An Ascent Into Insanity
Draconis Blackthorne

"...On the altar of the devil up is down, pleasure is pain, darkness is light, slavery is freedom, & madness is sanity..."
- The Rites Of Lucifer; The Satanic Rituals - Anton Szandor LaVey

"Madman! Ah, yes, this is the name I have entitled upon myself. Such a loathsome name, such a horrid thing to be envisioned as, but such is the reality that has overpowered me. How I would have trembled, with fear running cold through my veins. How my blood would have thickened, & my skin crawled, with beads of sweat pouring forth from my body, if I had known the terrible fate that was planned for me.

This is gone now. I used to fear the thought of 'total insanity', but now it is welcomed, almost cherished. How I used to sit up at night & plan my terrible deeds, laughing insanely until the dark hours of the night. Creeping through the darkness was my thing. I used to lurk in the still night. Crawling upon a neighbor's doorstep, watching & waiting. Oh, they were happy times."
~Maskim Xul ~ Satanist, prodigy, madman. {6/6/66-1982 c.e.}

hroughout history, those iconoclasts called "insane" have always been the progressors, geniuses, evilutionists whose obsessions contributed the most to humanimalkind. Whether characters from novels, or flesh & blood persons, they have always been the most compelling & interesting figures. They possess that precious touch of "evil" that sets them above all the rest, & were frequently criticized mocked, & even tortured by the very same people who eventually benefitted most from their inventions & ideas. The were usually all eccentrics, &/or misfits who were feared by the often-times jealous ingrates of sub-humanity. Frequently fueled by smug religiosity, thus justifying their henious deeds against those who are, & have always been, superior.

Relgious leaders of the masses, the white wolves, grew jealous, envious, insecure, & threatened by these exceptional men & women, fabricating lies & accusations against them, so they once again gain all of the attention, all the control, & sometimes even taking credit for their accomplishments. Such is the blindlight custom of stealing others' ideas to suit their own purposes, all the way, claiming it to be their own. Indeed, their entire mythology is based upon Pagan theology. Only the names have been changed, & much of the power & majesty watered down.

It is from these types of men & women that the sciences & the arts have come to be.

The New Webster's Dictionary defines madness as: "Disordered in intellect; insane; frantic; furious; infatuated". I will add to that, "obsessed". And "disordered in intellect" is translated as "thinking differently". According to popular programmed "thinking", any free thought that goes against, or is different from that programming, is considered "disordered". But that's only because of prejudicial mentality. Most humans generally hate change, & would rather remain in a comfortable stagnancy, than to have put forth a real modicum of effort, that often proved too stressful & traumatic for their simple minds, which have been told what to think by the mass media.

Only the higher minds, free-thinkers themselves, recognize the order of alternative thought. They may not, however, concede publically, nor would want to neccessarily, but do privately. For to admit what someone, who has been considered "mad" or "eccentric" has said, may jeapordize ecumenical positions as sheepherders for the masses. Nevertheless, undefiled wisdom always proves itself, one way or another. And exactly how crazy is it to believe in angels, or a "virgin birth"?

Frantic, furious, infatuated, indeed! For it is these elements that create QUALITY. Artistic, philosophical, scientific integrity has always been based upon these qualities. Undoubtably, without such obsessions, civilization would have been retarded in its development. We have xianity to thank for that.

Technological inventions, philosophical perceptions, & psychological progression, can all be attributed to these madmen who took those first steps, & those madmen who continue to cause waves in all industries, thereby, improving them.

The wild-haired composer pounding the keys in the wee-hours of the night, frantically jotting down the scales as the next note connects in perfect harmony with the previous. Creating a web of sounds that express his passions & emotions, whether aggressive, sympathetic, morbid, or lustful. All of which are destined to delight the listeners of the world. He waves his baton, swaying back & forth, or stabbing the air in a fit of ecstacy, before an audience of awestruck efficionates. His music mirroring the human condition in all its dimensions. The language of emotion. Heartfelt, pulling the listener to the extremes of the divine & the barbaric. Music accompanied by voices, telling of travails, joys, loves, gods & demons, kings & queens. The strains of the chords, the ebbs & flows of the strings, the brilliant resonance of the horns, the bliss & playfulness of the woodwinds, the thunder & power of the drums, all synchronized together in a glorious chorus of divine madness. The voice of the inner-god connecting with the soul, moving it to tears, to passion, to patriotism, to laughter, to wrath, & to fear. An omniverse of expression. The celebration & life, & the sorrow of death.

