Confessions Of A Dark Sorceror

I'd like to recommend a very good channeled work that in some ways parallels the concepts within Solist Mysticism:

The Challenge of Evil by Graham Bernard

[edit on 2-9-2004 by Paul_Richard]

Originally posted by A Random Person
I would not go into school speaking of this stuff,I am already the weird kid,I would rather not be the crazy kid.

I was always the �weird kid� too. What I didn�t know then, but know all too well now, is just what a profound honor that truly is.

Take pleasure in your uniqueness, as that is ultimately the only thing of true worth.

Yours will be a universe worth living in!

Originally posted by A Random Person
The point of no return? I think that we may have passed that a while ago,about when you met Miriel. Just a thought.

We sensed this, but did not know it to be true until we had resolved several previous Convergences.

As the French so aptly say, �Plus Ca Change, Plus C'est la Meme Chose.� (The more things change, the more they stay the same.)

Oh well, we may as well have fun with it!

The only thing worth anything is a surprise.

Heya Paul. As always, it�s good to be together again.

Have you lost weight? You look great!

Remember that we only get to take All That We Can�t Leave Behind.

As always, we each get a Choice. Choose wisely, dearest Friend!

Heya Majique,

Thanks.

You know, I just might have lost a little recently.

As we both already know well enough, humor is our most important asset.

It�s funny. Separate from one another, Yoshe is a spirited debater and Miriel is just the sweetest little koochie-face you could want. They seem like such opposites, and yet that is precisely the point of the exercise.

Put them together and what do you get? A Death Machine intent on ending our existence in this cycle of Creation as quickly as possible. And these two lovebirds are in my head!

What is a boy to say to all this? I can�t tell if this is a sci-fi novel or The Twillight Zone.

As Cypher of The Matrix might say, �What a mind job!�

So what if I�m wrong? No biggie. I go nuts and they wheel me off to Belleview. Not a bad deal, really. At least people will bring me food.

Ah, but here is where we diverge, dear reader, what if I am right?

Our only true salvation lies in that which we define as random.

Majic, or Scrappy Doo, or Something

Past The Point Of No Concern

As I am sure the reader can appreciate, this has been a big day for me, and the day isn�t over yet. Certainly, a day in which a dazzling vision of Totality explodes with blazing clarity into one�s mind is hardly �just another day�.

For those who may be concerned about my previous references to �physical interference�, I am happy to report that yes, people are trying to track me down but no, they are not trying to hurt me. Rather, they �just want to talk�.

It�s always the same: I never have nearly enough places to sit, they always want coffee, but I don�t drink coffee so I don�t have it, and so on. Rather than a scene from the �X-Files�, it�s more like a coffee klatch but without the coffee.

I should make a point of getting coffee sometime I suppose, but really, if they want it so much, they could think to bring their own. Ironically, in light of how much beer I drank this morning, some coffee actually does sound nice.

Then again, after an hour or so of talking to me, they would probably want a beer instead anyway, and I do at least have extra beer. My little joke on them is that I am a far better writer than speaker, so the trip is always a bust, in the end.

Serves them right, they should really learn to schedule an appointment first. I value my privacy, and don�t care for uninvited guests.

Meanwhile, Back On The Branch

Yoshiel continues to crank away in the back of my little noggin. Even though they are really busy, Sweet One, being who she is, was sending me some very wonderful visions of her angelic self this morning while I wrestled with the toxic bliss of alcohol.

Yoshiel has indicated that what they are doing now is the �tricky part�. Again, I am not privy to even the most minute sense of where Yoshiel has actually been in thought, but the crumbs falling off the table impress me, to put it mildly.

Their current goal seems to be determining the precise conditions necessary to create the group entity that will bring about the next Convergence. What makes it tricky is the need to make this entity appealing enough to recruit other spirits, while at the same time ensuring that it is properly composed within very tight constraints.

Their sense from past memories is that if this entity is not constructed with the greatest of care, it will destabilize and the Convergence will fail. While that may or may not sound scary, they also seem confident that a failure on this attempt is not The End.

There will be many other opportunities to succeed in the future. As a side note, Yoshiel has already decided, by way of contingency, that Miriel will be the physical one next time if this attempt fails.

