*The following is an excerpt on The Afterlife, part of a series of interviews
given by Rev. Dore for the MUPS, an idependant group of free thinkers.
Let it be noted that the opinions expressed here reflect her beliefs
only,
as it should be.-Papus Arcanum
Being that this is the latest of my conversations
with the group,
one should probably have an idea of what Satanism
is to them and what it is to me before delving into this area.
But if you have come to the point where you are
in fact questioning this matter for yourself and feel my opinions could somehow shed any light upon
your own personal search then
please read on.
First and foremost,
let me start off with stating that nothing
is more relevant than the here and now.
We must live each day as it comes
and not give adulation to that which remains folklore.
We must demand concrete evidence before giving recognition
to any fact less it be
nothing short of falsehood.
That being said,
allow me to present my truth
as it has been proven unto me.
It is apparent that many Satanists do not adhere
to
life after death,
as they are prone to the more scientific or Darwinian explanation
for our existence,
in other words they adopt an atheist belief.
Such does not however speak for all of us.
The beliefs of some referring to their system
as
Traditional Satanism vary greatly from that
of the Modern Satanist,
and I am sure this is where much of the confusion
over what we do and do not worship
is born and fermented.
Those with such values do openly adhere
to an afterlife existence,
and the existence of an outside force, or diety,
which they pay hommage to in some way,
where the Modern practitioner is,
in my own opinion,
always basing truth upon their own personal experiences,
which can change with individual growth.
As I have stated from the very beginning,
that which you believe to be truth,
shall then become your truth,
and no other can or should deny you that right.
My truth is that, yes,
there very much is an afterlife.
To begin with,
this is not something that I consciously sought
answers to
but was rather brought to my attention very early
on in life,
far before I understood what any of it meant.
The phenomena presented itself to me at age 6,
and though I recall no actual threat
to my well-being,
I do recall fear,
as it is the natural response of
not understanding the unknown.
No one had any explanation as to what
I had experienced and professed
that I must have been dreaming,
afterall I was just a child
and should not be taken seriously.
While extremely confused by the bizarre image
of an older man attired in clothing,
which I now know would date back
to the turn of the century,
standing so close to me,
I instinctively forced myself to grasp hold
of my conscious state.
Basically questioning if I was perhaps asleep,
I recall closing my eyes, and hoping
that when I looked at the very humanlike image again, it would be gone,
however such was not the case.
This energy appeared to embellish a will of it's
own.
On a subconscious level I do feel I allowed the
experience to occur at the exact time that it did.
Everything must be validated by this level of conscious
belief before it can manifest in reality.
To this day I can recall in total detail the event that opened an awareness in me that I choose
to validate while
some simply do not, will not and want not.
I suppose one could call themselves a Spiritual
Satanist
and since there seems to be continuing new additives
to the basic satanic thought this term certainly
could apply.
But it really does not even matter if any way of
thinking has a label and such is probably even more invoking
when it does not
and cannot be categorized.
And one must always remember that matters of a spiritual
nature are not of a religious one.
So why do I see this as spiritual in nature and not just scientific
in energy?
If this phenomena were based purely on the
scientific fundamentals,
there would not exist a mood or personality, if you will, associated
with the said energy.
And although when we think of spiritual existence we often attach
a religious basic to that belief,
such does not have to be the case at all.
Spirtuality empowers the individual by affirming
that all comes from within including said energy,
while religion denounces this notion, preferring
to give such power to a force outside the individual.
The two are totally seperate from one another.
So as this energy would of course have to be be spiritual in nature for specific characteristsics
to be so defined yet unprovable,
as energy it would have to have
a proven scientific basis somewhere.
The logic of scientific evaluation must always
allow for the possibility that scientific laws in themselves may actually be incomplete or even wrong.
Science is the basis upon which to look
to first and if it fails to explain the phenomena, only then should we as rational human beings go beyond science and allow for that which we cannot really define because we have not yet conquered it or come to understand it in full.
Being Satanic means questioning everything
and using what works for you while discarding what does not.
Even now I am not completely satisfied with
what I have come to embrace as truth since I feel that my purpose here is to constantly evolve and as a result, so shall my idea of truth.
