Black magic - pure evil

"Now this cosmic wisdom, which was intrinsically not evil but held holy secrets hidden within it, was carefully concealed by the initiates of Taotl. It was communicated to no one who had not been initiated correctly by the Taotl method. When a candidate had been initiated in the correct way, the teaching concerning the secrets of the cosmos was then imparted to him. NOW, IT WAS NECESSARY FOR HIM TO RECEIVE THESE SECRETS THROUGH INITIATION IN A QUITE DEFINITE MOOD OF SOUL. HE HAD TO FEEL IN HIMSELF THE INCLINATION AND DESIRE TO APPLY THEM ON EARTH IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY WOULD SET UP THAT MECHANISTIC RIGID REALM OF DEATH. It was thus that he had to receive the secrets. Nor were they communicated except on one special condition. THE WISDOM WAS IMPARTED TO NO ONE WHO HAD NO PREVIOUSLY COMMITTED A MURDER IN A PARTICULAR MANNER. Moreover, only certain secrets were communicated to the candidate after the first murder, but further and higher secrets were imparted to him after he had committed others.

"These murders, however, had to be committed under quite definite conditions. The one to be murdered was laid out on a structure that was reached by one or two steps running along each side. This scaffold-like structure, a kind of catafalque, was rounded off above and when the victim was laid upon it, he was bent strongly back. This special way of being bound to the scaffold forced his stomach outward so that with one cut, which the initiate had been prepared to perform, it could be cut out.

"THIS KIND OF MURDER ENGENDERED DEFINITE FEELINGS IN THE INITIATE. SENSATIONS WERE AROUSED THAT MADE HIM CAPABLE OF USING THE WISDOM LATER IMPARTED TO HIM IN THE WAY THAT HAS BEEN INTIMATED ABOVE. When the stomach had been excised, it was offered to the god Taotl, again with special ceremonies. The fact that the initiates of these mysteries lived for the quite specific purpose that I have indicated to you, imparted a definite direction to their feelings. When the candidates to be initiated had matured on this path and had come to experience its inner meaning, they then learned the nature of the mutual interaction between the one who had been murdered and the one who had been initiated. THROUGH THE MURDER, THE VICTIM WAS TO BE PREPARED IN HIS SOUL TO STRIVE UPWARD TO THE LUCIFERIC REALM, WHEREAS THE CANDIDATE FOR INITIATION WAS TO OBTAIN THE WISDOM TO MOULD THIS EARTHLY WORLD IN SUCH A WAY THAT SOULS WOULD BE DRIVEN OUT OF IT. Through the fact that a connection was formed between the murdered and the initiated one cannot say "murderer," but "initiated" IT WAS MADE POSSIBLE FOR THE INITIATED TO BE TAKEN WITH THE OTHER SOUL; THAT IS, THE INITIATED COULD HIMSELF FORSAKE THE EARTH AT THE RIGHT MOMENT [a sort of "Rapture," to escape hellish machine-like society he helped to create - perhaps what Pink Floyd meant by The Machine].

To explain the goals of black magic, it is necessary to introduce the ultimate projects of Satan (more properly known as "Ahriman") and Lucifer. This goal is an Earth ruled by Ahriman, devoid of the higher souls of humans, and an "extra" planet known as the Eighth Sphere, ruled by Lucifer, to which the souls have escaped. Ultimately, this is intended to prevent mankind from becoming what God hopes we will become. This diabolical duo cooperates with each other so intricately to achieve their separate ends that they are almost always confused with each others, and there are few if any purely Luciferian or Satanic groups.