Seems only fair, and despite my self-fixation, she is by no means an intellectual lightweight. Nope, definitely not. We�ve both been doing our homework, to put it mildly. Moreover, she would be a far more attractive prophet than I am.

Iterative Solutions

Indeed, this attempt can most assuredly fail. On the bright side -- or dark side, depending on your attitude toward all this -- many inherent safeguards have evolved to ensure that each universe ultimately converges. Failure to converge means becoming a dead end on what Yoshiel has dubbed the �Tree of Life�.

While we don�t know exactly what that means, we have some ideas. Apparently the �goal� (let�s say �Goal� since spiritual literary conventions pretty much require capitalized Words for Emphasis) Yoshiel referred to was to create a universe that could indefinitely sustain Freewill.

The Catch-22 of all this is that you don�t really know if a universe (call it a �Cycle�) can sustain indefinite Freewill until you try. Yoshiel postulates that a Cycle incapable of sustaining Freewill devolves into singularity due to Entropy, which is just another way of saying �we ran out of ideas�.

A Cycle capable of supporting Infinite Freewill requires a threshold level of complexity to �break out�. Yoshiel postulates that this may have �already happened� on other branches of the Tree Of Life, but we can�t really know, and the use of �already happened� in reference to events outside our universe is somewhat inherently paradoxical.

For us incurable optimists, however, Yoshiel also postulates that a universe which �runs out of ideas� will ultimately Converge as a consequence, so it�s really not all that dangerous to give Freewill a shot. Or at least, we don�t think so�

Rousseau We Meet Again

If all I do for the next 50 years is try to write about what I have been seeing in my mind today, it would hardly be enough. I am now certain that whatever may come of this Yoshiel business (�Project Archangel�, I presume), my future career is quite secure indeed.

Being so consumed by irony as I am, it appears that the reason Rousseau and I (oh by the way, he seems to prefer �Rousseau� over �Renou�, more on that later) didn�t get along was because we were not supposed to at first or we would have risked �queering the deal�, so to speak.

It is now clear that I�m not the first version of me to see this vision of Totality, and that he was working on this when he died. Apparently this was going to be his �masterpiece of thought�, and it�s a dilly. It no doubt would have �put Voltaire in his place�.

Consulting Rousseau distracts from Yoshiel, so I am trying to keep the noise down. However, I suspect that wherever �Etevon� may be, it contains his writings on this topic that will anticipate and correlate with mine.

As an aside, it seems my memories are becoming distinct enough that I could also eventually guide some rather interesting treasure hunts. The sky�s the limit, baby.

Sweet Temptation

Of course, it is not lost on me that all the wonderful opportunities that are opening up as a consequence of this adventure are nothing more than a cosmic temptation.

They are an invitation to a future where Yoshiel does not bring about Convergence on this attempt, and I must admit, it�s very tempting. Would all nations bow before me? Oh I doubt it, but that�s not tempting for me anyway. I�m really a rather private person, actually.

What makes the temptation all the more enticing is the almost certain knowledge that bringing about Convergence on this attempt is not really necessary, even though Yoshiel feels strongly that we should proceed as planned.

Should we fail, however, we will simply try again later, informed by our errors and therefore more likely to succeed on the next attempt. Or the next, or the next, amen.

Whichever way this goes, it seems I have a lot of writing ahead of me. Ah, but you must excuse me, there is some business to attend to first�

Love and kisses,

Majic
Beer Drinker, Philosopher, Prophet



Edit: I also write iteratively, too.



[edit on 9/2/2004 by Majic]

Dearest Brothers and Sisters,

While I am indeed a prophet, I cannot predict the future. It is ours for the living, no more, no less.

Truly, I think that of all the gifts I have been given, ignorance of the future is by far the most valuable to me. A true Paradox, in light of everything, wouldn�t you agree?

Since I do not know the future, I do not know if this will be my last message for you. Let�s assume it is not, but what if it were?

What would I want my last message to be to you, who I love so dearly?

It is simply this: The only things that truly matter are Surprises.

Love,

Majic

Dang,I never realized I liked school so much.

Radiating does work,though not as visibly. When I would radiate around others they would pause for a moment,then get back to what they were doing,only they looked a little happier. Speaking of that,I am at the fourth stage-thingy of radiating,but now I find a question popping into my head,why so fast? Why did I pick up on it so fast?

