also adults. They prey on you and will create a perfect world. They will eat up your life.

Thom Hartmann has an expert on cults on who wrote "The Cult of Trump." Forward by George Conway.

He's a former Moonie.

He's urging people to not argue with Trump cult members. Instead, ask questions so they begin some self-reflection. "They can exit. They have doubts."

"We need to reach out to these folks. Not putting them down. Not calling them names. But reminding them of who they were before; asking questions in a respectful way."

"As i mentioned in the book ... Trump uses hypnotic methodology" "Trump uses this method to elicit emotions and for repeating, over and over again, lies, and the brain starts acting as if it's true, if that's the only source of information people are getting. Trump projects his own bad behavior onto his opponents, so he misdirects peoples' attention."

"Don't attack Trump directly, the doctrine, the policy, directly because that elicits the cult identity defense system. Talk to them about Chinese communist brainwashing techniques, and also about pimps and traffickers, and how they groom, recruit, and indoctrinate people. And then ask people questions.

"Tell me more. Tell me how you make sense of this. Would you ever consider leaving? What criteria would you need?"

They will say no, I would never consider. Then you can ask them hypothetical questions.

"What if you're a religious person, and you pray, and you determine Jesus doesn't want Trump elected. Would you follow what God wants for you, and your conscience, or would you continue to do what everyone in your circle is doing?"

"And the thing is, don't try to persuade them. Ask them questions that make them self-reflect because people will exit themselves, if it's done properly."

Maybe we should all read this book.

#Trump #cults #deprogramming #psychology

RE: E. Germany and AfD. I think #AshSarkar has a point about why the AfD won in E Germany.

#Cults and #farright groups tend to play on peoples' vulnerabilities, insecurities, they also prey upon people who have not been treated well by a dominant culture.

This Twin Flames Universe is so fucked up that I can’t believe anyone would fall for it. But then we are all looking for love and community and scammers and frauds and cults abuse that. I’m trying to come up with ways to combat that online, maybe some form of meme war? I’ll let it percolate a bit more, I’m sure I’ll come up with something. #TwinFlames #TwinFlameUniverse #EscapingTwinFlames #MemeWar #deprogramming #cults #transandnonbinaryrightsarehumanrights #tfu

I don’t bother to argue and correct people about wrong occult or paranormal information because 9 times out of 10, they are not the type of people I want practicing magic. Out of boredom, I took a look at r/occult on Reddit. Not only is 99% of it wrong, but the people there are so messed up I dare not correct them. Going through their other posts and the subs they are subscribed to on Reddit is disturbing.

There was one person in particular who inspired this post. I’ve had encounters with this person in the past and know enough about them to know that they are likely schizophrenic and have an obsession with occultism and occultists. All the quotes in this post are from the same dumb Redditor. They said:

Really, the sigil generally means what the person tattoing it onto themself means it too. In this case it might just indicate their bond.

There really isn’t anything special about foreign/modern symbols. It’s prefectly fine to use english and drawings of dicks if you really want too. At thene of the day, when you practice magic, what’s important is how the symbol has meaning to you, the person who’s involved with the spell

On the subject of not being able to back it, it’s on the internet, if they stop giving a shit, they can ultimately just stop looking at the thread and forget that people here even exist.

That last part of the last quote highlights the problem with Internet cultures, however. Normalization of the lack of concern for the accuracy of information and the tacit belief that you are entitled to people because they are on the Internet (which is parasocial) is a large reason why I avoid many online communities. I actually know this person… The belief that you should not have to provide evidence for something if it is on the Internet is a horrific stance to me. For example, while typing this post, I actually made an effort to double-check everything I have said. The idea that no one gives a shit means that no one, including them, gives a shit about the truth. The tacit belief in conspiracies—secretive esoteric communities—coupled with the normalization of misinformation is what’s wrong with occult communities, especially the ones on Reddit.

Sigils are mnemonically identifiers and formal names. A seal is a name or signature. We can examine how asinine this is if we have a person with a tattoo that says William:

Person 1: “Why did you tattoo William on your arm?”
Person 2: “What do you mean? I absolutely adore Sarah, so I got Sarah tattooed on my arm.”
Person 1: “No, what is written in English is William.”

Pragmatically, sigils are mnemonic; however, in formal ontology or language, they have a defined meaning where a seal is an expression of that definition.

Unlike the runes of the Elder Futhark, which are graphemes, Goetic seals are not graphemes. Goetic seals are logograms that represent entire concepts. Since they are logograms, Austin Spare’s substitution/sigilization technique is a good way to generate logograms that possess the aesthetic and symbolic qualities reminiscent of ceremonial sigils or esoteric, occultic ciphers that have the meaning you intend for them to have. Honestly, personally, I am over the ceremonial magic aesthetic, so Austin Spare’s method is not useful for me.