Another being known as the Beast, Sorath, and "666" (the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew spelling of "Sorath") has exerted its influence on mankind at intervals of 666 years, although there have been exceptions, such as WWII, during which the Beast played Hitler, so to speak. Anthroposophical writer Terry Boardman, in his article entitled Aspects of the Occult Significance of the Year 1998 [2], provides an excellent description of this being, which includes the following:

It is important to understand that Sorath is not Ahriman, the spiritual inspirer of modern materialism. Rudolf Steiner spoke of Sorath before Ahriman: Sorath on 27 April 1907 (GA96 untranslated) and 21 Oct 1907 (GA101 typescript Z306) (3) and Ahriman for the first time on 1 Jan 1909. SORATH STANDS BEHIND AHRIMAN AND LUCIFER AS CHRIST'S SHADOW, INSPIRING THEM.

Rudolf Steiner indicated 1933 as the rise of the Beast. Immediately before the approach of the Etheric Christ in 1933-5, humanity would have to face the appearance of the Beast from the abyss (20.9.24 GA346). There followed 12 years of hellish destruction greater than ever before or since. These years were dominated by the FALSE SUN MOTIF [Swastika]. [2][emphasis added]

[T]he threefold adversarial influences [Lucifer, Ahriman, and a group of beings known as the Asuras] WILL UNITE [in what is] described as the "Beast with Two Horns," whose occult number is "666." THE EFFECT OF THIS BEING IS ONE OF HARDENING EGOTISM; NOT OF LOVING THE WORLD BUT OF SQUEEZING IT TO THE VERY LAST DROP TO GAIN AS MUCH ADVANTAGE AND ENJOYMENT FROM IT AS POSSIBLE. THAT IS ALSO THE PATH OF BLACK MAGIC WHICH IS THE ONE THIS "BEAST" WISHES TO LEAD US DOWN. [emphasis added] [3]

[In recent times] ... polar opposite tendencies ["ice cold logic" and "passions and drives"] in the human being are melting down and becoming fused together without any mediating, central realm [the heart, the realm of Christ].... We can see ... on the one hand an intensifying, self-realizing egohood, and on the other its reverse, the intensified evil which surrounds us on all sides (and which we also create ourselves). Our increasing consciousness of self is not by itself evil; it all depends on how the ego handles the forces available to it.... We can continue to go down the road of separation ... or ... we can be begin to broaden our separated consciousness.... The first path ... will unleash forces of hatred and destruction to an increasing extent.... The beings who are active in such a conflict ... [are] called Asuras.... [They are] AN INTENSIFICATION AND PERMEATION OF THE LUCIFERIC-AHRIMANIC POLARITY. THERE IS, THEN, ALSO A TRINITY OF EVIL.... [emphasis added] [4]

In certain occult teachings the hosts of Ahriman are also called the Asuras. These are of course, the evil Asuras who at a certain time fell away from the evolutionary path of the Asuras who endowed man with personality. It has already been indicated that these are spiritual Beings who detached themselves from the evolution of the earth before the separation of the sun. [5]

In the aforementioned article, Terry Boardman writes that Sorath is "related to Sura and Asura, Ahura." Considering that his effect is on the ego, and that, as Steiner relates in the following excerpt, the class of beings known as Asuras also works on the ego, there is a good case for classifying the Asuras as a yet another subsidiary of Sorath, along with Lucifer and Ahriman. The Advent of Ahriman suggests that he could be their leader, which conflicts with the above quotation from Steiner, indicating the Beast's paradoxical nature. He was at least the chronological leader of the forces which attack the ego, since he first influenced mankind in the year 666, and as indicated by the following excerpt, the Asuras had just begun their assault in Steiner's time:

And in the age now approaching, those spiritual Beings known as the Asuras (see Note 1) will creep into the consciousness soul and therewith into the human 'I' or ego for the 'I' lights up in the consciousness soul. The Asuras will generate evil with a far mightier force than was wielded by the Satanic powers in the Atlantean epoch or by the Luciferic Spirits in the Lemurian epoch....

