 |
 Dark Matter Satanic Readings : Theistic or Traditional Satanism Information on Satanic beliefs. Articles, comments, links, recommended books, and more. |
| Main page >> Now we live |
| This page refers to http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/dvera/CoAz/belief/here-now.html Please notice that I am not a member of the Church of Azazel. Views, ideas, articles of faith etc. presented on these pages are not necessarily shared by the Church. |
|
Now we live.
Man is part of nature, and man is separate from nature. He is separate from nature, which is, because he not only is but also exists; he can reflect on his own being. He is conscious. Therefore man is not one with nature; but he relates to nature. He relates to his own flesh, and to the way of all flesh, but he is not one with it. Man is an animal, and man is not an animal. Man relates to being an animal; animals do not. Man relates to his own, animal urges. He can deny them, and he can sublimate, turning natural urges into urges that are not natural, i.e. pervert them. He can never simply be one with them; he can never simply be an animal. It is not hard to understand why some people believe that man does not really belong in this world, that he was put here, or that he was created as an entirely different kind of being. Since nature is not conscious, but man is, consciousness seems un-natural, and it seems that it cannot have come from nature. It seems it must have come from somewhere else. Genesis 1:26-27 in the Jewish-Christian bible says: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created man in his own image." In Christian philosophy man's consciousness is explained by referring to god, who is held to be ultimate existence (on the attributes of god, see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06612a.htm). However, man was not put on this earth as a conscious being; he became one. We still do not know how. Even though the Darwinist theory of evolution has taught us many things (see http://www.stephenjaygould.org), it cannot explain how - or why - man became conscious. Perhaps some day it will be able to so. Satanists support the scientific study of evolution, and rejects creationism (see http://www.creationism.org). Man is an animal. He is flesh. In Confessions (Book II) Augustine of Hippo refers to his mother as " the mother of my flesh". John 3:6 says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." Man is born, he must eat, and he must sleep, he must excrete, he will reproduce, and then he dies. Biologists classify humans as a species (Homo sapiens) of primates, the only surviving species of the genus Homo (see http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/human). This is what man is. But also, it is not. Man not only is flesh; he relates to the fact that he himself is a creature of flesh, an animal. He can embrace it, trying to deny the fact that he can never be one with the animal that he is, for he is conscious. Or he can try to deny it, ignoring it, or he can try to overcome his creatureliness. He can choose to try to ignore his bodily urges, and he can try to deny death. But he will die. What happens to man's consciousness, his soul or his spirit, when he dies? We do not know. We do not know how it came into being, and we do not know where it goes. Since consciousness seems un-natural, like it cannot originally have been produced by nature, but must have had some other, un-natural source, one is easily led to believe that once relieved from the body, it will return to the source, to an other-worldly, purely spiritual place, or to a god. Other people believe that it will be re-incarnated, re-fleshed, and some believe that it simply disappears. Most people throughout history have believed that the spirit or the soul of man in some way survives. If consciousness really is a product of nature, then perhaps it dies with the flesh. If it is not, or if consciousness once developed in some strange way has the ability to release itself from nature, to rises above it, become a soul, then perhaps it does not die. We do not know. What we do know, however, is that one day we will no longer exist as the persons that we are today. Our bodies will decay, and we will at least in a physical sense be removed from all that we know, and all that we love. We will die. Satanists generally do not spend a lot of time contemplating the possibilities of an afterlife for the soul. What Satanists are concerned with is this: How should we relate to the fact that we are going to die? Even though death - or the fact of death - does not as such have great significance in Satanist theology, it does seem to me that this question goes to very heart of Satanist beliefs. Do we say, as Qoheleth does, that since what "befalls the fool will befall me also ( ... ) How the wise man dies just like the fool," life's not really worth any effort, "for all is vanity and a striving after wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:15-17)? Or do we say like William Blake, that even if we're not eternal, even if we are going to die, "Energy is Eternal Delight" (The Marriage of Heaven and Hell) - and that this is what is important? And that for this reason, paraphrasing Blake, the cut worm will readily forgive the plough? We say like Blake. We say that this world is a complicated, marvellous, exciting, and wonderful place to be in; full of adventures and wonders, and that we are greatfull. We will enjoy this ride on the great red dragon of life. When one day we will have to be left behind, when life deserts on, we will know that the dragon will not rest, and this will be our comfort. |
| Copyright. Please notice: All texts contained on these pages are copyright © Dark Matter 2004. Do not copy without permission. Send e-mail. Quoting is allowed if the author and Dark Matter website URL are both reckognized. Add "Courtesy of Reginald Osiris, http://www.angelfire.com/alt2/darkmatter". |
| Contact. Send e-mail. Please notice: Only serious e-mails are answered. |