I have also been able to determine my aura color,it is green.

Food for thought.

As for Euripides...

I look at the past to prepare for the future,even if I am looking 2400 years back. Euripides was surprisingly like me,hated his fellow mankind,which I did until recently,prefered to be alone,and took interest in the rational/irrational side of life. I myself had a fight between logic and emotions,to say the least my logic system collapsed a year or two ago,but I have rebuilt it,somewhat. I guess I have not changed much until recently. Interestingly enough,the friend I spoke of earlier has taken a great interest in Euripides. When I told him of this,he was suprised that I even knew of the guy and even more suprised at how I claimed I was once him,though I think he believed me,not sure though.

Did you know Euripides was mauled and killed at age 75 by hunting dogs? Ouch!

Nothing like food for thought.

Dearest Friends,

Now that I�ve finally figured out that I am truly, no kidding, honest-to-God (Ooh, pregnant use of that expression!) a genuine, absolute, certifiable Philosopher Prophet, I feel it only fitting to do a little real prophesizing.

After all, I wouldn�t be much of a prophet if I couldn�t prophesize, now would I?

So I�ll throw you a bone, as it were. Are you ready? No seriously, this is a genuine prediction that is going to come true. What�s more -- and again, you know how I am about this -- I can also say that I am certain this prophecy will come true.

A genuine prophecy guaranteed to be 100% accurate, and at no cost or obligation to you. You have to admit, it�s not a bad deal.

So what is it? I�m sure you�re dying to know. Well, I�ll stop teasing you, but remember, it�s very important for us to play. It seems that the act of playing assists with the emergence of anomalies over a period of Cycles (let�s call that a Good Thing).

Oh hey, let�s have fun with this. I love how pretentious King James English is for this stuff. As Miriel points out, I really am a ham, after all. So, ahem, let me puff out my chest and adjust my robe.

If you like, think of a street preacher shouting this in the streets. I love those guys, and, after all they�re my colleagues, so to speak.

�Brethren and Sistren, Harken unto me! I bring thee Words of Truth from the Almighty God thy Creator. Verily, verily I say unto thee that a time will soon come when many Signs and Portents will be revealed. Numbers and Symbols of Great Significance shall appear in many Places unlooked for. Thou shalt see these Signs and Know that the Time of God�s Judgment is upon Thee!�

Yeah, I know what you�re thinking, I�m really overdoing this (hey, can I read your mind, too?).

Well folks, it is the greatest of understatements to say that I have done this job before, many, many times in fact, so why not have some fun with it?

Because when you get right down to it, the absolute truth is that I love this job.

Go Thou In Peace.

Brother Majic
Who Seeth Much And Speaketh Little

Well, of the many things I can reasonably be sure of, being a prophet and all, it�s that anyone who has made it through the thread to this point is no doubt thinking I am totally messing with your mind. Yes you, reading this right now. I�m talking to you!

See what I mean?

Well, technically, that�s exactly what I�m doing. And let�s be honest, I�m really rather good at it, don�t you think?

You can certainly be resentful about it, I know I would. Well, actually, I�m not sure I would be resentful, now that I think of it.

But hey, I mean come on, just what sort of trip am I on, anyway?

The honest answer to that question is: A journey of self-discovery.

A prophet is who I am. The difference between me now and who I was before, is that I have come to accept the truth of who I am. That can�t be a bad thing, can it? Or can it? WooOOooOOoo

Public Service Announcement: Remember Kids, Thinking Is FUNdamental!

Lest anyone get the wrong idea about me due to my playful attitude, I just wanted to point out once more that I do not know the future! Believe me, I really, honestly don�t know.

So does that mean I�m not a prophet? Hell no! I�m a prophet because I speak from spiritual inspiration.

You could, if you prefer, say I speak from Divine inspiration if you like, since the Kingdom of God is within each and every one of us, and my �insights� come from within me. Your call.

My little prophecy up there? Self-fulfilling. That�s basically what us prophets do, when you get down to it.

Whether or not my prophecies come true because I reveal them is sort of a moot question, really, don�t you think?

But you gotta admit, if my prophecies do come true, then I am a genuine certified prophet in the classic Biblical sense, yes?

