Pope Leo XIII on Freedom

 Cristo Redentor - Rio de Janeiro (Corcovado) [click to enlarge]

This is another article on the writings of Pope Leo XIII. who lived from 1810 to 1903, and was Pope from 1878 until his death in 1903. In his writings he gives us a profound insight into the philosophical movements of the late 19th century. The ideas generated during that time have largely shaped our present day ideological struggles.

The Pope writes about communism, capitalism and even freemasons - all from a Christian perspective. And yes, from a distinctly Catholic point of view. He shares with the world his concerns about these competing ideologies and the impact that they could have on Christianity if left unchecked.

Today I want to focus on the encyclical "Libertas" written in 1888. "Libertas" means "liberty" or it could also be translated as "freedom". Either way we are well acquainted with this idea. From the Statue of Liberty to the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights - Americans love their freedom!

But the Pope's letter is actually a warning of the dangers inherent in too much freedom. It is the old story of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were free to do whatever they wished in this original Paradise, but if they partook of the Tree of Good and Evil then there would be a price to pay. And as it turned out the temptation was too great to resist.

The Pope begins by saying that freedom (liberty) is "the highest of natural endowments". He says this gift from God can be used by Man for "the highest good and the greatest evil". And as such this gift is "cherished by the Catholic Church". He quickly refutes the idea that the Church is "hostile to human liberty" as some have claimed. He insists we must come to fully appreciate "the very idea of freedom".

The Pope reminds us that the Church teaches that we all have "freedom of choice" (free will); that our lives are not pre-determined. So in a real sense we have the power to choose our destinies - to choose between right and wrong. And this is because we are made in the image of God and as such we are able to determine "what is true and good".

But while God has given Man a soul and the ability to reason, Man is not God! God is "infinitely perfect" while Man is imperfect. As a result Man can be easily be tempted by "something which is not really good, but which has the appearance of good".

And now the Pope reminds us of a bit of ancient wisdom, "the wise man alone is free". This sounds like a saying from a fortune cookie. What does it mean? When we foolishly succumb to temptation and become slaves to our desires, we are no longer free! We have lost our self-control and have become possessed by our darkest passions. Jesus says, "Whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin." (John 8:34)

So the Pope is telling us that it's really that simple. There is an intimate relationship between freedom and sin. If you want to be free, don't sin. When the Church teaches us not to sin, it is also teaching us how to be free. That's *real* freedom. Don't worry, you still have lots of other choices open to you that don't involve sin. You haven't given anything up, in fact you have opened up new possibilities now that you have freed yourself from sin.

Now, how do we know right from wrong? Well that's easy - just follow the law. But who's law? God's Law!

The Pope tells us that, "Nothing more foolish can be uttered or conceived than the notion that, because man is free by nature, he is therefore exempt from law." Oh, so you thought that being free meant that you could just ignore the law of God? Wr-o-ng! Try again.

And now comes a bit of papal humor, "Were this the case, it would follow that to become free we must be deprived of reason." Pretty funny, huh? Ok, I see you're not laughing, but instead are scratching your head. Alright, let me paint a picture for you. Imagine a 60s hippy high on LSD, dancing wildly, and shouting out, "I'm free! I'm free!" Yes, this is one of the messages that is often repeated like a mantra in today's society, "If you want to free yourself, you have to stop thinking and just let yourself go." In 1888, Pope Leo XIII rejected this notion and even ridiculed it.

Instead he says, "the truth is that we are bound to submit to law precisely because we are free by our very nature." We don't need to become free, we are already free. We were born free. Unlike other animals we have a soul, and we can know right from wrong, and we have the freedom to choose. The lesser animals are not "bound" by God's law. They simply follow their instincts. And in fact you could say that they are slaves to their instincts. They have no choice whether to kill or not to kill.

But we, who are children of God, have a special place in creation. We alone are "bound" by His law. And it's by submitting to His law that we become truly free.

The Pope closes this section by saying, "law is the guide of man's actions; it turns him toward good by its rewards, and deters him from evil by its punishments." Remember this is Divine Law that he is referring to here. Something tells me that our current system of laws has some major flaws, because sometimes it seems we are punished for doing good, and rewarded for doing evil. But I suppose this is to be expected in this earthly world in which we live.

Jesus did not become human to build a earthly paradise; His Kingdom is in Heaven. The Church warns us about those who promise a Utopia on Earth. The worker's paradise of the Soviet Union turned into a living hell for millions; as did also Mao's promise of earthly bliss. Likewise the French Revolution was heaven only for those who reveled in the sight of blood and heads rolling off the guillotine.

I could go on, but I think it is best to leave it here. I've covered only the opening parts of this encyclical. There is so much more in this document about the various freedoms that we take for granted like freedom of religion, speech and the press. In discussing this encyclical I hope I've given you an appreciation for the writings of Pope Leo XIII. (You can find all of his encyclicals here.)

Pope Leo XIII on marriage

I've been trying to write a post on Pope Leo XIII, but I finally decided the best thing is just to let him speak for himself by placing some quotes from one of his documents here. (The style of writing is a bit outdated, but the message is very up to date - if not prophetic.)

Excerpts from "Pope Leo XIII - Arcanum - On Christian Marriage - 10 February 1880"

"It is a reproach to some of the ancients that they showed themselves the enemies of marriage in many ways; but in our own age, much more pernicious is the sin of those who would fain pervert utterly the nature of marriage, perfect though it is, and complete in all its details and parts."

"...they attribute all power over marriage to civil rulers, and allow none whatever to the Church; and, when the Church exercises any such power, they think that she acts either by favor of the civil authority or to its injury. Now is the time, they say, for the heads of the State to vindicate their rights unflinchingly, and to do their best to settle all that relates to marriage according as to them seems good. "

"Nevertheless, the naturalists, as well as all who profess that they worship above all things the divinity of the State... cannot escape the charge of delusion. Marriage has God for its Author, and was from the very beginning a kind of foreshadowing of the Incarnation of His Son; and therefore there abides in it a something holy and religious; not extraneous, but innate; not derived from men, but implanted by nature."

"...marriage is holy by its own power, in its own nature, and of itself, it ought not to be regulated and administered by the will of civil rulers, but by the divine authority of the Church..."

"Let no one, then, be deceived by the distinction which some civil jurists have so strongly insisted upon—the distinction, namely, by virtue of which they sever the matrimonial contract from the sacrament.. A distinction, or rather severance, of this kind cannot be approved; for certain it is that in Christian marriage the contract is inseparable from the sacrament..."

"...it is clear that among Christians every true marriage is, in itself and by itself, a sacrament; and that nothing can be further from the truth than to say that the sacrament is a certain added ornament, or outward endowment, which can be separated and torn away from the contract at the caprice of man. Neither, therefore, by reasoning can it be shown, nor by any testimony of history be proved, that power over the marriages of Christians has ever lawfully been handed over to the rulers of the State. If, in this matter, the right of anyone else has ever been violated, no one can truly say that it has been violated by the Church. Would that the teaching of the naturalists, besides being full of falsehood and injustice, were not also the fertile source of much detriment and calamity! But it is easy to see at a glance the greatness of the evil which unhallowed marriages have brought, and ever will bring, on the whole of human society. "

"Now, those who deny that marriage is holy, and who relegate it, stripped of all holiness, among the class of common secular things, uproot thereby the foundations of nature, not only resisting the designs of Providence, but, so far as they can, destroying the order that God has ordained. No one, therefore, should wonder if from such insane and impious attempts there spring up a crop of evils pernicious in the highest degree both to the salvation of souls and to the safety of the commonwealth."