The seemingly maniacal scientist, pouring potions & solutions into beekers, gazing at microscopic organisms, experimenting with minerals, electricity, pharmaceuticals. Cataloging the reactions of subjects to different stimuli, all recorded in the journal. All to see how the world came to be, or cure a disease, or to better manipulate the elements to facillitate life, constantly improving upon technology. Taking what Magic has taught, & synthesizing it to better understand what the elders knew all along.

To going beyond limits, beyong common moralisms, to become the creators of life, both artificial & genuine, a-la Frankenstein. To bend the laws of physics, to transcend into Metaphysics, as Sorcerers & Witches throughout time have done.

The philosopher, writing down his explanations of supernatural workings, discussing ethical values for a sociaty, bringing forth his own ideas for solutions of pending problems, which in the past, would have surely had them thrown in prison, & even executed. Ten, as time goes by, civilizations look back & say, "they were right after all." But all because of fear & ignorance, those of peasant mentality sought to oppose them. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot!

The novelist, in all his/her eccentricities, devising worlds of wonder, multi-facited characters of the imagination, plots & morales/ And some inspire daemons {geniuses--Greek} in other fields, to actualize their own visions by their skills & talents. Their manipulations of reality entertain, enlighten, soothe, & terrify.

The Technomancers, the modern-day madmen, utilizing the marvellous technologies available today, in the widest spechtrum of expression, push evilution even further with each successive generation.

The futuristic Technomancers, beginning with those geniuses that brought the infernal machines of computers to the world. Their obsessions formulated the divine complexities of bits & bytes, to birth the most loyal cmpanion & madman could have - his/her PC. Now, this mistress compliments the madman, whether it be music, art, writing, or gathering information, she's the best thing to have ever come along. She is the product of composits of all the madmen throughout history.

Other uses of madness employed to positive ends have been in wars, such as the great Viking battles of olde, & in Romania. Vlad Tepes, the infamous impaler of many a Turk, employed a mad strategy which worked like a charm. The Field of the impaled, where the bodies of his enemies lay skewered on spikes, was a most excellent prevention & defense tactic.

As a result, once a Turkish warlord turned his whole army back stating, "how can we fight a man who does this?" Need we mention the glorious exploits of Genghis Khan or Taras Bulba? And The Berzerkers, those mighty die-hard warriors who raced onto the battlefield screaming warcries & blood-curdling proclamations of doom & destruction gore. As a result, the enemies would often turn tail, &/or avoid them comletely, as they witnessed their fellowmen fall, impaled, eviscerated, & decapitated by their feet. They were the mutilators, slayng within a crazed euphoria, for the glory of their clan & country. Covered in foe's blood, their spirits were pure & furious. They would give their coutrymen the advantage in war, breaking through the ranks with their rage. They offered themselves as noble sacrifices for their pantheon of gods, & the Nordlands. Their rewards awaited in Valhalla, & tales of their epic exploits were to be told throughout the ages, & unto this day. Hail the Berzerkers! For their madness brought victory.

Indeed, when one switches into battle-mode, the adrenalyn is dispatched throughout the body, & the mind is focused on survival - the instinct to fight or flee. At this point, the brain lapses into a madness, with all senses sharpened & trained upon defending oneself, & inflicting incapacitating harm upon your opponent.

But take care - if weaponry is used, it is batter, in this day & age, upon this modern concrete battleground, to slice, rather than thrust your blade. As for frearms, fire at an unlethal point of their bodies, unless, of sourse, it's a full-out shooting battle, where any hit to your nemesis is a good one, although preferrably a lethal shot. From the ancient Pagans & Kabbalists, to the scientists of the day, all are kin to those who dare go beyond boundries, social, religious, or otherwise, to accomplish a greater goal. Even it means being called "mad", or "evil". The ends justify the means.