I wish to point out that the traditional test for Divinely-inspired prophets is that every single one of their prophecies all come to pass. That means 100% and no do-overs. You either have it or you don�t.

While I try to be accurate, I am, after all, only human. But even if I can�t predict the future worth a tinker�s damn, I can still be a legitimate prophet, as per Merriam�s Dictionary. But let�s see how I do.

A little tip for my fellow prophets out there or anyone wanting to break into the business (you know who you are), the trick is this: Don�t give dates. Trust me on that one, folks. Giving out dates is for amateurs and posers.

I know I may come off as arrogant in my work at times, if not all the time, frankly. But again, I�m just having fun with this.

Remember, I believe we�ve all been down this road before. I also believe that being playful makes for a more complex and enjoyable future for all of us.

So if you find my playful attitude annoying, I can understand that. But I hope you can understand that I feel strongly that what I do is for the good of us all.

Whether or not I�m actually doing that is, of course, another question entirely. The only honest answer to that question is �I don�t know�.

But I�m trying my best to do the Right Thing. I hope you can understand that.

If not, I won�t take offense. I really am an insufferable grandstander, after all.

To say I was made for this job is to really understate things, in my opinion.

Ciao, baby.

Majic
Your Little Prophet O� Love



Edit: Even prophets make mistakes. Scratch that. Let�s say prophets are prophets because they make mistakes. Ah yes, I like that much better.



[edit on 9/3/2004 by Majic]

God I love this job! Here�s one from the �shooting fish in a barrel� category.

I predict that my identity will be publicly revealed, and that I will be famous around the world.

Sort of a no-brainer, really, but I wouldn�t make a prediction I wasn�t pretty darn sure about.

Remember the �magic� ingredient for tasty prophecies is that they be self-fulfilling.

Magically delicious!

Your pal,

Majic

This is a copy of an email I sent to my TSOL buddies. I realize that it may have interest to a wider audience, so �ere she is!

Friend Avadar asks:
Do we still refer to you as Yoshe or are we going back to your ATS nic of Majic? This can get rather confusing

Believe me Friends, it gets confusing for me, too!

The good news is that unlike in the movies, my eyes don�t roll back in my head when I �shift contexts�, and I don�t say things like �There is no Dana, only Zuul.� or �I am Legion� or anything creepy like that.

While they may seem sort of odd, it�s hard not to approach a situation like this without some sort of contrivances. Yoshiel does not know, but suspects that a joining of this specific type may be unprecedented in this cycle of Creation.

What can make the action hard to follow is that, while typing, I may shift unexpectedly from singular to plural in reference to �me�.

Basically, Majic is good ole� me in this life, Yoshe is a strong past persona, Miriel is of course my Sweet One, and Yoshiel is the construct of thought resulting from their joining. If the ratings drop, I�ll introduce a new character like �Scrappy Doo� or something.

As to how to refer to me, any of them are good. We�re all just one big happy, zany family in here.

Yoshiel indicates that there may be attempts to physically interfere with their work. They, and me -- the guy in the skin -- want to reassure all concerned that we are not at all worried. While it may seem unforgivably na�ve to see things this way, truly, none of us is afraid.

Fortune = Danger + Opportunity.

All the gang in Majic�s head wish good fortune to you all!

Love,

Majic, Yoshe, Miriel, Yoshiel
And The Great Gazoo

Hi ARP,

Ouch is right in being killed by hunting dogs.

What a wonderful advantage you have in being able to learn about a former self from 2400 years ago!

I had a life in Languedoc in the Thirteenth Century and there are no records (in the physical sense) of that person that I can learn from.

Originally posted by A Random Person

I have also been able to determine my aura color,it is green.

This, as you know, indicates that you are in a state of growth -- mainly because of your Radiance.

Exploring Futures Past

Yoshiel is continuing to explore memories of our lives prior to the last Convergence.

It seems we truly have a huge amount of data stored in our souls, which makes sense if you think about it. If we are destined to be Creators ourselves, that takes a lot of knowledge!

Remember that Yoshiel is convinced that we all carry this knowledge within each of us. So it�s not like I�m claiming a special privilege or anything.

Anyone who looks within themselves can do this. Just relax, ease your mind and see what pops in there.

