Dreaming in Digital

Christ, it's easy to label people isn't it? Freak. Mirrorshade. Reality Deviant. Nephandus. People like to be able to categorize things. They like reality and all its messiness to be organized into one neat little system, lock some things away, open up others. Cut away the parts they don't like. make sure they know what to hate. Make sure they don't look too closely, think to hard. You program people enough and soon, they'll stop remembering the reasons for hating something and just hate it because its in a category to be hated.

The sad truth that they're all afraid to face is that there is no neat system. Reality, data, information, it's all constantly moving. You try to fit it into one box and before you know it, it'll grow too big to contain, and that's the thing the other greyfaces are afraid of. if the world grows too big to be categorized, how will it ever be controlled?

My friend, we're not about control. The Virtual Adepts can see that it's a futile struggle. We see the flow of the Digital Web, my friend, and we know that no force in the universe can contain the whole of human knowledge. People look at us, technophiliacs, slouched over our hot laptops, smoking in dark rooms, and they think we're all a modern craze, cyberpunks, anarchists drunk on the texts of the Nineties and too obsessed with bringing power to the people. They're wrong about us, man. Our Tradition stretches back to ancient times. Ever since man tried to uplift the common man, we were there. Whenever a story was passed along, a new idea, a new legend, we were there. We're the messengers of humanity, and we've never once shirked our purpose. For the longest time we were part of the Technocracy. When the Hermetics tried to lock themselves up, and lord over humanity with their spells and mystic arts, we stood side by side with our brethren to defy them. When the Technocracy tried to pull the same shit, we fought back. We're the real face of the revolution. The voice of the future, not trying to lord our power over others, but trying so very hard to uplift everyone. The future the Virtual Adepts want is one where people everywhere, no matter who they are or where they come from, will have the opportunity to better themselves.

We thought we found a kindred spirit in the Technocracy, but like our brothers, the Etherites, we quickly found how full of shit they were. Hermetics try to keep the world under their thumb by hoarding magic for themselves, and the Technocracy try to keep it under a biometric passcode. The thing that neither of them understand, is that no matter how tall you build it, or how secure your defense grid, someone is eventually gonna find a way to crack it, and you'll have trained your enemy to do it. This isn't a brag, man. It's not an exultation of us above everyone else. It's a simple understanding of one universal principle. Information wants to be free, and people want to learn. it's the basic thing that all humans know in their heart of hearts, and the basic thing that all our magic is built on. It's also why we always win.

And yeah, that's right, I said the 'M'-word. Big, scary Technocrats don't like to use it, because they like to strip the wonder away from everything. Everything needs to be 'applied para-science' or 'parapsionic activity.' Everything needs lots of syllables and a Times New Roman font, and to be underlined to make them all sound important. Dude, it's fucking magic. When a person connects to the Digital Web, when a guy can open up a webpage and share his thoughts with the entire world, and whoever wants to listen, it's fucking magic. You take the magic out of it, and you take the hope out of the human condition.You take away a person's ability to dream, and I promise, you'll never be able to build society into the techno-utopia you want, because sooner or later, you'll have neutered us all to the point we couldn't dream of it if we tried.

Other Traditions and other crafts like to dress it up, but when it comes down to it, magic is the process of sculpting the world to suit your dreams. Whether you do that with alchemical formulae, nature dancing, killing motherfuckers, or hell, even screwing each others brains out. It's all tapping into the source code of the universe, my brother, and before you start saying I'm delusional, it's more accurate than you think. Everything you see, touch, taste, hear and smell is just information being interpreted by your brain. It's all just code being entered into a computer.

What that means for you, my friend, is that computers can be programmed.
Figure out what you want from life, work out the formula, and apply it. If others try to lock it away from you, hack into their mainframes and take it anyway. No one's got the right to deny you your dreams, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

The revolution is coming my friend. Crack the code, build it into what you want, and turn it loose.
You'll see just what wonders the world can bring when you just let go, and go with the flow.

- Kephn

Through the Cauls

Have you ever felt like you don't belong in this world? Ever felt like if you had to talk to just one more piece of shit you'd flip out and kill someone? Ever just wanted to burn it all down, make all those abusers and moronic victims suffer, piss in the ashes and wait for release?

People will tell you that those thoughts are wrong. Sleepers, sheep, blind men walking into the slaughter. This world has many wardens, and all of them seek to pull the wool over your eyes. It's in their best interest you see, they need the Lie to exist. People need to believe in them for them to have any power, but its all a scam. We don't lie to you. The furthest thing from it, in fact, and it's something the others, the supposedly 'untainted' don't want you to know.

Have you ever wondered why everyone who's ever been through the Cauls has immediately jumped straight onto our team with no regrets? You can pull our minds apart, you'll find no trace of tampering. Question our souls and we'll spit filth and ashes at your shoes. Demons, banes, spirits of entropy offer us minor gifts, but it's nothing that we can't get through less extreme measures. No, we didn't just turn to the 'demon summoning' section of our complimentary Necronomicons and weigh up the pros and cons. We aren't doing this for the power, for the money, or even for a release from petty morals and guilt.

We do it for the same reason you fight for Ascension.

We do it because we're fucking right.

 This prison, this shitty, diseased thing is like an onion, see. You keep trying to crawl to a higher layer, but you're still trapped. Binding yourself to more rules and strictures. Further mastering the powers of some empty shadow world. Those Spheres you learn are empty lies and baubles to keep you from seeing the truth. Those who ward this world are afraid, you see, they try to bribe you away from true enlightenment. It's a shame you've devoted so much time to adding more to this lie. Blinding more innocent people, perpetuating this cycle of abuse. The way out of this trap isn't by climbing further up. It's in the other direction.

I'm sure you've seen our Magick. I''m sure your superiors have warned you away from the supposedly 'tainted' rotes. You've probably been  told that our powers destroy this lie, and we make no secret of it. No one of us wants to be guilty of adding to it. Each use of our magic, each chant, each cut we make on our skins, each soul we send away, slices away one more little piece of the ties that bind us. Weakens the foundations slightly. makes it easier for us to see the truth behind.

Now, what's the Truth you might ask? Satan? The Wyrm? Cthulhu? Nothing more than masks. The others see us as nothing more than stooges, inverted and broken servants of greater beings. They would say that we have thrown our chance of godhood away, to serve at the feet of another. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those things that they fear, those squirmy, tentacled, virgin-hungry monsters that we supposedly serve? Nothing more than tools. The Devils do not command us, they bend down and kiss at our feet. The spirit minions of the Wyrm line up to deal with us. Nephandi are special, you see, they are not like others that must work within the bounds of reality. The mightiest Black Spiral Dancer must still obey the rules of the lie, they are still bound in chains. Our interests may align for now, but each and every one of these little spirits knows that they speak to a GOD. Though we have pledged our allegiance to them, the magic and laws of reality are ours to work, and it is only by our hands that they can be broken. Only by our hands will they see the material world they so crave, and when we leave, to Descend forever and become one with the endless beauty outside, if they stand in our way, we shall destroy them as easily as we did their precious world.

The others may call us monsters. Fallen. Evil. Perhaps we are. But remember, they don't know any better. Until we pull the blanket away from their eyes, they will be forever trapped. Do not hate them, just pity them. As their savior would say, they know not what they do.

It's ok, my son. This is the first step to freedom. Open your eyes. We have such sights to show you.
I know you're afraid. It's the last smattering of your mind desperate to cling to the lie, but it's too late for that now. I didn't promise you'd like it, I just promised you the truth.
save comfortable lies for the sleepers. You're better than that now.
In time, you may even learn to enjoy the pain.

- Kephn