"...divorce once being tolerated, there will be no restraint powerful enough to keep it within the bounds marked out or pre-surmised. Great indeed is the force of example, and even greater still the might of passion. With such incitements it must needs follow that the eagerness for divorce, daily spreading by devious ways, will seize upon the minds of many like a virulent contagious disease, or like a flood of water bursting through every barrier."

"...all public society, will have unceasing cause to fear lest they should be miserably driven into that general confusion and overthrow of order which is even now the wicked aim of socialists and communists. Thus we see most clearly how foolish and senseless it is to expect any public good from divorce, when, on the contrary, it tends to the certain destruction of society."

[There are links to more of Pope Leo XIII's documents here. He lived from 1810 to 1903, and he was Pope from 1878 to 1903. He ushered the Church into the new century and prepared the Church for the an era in which the last monarchies would disappear from Europe.]

Gay "marriage": war against religion

I have been struggling to write a post about the gay "marriage" debate. I have come to realize that in some sense the whole gay "marriage" debate is just a smokescreen. The real fundamental battle is about religion.

Urakami Cathedral is a Catholic church that was at Ground Zero of the atomic bomb that the US dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. It was the largest Christian church in Asia at the time.

By placing the focus of the discussion on gay "marriage", the anti-religious (atheistic) forces have already won a strategic battle. They have focused the battle on the definition of marriage, but the long term war they are fighting is against religion. Marriage is a fundamental institution of religion. It is one of the few reminders in the every day life of modern society of the religious foundation of our culture.

Marriage has been under attack by the secular (atheistic) forces for many years. In fact these attacks could easily be traced back to the French Revolution. The philosophies that gave rise to the attacks against the Church at that time are again at work in attempting to destroy the Church today. Only now rather than directly burning churches to the ground, the tactic is to morally corrupt the society to the point where the churches collapse from within.

Marriage and the family are targets because they stand in the way of the "brave new world" envisioned by the forces of atheism. This vision is described in Aldous Huxley's novel by the same title. In this world, humans reproduce not through natural procreation, but instead through a manufacturing process.

As the Church is the greatest obstacle to achieving this vision, it is the Church that is under attack. The Church rightfully defends marriage and the family as part of God's Plan for humanity. The atheists see this Divine Plan as a way of keeping Man from achieving the status of a neo-God; a SuperMan; a Master Race. This vision of a Master Race was of course explicitly stated by Hitler and the Nazis, but it is no different from the ultimate goal of communism or capitalism.

This causes great confusion in terms of the politics of modern society. What hardly anyone seems to realize is that both liberals and conservatives have adopted the thinking of the French Revolution. Both streams of political thought see technological progress as the ultimate principle upon which to build society. This philosophy is inherently anti-religious and destructive to the moral life of mankind.

Even though many conservatives claim to be motivated by religion, they are so thoroughly indoctrinated by the rationalist (atheistic) philosophies that they steadily lose ground to the so-called liberals. In fact there is little difference between most conservatives and liberals. They are mostly just engaged in a battle between themselves for power over who will reap the economic benefits of the increasing secularism of society.

When I speak of religion I am mostly focused on the Catholic Church which is the original church of Christ, but the attack is equally aimed at all of Christianity. And what most Christians do not appreciate is that this same attack is aimed in other parts of the world on established organized religions such as Islam and Buddhism.

In order to effectively fight this war, Christianity must unite with Islam and Buddhism and other religious groups. The Catholic Church has been reaching out to Muslims for some time in hope of achieving just such a coalition. It should be no surprise that Catholicism and Islam are the main targets of the forces of atheism.

In the case of gay "marriage" we see how this attack works in the real world. The atheistic forces insist on a redefinition of marriage on a purely logical basis without any religious component. They insist that marriage is not a sacred union of man and woman, but simply a legal contract that is entered into between two people. They are supported in this by years of erosion of the concept of marriage by liberals and conservatives alike that have gradually given up ground on the sacred definition of marriage.

Once the "rights" of gays to marry are accepted, then this "right" is used as a club to further hammer upon the religious forces. When a Catholic group refuses to place children into adoption with gay parents then they are sued, and eventually they are forced to disband. What will happen when a priest refuses to marry a gay couple?

Already we have seen the case of a professor that was fired for stating the Catholic position on homosexuality. This was declared to be "hate speech".

But again, this is not fundamentally a battle about "gay rights". The Catholic Church and most Christians are not against homosexuals as persons, but against immoral behavior in general. This does not just include homosexual immorality, but includes all forms of sexual immorality. In fact the biggest problems in today's society with regards to immorality have to do with heterosexual activity such as sex outside of marriage and pornography directed at heterosexuals.

Many conservatives are not really interested in the subject of immorality, but are simply interested in using this debate as a way to further their cause. In doing this they often feed off of popular sentiment which is in fact very rabidly anti-homosexual and is not at all based on Christian beliefs. This only serves to further the cause of the atheists which try to paint Christians as hypocritical and hateful.

Gays should not get too comfortable with their apparent triumph, because when the ultimate plan for a Super Race is revealed they will most likely end up with the same status as they were given under the Third Reich. The doctrine of atheism does not look at people as children of God, but only as mere commodities. This is the path that society is on, and ultimately this leads to the concentration of power into the hands of a few for their singular benefit.

It is the very same forces of religion and specifically the Catholic Church that is the biggest impediment to the implementation of this Super Race. So even from a practical perspective, homosexuals would be better off supporting the Catholic Church. But ultimately, the battle that is being waged is a spiritual battle and only a profound faith in Christ can assure the ultimate victory.

I have written before about transhumanism. This is the new face of the Master Race. While this option looks tempting, providing such benefits as immortality - don't be fooled. These benefits will not be enjoyed by all, but will be limited to the few who will rule over the rest or will simply "eliminate" the masses that are not found to be useful to such a society.

Thankfully, after more than 2000 years, the Catholic Church is still a strong and vibrant force in the world. Next month, the Pope will travel to Great Britain to beatify Cardinal Newman. This will once again show the world the power of the Papacy. This power does not come from military force, but directly from God the Creator. Even England, where the schism between Catholicism and Protestantism began, must recognize this.

Not surprisingly, the forces of atheism in Great Britain are sponsors of the "Protest the Pope" campaign. At the head of this campaign is the British Humanist Association (BHA). You probably wouldn't know by their name that this is an atheist organization, and that this is one of the groups that has spearheaded much of the anti-religious campaigns worldwide. And in case you think that I'm going too far in calling them atheist then just look at one of their own statements, "Humanists do not believe in a God or gods, or any other supernatural or divine entities." This sounds like a pretty good definition for atheism.

Now look at more of their self-definition, "Humanism is the view that we can make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values and that we can live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." Sadly, this Cult of Reason has been infecting our society, and even many Christian denominations. The is the same Cult of Reason that provides the basic philosophy for both liberals and conservatives and is the reason why they are essentially the same.

[Note: During the French Revolution religion was abolished and the Cult of Reason was instituted to replace it. At that time Catholic priests were forced to swear an oath of fidelity to the state or be sentenced to death. Many priests refused. This was part of an organized campaign to "dechristianize" France. It was at this time that marriage first became a secular institution in France.]