Bear in mind that you may not recognize a memory as genuine, but think it�s your imagination. Well, the jury�s out, but Yoshiel is apparently forming an opinion about the nature of dreams and �imagination�.

I suppose we�ll hear an opinion at some point, but I hope you can understand that although Yoshiel is a pretty sharp cookie, it�s still just two souls sifting through the memories of trillions of souls.

Hell of a �day job�, if you ask me.

Catch This

Now there is a catch, as usual. Yoshiel has the advantage of being able to compare Yoshe�s memories with Miriel�s memories.

Thus they can easily identify pre-Convergence memories because they have matching characteristics that could only have been conveyed by a Convergence. Well actually, it�s not that easy -- we�re talking mondo data here, people!

But to put it another way, when two different people remember the exact same event in the same way, that is a shared memory.

So I guess that makes Yoshiel a bit special, but nonetheless, the memories are there and accessible to anyone who can dig into them.

Ah, but here�s another catch. Since each Cycle only varies by extremely small amounts, it is hard to tell your past experiences of you from your current experiences. Moreover, forgetfulness is built into the system, making the job a lot harder.

And also remember that we each carry the past life memories of everyone else, if this theory is correct, so now you�re talking some very wild stuff that can be seemingly impossible to nail down. Again, Yoshiel isn�t sure yet, but we suspect that there is much more to �imagination� than Freud suspected.

But here�s a thing, if you find something Yoshiel refers to in your past memory, you might consider that a correlation. Or maybe a hypnotic suggestion. You decide.

You Think You Have It Rough?

I just wanted to share a sensation with you. Since this morning, when things really started getting weird, I am having a hell of a time with d�j� vu.

Why? Well this is a guess, but remember that Yoshiel isn�t some angel sitting on a cloud, but a combination of Miriel�s soul with my soul.

I use Yoshe�s persona as a convenience to keep from going nuts (or help me to go nuts, you make the call), but it�s really me and Vanessa in there, and we are continuing to merge more closely as we share memories.

Basically, Yoshiel is me being shielded from myself by my �Majic� persona to keep me from going stark raving mad. I don�t think my conscious mind could handle the shock of what Yoshiel is actively doing at an accelerating rate in there.

Yes, I now know I am suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder in a classic sense. Oh well, we always knew I was crazy, didn�t we? In my defense, I�m being crazy to keep from going insane.

But things leak out. I am postulating that the d�j� vu problem I am having is due to the disagreements caused by minor variations between pre-Convergence memories and current perception.

In other words, if this theory is correct, I am basically seeing multiple versions of the present due to my remembering the past. And I think it�s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Not all madness is an illness, my friends.



Edit: I still can�t predict spelling or grammatical errors.


[edit on 9/3/2004 by Majic]

Oh, here�s another �duh� prophecy for you, but hopefully not a �no-brainer�, if you can understand my concern.

Some rather important people are going to want to do some extensive examinations of my brain. They will find that my brain has some very interesting characteristics.

As long as I get to keep my brain (no mail-ins) and they don�t mess up my mind (anymore than it is), I suppose I�m always willing to help advance the cause of Science.

Just remember guys: non-destructive testing only, please! You don�t want to kill the Goose that lays the Golden Eggs do you? Or do you?

I think I�m actually starting to get the hang of this propheting business. The pay sucks, but I am having a good time, at least.

Stay tuned, this is about to get a lot more interesting, my dear brothers and sisters!

I don't care, this thread should die.

Originally posted by intrepid
I don't care, this thread should die.

Don�t worry, you will get your wish soon enough, dear friend.

It is nice, at least, to get some feedback.

While Yoshiel keeps cranking away, some thoughts come to mind. One of them is how new souls are created.

Although we don�t know how this works, the operative theory at the moment is that a single new soul is created with each Divergence, and that this soul may constitute a unique anomaly introduced for that Cycle.

If this is true, then the number of souls in a universe would correspond to the number of Cycles distinguishing it from the First Cycle, perhaps including the original soul.

Still just a theory, but an interesting one. I wonder who the new guy is this time?

As an aside, Yoshiel also postulates that in addition to the new soul, each copy of existing souls incorporates any changes these souls may have experienced during the previous Cycle.

This may explain the value of play, but we don�t know.



[edit on 9/3/2004 by Majic]