Magister George Sprague

Ladies & Gentlemen…by Magister George Spraguean article for The Black Flame—March, LI A.S.“…Your attention please!”Such delightful words, uttered by those who wish to direct attention towards themselves or an event that is about to happen. The connotation is there: those being addressed are presumed to be ladies, and gentlemen. However, how often is that not the case? How often is the polite call for attention reciprocated with rudeness by some? After all, there are exceptions everywhere. At every gathering, there are those who simply do not want to engage in civil discourse and behavior. Their actions and words cause disruptions, on the one hand, and on the other, for those who are adept at such things, they may reveal aspects and patterns pertaining to the person(s) engaged in such behavior. The possibility is real, to the point that admonitions often are provided in the guidelines to participate in those wonderful cyber spots known as message boards, such as Letters to the Devil and of course, that ocean of fun fish known as Facebook. Ah yes, what a unique little world that Facebook is, and it could be deemed to be wonderful if it were not for the myriad of boorish types who seem to think the way to prove a point and persuade others such point is valid is by insulting, bullying and exploding in dynamic expletives—the behavior of those who cannot support their views with facts, so they try to overwhelm and intimidate with strong-arm tactics and profanity. Nothing wrong with expletives, mind you, as they can be useful in driving a point home. And when used sparingly, they can become dramatic punctuation in an otherwise civil discourse. But the tirade of obscenity that is so prevalent amongst the interweb vermin these days is rather profuse—and hardly exemplary of those who would call themselves elite, or in our case, the Alien Elite. There is absolutely nothing elite about someone who constantly expresses themselves in terms like *&^%$@$%^ and (*(&%$%%^. Consider the Church of Satan’s duly appointed representatives. Has anyone ever read an interview, or heard Magistras Barton or Nadramia, Magus Gilmore, or any member of our Priesthood of Mendes regularly express themselves in terms akin to “Dude, WTF, that’s an epic fail, go read the f—–g book first you asshat, then call me”? Is that how they do it— how they express themselves? Or do they carefully measure their words, keep a level tone and articulate their points in such a manner that the listener, or reader, is persuaded that they know what they are talking about, and their points are worth considering? Indeed, it’s an act of Lesser Magic. A curious thing happens every so often when people are attempting to conduct a conversation on Facebook or message boards. Some become emboldened by the anonymity the interweb provides—they sit in front of the keyboard and construct sentences they would almost never repeat in the presence of the person they are deriding and/or insulting. They see themselves as invincible, “neener neener you can’t stop me” type of thing. The moderators usually intervene and the posterior aching syndrome comes forth, prompting more expletives, etc. and they depart, or are kicked out, in a flurry of whipped excrement. And so, with all of this in mind, the next time any of us engage in conversation, debate or outright confrontation on the interweb (had enough of that term yet? I like using it!) it is up to us to demonstrate how the elite, the Alien Elite, behave and express themselves. We can look at this as an exercise in Lesser Magic, honing not only our communication skills, but also our skills of persuasion. And remember: even if you are not an official representative of the Church of Satan, unofficially, you are! Outsiders will look at how you express yourselves and measure the worth of our esteemed organization by your personal presentation. They may not admit it out loud, but they do. Assume the ways of the Alien Elite. Practice the ways of the Alien Elite, Satanic Lesser Magic in motion, and you can be proud when the roll call begins with “Ladies and gentlemen of the Infernal Empire,” for surely you will be recognized as such!