Not surprisingly when it comes to gay "marriage", the BHA is one of the leaders, "we oppose discrimination against same-sex couples, where civil partnerships represent an unsatisfactory compromise."

And looking further on the BHA website, we can clearly see the reason that compromises like "civil union" are not considered to be acceptable. It is because "civil unions" are strictly licensed by the state, whereas marriage is a religious institution. Once gay "marriage" becomes well established, then the gay community (serving as a proxy for the atheists) will demand to be married within the Church. This is the confrontation that the atheist forces are ultimately determined to create. This is the way that they hope to inflict a mortal blow on the Church and religion in general.

Do not be fooled; this is not just a battle about gay "marriage", this is a war against religion. It's time to take a stand and begin to fight back.

Epilogue

I can't end this post without mentioning that one of the past presidents of the British Humanist Association was none other than Julian Huxley. He was the brother of Aldous Huxley, the author of "Brave New World". The Huxley family has been one of the leaders of the eugenics movement. Please see my post, "Agnostica Eugenica Transhumana - A Dragon's tail".

Who was Dolores Hart?

Was Elvis Catholic? No, but then again why did he sing a song called "the Miracle of the Rosary" in 1971?



This is not your typical pop song. It contains the full text of the Holy Rosary. Here are the lyrics of the song.

Oh blessed Mother we pray to Thee
Thanks for the miracle of your rosary
Only you can hold back
Your holy Son's hand
Long enough for the whole world to understand

Hail, Mary full of grace
The Lord is with thee
Blessed are thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus
Oh holy Mary dear mother of God
Please pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death

And give thanks once again
For the miracle of your rosary

Maybe this was sung in tribute to an old friend, Dolores Hart. Her story stands out as someone who at the peak of her stardom in Hollywood, decided to turn away and leave it all behind.

Who was Dolores Hart? She was born Dolores Hicks. She was the young starlet that gave Elvis his first onscreen kiss in the movie "Loving You (1957)"; she was one of the stars of the classic spring break flick "Where the Boys Are (1960)".

She later starred in the role of St. Clare in the movie "Francis of Assisi (1961)". During the filming she met Pope John XXIII. She greeted the Pontiff with the words, "I am Dolores Hart, the actress playing Clara." He responded, "No, you are Clara! ("Tu sei Chiara" — in Italian)."

In this scene from the movie, she accepts her vows as a nun - and her beautiful long blonde hair is sheared off.



Two years later in 1963 - to the bewilderment of Hollywood - she would become a nun in real life. She was just 24 years old. Dolores Hart ceased to exist. She is now Mother Dolores having become the  Prioress of the Abbey in 2001.

For the rest of the story watch this very rare 2002 interview with Mother Dolores. (You can also read the story here.)



I think her opening statement in the interview pretty much says it all. "Once you have decided to become a public figure, you've made an agreement with your audience. And it's a lifetime agreement. So even if you pull away, there is a part of you that - you can't just say you no longer belong. You do!"

This is the Faustian bargain (deal with the Devil) that stardom required then and now. All the would-be future Britney Spears should stop to consider this - are all the riches and fame truly worth the price that must be paid?

Spiritual medicine from a "little flower"

I had been feeling so very sorry for myself. The reason was that I had for a time been filled with the Holy Spirit. It had given me a divine gift of so much energy and insight. And seemingly out of nowhere, the gift was taken away from me. And I felt submerged in a kind of murky darkness. I felt sapped of energy and where before I felt guided by the Holy Spirit, now I felt lost.

Where before I saw the path illuminated before me -  like the luminous footprints in Michael Jackson's Billy Jean video - now I felt as if there was a blindfold placed over my eyes which no matter how hard I tried, I could not remove. "Woe is me," thought I to myself. I feared something terrible might happen to me, and yet how could I complain? My health was good, I was not "suffering" under any great pain. And yet there were days that I would wake up on Sunday with the best intentions of going to Mass and yet end up spending the day at home. What was happening? Had I lost my faith?

I began to question everything I did, and everything I had done in the recent past. Had I abused my gift of the Holy Spirit? My mind was filled with doubt.

And then I was guided to read from a book I have had for many years that had been sitting on a table almost directly in front of me for the past month or more. And yet I hadn't opened it in all that time. Perhaps I was afraid to read what it had to say to me. Or perhaps God had just been waiting for the right time to reveal its truths to me.

The book is the "Story of a Soul" and it is the autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux - also known as "the little flower". I've never read all the way through it. Perhaps that is because every time I open it to a random page, I become quickly absorbed in a particular revelation of "the little flower" about her interior spiritual life.

In this case I turned to a page that I had previously bookmarked. I suppose I should write notes on my bookmarks so that I can remember the reason that it seemed so important to me at the time. As it was I had no clue and so I began to search the two opposing pages for an answer to this puzzle.

And once again I became absorbed and began reading and turning pages, and my search became a voyage of discovery. I don't remember ever reading these pages, but then at the same time I felt a sense of déjà vu. And as I read I could clearly hear the voice of the little flower speaking to me, I began to realize that here was an answer to a question that had been troubling me for a long time - perhaps most of my life. It was not the answer that I expected and so at first I thought it must be wrong, but then it slowly dawned on me that it was I who had been wrong all along. And that early morning light of dawn suddenly turned into a bright sun appearing over the horizon as if in an epiphany. I felt I had nothing to envy of St. Paul who saw the light on the road to Damascus. No, I was not literally knocked off my horse, but I was perhaps figuratively "knocked off my high horse".

Hear then, the words of a Saint...

St. Thérèse - the little flower

-----
[Excerpts from "Story of a Soul - the autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux"]

You know it has ever been my desire to become a Saint, but I have
always felt, in comparing myself with the Saints, that I am as far
removed from them as the grain of sand, which the passer-by
tramples underfoot, is remote from the mountain whose summit is
lost in the clouds.

Instead of being discouraged, I concluded that God would not
inspire desires which could not be realised, and that I may aspire
to sanctity in spite of my littleness. For me to become great is
impossible. I must bear with myself and my many imperfections; but
I will seek out a means of getting to Heaven by a little way--very
short and very straight, a little way that is wholly new. We live
in an age of inventions; nowadays the rich need not trouble to
climb the stairs, they have lifts instead. Well, I mean to try and
find a lift by which I may be raised unto God, for I am too tiny
to climb the steep stairway of perfection. I have sought to find
in Holy Scripture some suggestion as to what this lift might be
which I so much desired, and I read these words uttered by the
Eternal Wisdom Itself: "Whosoever is a little one, let him come to
Me."[4] Then I drew near to God, feeling sure that I had
discovered what I sought; but wishing to know further what He
would do to the little one, I continued my search and this is what
I found: "You shall be carried at the breasts and upon the knees;
as one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you."[5]

Never have I been consoled by words more tender and sweet. Thine
Arms, then, O Jesus, are the lift which must raise me up even unto
Heaven. To get there I need not grow; on the contrary, I must
remain little, I must become still less.

[I'm reversing my standard mode of operation, and allowing St. Thérèse to act as the author of this entry. My comments are in these block quotes. The book can be found online here. Also, there are a few different translations available. The one in the book that I have is slightly different from the one online.]

