Enter the fray

Enter the fray

So, you want to become a Dark Lord? I will warn you now that it is not about you know, but rather how you use what you have. Let us begin with the word, “Dark”. Your thoughts on the matter are irrelevant. I say this with confidence because mine are also. True darkness lies beneath all thought; it is unthinkable. To name a few other things that it is not would include: identity, style, and meme. This goes to say that em’s and Goths are not dark in the sense used here. Darkness isn’t in clothes, make-up, or cutting yourself. Darkness can not fit on a social media post. As I said, it exists in a place without thought. Yet, this will not keep us from exploring it.

Behind all pretense and posturing, underneath all the justifications and willful acts of ignorance, is the will to survive. There are some without this motivation, and they are a cancer to civilization. You see, humans started out like most animals today are still living. We were nomadic and spent almost every waking minute searching for the next berry bush or animal to eat. Life then was hard, but so were we. With the inventions of horticulture and animal husbandry, we learned how to plant crops and raise livestock. This was far easier, and for the first time we could afford not to keep moving. This saved us additional time and energy by allowing for permanent structures to be built. Finally, it was if food obediently came to us, and we could spend our days thinking. From this luxury of time religion was born, and cities, the high arts, medicine, government, and computers were to follow. Over the centuries man waged his war against element and enemy alike in pursuit of surviving and thriving. Yet each time vast improvements were made and life was made easier, there are people born - sheltered by these proliferating societies who are completely clueless to the difficulty of life prior to the advancements and oblivious to the ongoing struggle of survival. For these dainty individuals, taking refuge in the nearest cafe is advisable as they know little of the reality we share. There are even fewer of us who understand the need for survival yet still eschew it for religious or philosophical reasons. To them I say, as Jim Morrison so aptly penned, “The monk eats lunch”. Their hypocrisy is laughable.

Survival, for the rest of us, is an excellent teacher. It cuts through ignorance that a sheltered life creates and orients the individual, perhaps for the first time, to priorities. It is also for this reason that resources are cherished among dark siders, as resources behave as stored survival. But as I said in the beginning, intellectually understanding the path is not the same as walking the path.

From this brief mention of hardship, a few generalities about the dark can be mined: It is self centered. The way to connecting with your inner darkness is in difficulty and conflict. If society artificially denies challenge through pampering, those effects must be negated through a process of self destruction. Darkness isn’t added knowledge. It’s not to be found in a lecture. People do not “turn” dark; they always were. Thus, Dark is an aspect not a night-class you can get a certificate for completing. The only thing that separates a student from a lord is cultivation and proficiency. And if survival can be used as an indicator of what follows, darkness then must also entail the processes necessary for prosperity or attaining in life what is desired. I will discuss finer points of darkness with you as need arises.

Now for being a “Lord” of the Dark. That requires proficient skill in using causality and the feedback from reality to design a life full of elements and passion of your choosing. Not there yet? Dark Knights have learned about causality, have began playing with it to feel out their world and its feedback, and are actively courting interests in pursuit of a passion that might take them to greatness. If you can you handle the work, prove it.