William is not spelled Sarah; therefore, tattooing William does not denote your bond to Sarah, nor does it imply you have a bond to Sarah. Many creepy incels go out and get women’s names and faces tattooed on their arms. It doesn’t make the bond real.

I have a personal gripe with people being super secreative with magick, on the basis I think as a society we’d learn more by working with and sharing things with eachother.

Yeah, because it goes against their interests. The question is whose society does it inform? Magic is deliberately causing something to change, so you’re tacitly creating or at least committing to the future you want. Therefore, magic is prescriptive and sufficiently normative. That means magic is predicated on interests. A way to think about it is that a magician is prescribing to reality how reality ought to behave in accordance with their will and interests. For more information on normativity, see:

Normativity in Metaethics

Predicating magic on will makes it intrinsically something that follows interests—an agenda. Typically, you can group magicians as stoics, hedonists, or solipsists. But, there’s an underlying interest there that is implicit in the philosophy.

An organization or group is an entity. If it is not in an entity’s interest to give you. In magical paradigms, entity usually implies some discarnate intelligence. In everyday language, an entity normally refers to an established organization. Magic is predicated on interests, and if it is not in an entity’s interest to give you access, they won’t. And, since magic is tacit, you need a psychic way of transmitting it or a shared experience among a cohort. Initiations create a shared, lonely space among a cohort. They are symbolic ways of apprehending an experience where the knowledge of “how” comes from how it seems to think about that shared experience.

The type of magic I practice is completely tacit and can’t be communicated through conventional cultural frameworks like language or pedagogies. It has to be telepathically transmitted. Any psychic who tries to communicate their psychic experiences through language will tacitly understand why. The point is that it’s esoteric.

I find it funny. The Internet is intrinsically language-based down to the low-level machine language of the devices. Psychic and magical knowledge is tacit and ineffable, so access via the Internet to the semantics of magical cultures and text doesn’t grant understanding. Ironically, it just obfuscates.

They were giving incorrect information about Lilith relating to demonolatry here:

I personally see Lilith as a sort of dark motherly archetype based on my own personal work, and could be intepreted that you are essentially under her protection

Lilith is not a motherly figure. Lilith is associated with infanticide and sex without having human children, and cambions or changelings.

Actually, a few days ago, my husband and I were having a conversation about my mother and my trauma, and that started an entire conversation where I told my husband about how my mother emphasized that not all women love their children and that I should be grateful she did not drown me in the bathtub like some women did to their children. My mother was referencing Andrea Yates at the time… Yes, my mother believes not killing your children is something to be proud of.

That prompted me to look up and tell my husband the statistics of the amount of SIDS cases that were cases of infanticide where the mother murdered their child. In the 1970s, Waneta Hoyt derailed SIDS research because she was actually suffocating her children. Why do I know all of these cases offhand? Because my mother had a fascination with serial killers and mothers who murdered their children. My husband said that people like my mother who are walking around give him the creeps because she seems so nice. Yes, my parents are twisted. How do you think I came out this way? That’s the type of motherhood Lilith represents. It is just very interesting how people like this person spin up these mythologies to cope with being rejected.

This particular person is a trans woman who used to be Wiccan and is feeling drawn back to Wicca, Thelema, and also feels sympathy with Babalon, so this interpretation would make sense for them. Ironically, I think Christian influences — that I know this person hates — have caused them to overlap Lilith with qualities of Eve, too. On a more pejorative note, what’s the difference between mommy issues and daddy issues? It screams of seeking a maternal figure through parasocial relationships with fictional characters.

No, Lilith wouldn’t be the mother of Adam’s children. She would strangle them in their crib. There’s a common syncretism with Lilith and Hecate that’s popular among Neopagans. Both are associated with aspects of femininity, darkness, magic, and independence, making them complementary in certain Neopagan and eclectic spiritual practices. In fiction, Lilith is associated with vampires and cambions, which is a tacit nod to her symbolism regarding unnatural and preternatural reproduction in that vampires are sired, made, and not born. So, it is very interesting to see this peculiar version of Lilith, embodying a maternal role, when Lilith is an antipole notions of Abrhaminc notions femininity. It’s like they’re conflating the qualities of Eve with Lilith.