In this passage we see the grace of humility beautifully expressed as our little flower describes her desire to be as a child sitting on the lap of Jesus.

The Bible passages cited are:
[4] Proverbs 9:4
[5] Isaiah 66:13, 12

[Note: The word "lift" in this passage means "elevator".]

A little while later Thérèse tells us of her suffering. She begins with this introduction.

My soul has known trials of many kinds. I have suffered much on
this earth. In my childhood I suffered with sadness, but now I
find sweetness in all things. Anyone but you, dear Mother, who
know me thoroughly, would smile at reading these pages, for has
ever a soul seemed less tried than mine? But if the martyrdom
which I have endured for the past year were made known, how
astonished everyone would be! Since it is your wish I will try to
describe it, but there are no words really to explain these
things. The words will always fall short of the reality.

Thérèse at once tells us that she is suffering greatly, and yet that by external appearances it would seem that she is barely suffering at all. What is this inner torment which she is about to describe? Apparently it is not the first signs of tuberculosis that she soon discovers. In fact this brings her happiness because she sees it as a call to join Jesus in Heaven.

During Lent last year I felt much better than ever and continued
so until Holy Week, in spite of the fast which I observed in all
its rigour. But in the early hours of Good Friday, Jesus gave me
to hope that I should soon join Him in His beautiful Home. How
sweet is this memory!

I could not obtain permission to remain watching at the Altar of
Repose throughout the Thursday night, and I returned to our cell
at midnight. Scarcely was my head laid on the pillow when I felt a
hot stream rise to my lips. I thought I was going to die, and my
heart nearly broke with joy. But as I had already put out our
lamp, I mortified my curiosity until the morning and slept in
peace. At five o'clock, when it was time to get up, I remembered
at once that I had some good news to learn, and going to the
window I found, as I had expected, that our handkerchief was
soaked with blood. Dearest Mother, what hope was mine! I was
firmly convinced that on this anniversary of His Death, my Beloved
had allowed me to hear His first call, like a sweet, distant
murmur, heralding His joyful approach.

To our modern ears, so obsessed with youth and vigor, these words seem strange indeed. It speaks of an attitude towards Death which seems foreign. And yet, we are all destined to depart from this Earth. Our unspoken fear of Death and suffering is a symptom of the spiritual malaise of our times.

As she is nearing Death, she contemplates the fate of those who approach Death without the spiritual gifts of Faith and Hope.

Still full of joy, I returned to our cell on the evening of that
happy day, and was quietly falling asleep, when my sweet Jesus
gave me the same sign as on the previous night, of my speedy
entrance to Eternal Life. I felt such a clear and lively Faith
that the thought of Heaven was my sole delight. I could not
believe it possible for men to be utterly devoid of Faith, and I
was convinced that those who deny the existence of another world
really lie in their hearts.

But during the Paschal days, so full of light, our Lord made me
understand that there really are in truth souls bereft of Faith
and Hope, who, through abuse of grace, lose these precious
treasures, the only source of pure and lasting joy.

Thérèse then reveals her true saintly genius when she describes a deep depression that envelops her.

He allowed my
soul to be overwhelmed with darkness, and the thought of Heaven,
which had consoled me from my earliest childhood, now became a
subject of conflict and torture. This trial did not last merely
for days or weeks; I have been suffering for months, and I still
await deliverance. I wish I could express what I feel, but it is
beyond me. One must have passed through this dark tunnel to
understand its blackness. However, I will try to explain it by
means of a comparison.

Let me suppose that I had been born in a land of thick fogs, and
had never seen the beauties of nature, or a single ray of
sunshine, although I had heard of these wonders from my early
youth, and knew that the country wherein I dwelt was not my real
home--there was another land, unto which I should always look
forward. Now this is not a fable, invented by an inhabitant of the
land of fogs, it is the solemn truth, for the King of that sunlit
country dwelt for three and thirty years in the land of darkness,
and alas!--the darkness did not understand that He was the Light
of the World._[11]

[...]

When my heart, weary of the surrounding darkness, tries to find
some rest in the thought of a life to come, my anguish increases.
It seems to me that out of the darkness I hear the mocking voice
of the unbeliever: "You dream of a land of light and fragrance,
you dream that the Creator of these wonders will be yours for
ever, you think one day to escape from these mists where you now
languish. Nay, rejoice in death, which will give you, not what you
hope for, but a night darker still, the night of utter
nothingness!" . . .

Here she describes beautifully the siren's song of our godless modern society. No wonder that depression is epidemic in our society - just look at the huge sale of anti-depressants. The little flower in her simple way is revealing to us the true cause of this infirmity. No wonder that Pope John Paul II made her a Doctor of the Church. She truly has the correct diagnosis and the cure for the greatest disease that afflicts modern man. For disease does not just come from bacteria and virus - these are diseases of the physical body - but there are also spiritual diseases that afflict the soul. For these, the pharmaceutical companies have no cure. At best, they can attempt to cover up the symptoms. But search as they may for a physical source to these maladies, they continuously come up empty.

Here is where Reason fails, and Faith must take over. Why is this so difficult for our Modern Sciences to accept? The ancients understood this well, but our modern egos do not allow us to accept that there is a God that is greater than Man.

In abandoning Faith and embracing Reason as the sole source of Truth, we plunge into the abyss of atheism and agnosticism. To avoid seeing the true nature of this false world, we obsess over youth and earthly delights. We say this is based on reality, and yet we refuse to confront the ultimate reality of Death and all its implications. Without knowing it, we actually end up embracing Death. But not Death as a door to another world, but Death as "utter nothingness". What meaning then do our earthly lives have?

Shortly after this, Thérèse describes her ordeals with Satan as she pleads with Jesus for the souls of the unbelievers.

Each time that my enemy would provoke me to combat, I behave as a
gallant soldier. I know that a duel is an act of cowardice, and
so, without once looking him in the face, I turn my back on the
foe, then I hasten to my Saviour, and vow that I am ready to shed
my blood in witness of my belief in Heaven. I tell him, if only He
will deign to open it to poor unbelievers, I am content to
sacrifice all pleasure in the thought of it as long as I live. And
in spite of this trial, which robs me of all comfort, I still can
say: "Thou hast given me, O Lord, delight in all Thou dost."[13]
For what joy can be greater than to suffer for Thy Love? The more
the suffering is and the less it appears before men, the more is
it to Thy Honour and Glory. Even if--but I know it to be
impossible--Thou shouldst not deign to heed my sufferings, I
should still be happy to bear them, in the hope that by my tears I
might perhaps prevent or atone for one sin against Faith.

Her belief in Heaven is unshakeable. Here in this passage I think I am hearing through Thérèse the thoughts of the martyrs as they went bravely to their deaths, praising Jesus and accepting their fates as God's will. These acts of self-sacrifice and martyrdom inspired many of the early Christians to believe, and even today is part of the reason for the quick spread of Christianity wherever it is openly persecuted.

We live in a society where Christians are not physically persecuted. And yet there is a pernicious form of persecution that the little flower describes so well here. Satan is indeed hard at work spreading the "sin against Faith", and turning young children of faith into "poor unbelievers". Those who believe in Heaven like St. Thérèse are ridiculed. "Prove it!" they say. They might as well be in the crowd before Pilate crying "Crucify Him!"