[T]hese Asuric Spirits WILL PROMPT WHAT HAS BEEN SEIZED HOLD OF BY THEM - NAMELY THE VERY CORE OF MAN'S BEING, THE CONSCIOUSNESS SOUL TOGETHER WITH THE 'I' - TO UNITE WITH EARTHLY MATERIALITY. Fragment after fragment will be torn out of the 'I', and in the same measure in which the Asuric Spirits establish themselves in the consciousness soul, man must leave parts of his existence behind on the earth. What thus becomes the prey of the Asuric powers will be irretrievably lost. Not that the whole man need become their victim but parts of his spirit will be torn away by the Asuric powers. These Asuric powers are heralded to-day by the prevailing tendency to live wholly in the material world and to be oblivious of the realty of spiritual beings and spiritual worlds. True, the Asuric powers corrupt man to-day in a way that is more theoretical than actual. To-day they deceive him by various means into thinking that his 'I' is a product of the physical world only; they hue him to a kind of theoretic materialism. But as time goes on and the premonitory signs of this are the dissolute, sensuous passions that are becoming increasingly prevalent on earth they will blind man's vision of the spiritual Beings and spiritual Powers. Man will know nothing nor desire to know anything of a spiritual world. More and more he will not only teach that the highest moral ideals of humanity are merely sublimations of animal impulses, that human thinking is but a transformation of a faculty also possessed by the animals, that man is akin to the animal in respect of his form and moreover in his whole being descends from the animal but he will take this view in all earnestness and order his life in accordance with it.

Man does not as yet entirely base his life on the principle that his true being descends from the animal. But this view of existence will inevitably arise, with the result that men will also live like animals, will sink into animal impulses, animal passions. AND IN MANY THINGS THAT NEED NOT BE FURTHER CHARACTERIZED HERE, MANY THINGS THAT IN THE GREAT CITIES COME TO EXPRESSION IN ORGIES OF DISSOLUTE SENSUALITY, WE CAN ALREADY PERCEIVE THE LURID, HELLISH GLARE OF THE SPIRITS WE CALL THE ASURAS. [6] [7] [8]

"Rudolf Steiner also shows that the events of the Apocalypse of St. John refer not exclusively to the present time, as many believe, but rather, to the last period of the seven great stages of earth evolution, which lies far in the future. However, there is a sense in which our own time is a kind of prefiguring of that distant epoch. A resonance of that time occurs, when humanity is faced with the choice between the two-horned beast and the Lamb." [10]

The following are excerpts from Inner Impulses of Evolution by Rudolf Steiner which in my opinion would help most people to understand the true nature of black magic, and to recognize its influences around them. Some of the following overlaps with the material in my "Deep Background" section, but it pertains more to the goals and activities of black magic rather than its historical metamorphosis. In them, Steiner refers to the Mexican Mysteries which were formed by a group of former Atlanteans:

When the Atlantean spoke of his "Great Spirit," he expressed it, as we have seen, in a word that sounded something like the word "Tao," which is still preserved in China. AN AHRIMANIC, CARICATURED COUNTERPART APPEARED IN THE WEST AS OPPONENT OF THE "GREAT SPIRIT TAO" BUT HE WAS STILL CONNECTED WITH HIM. He worked in such a way that he could only be made visible through atavistic, visionary perception but WHENEVER THEY DESIRED HIS PRESENCE, HE ALWAYS SHOWED HIMSELF TO THOSE PERSONS CONNECTED WITH THE WIDESPREAD MYSTERIES OF THIS CULT SO THEY COULD RECEIVE HIS INSTRUCTIONS AND COMMANDS. [This distinguishes black magician from the typical satanist, who, if part of an organized movement, is directed by black magicians, and not directly, at least consciously, from the spirit world.] THIS SPIRIT WAS CALLED BY A NAME THAT SOUNDED SOMETHING LIKE TAOTL. Taotl was thus AN AHRIMANIC DISTORTION OF THE "GREAT SPIRIT" a mighty being and one who DID NOT DESCEND TO PHYSICAL INCARNATION. A great many men were initiated into the mysteries of Taotl but the initiation was of a completely ahrimanic character. IT HAD A QUITE DEFINITE PURPOSE AND GOAL, WHICH WAS TO RIGIDIFY AND MECHANIZE ALL EARTHLY LIFE, INCLUDING THAT OF HUMANS, TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT A SPECIAL LUCIFERIC PLANET, WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN REFERRED TO IN THESE STUDIES, COULD BE FOUNDED ABOVE EARTHLY LIFE. THE SOULS OF MEN COULD THEN BE DRAWN OUT TO IT, BY FORCE AND PRESSURE. [For example, to escape the possibility of having to hear Rap "music" ever again or drive our ego-mobiles through rush hour traffic.]

TO THIS END, ONE HAD, ABOVE ALL, TO KNOW THE GREAT COSMIC SECRETS THAT RELATE TO WHAT WORKS AND LIVES IN THE UNIVERSE AND REVEALS ITS ACTIVITIES IN EARTHLY EXISTENCE. You see, this wisdom of the cosmos is fundamentally in its wording, always the same, BECAUSE TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE SAME. THE POINT IS, HOWEVER, WHETHER OR NOT IT IS RECEIVED IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT IS EMPLOYED RIGHTLY. [11]

In my essay on the Eight Sphere, I go into greater detail on the nature of human consciousness during early and middle Atlantean times. This form of consciousness is similar to that which Lucifer wishes to evoke in us. The following excerpts from lectures by Steiner show that this has been the goal of Lucifer and Satan ever since their servants destroyed Atlantis, and that they've failed so far, which makes them almost as desperate as Alan Dreamspin (the Fed Chairman who disappeared just as it became impossible to hide the implosion of his vast financial bubbles, precisely as LaRouche predicted he would):

BUT IN THIS SAME EPOCH HUMAN BEINGS WILL HAVE TO BATTLE AGAINST ATTACKS OF THE LUCIFERIC AND AHRIMANIC POWERS THAT WILL BE STRONGER THAN THOSE LAUNCHED IN THE DAYS OF GREEK AND ROMAN CULTURE. Again in this later epoch the aim of the luciferic and ahrimanic powers is to alienate the souls of men from earthly life on the one hand, and on the other so to mechanize earthly life itself, TO MAKE ITS OUTER FORM SO ENTIRELY MECHANISTIC, THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE EGO OF MAN TO LIVE IN THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THE EARTH. He would therefore take leave of it to enter a life apart from the earth upon a separate planet.

Lucifer and Ahriman wish, during the post-Atlantean period, TO INTERPOSE THE OLD ATLANTEAN CULTURE EVERYWHERE SO THAT THE FACULTIES IMPARTED BY THE PROGRESSIVE POWERS ARE RENDERED PRIMITIVE [i.e. reason "dumbed down" and free will frustrated] FOR THE FIFTH POST-ATLANTEAN EPOCH AND HUMAN BEINGS WILL DESIRE TO DEPART. The attempt, therefore, consisted in placing everything that developed into a service of a world beyond the earth, as I have indicated. Thus, from two sides, from that of Lucifer and that of Ahriman, the spirit reigning in ancient Atlantean life was to be revived in order that the impulses connected with that ancient life might enter into the evolution of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch.

In order to execute the ahrimanic part of this task, it was necessary for the priests of those ahrimanic Atlantean mysteries to acquire faculties possessing the highest degrees of control and mastery over all the forces of death in earthly working. These forces would have made the earth; together with physical man for the souls were to depart into a purely mechanistic realm, a great dead realm in which no ego could have a place.

These faculties would have had to be connected also with mastery of the mechanistic element in everything living, of the mechanistic elements in all life. FOR THIS REASON THESE MYSTERIES HAD TO BE INSTITUTED IN A TRULY DEVILISH FORM BECAUSE SUCH FORCES AS WOULD HAVE BEEN NEEDED FOR THE POWERFUL AIMS OF AHRIMAN CAN ONLY ARISE WHEN INITIATIONS OF A SPECIAL KIND ARE ATTAINED. Such were these initiations of the ahrimanic post-Atlantean era in America.