Lilith is associated with the Qliphoth Gamaliel. Gamaliel is often linked with the darker aspects of femininity, such as seduction, independence, and rebellion against traditional roles. Thus Lilith represents opposition to motherhood and a rejection of the conventional expectations placed on women to fulfill maternal roles and adhere to societal norms of femininity. The maternal aspects this person is attributing to Lilith are actually associated with the Sephirot Binah, exemplified by Eve. So, we can see the absurdity in this.

Am I a cambion? Yes. Am I the scion of Lilith? No. Am I a Satanist? Yes. However, considering that every person wants to be a Satanic psychopath and doesn’t want to put in the work, there is a lot of misinformation, such as this. The devil is the person whom you know, and the women in the Sunday hats in church on Sunday.

I get a weird type of pleasure seeing incompetent people chase their asses, so I don’t correct them. Giving magic to schizophrenic people is worse than giving them a gun. Don’t mistake me. It is not about moral clarity on my part. It is about power.

Is my post on Reddit? Nope, because I am a real magician. There’s nothing on Reddit but incels and the insane and drug addicts. No powerful magician would consistently post anything there.

#Animism #animistic #AustinSpare #blackMagick #cambion #cambions #ceremonialMagic #ceremonialMagick #chaosMagic #chaosMagick #Christian #Christianity #conspiracyTheories #conspiracyTheory #cryptid #cryptids #cults #demon #Demonolatry #Demonology #demons #egregore #egregores #elderFuthark #femininity #feminism #Gamaliel #Goetia #Hellenism #Hellenistic #hermeticism #horror #incel #incels #infanticide #Jew #Jewish #Jews #Kabbalah #Kabbalistic #LGBTQ #Lilith #magick #mentalHealth #mentalIllness #monsters #myth #occult #occultism #pagan #paganism #paranormal #Qabalah #Qliphoth #Reddit #runes #satan #Satanism #Satanist #schizophrenia #Sephirot #SIDS #sigil #sigilMagick #sigils #supernatural #Theism #Thelema #Theurgy #trans #transgender #TreeOfLife #vampire #vampires #Wicca #Wiccan #witch #witchcraft

I don’t bother to argue and correct people about wrong occult or paranormal information because 9 times out of 10, they are not the type of people I want practicing magic. Out of boredom, I took a look at r/occult on Reddit. Not only is 99% of it wrong, but the people there are so messed up I dare not correct them. Going through their other posts and the subs they are subscribed to on Reddit is disturbing.

There was one person in particular who inspired this post. I’ve had encounters with this person in the past and know enough about them to know that they are likely schizophrenic and have an obsession with occultism and occultists. All the quotes in this post are from the same dumb Redditor. They said:

Really, the sigil generally means what the person tattoing it onto themself means it too. In this case it might just indicate their bond.

There really isn’t anything special about foreign/modern symbols. It’s prefectly fine to use english and drawings of dicks if you really want too. At thene of the day, when you practice magic, what’s important is how the symbol has meaning to you, the person who’s involved with the spell

On the subject of not being able to back it, it’s on the internet, if they stop giving a shit, they can ultimately just stop looking at the thread and forget that people here even exist.

That last part of the last quote highlights the problem with Internet cultures, however. Normalization of the lack of concern for the accuracy of information and the tacit belief that you are entitled to people because they are on the Internet (which is parasocial) is a large reason why I avoid many online communities. I actually know this person… The belief that you should not have to provide evidence for something if it is on the Internet is a horrific stance to me. For example, while typing this post, I actually made an effort to double-check everything I have said. The idea that no one gives a shit means that no one, including them, gives a shit about the truth. The tacit belief in conspiracies—secretive esoteric communities—coupled with the normalization of misinformation is what’s wrong with occult communities, especially the ones on Reddit.

Sigils are mnemonically identifiers and formal names. A seal is a name or signature. We can examine how asinine this is if we have a person with a tattoo that says William:

Person 1: “Why did you tattoo William on your arm?”
Person 2: “What do you mean? I absolutely adore Sarah, so I got Sarah tattooed on my arm.”
Person 1: “No, what is written in English is William.”

Pragmatically, sigils are mnemonic; however, in formal ontology or language, they have a defined meaning where a seal is an expression of that definition.

Unlike the runes of the Elder Futhark, which are graphemes, Goetic seals are not graphemes. Goetic seals are logograms that represent entire concepts. Since they are logograms, Austin Spare’s substitution/sigilization technique is a good way to generate logograms that possess the aesthetic and symbolic qualities reminiscent of ceremonial sigils or esoteric, occultic ciphers that have the meaning you intend for them to have. Honestly, personally, I am over the ceremonial magic aesthetic, so Austin Spare’s method is not useful for me.