This is indeed ironic because the rational Roman governor, Pilate, could find no reason to sentence Jesus to death, while it was the religious leaders of the time that demanded he be crucified. Today it is the voice of Reason that leads the call for the banning of religion from public places - a virtual death sentence for Christianity even more slow and torturous than crucifixion.

Christ addressed this modern crisis of Faith when he spoke these words to the Apostle Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

Thérèse then speaks to those who have lost their Faith. She speaks of a period she calls "the night of my soul". How many of us have not experienced the same feeling of being lost? Indeed these are perhaps the words that spoke most directly to me in my situation. But what is most surprising and uplifting is her response to this inner suffering.

When I sing of the happiness of Heaven and the eternal possession
of God, I do not feel any joy therein, for I sing only of what I
wish to believe. Sometimes, I confess, a little ray of sunshine
illumines my dark night, and I enjoy peace for an instant, but
later, the remembrance of this ray of light, instead of consoling
me, makes the blackness thicker still.

And yet never have I felt so deeply how sweet and merciful is the
Lord. He did not send me this heavy cross when it might have
discouraged me, but at a time when I was able to bear it. Now it
simply takes from me all natural satisfaction I might feel in my
longing for Heaven.

Here, the little flower reveals her saintly secret to us. Even though she had lost the belief of her upcoming "happiness in Heaven" she still retained her Faith - her "wish to believe". And it was this Faith that sustained her through her "night of my soul".

It was a Faith that she had nurtured through many years of prayer and devotion. So that when the inevitable time of spiritual drought came she had a silo full not of grain - fruit of the earth - but of manna from Heaven. Even an extended siege from the enemy could not defeat her. Her castle walls were not built of rocks from the Earth, but of Heavenly blocks of Faith piled up high - so strong that the continuous bombardment from the enemy could not even begin to make an impression.

In the world in which we live it takes the Faith of a saint to survive. We are surrounded by voices whispering to us that "God is Dead". They do not shout it, but the incessant message has its effect - like water eroding the canyon walls. And we barely notice that we are sinking steadily deeper into oblivion.

Death is the ultimate reminder; death is the great equalizer. Perhaps we live too long today; perhaps we don't experience enough Death to remind us of the Life that comes after Death. I leave you with one final passage from St. Thérèse that touches on these themes. Here, Thérèse recalls an event from when she was 10 years old, soon after a period of serious illness.

I must now continue my story where I left off. Three months after
my cure Papa took me away for a change. It was a very pleasant
time, and I began to see something of the world. All around me was
joy and gladness; I was petted, made much of, admired--in fact,
for a whole fortnight my path was strewn with flowers. The Wise
Man is right when he says: "The bewitching of vanity overturneth
the innocent mind."[2] At ten years of age the heart is easily
fascinated, and I confess that in my case this kind of life had
its charms. Alas! the world knows well how to combine its
pleasures with the service of God. How little it thinks of death!
And yet death has come to many people I knew then, young, rich,
and happy. I recall to mind the delightful places where they
lived, and ask myself where they are now, and what profit they
derive to-day from the beautiful houses and grounds where I saw
them enjoying all the good things of this life, and I reflect that
"All is vanity besides loving God and serving Him alone."[3]

Thérèse warns us that with prosperity comes also the looming risk of falling into decadence.

Bible passages quoted here are:
[2] Wisdom 4:12
[3] Ecclesiastes 2:11

I encourage all of you to learn more about St. Thérèse. She died at the age of 24 in 1897. I seem to be strangely drawn to this period in history - the latter half of the 19th century. The spiritual struggles of that time seem to foretell the ultimate fate of 20th century man.

On a related note, I hope to write in the near future about Pope Leo XIII who has come to fascinate me. He was Pope from 1878 to 1903. In his encyclicals he displays an almost prophetic vision of the 20th century. It is curious that St. Thérèse met him as a young girl. In a comical scene, she threw herself at him and begged him to let her become a Carmelite nun at the tender age of just 15. The Swiss guards had to drag her away. The Pope's fatherly reply was "You will enter if it is God's Will". As it turned out, it was God's will. Perhaps one day my beloved Pope Leo XIII will be recognized as a saint - just like the young girl that humbled herself at his feet.

The Disney deception

WARNING: Even a small dose of "fairy dust" may be lethal to your eternal spotless soul.

A little "angel" spoke to me. You may know her from her comments and also the NASA article - Orion's Belt Tied Around Freemason Astronauts. Her name is "Lenci" which is short for Valencia.

Disney's Magic Kingdom

Here is Lenci's comment which inspired me to write this article.

I was just sitting here contemplating this “weapon of mass destruction”, that being the music industry. As I watched Rihanna’s performance video on the Nickelodeon Awards, it occurred to me that the devil’s agenda is so evident yet our children have no idea (and that’s partly due to parents ignorance) of his plan to kill them! I know that sounded harsh, but it’s a reality. Seeing that satan was the minister of music in Heaven, it’s only fitting that his biggest weapon be music. It harmonizes perfectly (literally) with captivating the soul to its’ attractiveness. For me, music takes me to another dimension within my subconscious which is why it’s utterly important that I listen to positive, uplifting and God-praising music. At one time, I was heavily addicted to rock music and could never understand why I felt so drained every time I stopped listening to it. Now, I know it was the power of persuasion it had on me. I’d bob my head back and forth so hard I’d feel a second shy of having a seizure.

My heart cries out for Miley as she didn’t ask to be a product of MK. If the DNA factor is the culprit, well that would mean her deception was already predestined before she was even conceived. Which leads me to ask: “Does satan have the power to foresee his plan for someone who hasn’t even been born yet”? Sometimes I think, I think too hard……..

When she talked about Miley and that she might have been "predestined" to play this role, my first reaction was to immediately dismiss this possibility. But her comment merged in my mind with other comments I had read on other sites about the pattern of the careers of Disney child stars once they leave the "Magic Kingdom".

And I was also thinking about my last article on Cognitive Dissonance with regards to Miley's "Can't be tamed" video. And it occurred to me that a key element in this cog-diss was the previous Christian image that had been created around Miley's persona...

...

... Could it be that this was all an intentional setup? A cynical con game? First lure in the suckers with a few rounds where their Christian God is the winner, and then when the stakes get high and all the souls of young teenage girls are on the table, the skilled master of slight-of-hand pulls out an unseen Ace from up his sleeve and cleans up.

Is that what this game is all about? First the "good" salesman, Disney, woos the parents of young girls until he gains their confidence and they offer their young offspring up to follow this seemingly harmless pied piper as he leads them dancing and singing through the Magic Kingdom.

The old evil Mickey vs. the new good Mickey

Mickey Mouse will get his debut feature game on the Wii with the newly announced Disney Epic Mickey... Looking at the screenshots and artwork it looks like Warren has taken Mickey back to its original roots with a more evil and mischievous look.

In the game’s fiction, a sorcerer named Yen Sid creates a beautiful, whimsically-twisted world where Disney’s forgotten and retired creations thrive. Originally, the powerful sorcerer from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in Walt Disney’s 1940 film “Fantasia” was nicknamed “Yen Sid” [Disney spelled backwards] by Disney animators, although never named as such on screen. In Spector’s game, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – Walt Disney’s first cartoon star created in 1927 – becomes the earliest inhabitant of Yen Sid’s Cartoon Wasteland after Mickey Mouse is created. Oswald makes the Cartoon Wasteland comfortable for other retired characters as they join him in this magical land. Years pass, and as Oswald dwells in the Cartoon Wasteland, he becomes resentful watching Mickey’s popularity swell. When Mickey curiously stumbles upon Yen Sid’s map, he makes an innocent yet terrible mistake and inadvertently devastates Oswald’s comfortable world. Eventually, Mickey’s mistake pulls him deep into the mysterious Cartoon Wasteland to face the destruction he unknowingly created.

