Naming Names!

I have found that reading what others write...what conclusions they have come to regarding this, that and the other thing, often causes me to try to crystalize my own thoughts. That's why I read.

That being said, I want to reflect on a question I have been asked recently...

Why do you feel the need to label yourself? You know what you think...what difference does it make what you call it, if anything?

That question reminds me of the second movie I have ever seen on the big screen. The first movie was "Bambi". I was traumatized. His mother dies!!! The second movie my nurturing parents took me to see was "Rumpelstiltskin". I was traumatized. He kidnaps babies!!!

You surely remember the story. We have the virgin given a task because her drunken father was an empty blowhard. He kept telling these tall tales about what a great catch his daughter was, so the king held her to it. Not knowing what to do, in enters the bad guy. We know he is a bad guy, because he is a dwarf. If disney can't traumatize you by killing off someone's mother, by golly, he'll make sure you develop a healthy fear of dwarves, hags and witches! Sorry ladies. This dwarf had what a modern remake may call "mad skillz". He was able to spin straw into gold.

First night...he asked for her necklace...yeah, right. Second night, it was her ring; third night, her first born (can someone say goodbye virgin?)

Well, the king knew a good thing when hen saw it, and he married the girl. In no time, she had a son. Lickety split, enter Rumpelstiltskin, to claim his prize (in case you haven't been paying attention, he was the real father). There is only one way out of her plight...one way for her to gain power over Rumpelstiltskin...She had to name him. She had to identify who he was.

Congratulations to all of the little children who were dragged into theaters everywhere to see this movie. You have just been given your first lesson in magic. It is an ancient magical tradition to name something, in order to gain power over it. That is why demons were named, to gain power over them. That is why Jehovah is not a name. The Big Guy had no name. Why? To keep from being overpowered.

I have found that the most important thing for me to have power over, is myself. In following this ancient tradition, I named myself.

I see it in numerous introductions..."I feel the powers of Hell", "I feel the black flame burning", "I feel powerful". As trite as it may sound, when I made the solid proclamation, "I am a Satanist", the effect was immediate.
I felt a sense of power over myself. A sense of control over myself. A knowledge that I do, indeed, have the power to control my destiny. It was not the words, themselves; it was an embracing of the words...internalizing them.

After a while, I now know it is time to kick things up a notch. The technical name for that is a paradigm shift. So, I have decided to name myself again, by making a solid decision to join the Church.

The next time someone asks me why it is so important to label myself a Satanist, I'm just going to tell them the truth...it's magic.