And so, I have presented to you the 12 Laws that define our Path.
Writing this series was a monumental, and equally beneficial undertaking. It required me to systematically delve not only into my own experience, but the path-walk of countless others. Some were students, most were not, and a handful was taken from the pages of history. This series was ultimately over a year in the making. While the writing itself took only a few days, the revealing represented a significant commitment of my time, effort, experience, and energy. In the quest to find it, I came to understand more of myself than I have gained from any other exercise, technique, or ritual.
I wanted to take a second to remind you, first and formost, that these are Laws. Our path is completely tailored to the individual, and the Divine within us, which has countless expressions. Thus, it is hard to find anything that is true for all – and these 12 statements represent that. Inherent in their naming is the concept that they are inviolate.
They do not, however, represent a rigid dogma, or a codex for your behavior.
Surprisingly, this is what I was looking to find in the beginning, and I defy any other Darkworker to find such a thing for us. I hold that a series of commandments does not exist. At best, we can only find tendencies, which I call Axioms, which are now in the workshop of my mind. We can and do adapt to ever-changing conditions, situations, and desires. We have thrown out the lie of morality, trampled down the myth of ideals. In that, we have gained great freedom, a source of great power, but at the cost of vigilance. We must always be alert in self-examination, checking ourselves against the Laws.
Imagine water flowing over the side of a cliff. The Laws represent the channel which that water falls through. They speak of inner conditions – a way of seeing and relating, to the world, and to yourself. When you are in alignment with these Laws, you will naturally move through your Descent as you should, just as the water must flow along its course. When you are out of alignment, naturally, your progress on the path will stagnate, stall, slow, and ultimately, could spiral out of control.
It is a tightrope walk, a balancing act, a groove. You cannot, and should not, expect perfection. Keeping yourself in constant alignment with all 12 Laws is something that takes a lifetime to master, even for the talented. In fact, what I have come to understand is that the practice of, and increasing skill level at, being in alignment with the Laws is the very nature of the Descent itself. Coming to understand ourselves, achieving our goals, and mastering the Laws are not separate skillsets. They function as one, and move us deeper and deeper – to the Throne and beyond. Be patient with yourself. Your God within cannot die, you have nothing but time.
And, I wanted to take time to thank you, my reader. Perhaps I’ve been saying this a lot, but I really do feel gratitude for your time and involvement in the Experiment. Many have taken a moment to tell me how much they enjoyed the series. Yeah, me too. What I have come to understand, because of all of you, is that my purpose is and always has been to find the Path, and share it. Its not a sales pitch. A cooky little mix of John the Baptist and Howard Stern, I come to you from the wilderness, screaming “Biiiiiiiiiitch!”. But, far more than all that, I am your friend. Even if I don’t know you, I really do believe in you. Very few things do I know for sure, your Divinity is one of them. If you must, think of me less a Darkworker and more as an eternal cheerleader. I will stand by you and root for you forever. Two Gods, One Destiny.
While I did not see it at the time, I am now aware that the Laws end precisely where they started. The First Law called you to your own power, re-affirming your own polarization, and the Twelfth does the exact same, although with a newly revamped you. There is a common symbol in mythology of a snake eating its own tail, and while the uses are many and the meanings varied, I think this symbol and the 12 Laws could be married up.
As I write this, I have spent the previous day planting a garden in the backyard. I can still smell the earth on my fingers, the birds chirp outside. I have found that, when rooting, doing work in the soil with my bare hands is not only relaxing, it grounds out that force, sharpens the will, brings the Self into a more solid form. I slowly rub my neck. I find myself wanting to do naughty things to my lovely lady when she gets out of class. In short, it brings me down, in an almost sensual way, into my animal nature. The Laws hold true at all levels of our being, from the Divine, to the Human, to the form we call our bodies.
And, I find my thoughts drifting again to Everyman. Wherever he is, I have no doubt that his Descent, while brief, was in Harmony. I send him strength, and hope. I wish his soul to be well, to awaken again and pick up where he left off. I dedicate this Law to him, as much to his memory as to our mission.
True Guilt — Regret
All emotions are simply a drawing in of energy to ourselves. We then make a mental judgment that defines what shape and form the energy shall take, how we shall experience it. In its native form, Guilt is nothing more than a light feeling of regret. An inner nudge. Often, when we honor this nudge, it turns into compassion of some kind. Its when we resist it, twist it with social conditioning, that it becomes the heavy burden which we know as guilt. If we continue to direct this energy inward, drawing in more, it becomes shame. Further still, and it becomes a deadly form of self-lothing. We become angry with ourselves, and direct that anger inwards. In this chain, many find their way to suicide.
Everyman was reaching on the path, but filled with self-lothing, guilt, and shame at the conditions of his life. I have no doubt that part of him believed the only way he could find the Throne would be to move into new form. This, is the definition of tragedy. If he could hear me, I would simply tell him of my own failures, and how they were necessary.
I would guide him to see the same in his own life. Perhaps then, things might have turned out differently, or perhaps not.
Our natural, light feeling of regret comes first from our animal nature. It is an inherent part of us, like our compassion, designed to maximize our survival as a species. It arises when we have done anything that may endanger the survival of ourselves, our offspring, or our tribe, for short-sighted reasons. Our humanity invokes it when we use the quick gain that betrays our true potential, when we deliberately fail to produce the best within us. And, our Divinity gives us the light nudge when we indulge in fleeting, lesser pursuits beyond that of which we have dreamed.
