Here is a Story from a Sage:
"I can see that you are held back. I know what troubles you, my child, for I have know the spirit with which you know wrestle. This spirits name is Past. Past determines what your limits will be, and so Past is truly the guardian of the magick, the guardian of pwoer you can ultimately attain.
The realm of Past is not easy territory to traverse. It is laden with bramble and thorn of old pain and that threaten to reopen woulds, but it is also lush with trees filled with the ripened fruit of past happiness. Past wants us near. It draws us close so that those brambles may be cleared. The wounds from Past threaten to kill you, but they invetably heal.
This journey is a good omen, but heed this warming my child: if you dare to venture into Past's realm, tarry not long there. Go to Past only for its healing and return with out delay. For Past's pathways are brightly lit but go nowhere-only in circles. Paths that lead to desired destinations are direct, but can many times be darkened, mired paths. Which path is finally in your best interest? Why, you know the answer and have always known.
Wise ones know that Past carries a secret far of thier power to move into the future, which can ultimately controls Past influnce. Remember that Past is stupid and cannot create anew. It has no cision only hindsight. Past may have the power to define where you came from and who you are, but cannotsay who you will be! Look into the future, my dearest, set your sights somewhere in its swirling unformed mists, and the spiritof Past becomes inactive. It knows it has lost you when you side with the future.
Tell me, my beloved, what does Past whisper to you in your ear right now?"
" The effort required to hold back the darkness is wasted effort. It would require a greater power than any known in the Universe to hold darkness in check, for it is an aspect of the great cosmos! Try to stop the sun from setting. You will always wind up in the dark. When you resist it you embrace it unwittingly.
And know this: you must have all your wits about you when facing the the great darkness of your own spirit. Do not fool yourself into believing the child's tales to by the simpletons," There is nothing in the dark that isn't already in the light." Going into your darkness unprepared and unarmed is not worth doing. The task of making the assay through the labyrinths of the spirit is wondrous and miraculous-- a journey of healing, not a frightful thing. Once you begin this journey in fear, you have begun with a constrictive heart, and it is your heart that is needed for it is privy to a great body of knowledge.
The dark will ask many questions of your heart, but know that where there are questions, there also must be answers."
" See there - up in the heavens she wanes! The crone moon removes her mask of light. She reveals her mysteries for all.
What is your mask? Did you know that you wear one, my beloved? And what is it that lies beneath? In my time, I have worn a great many masks: large and small, ornate and stark. Each mask revealed as much as it concealed I learned well that there are times when masks should and should not be worn.
It is easy to become bound by the illusion of the masks we wear when we live in the belied that there is nothing beneath the mask. It is then that we treasure it beyond its worth.
It is natural to wear a mask. It is when you thing you do not wear one that the masquerade become a dangerous exercise. The masks you will sense the least are those of your darkness. This is because you are taught by your elders and by those of the village to shun the presence of these masks. What's more, the village folk say to you , " do not point to the dark masks of others." So you sleep and forget and lose the wisdom and power of these masks.
What madness this is. We see each other's masks of darkness as clearly as they were our own. We learn not to tell the emperor that he is naked, and in the process we pretend we are fully clothed as well.
I say now to you: know your mask well, my wise one, see them in detail and name them, each one."
from dark moon mysteries by timothy roderick
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