And then once the young girls and their parents have dropped all their defenses and have entrusted all their hopes and dreams with him, this "good" salesman hands the "customer" off to his evil manager to finish the deal. By now the trusting parents and their naive young children are willing to sign any papers that are placed before them without even bothering to read them, because they have grown to trust this "company" through their long and personal relationship.

Having obtained the signatures from the parents granting him guardianship over the souls of their offspring the evil manager then sells the contract to his partners in this infernal business - the record companies, MTV, etc.

It sounds like the plot of a Disney cartoon - perhaps "101 Dalmatians" or "Snow White" - with an "evil witch" stand-in character and everything. Could this "fantasy" actually be a hidden warning about the reality of Disney's machinations?

Remember Pinocchio? I suggest reading Vigilant Citizen's article, "The Esoteric Interpretation of Pinocchio", which analyzes this Freemason inspired story to learn how this seemingly innocent tale is fraught with anti-Christian messages.

Remember the "Blue Fairy" in Pinocchio? (My notes appear in square brackets - "[]".)

The “Blue Fairy”, the representative of the Great God, then descends to earth to give Pinocchio a spark of the Universal Mind, the “Nous” of the Gnostics.

“It was affirmed by the Gnostic Christians that the redemption of humanity was assured through the descent of Nous (Universal Mind), who was a great spiritual being superior to the Demiurgus [creator god] and who, entering into the constitution of man, conferred conscious immortality upon the Demiurgic fabrications [mankind?].”
- Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages.

Who are the Gnostics?

The Gnostics, it is true, borrowed their terminology almost entirely from existing religions, but they only used it to illustrate their great idea of the essential evil of this present existence and the duty to escape it by the help of magic spells and a superhuman Saviour.
...
This utter pessimism, bemoaning the existence of the whole universe as a corruption and a calamity, with a feverish craving to be freed from the body of this death and a mad hope that, if we only knew, we could by some mystic words undo the cursed spell of this existence — this is the foundation of all Gnostic thought.
...
The second great component of Gnostic thought is magic, properly so called, i.e. the power ex opere operato of weird names, sounds, gestures, and actions, as also the mixture of elements to produce effects totally disproportionate to the cause. These magic formulae, which caused laughter and disgust to outsiders, are not a later and accidental corruption, but an essential part of Gnosticism, for they are found in all forms of Christian Gnosticism and likewise in Mandaeism. No Gnosis was essentially complete without the knowledge of the formulae, which, once pronounced, were the undoing of the higher hostile powers. Magic is the original sin of Gnosticism, nor is it difficult to guess whence it is inherited. To a certain extent it formed part of every pagan religion, especially the ancient mysteries, yet the thousands of magic tablets unearthed is Assyria and Babylonia show us where the rankest growth of magic was to be found.

This gives a whole new meaning to Disney's "Magic Kingdom", doesn't it? Consider this. When is the last time you heard Christ mentioned on the Disney Channel?

Another connection to Miley Cyrus and the Great Whore of Babylon

Coincidentally, Gnosticism seems to have its origins in Babylon. This struck me when I read it because in my first article on Miley's "Can't be tamed" video I drew parallels between the manner in which Miley was depicted and the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. And I mentioned specifically the conquest of Babylon by the Persian (Iranian) king Cyrus the Great.

Cyrus the Great - King of Persia and conquerer of Babylon

And again going back to Lenci's comment, Miley's last name, Cyrus, coincides with the name of this great conqueror who is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. So is it possible as Lenci suggests that Miley was pre-destined to play the role of Ishtar? I have no comment, but it is a disturbing thought nonetheless.

When Cyrus [the Great of Persia] entered Babylon in 539 B.C., two great worlds of thought met, and syncretism in religion, as far as we know it, began. Iranian thought began to mix with the ancient civilization of Babylon. The idea of the great struggle between evil and good, ever continuing in this universe, is the parent idea of Mazdeism, or Iranian dualism. This, and the imagined existence of numberless intermediate spirits, angels and devas, are the conviction which overcame the contentedness of Semitism.

On the other hand, the unshakable trust in astrology, the persuasion that the planetary system had a fatalistic influence on this world's affairs, stood its ground on the soil of Chaldea. The greatness of the Seven — the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn — the sacred Hebdomad, symbolized for millenniums by the staged towers of Babylonia, remained undiminished. They ceased, indeed, to be worshipped as deities, but they remained archontes and dynameis, rules and powers whose almost irresistible force was dreaded by man. Practically, they were changed from gods to devas, or evil spirits. The religions of the invaders and of the invaded effected a compromise: the astral faith of Babylon was true, but beyond the Hebodomad [the seven divinities as represented by celestial bodies] was the infinite light in the Ogdoad [Supreme being - Lucifer?], and every human soul had to pass the adverse influence of the god or gods of the Hebdomad [the seven divinities] before it could ascend to the only good God beyond. This ascent of the soul through the planetary spheres to the heaven beyond (an idea not unknown even to ancient Babylonian speculations) began to be conceived as a struggle with adverse powers, and became the first and predominant idea in Gnosticism.

Let me attempt to summarize this passage, and explain its significance. Gnosticism first appeared when the Persians - today's Iran - conquered the Babylonians. As I mentioned in my previous article - Miley Cyrus - the Great Whore of Babylon - the rulers of Babylon at the time of the conquest were the Chaldeans. And the Chaldean's worshiped the female goddess Ishtar, who we know from the Bible as the Great Whore of Babylon. And as I also mentioned, Miley's public persona seems to be fashioned after Ishtar.

Gnosticism then emerges out of the syncretism of Persian and Chaldean (Babylonian) religious beliefs. Syncretism simply means the combining of two religions into one. In this new religion a supreme god emerges. It's not clear whether that supreme god is in some way related to Ishtar, but I have my suspicions that it is.

Ishtar is also Venus (the love-sex goddess), the morning star. And Lucifer also refers to the morning star. Prometheus as we have seen is closely related to Lucifer since they are both bringers of light/fire to the mortals on Earth. This brings me to the conclusion that Ishtar is a female manifestation of Lucifer-Prometheus. And that Ishtar-Lucifer-Prometheus is the supreme god of the Gnostics. But I want to emphasize that the origins lie with the Chaldean (Babylonian) goddess of Ishtar which was then adopted by the conquering Persians and transformed to fit into their system of beliefs.

Since the Persians at that time controlled the greatest empire in the western world, these beliefs would have been able to spread widely throughout the Persian Empire. Then when the Persians were conquered by Alexander the Great of Greece (actually Macedonia), they could have spread even farther while going through another syncretic transformation. And when finally the Romans conquered the Greeks, there would have been yet another transformation and further dissemination of the Gnostic beliefs and the accompanying cult of Ishtar.

This would have come to an abrupt halt with the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 312 A.D. It can be assumed that the Christians would not have tolerated the lack of morality and the use of sex in religious ceremonies that traces it roots back to the cult of Ishtar. From thereon the Gnostic church would have been forced to go underground and its followers would have had to disguise their beliefs and system of worship by pretending to be worshipers of Christ.

This is similar to the actions of the Freemasons, who do not worship the God of the Christian faith, but some other supreme being whom many have concluded to be Lucifer. And if my suspicions are correct than Lucifer himself is a disguise for Ishtar. While Lucifer is publicly promoted through the myth of  Prometheus as publicly displayed in Rockefeller Center and as symbolically depicted in the current Iron Man 2 movie.

Since Ishtar is connected to Lucifer through the origins of the Gnostic beliefs in Babylon, any association of Miley Cyrus with Ishtar actually takes on a much greater significance.

It is important to understand how the Gnostics view the God of the Bible. The Christian God is viewed as a "false god" which is inferior and subordinate to the supreme being of the Gnostics. He is also associated with Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, which again makes the connection with Greek myth of Prometheus.

The introduction of a distinct creator God or demiurge. Which is an illusion and as a later emanation from the single monad or source, this second God is a lesser and inferior or false God. [or "God of the masses"]
...
The demiurge as a tyrannical God having caused the imperfect material world and all of its suffering, is as the creator God of the pagan philosophers (Zeus) and the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic creator God (Yahweh or Adonai) not real but a construct or illusion of the human mind (as nous).

Given all this, we can see the connection between Gnosticism, Freemasons and the occult. And we can see how Disney through its promotion of "magic" assists this coalition in achieving their goals. It should not, then, come as a complete surprise that Disney would be used to cultivate young female talents which can be ritualistically transformed into new age priestesses of the cult of Ishtar - the Great Whore of Babylon.

Was Walt Disney a Freemason?

Yes and no. Like ex-President Bill Clinton, Walt Disney belonged to a Freemason youth group called the "Order of DeMolay".

Walt Disney's evil alter ego - "Yen Sid"

It appears to me from the information below that Walt Disney inserted himself into the well-known Disney classic "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", from the 1940 film Fantasia. His alter ego is a powerful magician.

Sid is also the name of the "disturbed, hyperactive, sadistic 10-year-old boy and the main antagonist" of the original Toy Story computer animated film. Sid is short for "Sidney", which is of course an anagram for Disney. Toy Story was significant because "it was the first feature film released to use only computer-generated imagery."

From Wikipedia's entry on "Yen Sid".

Yen Sid ["Disney" spelled backwards] is the powerful sorcerer in the segment The Sorcerer's Apprentice, from Disney's 1940 film Fantasia. He appears as an old man with a long beard and robes that extended to the floor....Film historians believed Fred Moore [see below] added the same sized nose as Walt Disney's nose, and even added the same eyebrow length as Walt Disney's eyebrows.

Yen Sid serves as the sorcerer under whom Mickey Mouse is an apprentice. After executing a series of spells of summoning light out of a skull, changing its appearance as Mickey witnessed it while in the middle of his chores, Yen Sid decides to take a rest as he leaves his hat behind. From there, Mickey takes the hat and uses its magic to bring a broom to life...

Walt Disney wearing a not-so-magic hat

Yen Sid giving Mickey the Evil Eye for stealing his Wizard's Hat

From Wikipedia's Fantasia article.

After nearly drowning in a giant whirlpool, Mickey is rescued by the wizard [Yen Sid], who returns and magically halts the flood and causes all the brooms to vanish. Angrily, he surveys the damage wrought by his apprentice (giving what Disney animators termed "The Dirty Disney Look"; the one raised eyebrow was an oft-repeated stare of disapproval from their boss). The embarrassed apprentice sheepishly defers to his master and returns to his work. The wizard displays a hint of a smile, secretly enjoying the humor of the situation, and hits him on the behind with the now inanimate broom, sending him scurrying from the room.

Who is Fred Moore?

He was a natural artist who became the Mickey "expert" at Disney studios. It appears that Fred Moore's alter ego in Disney cartoons may have been Lampwick from the 1940 film Pinocchio -  "a naughty boy Pinocchio meets and befriends on his way to Pleasure Island. He turns into a donkey while the boys are shooting pool." (Notice that Fantasia was also released in 1940,)

Fred Moore

Lampwick from Pinnochio

From Wikipedia article on Fred Moore.

Moore is best known for being the resident specialist in the animation of Mickey Mouse. He is most notable for re-designing the character in 1938 for his landmark role as The Sorcerer's Apprentice in Fantasia, a look which remains Mickey's official look to this day.
...
Moore was well-known around the studio for his drawings of innocently sexy, often nude, women, referred to as "Freddie Moore Girls." Some of his girl designs found their way into Disney films: for example, the centaurettes in Fantasia and the teenage girls in the "All the Cats Join In" segment of Make Mine Music.

You can see the complete "Pastoral Symphony from Fantasia" which features Moore's "sexy" (or sexist) centaurettes here. Notice also the racist depiction of a smaller darker centaurette with obvious African-American facial features.

Iron Man as Prometheus Unbound

WARNING: The devil is practiced at the art of deception.

"Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens."
- St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians 6:11-12

Having read this Biblical quote and knowing that this is a review of the new Iron Man movie, you would be justified in assuming that the Iron Man suit is somehow related to the "armor of God" and that he is somehow doing symbolic battle with the forces of evil in the Heavens. You could not possibly be further from the Truth.

Let there be light...

For Iron Man represents the forces of Prometheus who attacked the gods and stole fire from the Heavens and gave it to Man. Hail Prometheus!

Prometheus by occultist painter Jean Delville

If Iron Man represents Prometheus then Iron Man's enemy must represent one of the other gods of Olympus - but not just any god - the one that bound him as punishment for an aeon. Ah, but be patient. All shall be revealed.

Prometheus Bound by William Blake

The setting is the site of the New York World's Fair in 1964. Most of you are too young to remember this event. The SYMBOL of the fair was the Unisphere which so prominently features in Iron Man 2.

Creation of Unisphere by USS (United States Steel) video


This celebration took place at the height of the Cold War - just after the Cuban Missile Crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation. Despite the moniker of "world's fair", most major European countries and the Soviet Union refused to participate due to a conflict over the rules. One of the largest exhibits at the "fair" was General Motors' Futurama pavilion which purported to show a city of the future.

This was a time when the Race to the Moon had just begun and the Soviets had a huge lead. They had put into orbit the first artificial satellite - Sputnik (which means "co-traveler") - on October 4, 1957. It took Sputnik just 96 minutes to complete one orbit around the Earth. And thus, the "space age" was born.

On April 12, 1961 Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first Man to orbit the Earth.

The first Man to ascend into the heavens - the home of the Gods. Prometheus must have been proud that day of his human protégés.

During his flight, Gagarin famously whistled the tune "The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows". The first two lines of the song are: "The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky".
[baba: Note that Prometheus and Mother Earth are symbolically closely linked.]
...
Around the same time, some Western sources claimed that Gagarin, during his space flight, had made the comment, "I don't see any God up here." However, no such words appear in the verbatim record of Gagarin's conversations with the Earth during the spaceflight.
[baba: Isn't it curious how the godless capitalists like to attack the communists for being godless?]

But the United States with the aid of former Nazi rocket scientist Werner von Braun, who had designed the German V-2 rocket that terrorized England during WW II, was able to not only catch up with the Soviets, but soon overtake them.