It is merely meant to be a reminder, nothing more. A little internal secretary that keeps our appointments, and sends us an email reminding us to buy flowers on mother’s day. To honor it, we simply examine the situation. We look at our choice. We take a moment to see how the choice fell short in some way. We prepare to make better choices in the future, and we move on. More importantly, your regret triggers will never, I repeat, never, be fixed. What disrupts your survival and that of your tribe will change through time, as will your definition of your tribe. Likewise, your interests and capabilities will change. And, as you come to know more of your Divinity, your dreams will expand, shift, contract. In this manner, what causes regret in you is fluid and individual, just as your descent is a living, organic, shifting journey.
Guilt – Regret Twisted
However, eventually, in human society, institutions arose. These groups were brilliant, and saw that they could harness regret for their own gain. They created the notions of good and bad, and fixed them, made them permanent. Once the energies in people were rigid, they could amplify them. To do bad was a horrible, disgusting act. What was once simply a reminder, became fused with disgust, worthy of self-hatred. The concept of punishment, arose. And, Guilt became the new means of self-punishment. So powerful that the desires of these institutions would be served in a near-omniscient fashion by those who transgressed what was good for them.
In Darkworking, however, we see guilt for what it is – a tool of authoritarian control. Our purpose in this life is complete self-discovery. The only way to achieve that is through experimentation. Sometimes, in this playful spirit, we try something and the result is simply “this is not you”. We note it, this is the purpose of the emotion, and in understanding, move forward into a new round of experiments. Do not let yourself be controlled in this fashion. No one on this earth has the right to use your Divinity for their own purpose. Many will try, of course, and this is but one of the ways. Do not comply or consent, especially when all you must do is release to defeat the tactic.
If you are feeling guilt, or shame, simply review the choice, or choices, that are the root cause. You may have to dig around for a while to find multiples, and that’s okay. Now, evaluate the choice, again and again. Explore how it did not live up to the best within you. Within this process and understanding, cracks will arise in the guilt. Through them, self-forgiveness will flow. Eventually, the Guilt will return to its true form, a light regret. At this point, simply state how you will operate differently in the future, and release it.
Surrendering Your Power
As I have said, Guilt is, ultimately, an energy which is purely self-torment. It is a deliberate, purposeful, terrible beating of your own ass. If we understand that we are Divine, and perfect in expression already, what could possibly be worthy of guilt?
All actions are simply tries on the great Experiment. Why would you punish yourself for learning when that’s the point to this whole life thing? That’s like a commander ordering a soldier to run, then hitting him with a stick each time he takes a step. Under what logic could guilt be justified?
No logic. Nothing. No action you have taken is possibly worthy.
Save one: Self-Pity
Self-pity is a common emotion for many people in the world today. And, its insidious, because it seizes our attention in subtle ways. Often, we don’t realize we are doing it until the boo-hoo tsunami has already overwhelmed us. It is the only thing you can do that is worthy of disgust. Why? Because, it means you are completely, abjectly surrendering your Divinity. All your personal power vanishes in a heartbeat. That is precisely how powerful you are – you can blast the God within away in but a moments notice. The good news is, you are also powerful enough to bring it back, like Lazarus from the dead, in the blink of an eye.
Proving Divinity by Negation
These are the words I would give to Everyman, as he wrestled with this often. Let me offer up something to you: Self-pity is a rejection of your Divinity. But, therein lies its true power. In and of itself, the experience of self-pity proves your divinity. Why, my friend? Because you cannot reject something, if you don’t know it exists. To reject it, you must have tasted, in some small fashion, your all-creating ability over your life. For example, you can’t, without technology, detect X-rays, and so you can’t reject them all on your own. You have to be aware of your power to give it away. And, I say this to you all.
You see, as far as we know, only humans so far possess this ability. There is no animal in nature that you will ever see in a state of learned helplessness. They just keep trying things until something works, or until time runs out. They don’t know guilt, shame, or self-pity. Because, they don’t have the divinity to give up in the first place. These are uniquely human inventions. Only human beings can take a dog, or rat, or rabbit, and put it in a box, and shock it over and over again, no matter what it does, and put it in this state. Only a human society can create the conditions that cause people to exist in this state. It takes a God to Un-God something. If you observe the natural world, this is not part of the equation, for anything, except humans, the Divine.
The lesson of Self-Pity is to show you, in the surrendering of your Divinity, your very same Divinity. This lesson is instantaneous. Once learned, the Self-Pity must be purged. In this fashion, Darkworkers allow guilt, and stop at nothing, to return to their native state.
Wake up. Again. As many times as it takes. Shake off the lies and control.
The other side of the rabbit hole is beyond description, my dead Alice.
And so, the Laws have ended right where they began. The First Law called you to your polarization. It asked you in your struggles to turn inward, to yourself and the unlimited power there to achieve your objectives. It ends in the same place. Our path is one of power. It is our birthright. It reminds us to sieze it, hang on, and never let go. It reminds us again and again that we are shaping the forces around us. Right now. You are doing this, right now, as you read these words. Many of you sought the truth of the Path, and called my words into existence. I sought to understand myself in the depths of the Descent, and called you, my readers, into existence. What a beautiful world we can make.
Thus, have I demonstrated this Law, by looking at my own feelings of regret with Everyman. I have examined the situation, and how my choices did not honor the best within myself. In an understanding of where he was, and where I was, I have changed my actions for the future. We both, to an unknown destination, move forward. And so, do I release you from Guilt, Shame, and Pity, and turn you over to my favorite, hypothetical Dark Warrior:
