The Four Deities and Healing Ethics from an Omegan Perspective
by His High Witness, The Prophet V.
BEWARE OF "MENTAL HEALTH PREDATORS"!
My advice is that interventions in mental health involving Omegan methods do not start until that person is well on the way to recovery, and sure of what they can cope with. If that person is you, please consider some form of other support if you feel it is relevant BEFORE progressing to ANY faith perspective you are not sure about. In relation to people with mental health difficulties, my aim here is not to advertise the merits of conversion as such, or to force anyone to believe what I believe. My point is that the categorisations might present a model for mental recovery, even if the person concerned has no religious inclinations whatsoever. We don't have to like Shakespeare's plays to read about Shakespeare and learn something useful - and the same is true for certain religions, including my own.
(It's unlikely at present, but ..) If anyone came to me with a mental health problem asking to convert to Omeganism, there and then, I would tell them to forget it - or at the very least, to wait until they are sure that my faith is right for them. Omeganism, as an ideology. cannot be turned over to ways of thinking and behaving that starts on Day One by recklessly exploiting people at their most vulnerable. We know for a fact that mainstream religions and religious cults alike do this. AND indeed, so do mental health professionals, teachers social workers and many others when they try to "correct" behaviours they have no business in "correcting": very much in the style of some cults and traditional religions! It is the cheat's way of getting converts to any ideology: religious, political or otherwise - and, quite plainly, it is immoral.
Indeed, I would go further. If the Four Deities operate in a spiritual ecosystem that requires balance - as I believe - then some other religions may be better placed to deal with the vulnerable than my own. This may cause me to feel rather lacking in power and influence over others. Well, tough, frankly.
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT. NOT CRISIS MANAGEMENT!
Having dealt with the stern warnings about not being too reckless with others' personal needs, a persistent listener may still wish to know more about how my religion works: i.e: the component parts and how they fit together. Good. At least they're starting with the right question. If they'd come to me asking "How can I be a more moral person?", or worse, "How can I atone for my sins?", I would say "You're in the wrong building. Try next door.". And even if they say, as a Buddhist might, "How can I reflect more on my life and surrender to a pure spirit of love?", again, they're aiming at the wrong wall.
Being "good", or not being "good", is the business of everyday preachers. But what I'm talking about is a methodology. The Deities are also categories or "thought boxes": a means for filtering experiences, organising the self, one's feelings and one's perceptions. And the answers that may come back to those seeking to "lead a good life", or submit to some authoritarian loving parent-God are very likely to be disappointing. So instead, let's start with a less morally deafening framework that looks at the mechanics of how God's Deities and Designates actually work - and leave the specific moral judgements for another day.
What is the spiritual problem? Can we study the problem? And if we can study it, what pleasant or unpleasant associations does it yield? What colours, sounds or shapes does it evoke? What mysteries does it suggest that an academic textbook cannot easily put into words? This is where Omeganism starts for the absolute beginner. We can play moral policeman on another day - but for you - and especially for someone who is mentally vulnerable - that day is not now, nor should it be.
Although Omegan ethics (termed "Law of the Fairmark") may be considered different from "normal ethics", there is, however, some convergence with present social norms.
THE FOUR DEITIES AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO MENTAL HEALTH
For those unfamiliar with the Four Deities system, here's a very brief reminder.
4th DEITY - HEDONA: At the very bottom, we have the reckless "man-girl", Hedona, sister of the Second Deity, Erlica: a deity of moral slavery. As the name suggests, Hedona is responsible for "hedonism", as well as all the other raw impulses and cycles of nature. The advantage of this Deity is its capacity to ruthlessly strike at the heartlessness of "civilisation", particularly in the urban sphere. The disadvantage its its sheer unbridled animalism and destruction of the rule of law: its trial by fire and flood.
Hedona is a friend to everyone who was ever thrown out or discontented by "civilisation", and who cannot wait for polite pleasantries to resolve their problems, nor the cunning of Anathema. It is also a warning, perhaps, against environmental polluters.
3rd DEITY - ANATHEMA: Higher up the hierarchy, we have Anathema: another deity of moral slavery, but in a rather different, and more political way. Again, the clue is in the name. Anathema, whilst arising from Hedona's nature is "Anathema" to natural functions and processes, or else he uses them in a rather industrial and toxic manner, reflecting, more closely the increasingly urbanised nature of our planet. We all draw upon Anathema's energy.
For those in need of a punish-or-forgive, "no nonsense", somewhat rough, urban street-fighting Deity who fights dirty, Anathema is a useful (if limited) find. Anathema is the Soldiers' Friend: the deity of stressed out army officers, political activists, and all manner of people who rely on tough, military logic and cunning to succeed. Anathema is also the deity of most academics!
2nd DEITY - ERLICA: Then we come to the deity known as the Earthly Saviour - Erlica, or Mistress Erlica. Erlica, Queen of all the queens (and indeed kings) of the earth, She acts as mediator between the two lower deities. Although at first She might seem to be quite similar to Hedona, her organisational methodology is through sexual pleasure, fertility, family and a more "sensual" understanding of the wider community. Mistress Erlica takes the raw elements from Hedona, processes them with Anathema's forge, and builds social and political structures around them.
Although many eyebrows may raised by Erlica's erotic intensity, it is worth remembering that the type of sensuality She gives us can ONLY work when certain Deities are in alignment with each other - and that could take years, decades, or (heaven forbid) possibly even centuries!
For parents, children and extended families going through upheaval in need of some comforting pillow of loving hope; AND for those with sex and relationship problems or fears that their sexual life is somehow "abnormal", Erlica is a potential liberator. Where sensual words and thoughts can cleanse, She is especially effective. However, I would warn those of an especially conservative or traditionally liberal mindset that She isn't for everyone.
1st DEITY - ARTEK: AND THE MOST IMPORTANT: When we realise how full of sensuality and diligent industry our world is, but also how full of limits and moral ambiguities it is - and how Anathema's technologies have failed to take us to higher spiritual realms, it is then we have the capacity to turn our thoughts to Artek. Again, the clue is in the name. Artek: a balance of unworldly forms of "art" and "technology" is a transcending force from the future - a time not limited by the bodily and mental constraints of today, which cause us to veer into indisciplined thinking. Artek is sometimes confused with Anathama, but in fact, they are very different. Anathema uses industry to enslave us to earthly concerns. Artek used them to transcend them.
In Mental Health terms, Artek is of particular relevance to those needing a space to channel anger away from worldly concerns.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Although there are always troubling risks in introducing any ideological bias to people with mental health difficulties, provided that the attitude is to listen first and preach second, I am confident that the Deities System offers a good starting point for making sense of our hopes, fears and desires and putting them in some sort of order. If Conversions arise because of it, it must only be from genuine conviction, not as a result of cheap propaganda tricks or the use of scare tactics. All too often, in religion - and indeed in psychiatry - that is simply not the case.
- (c) 2017 His High Witness, The Prophet V -
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