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"Bullshit" That was my very first response when I came across the Winged Skull of Ur and soon after the Temple website. I remember it well because the familiarity of the symbol was haunting. I had been surfing the net, computer mouse in one hand, whiskey in the other, some random Crue song playing in the background, and it was another day being spent doing not much of anything else. I kept getting up to refill or otherwise maintain my comfort level, and as I did, I would close the browsers, trying to think of something better to do than sit at the computer all day. I sauntered out into the tiny kitchen of my one-bedroom apartment, thinking about that Skull, pissed because I could not remember where I'd seen it before. All groups touting "Secrets and Power" to this point were headed by whack-job beliefs and no amount of skepticism whatsoever, not to mention they wanted my money. Problem with that was that I wanted my money too. There was a reason I had been living in a one-bedroom rat hole, after all, I was broke! This place was cheap and the drug dealer down the hall kept to himself, so what else was there to worry about? Random police searches and the occasional addict knocking on the wrong door didn't worry me too much so long as I had a place to lay my head and some food here and there. Yet here it was, the conundrum of my day, the thought that wouldn't leave my head, "What's this Temple thing about?" One thing I had a lot of was books, LOTS of books, everything ranging from Zen to Motorcycle Maintenance. This is ultimately where I came to give the Temple of try; after all, I'd blow $20 on any other random book, why not this one? So as I sat down to my PC for about the tenth time that day, I went through the set up on the Order screen and stopped short of clicking submit. Did I even have $20 in my account? I got up to check my fridge to see if I could put money into this in the first place. I'd be eating Ramen again for the next week anyway, so why not. I walked back to the computer and clicked submit. The Vampire Bible came a week later, I read it, and threw it in with the other books I'd read. The ideas were cool, they sounded a lot like other books I'd read on Ki, energy manipulation, and it even had the added drama of historical ties to Mesopotamia and mythological contexts about Vampire Gods, a Harvest, and vague mantras about Dreamers and Sleepers. It was a little too thin to have spent $20 on. After all, I wanted something for my money, but all in all, it was a good read and I got a copy of a monthly newsletter called "Lifeforce" which had some cool stories in it. The option to order more books and active membership and all that was there too. "Here we go, more money making". I left it all to gather dust as I went back to mundane existence of meager means and minimum wage jobs. I kept the business card in my wallet that I received with the book and would finger it once in a while when I'd be plucking out a dollar for the vending machine at work. That damn skull... After a month or so of staring at that card in the cavernous empty that was my billfold, I got home from work, went immediately into the bedroom where the Vampire Bible was serving to balance a table leg, pulled it out and read it again. Only this time, I really read it, twice. "Don't believe this, do it, figure it out for yourself," was what I took away from this time. That night, I got a candle, set the book in front of a mirror, killed the lights, and began the Calling. Worst case scenario, I look like an idiot and I get to laugh about it later. Or not...
---------------------------- I decided to give this Temple thing a try, I signed up for the Active Membership and signed onto the board here. I had been a student of the occult for close to a decade at the time, so maybe I'll be able to have a decent conversation with someone who isn't trying to summon the great hell beast to slay his ex girlfriend for breaking his heart. Much to my dismay, only Graded Members could post anything, so I was once again resigned to reading and mulling over why this Temple wanted my money at what seemed like every turn. Thank the Gods I couldn't post anything, I remember some of the early emails I shot off to Administration... So I read, and read, and found very little about magical beasts and séances and more about regular life and how to handle it better. Things about investing and obtaining optimum health and learning real self defense. Nothing about the great spaghetti monster! I thought this joint was about Vampires, you know, blood-sucking, coffin-sleeping pale guys with a love of the macabre. What was this about getting a higher return on investment and living forever scientifically!? Alright, now I'm interested. If you've read this far, awesome, just a little farther to go. I decided to go ahead and save up for the Graded applications, and to buy the literature. I slowly began working my way through the texts and fumbling horribly with the initial phases of trying out new ideas here and there. I kept on doing Communion, I was good at that. As I saw it, if I could get better at something that out of the norm for me, then this stuff like savings and healthier eating and exercise and other mundane avenues should be short order. My Will was in need of an ass-kicking, but it too was getting stronger the more I began to move in the right direction. With time some things got easier, and I came into a better place in life. I was still not digging on the radical life extension idea, but the idea of living forever was appealing. Ultimately it was seeing the situation as "If I'm going to pay for life insurance, it may well go to something that will insure I stay living" that did it for me. Good thing too, because when you see the world as someone who will not die, who is not limited by time, well...I'll let you work that out. -------------------------------- So here it is, roughly six or seven years down the road. Not even a measurable length of time, really. I am working on the final plans for my dream home, a log cabin on property that is in the small town, Mayberry community I love. I am putting away money from a job I love to invest so I may see an average 25% annual growth and financial independence. I am currently enjoying optimum health, enjoying healthy eating and amazing fitness, and I have not seen a pack of Ramen noodles in an age. I am sitting here, computer mouse in one hand, Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch in the other, Crue playing in the background (old habits), reminiscing over where I was and how much I have changed in these few years, over how much I owe it to this Temple and This Family for helping me to become what I am now and what great heights I will exceed tomorrow. Most importantly, I can say without abashment "Bow Down Before Me" and mean it. I can revel in the successes of "Test Everything, Believe Nothing"; I now know that "Discriminate with Care" actually stands for something and to Live Forever does not mean mere existence, but Life in its entire glorious splendor. So when the next cat comes strolling down my alley and asks "Vampires, huh?" I've got three words for him. “Absolutely...Goddamned...Right.” Thank you.
-Solomon |