This cult was dedicated to the successor, the son of the Great Spirit, in the form he had assumed in America, and who was designated by a sound that approximates Taotl. TAOTL IS AN AHRIMANIC DISTORTION OF THE SUCCESSOR OF TAO. This being, Taotl did not appear in a physical body but only in an etheric form. His arts, which were essentially impulses for the mechanization of earthly culture and of all earthly life, were acquired through these initiations I have described to you.

Vitz-li-putz-li [an ally of Jehovah] fought against [the greatest-ever black magician] and as already said, this can only be discovered by occult means in the year 33 A.D. succeeded in causing this mightiest black magician to be crucified. Thus, in the other hemisphere of the earth, an event parallel to the Mystery of Golgotha took place, inasmuch as the greatest black magician of all was crucified by the action of Vitzliputzli who had appeared on the earth for this purpose. As a result, the power of these mysteries was thereby broken so far as the fourth post-Atlantean epoch was concerned. It was subsequently revived [in a weaker form]....

By these means the ahrimanic impulse was inculcated into the etheric nature of the Western world. As I have said, this impulse in the fourth epoch was broken as a result of the crucifixion of the great initiated black magician by the deed of Vitzliputzli. NEVERTHELESS, SO MUCH FORCE REMAINED THAT A FURTHER ATTACK COULD HAVE BEEN MADE UPON THE FIFTH EPOCH, HAVING AS ITS AIM SO TO MECHANIZE THE EARTH THAT THE RESULTING CULTURE WOULD NOT ONLY HAVE CULMINATED IN A MASS OF PURELY MECHANICAL CONTRIVANCES BUT WOULD HAVE MADE HUMAN BEINGS THEMSELVES INTO SUCH PURE HOMUNCULI [a sort of animal-man, or as the oligarchy likes to think of us, a talking animal] THAT THEIR EGOS WOULD HAVE DEPARTED.

Whereas on the one side the campaigns of Genghis Khan [which were facilitated by Venetian Intelligence] and his successors were to have executed as it were a divine justice, on the other side, THERE WAS PREPARED AN ATMOSPHERE OF WILD, AHRIMANIC, ELEMENTAL FORCES INTO WHICH THE EUROPEANS WERE TO ENTER [referring to the discovery of America]. In such matters complete cooperation takes place between Ahriman and Lucifer. [Read the lecture for further details on Khan's luciferic role.]

In the post-Atlantean era, Ahriman strives by direct means to institute a culture of MERE prosperity. This would mean pressing out the lemon [ego], the doing away with it! Egos would no longer be able to live IF PROSPERITY [crass materialism] WERE THE ONLY AIM PURSUED BY CULTURE. In short, prosperity and the good, prosperity and virtue are not concepts that can be substituted for one another. [In other words, materialism must not be an end in itself; it must serve to free us up for higher pursuits.]

What is black magic ultimately? It is the effort to work against the plan of the good Gods for humanity and the Earth, to prevent the Earth from reuniting with the Sun, thus preventing the future respiritualisation of the Earth. BLACK MAGIC IS THEREFORE THE VERY INVERSE OF LOVE; it is the process of involution taken to an extreme of contraction in matter. One of its manifestations is a delight in causing physical pain and suffering.... [14]

The preceding shows that Lucifer and Ahriman are intricatedly working together for separate ends: an Earth without higher souls for Ahriman to rule, and a new realm (the Eighth Sphere) for the higher souls, where they would be completely immersed in fantasy and ruled by Lucifer. Ahriman's artificial apocalypse is actually just a step toward achieving this ultimate agenda, and understanding it will help you to see the influence of black magic in modern society.