William is not spelled Sarah; therefore, tattooing William does not denote your bond to Sarah, nor does it imply you have a bond to Sarah. Many creepy incels go out and get women’s names and faces tattooed on their arms. It doesn’t make the bond real.

I have a personal gripe with people being super secreative with magick, on the basis I think as a society we’d learn more by working with and sharing things with eachother.

Yeah, because it goes against their interests. The question is whose society does it inform? Magic is deliberately causing something to change, so you’re tacitly creating or at least committing to the future you want. Therefore, magic is prescriptive and sufficiently normative. That means magic is predicated on interests. A way to think about it is that a magician is prescribing to reality how reality ought to behave in accordance with their will and interests. For more information on normativity, see:

Normativity in Metaethics

Predicating magic on will makes it intrinsically something that follows interests—an agenda. Typically, you can group magicians as stoics, hedonists, or solipsists. But, there’s an underlying interest there that is implicit in the philosophy.

An organization or group is an entity. If it is not in an entity’s interest to give you. In magical paradigms, entity usually implies some discarnate intelligence. In everyday language, an entity normally refers to an established organization. Magic is predicated on interests, and if it is not in an entity’s interest to give you access, they won’t. And, since magic is tacit, you need a psychic way of transmitting it or a shared experience among a cohort. Initiations create a shared, lonely space among a cohort. They are symbolic ways of apprehending an experience where the knowledge of “how” comes from how it seems to think about that shared experience.

The type of magic I practice is completely tacit and can’t be communicated through conventional cultural frameworks like language or pedagogies. It has to be telepathically transmitted. Any psychic who tries to communicate their psychic experiences through language will tacitly understand why. The point is that it’s esoteric.

I find it funny. The Internet is intrinsically language-based down to the low-level machine language of the devices. Psychic and magical knowledge is tacit and ineffable, so access via the Internet to the semantics of magical cultures and text doesn’t grant understanding. Ironically, it just obfuscates.

They were giving incorrect information about Lilith relating to demonolatry here:

I personally see Lilith as a sort of dark motherly archetype based on my own personal work, and could be intepreted that you are essentially under her protection

Lilith is not a motherly figure. Lilith is associated with infanticide and sex without having human children, and cambions or changelings.

Actually, a few days ago, my husband and I were having a conversation about my mother and my trauma, and that started an entire conversation where I told my husband about how my mother emphasized that not all women love their children and that I should be grateful she did not drown me in the bathtub like some women did to their children. My mother was referencing Andrea Yates at the time… Yes, my mother believes not killing your children is something to be proud of.

That prompted me to look up and tell my husband the statistics of the amount of SIDS cases that were cases of infanticide where the mother murdered their child. In the 1970s, Waneta Hoyt derailed SIDS research because she was actually suffocating her children. Why do I know all of these cases offhand? Because my mother had a fascination with serial killers and mothers who murdered their children. My husband said that people like my mother who are walking around give him the creeps because she seems so nice. Yes, my parents are twisted. How do you think I came out this way? That’s the type of motherhood Lilith represents. It is just very interesting how people like this person spin up these mythologies to cope with being rejected.

This particular person is a trans woman who used to be Wiccan and is feeling drawn back to Wicca, Thelema, and also feels sympathy with Babalon, so this interpretation would make sense for them. Ironically, I think Christian influences — that I know this person hates — have caused them to overlap Lilith with qualities of Eve, too. On a more pejorative note, what’s the difference between mommy issues and daddy issues? It screams of seeking a maternal figure through parasocial relationships with fictional characters.

No, Lilith wouldn’t be the mother of Adam’s children. She would strangle them in their crib. There’s a common syncretism with Lilith and Hecate that’s popular among Neopagans. Both are associated with aspects of femininity, darkness, magic, and independence, making them complementary in certain Neopagan and eclectic spiritual practices. In fiction, Lilith is associated with vampires and cambions, which is a tacit nod to her symbolism regarding unnatural and preternatural reproduction in that vampires are sired, made, and not born. So, it is very interesting to see this peculiar version of Lilith, embodying a maternal role, when Lilith is an antipole notions of Abrhaminc notions femininity. It’s like they’re conflating the qualities of Eve with Lilith.

Lilith is associated with the Qliphoth Gamaliel. Gamaliel is often linked with the darker aspects of femininity, such as seduction, independence, and rebellion against traditional roles. Thus Lilith represents opposition to motherhood and a rejection of the conventional expectations placed on women to fulfill maternal roles and adhere to societal norms of femininity. The maternal aspects this person is attributing to Lilith are actually associated with the Sephirot Binah, exemplified by Eve. So, we can see the absurdity in this.