Nazi V-2 rocket replica

Werner von Braun in civilian suit posing with top Nazi brass

And by the end of the decade, it was the Americans that had landed the First Man on the Moon in 1969.

Footprints on the Moon

Man had taken his first steps on one of the heavenly bodies which formerly had been exclusively "the home of the gods". Prometheus could truly say at this point in time that he was the proud benefactor of Humanity which was beginning to challenge the gods.

At the New York World's Fair the theme song was provided by Walt Disney. The name was "It's a Small World".

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world
(repeat)
(repeat)
(repeat)
ad infinitum... ad nauseam...

Never in the History of Mankind had a generation been more effectively brainwashed than the Baby Boom Generation of 20th Century America.

And here we are in 2010. The 21st Century. The Golden Age of Mankind.

In the 20th Century technology was used to Land a Man on the Moon. In the 21st Century technology is used to create a half-robot half-man that can fly through the heavens like a god. Hail Prometheus - bringer of fire and light!

Statue of Prometheus bringing fire down from Mt. Olympus at Rockefeller Center

But this creation does not exist in our physical reality. And yet, he is no less real because he is confined to the 2-dimensional virtual space of a movie screen. Because that image projected on that screen is reflected in our eyes and travels through the optic nerve to the optical processing regions of the brain and forms memories just as real as the ones that we experience in the physical world.

He flies - and we fly. He walks through a crowd of reporters and onlookers - and we walk through a crowd of reporters and onlookers. And he battles - and we battle. And he suffers - and we suffer. And he triumphs - and we triumph. Hail Prometheus! Ruler of us all.

And who does he battle? Who is his enemy? Our enemy. Our immortal foe.

It would seem that the Soviet Russians are back again. But wait. What is this? Our godless communist wears a Cross of Jesus. He carries with him prayer beads.

His Father died and left him with the gift of his knowledge. He completed his Father's dream, and made it a reality.

His weapon is electricity. A lethal spark in the shape of an evil whip. Is he not Evil? Should we not hate and despise him?

And in opposition to him stands the evolution of Iron Man. No longer the ferrous metal of the Romans. But a high-tech material which has Progressed to become impervious to all weapons. Invincible. Unstoppable. Immortal. Like the gods of Olympus.

But our Hero suffers a fatal flaw which threatens to destroy his very life. Iron Man is on the verge of self-destruction.

He reaches out to his Father. And begs, "Father, help me". "Help your son to battle against the son of your immortal foe."

Freemason god with compass inside all-seeing eye by 18th century mystic William Blake

And the Father receives this message from His Son and reveals to him His Great Plan. But the secrets of the past are hidden in the form of coded messages which only the Chosen can decipher.

As one of the Chosen Scientists, Anthony Stark is able to decode this message from the past and uncover its secret. And behold, a new Element is born.

And this new Element - whose name I do not know, but whose sign is an inverted Triangle - is the Solution which has evaded Tony for all these years. Tony is Saved.

With this new gift from his Father he is able to go out and do battle with the forces that are arrayed against him. And he is able to deliver unto his Enemy a crushing defeat. And we applaud him. He is our Champion. All hail, Prometheus!

Who then is this vile villain against which our Hero battles and eventually Triumphs?

In ancient times it was believed that if one knew the name of one's opponent then one could exert magical powers over him.

The true name of Iron Man's opponent is Zeus. The King of the Gods. The bearer of Lightning and Electricity. It was these same gods of Olympus that had withheld from Man the Power of Technology. Because they knew that once man had acquired these tools of science, that it would only be a matter of Time before Man became greater than the Gods.

Zeus - Greek god of lightning

If I were to end this story now, I would be doing the evil forces the greatest favor. Why? Because, the devil is practiced at the art of deception. And up until now the only thing that I have revealed is the very same thing that the devil wants to be revealed. The devil lives in a world where up is down, and down is up.

The "good" white triangle and the "evil" black triangle

Seal of Satan

Goat of Mendes - Baphomet

To read the Truth we need to read the devil's message in a mirror. In that reflection we can finally read the True message.

It's time to lift up the veil.

In the Promethean Legend Zeus does not only represent the gods, but Religion itself. And Prometheus is Lucifer - the devil himself. But Lucifer/Prometheus is depicted by the satanic forces as a great hero. Someone or something to be worshipped.

Prometheus is Progress. And according to the devil, all Progress is Good. And also according to the devil, Religion is the Enemy of Progress.

And that is why in the movie Iron Man, the enemy is depicted wearing a Cross. While Iron Man is depicted wearing the Luciferean symbol of an inverted triangle.

Iron Man with Inverted Triangle Sigil (click to enlarge)

Fiery fennel emerges from head of Baphomet

[Can you see the similarities between the two figures above? In order to do so you must focus on the overall composition as an artist would and not on the details. The faces and the arms do not match up, in this context. Instead the head of Iron Man corresponds to the flaming fennel which juts out above the head of the Baphomet. And Iron Man's arms correspond to the wings of the goat-faced creature. Notice the hidden embedded inverted triangle inside the pentagram (five pointed star) on the forehead of the Evil One and observe how its position lines up with the Inverted Triangle Sigil on the chest of Iron Man. Just below this on Iron Man's chest are what appear to be a pair of eyes corresponding to the face of the monster.]

Pentagram - five pointed star

[The space between Iron Man's body and his left arm suggests the downward left arm of the half-human figure, while the v-shaped pose of its right arm is imitated by the outline formed by the illuminated clouds on the right side of Iron Man's body. And in both pictures the lighting seems to be provided by a moon hidden behind the clouds. Now take one last look at the figure of Iron Man and notice how the helmet which encapsulates the skull of the lost soul trapped inside appears to be on fire when contrasted with the rest of the figure. This represents the fire which Prometheus stole from the gods. But this fire also represents the gift of intellect which is the function of the most mysterious of all human organs - the brain. And one final observation. The Iron Man suit is an artificial exoskeleton - like that of an ant or a shark.  Interestingly enough their is one part of the human body that God created with a true exoskeleton to protect it - the brain. The human skull is like a helmet which protects and cushions the brain from impact. Which brings up an age old philosophical question. Where is the seat of the soul in the human body? Is it in the intellectual brain encased in the skull, or in the pounding heart surrounded by a skeletal cage?]

The battle that takes place in the Heavens above the Unisphere is between the Christ and the Anti-Christ.  Can you figure out by now which is which? The drones are a diabolical representation of God's angels. We are seeing how this battle should take place according to the Anti-Revelation of the satanic forces.

"Satan arousing the rebel angels" by William Blake

From this satanic point of view, Christ is a monster determined to keep Man from acquiring the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. It is as if the world had been turned upside down and Heaven is below, and Hell is above. Or as if the demons were to occupy Heaven, while the angels were exiled to Hell.

Demonic parody of Jesus on steroids having a bad hair day

Sagrado Corazón - Sacred Heart of Jesus

[Notice any similarities? Same hairstyle, same facial hair. Both have a heart exposed outside their chest. Yet no one notices this demonic parody just because the character in Iron Man 2 is not named Jesus?]

There is one last clue. As the credits are rolling the first song that we hear is "Highway to Hell". Oh, you trickster. See how you dare to reveal yourself to us. What infernal game is this that you are playing?

To be continued...