Satanists are iconoclastic, alternatively-based Individualists, sometimes referred to as "sociopaths", & in a way, we are. The sociopath is an individual who abhores the current societal modus operandi, & takes an active role to change it to gratify his will, whether though greater or lesser magic, be it small isues as well as large. Sociopath simply means - contrary to society. Though not being unstable like the psychopath is, who is NOT in control of their mental faculties. The sociopath, on the other hand, is in complete & full contact with one's intellectual reasoning, with a touch of "insanity" to boot. "Insane", only because they are different from the major populace. This important division must be recognized between the two. The "evil genius" types are such.

Rebellious anti-establishment groups, not primarily nor necessarily violent or anarchtic, are sociopathic. The moral code of the sociopath is most often that of "Me first", & "The only rules are My rules", the ultra-selfishness. Only modifying these for selfish reasons. Many who beneit from society today are sociopaths, although they may not wish to admit it in such a truthfully harsh manner. For in order to become great & wealthy, one must disregard those who do not aid in one's occupational purposes. Most all, except for those who are emotionally or professionally valuable, or comrades in the same cause, are seen as mere stepping stones to attain the final goal. Those who have stood in bold defiance against the religious or governmental {often overlapping} rulership, have always succeeded in eventually overthrowing & dethroning the reigning leaders, be they tyrannical & unjust.

Those considered "mad" by today's standards, are the true scourges of the earth! No doubt Hannibal, Atilla the Hun, Ivan the Terrible, & Taras Bulba, though shrewd tacticians & warriors, had their quirks & eccentricities, as we do, to lesser & greater extents. Genghis Kahn, for example, dabbled in sorcery, & enjoyed watching prestidigitators perform.

Grigori Efimovich Rasputin of The Klysty, a healer, sorcerer, diviner, hypnotist, philosopher, veritable incubus, & left-hand councelman to russian Emperor Nicholas II & Empress Alexandria, virtually ran the govermental heigharchy, soley on his magical & charming attributes.

Adolf Hitler, the charismatic & brutal leader, also had a fascination with the occult, & preserved "The Black Circle" for magical advantages. He even took council from Aleister Crowley on several occasions, until the war broke off their commuication.

Caesar & Nero, Caligula & Petronius, decadent kings & noblemen of Roman descendence, participated in all manner of orgiastic activity as an indulgence, with many of the fine courtesians occupying the palaces. Caesar Augustus enjoyed the marvellous spectacle of The Circus Maximus, & it is from ancient Greco-Roman games that much of modern sport is derived. Nero was a well-known debaucherer, a lover of sensual delights, & lavish foods.

These, amongst others, have shaped history, making an irrefutable impact on modern life. If madness means applying imagination with logistics, & fully expressing individuality, exhibiting fierce pride, with a love for oneself, then yes, we ARE mad! Though still in control of one's analytical & reasoning functions to their most perfect balances. A logical level of stability must be stressed. Satanists are of the same type of will, inasfar as their victorious exploits & exquisite carnal pleasures are concerned. Perhaps their particular politics, ideologies, opinions, & philosophies are not your own, but the initial conquoring spirit burns in the bones.

And what of the holey madness of Jim Jones? The nazarene? Moses? Buddha? Mohammed? All are examples of negative madness. Self-destructive insanity which is the degeneration into psychopathy. They were the sub-geniuses, attaining the wisdom of mass-manipulation, utilized to suicidal, & eventually, genocidal ends. Wherever abstinance prevails, there is always an unhealthy atmosphere, mistakingly called "sacred". It's more like stale air. Sacredness denotes purity, & purity means natural, & it is suprememly unnatural to deny oneself earthly pleasures & expressions. To deny the darkside of your being will ultimately bring oblivion. Just look to the crucifix, & see what negative madness will reap you.

As far as those who rot in asylums, they took the negative aspect to insanity - down the spiral path of self-destruction. Psychopathic, NOT sociopathic, they are. Out of control, to their own detriment. They are where they belong. Some madmen sociopaths have spent time within those anticeptic halls of institutions, but have come forth with a better understanding of their madness. Thus, employing it towards positive ends.

Madness is not a curse to exorcise, but an infernal blessing to utilize. Give in to your inner daemon, let it possess you, & take you to the heights of your own greatest potential.

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