Am I a cambion? Yes. Am I the scion of Lilith? No. Am I a Satanist? Yes. However, considering that every person wants to be a Satanic psychopath and doesn’t want to put in the work, there is a lot of misinformation, such as this. The devil is the person whom you know, and the women in the Sunday hats in church on Sunday.

I get a weird type of pleasure seeing incompetent people chase their asses, so I don’t correct them. Giving magic to schizophrenic people is worse than giving them a gun. Don’t mistake me. It is not about moral clarity on my part. It is about power.

Is my post on Reddit? Nope, because I am a real magician. There’s nothing on Reddit but incels and the insane and drug addicts. No powerful magician would consistently post anything there.

#Animism #animistic #AustinSpare #blackMagick #cambion #cambions #ceremonialMagic #ceremonialMagick #chaosMagic #chaosMagick #Christian #Christianity #conspiracyTheories #conspiracyTheory #cryptid #cryptids #cults #demon #Demonolatry #Demonology #demons #egregore #egregores #elderFuthark #femininity #feminism #Gamaliel #Goetia #Hellenism #Hellenistic #hermeticism #horror #incel #incels #infanticide #Jew #Jewish #Jews #Kabbalah #Kabbalistic #LGBTQ #Lilith #magick #mentalHealth #mentalIllness #monsters #myth #occult #occultism #pagan #paganism #paranormal #Qabalah #Qliphoth #Reddit #runes #satan #Satanism #Satanist #schizophrenia #Sephirot #SIDS #sigil #sigilMagick #sigils #supernatural #Theism #Thelema #Theurgy #trans #transgender #TreeOfLife #vampire #vampires #Wicca #Wiccan #witch #witchcraft

Who is Abandoning the #Evangelical Label?
A deep dive into factors like #age, #race, and #political #partisanship

https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/who-is-abandoning-the-evangelical
#fundamentalism #christianity #christian #atheist #atheism #religious #religion #cult #fundies #cults

Let's Talk About #Sects
Oct 2023
#Xenos / #Dwell

Xenos was originally set up as a leaderless group that rejected the structures and trappings of mainstream #churches. Springing forth from the #JesusMovement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it focused on meeting in people’s homes and embracing members from the youth #countercultures. So why does the #church’s own website admit to a history that involves #cult-like behavior?

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYWNhc3QuY29tL2xldHMtdGFsay1hYm91dC1zZWN0cw/episode/NjUyNzliOTdlNjFmMWUwMDEzZTY0Yzc1

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYWNhc3QuY29tL2xldHMtdGFsay1hYm91dC1zZWN0cw/episode/NjUyNzlkM2RkNWNjMDQwMDEyNzBiYWVh

#christian #cults

#CevinSoling is a weird dude, and it's weird that more people in #TheSatanicTemple don't care about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpiswunQh40

Good video on "Mr. Cevin and the Cargo Cult" and the background behind it.

#MalcolmJarry #CargoCults #Cults #Vanuatu #MrCevinAndTheCargoCult #WhiteSaviorism

#CevinSoling is a weird dude, and it's weird that more people in #TheSatanicTemple don't care about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpiswunQh40

Good video on "Mr. Cevin and the Cargo Cult" and the background behind it.

#MalcolmJarry #CargoCults #Cults #Vanuatu #MrCevinAndTheCargoCult #WhiteSaviorism

#CevinSoling is a weird dude, and it's weird that more people in #TheSatanicTemple don't care about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpiswunQh40

Good video on "Mr. Cevin and the Cargo Cult" and the background behind it.

#MalcolmJarry #CargoCults #Cults #Vanuatu #MrCevinAndTheCargoCult #WhiteSaviorism

#CevinSoling is a weird dude, and it's weird that more people in #TheSatanicTemple don't care about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpiswunQh40

Good video on "Mr. Cevin and the Cargo Cult" and the background behind it.

#MalcolmJarry #CargoCults #Cults #Vanuatu #MrCevinAndTheCargoCult #WhiteSaviorism

#CevinSoling is a weird dude, and it's weird that more people in #TheSatanicTemple don't care about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpiswunQh40

Good video on "Mr. Cevin and the Cargo Cult" and the background behind it.

#MalcolmJarry #CargoCults #Cults #Vanuatu #MrCevinAndTheCargoCult #WhiteSaviorism

Written resources are also available for cult survivors, or anyone suffering from Religious Trauma, though some may be limited to ICSA members only (and anyone can join!)

https://www.icsahome.com/memberelibrary

#cults #ICSA #IGotOut #Exmo #ExJW #Exvangelical #ReligiousTrauma #SpiritualAbuse