But that is perfectly fine for it gives me
so much more to work with than a one dimensional existence would allow.
The possibilities of what is truth are endless. Alas, there
is no one truth, no one path, no one poet, no one
man, no one woman, there is just the sum of the all. I
was able to allow the experience of energy without a physical body to present itself to me because on some level I had already accepted that this was a possibility.
So it really goes to show you that what you allow
to be concrete in your existence is what makes
up your particular truth.
My stance on an afterlife has to be that we
do not just die period,
end of story.
For me personally it is illogical that one would
come to a level of higher consciousness and self-power only to have it wiped out completely in the end.
Spiritual age is not measured in the same way as physical age
and so in the cases of those who have passed on before what would seem to be their time,
their spiritual selves could certainly be far more evolved
than their human selves would appear to allow for.
BUT that is what I choose to embrace.
Meaning those who are atheist shall prolly
just become nothing because that is their will and their right.
I cannot attest to things unproven but I also cannnot
pretend said phenomena does not and cannot exist,
when it has for me.
Especially as it continues to remain a part
of my personal truth by presenting itself at various times.
Since that initial sighting I have had
many such experiences with energy, varying in intensity or degree,
that was onced housed in human form.
This has since become a natural occurence,
nothing more, nothing less.
As I am a Satanist and we do uphold
that which is fact as fact,
we must also realise that there is that which cannot
be explained by anyone still living when it comes to an existence after death
that can be proven as fact.
I cannot prove that I have had encounters with such
beings anymore than I can prove anyone's else's theoretical position on the matter,
but I can question this,
as we are gods in our daily lives,
striving to achieve that which elevates us to such
consciousness,
does that energy simply end with
the death of the human brain?
Perhaps the most prominent and important factor
of Satanic belief is to oppose all and any organized religious thought but even more importantly to also oppose any preconceived
notions period, as they are infact the truth of others and not neccesarily YOU.
For me a god does not need the limitations
of human constraint and therefor makes use of such as a tool for the purpose of evolution to complete CONSCIOUS
godliness.
Again, for me,
such sightings over the years, the communication
with those who have shed their human shells is indeed factual, albeit unprovable to others.
But being this has become fact in my personal
existence,
and having seriously been open to many ideas,
beliefs and philosophies which in turn has deepened
my allegiance to Satanism ever further,
I will not deny that for me,
for my own personal truth,
there is indeed an afterlife
and as gods we continue to exist beyond
the death of our physical form.
In various practices which incorporate the ability
to leave the human body to enter the astral plane, one has developed this level of consciousness to the point of being able
to control energy in such form.
I adhere that death would be
synomynous with this phenomena.
You may have heard of the existence of the life
line, very much like an umbilical cord, which keeps the higher self connected to it's human form
and that is what seperates this astral existence
from death.
In death there is no longer a need to reconnect
to the physical body.
As man/woman is god in life,
so is he/she in death.
Those who have entailed what they
call alien abductions
are able to describe their experience with such
beings with total confidence in their accuracy,
the same is true of belief in any phenomena,
be it little green men, ghosts, santa clause or
a xian god.
Therefor,
in my own opinion and from my own experiences,
our energy does not end with physical death.
This is not to say that those who lean towards atheism
are not valid in their right to do so,
for as I have the right to my own truth based on
what my godliness is affirming for me,
so do they.
And I might add that even the xians, blind as they
may be, are infact perfectly entitled to such blindness.
Do not however take my word for your truth for that
is not
Satanic in anyway.
Do not adhere to anyone's beliefs but rather learn,
explore, expand, and create your own reality in the here and now that shall serve you in the there and later.
And should you discredit what comes after here and
now,
so be it.
Live each day as if it were your last because your
existence
as you know it in this very moment
will change.
Change is inevitable.
For this Satanist the journey is endless.
My opinions are based on personal experiences,
which in turn make up my truth and they are
infact still being formulated as long
as I am able to experience,
which for me until proven otherwise,
remains eternal.
As in life, so be it in death.
That is my truth.
Discover yours.
Rev. Stephania Dore 3/19/08
