By frequenting a website which deals with the occult, you are liable to become possesed by evil spirits. So say exorcists in Poland, according to Nasz Diennik, which is described as an ultra-conservative Catholic paper. Apparently,
[a]ccording to exorcists quoted by the daily, such websites have an increasing influence on younger viewers, who may find themselves becoming possessed by Satan himself.
Understandably concerned about the souls in their care they may be, I cannot help think that this smacks somewhat of desperation on their part.
You see, the official line from the Catholic Church is that they recognise full well that most of what would hundreds of years ago have been called “demonic possession” is in fact mental illness. Thus nowadays the reality is that the Church will not in fact authorise an exorcism if a medical condition can account for the aberrant behaviour.
My personal view is that if people become mentally ill – or indeed even possessed – after visiting a website, it is because they had a predisposition to do so. Whether the website caused or exacerbated the condition is open to question (by which I mean “fanciful speculation”).
You may, however, be wanting to question the motives of these Polish exorcists by speaking out at this time. Let’s look at the evidence:
By candidly admitting that most alleged cases of exorcism are only instances of mental illness, the Church is effectively doing its Exorcists out of a job! Perhaps these Polish priests are feeling unappreciated?
One could even argue that it is in these priests’ own interest to gild the lilly somewhat when it comes to alleging there is evidence of infernal manifestation at large in the world today. Perhaps they have seen the latest Hollywood blockbuster The Rite and wish to ride on the coat-tails of its publicity.
Or one can take a slightly less cynical stance by remembering the old saying: “To a person with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” In their case it would be: “To a fully-trained exorcist, every problem looks like the work of Satan.”
Knowing this to be the case I should not be surprised if this very website gets accused by some church-man of dabbling in the occult and being the pawn of beelzebub. Hey! I don’t dabble in it at all! I go at it full on!
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
Celebrities Discover Thelema Without Realising It
Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, P Diddy, and Snoop Dogg have managed to discover “Thelema” quite inadvertantly. It is almost as if Aleister Crowley has come up behind them and shouted “Surprise!” Not that they are practising occultists (with the possible exception of Gaga) – they have stumbled across the principles without realising.
I should hasten to add that by “Thelema” I do not mean “Crowleyanity” – I doubt any of the above subscribe to Crowley’s dogma in the literal sense, even if they have read any of the Great Beast’s books. They perhaps do not even know that it is “Thelema” they are practising. What appears to be the situation is this: each one has found his or her “True Will” and is Doing it, and achieving great success thereby. However, the irony is that what is actually their True Will they have identified with “God,” perhaps out of ignorance. Hence they profess belief in God which seems to explain their success, but it does not follow any conventional theology.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal by Neil Strauss,
In a separate piece Strauss mentioned research that belief in God helped liver transplant patients’ chances of survival, and other scientific studies on the power of belief. The fact that people without conventional religion can yet be saved by the power of their beliefs suggest that none of these are actual pieces of evidence for the existence of God but, like Pascal’s Wager, are arguments in favour of the desirability of believing in God.
What therefore is happening? If Belief by itself is powerful, that would tend to suggest that it is actually these people’s own Will which is looking out for them. Identifying the Will with God may not be an insincere move on their part – besides it probably serves to make it a powerful experience for them.
Incidentally: it is a little appreciated fact that the concept of “True Will” is yet another thing which Aleister Crowley “borrowed” from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In “GD” terms “True Will” is what happens when the Lower Will (represented by Tiphereth) is successfully integrated with the Higher Will (represented by Daath). The former is the everyday Will, the latter is that which aspires to the very highest – hence True Will is when one is able to integrate this aspiration into one’s mundane consciousness. Finding one’s True Will is the natural task of every Adept.
I therefore suggest that if one aspires to the kind of success that these people have, it may be wise to adopt the kind of religious self-belief that these various people adopt – not in a cynical fashion, but in an attempt to discover in truth ones part in the Divine Plan. Who knows? Perhaps one of these celebrities might one day acknowledge their debt to the occult? 😉
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