From: Tagi@cup.portal.com (Tagi Mordred Nagashiva)
Newsgroups: alt.satanism
Subject: Re: The Great Martyrdom Cult
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 10:40:34 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
  <1992Sep29.215258.1@ulkyvx.louisville.edu>

9209.30 e.v.


Semhaza reviews my congealing ideas:

So there has to be an "archetype" involved? Focus on an image rejected by a
majority?


Response:

Yes, though I don't know that this is necessarily a SPECIFIC image.  For
example, it might include a complex of images which many people might
display (i.e. hooker, vagrant, substance-user, etc.) and in all cases
it derives from a subconscious repression (i.e. black mage, satanist,
witch, etc.).  Images seem important to the tradition, yes.


An example is Jesus Christ, who was killed in the way that only the
worst of criminals was put to death in those times - crucifixion.  He
not only claimed to be the Son of God and God Himself (blasphemy), but
was called the 'King of the Jews' (a throwback to Sacred King sacrifices)
and opposed the materialism of the Jewish Temples of the time.  He was
in many ways a renegade and outlaw (consorting with prostitutes and
thieves) and arose from the lowest levels of society (born a bastard
to a rejected set of parents).

He not only had many of the qualities which made him embarrassing to
the extant traditions, he challenged them by his very being.  He was
a fly in their ointment, a potentially (and posthumously actually)
disruptive force which threatened the contiguity of the social group.
For this he was opposed.  For this he was killed.  For this he was
hallowed as 'Messiah'.

NOTE: this is the IMAGE which I have been given of Christ.  I don't
really care to debate HISTORY, since I consider it fallacious in any case.
 

old Thyagi:

They must BECOME an image which the orthodoxy abhors.  They must behave
AND speak in ways which derive from the unconscious mind of the society in
which they live - i.e. those energies which the society has repressed
must be given expression in them).  It ain't about shoving the orthodoxy's
face in any 'facts'.  'Facts' have nothing to do with it.  It is a 
visceral, archetypal IMAGE which is portrayed in behavior and words.


Semhaza:

Are you using archetype in a universal sense, so that these images would be
shared by *everyone*? Or are they something shared only within the culture
involved, and commonly known because they are taught as part of one's
upbringing? (although this education may be unnoticed)


Response:

I'm comparing a society to an individual and using it in terms which
are applicable to that individual.  Some members of society will be more
in touch with that repressed energy than others.  Some members of
society will be more conscious of this energy than others.  Some will
be aware of the image and seek to contain it so that it does not lead
to their destruction.

I don't think that it is consciously taught in one's upbringing, no.
If anything it is a HOLE in the teaching.  Most social doctrines have
holes which preserve individual self-disempowerment so as to
subordinate the member to the group.  These holes lead to revolutions
if not carefully kept in check by FORCE.
 

old Thyagi:

Strict opposition and persecution includes many many people.  The GMC is
not that big.  Very few individuals are probably members.


Semhaza:

I only have three problems with the phrase "Great Martyrdom Cult":


Response:

Yeah, I have been wondering when this would come up.  Scott made good
points regarding 'martyrdom', but I think I argued well in response.
Your criticisms here are quite important and I'd like to hear a
suggestion or two regarding alternative names for this social
mechanism which I'm describing if GMC is not sufficient.  I'll attempt
to defend it in any case.


Semhaza:

1. Great--why is it great? It appears not to be numerous, as you just said. You
seem to be saying that it's not a universal phenomenon, but specific to Western
Culture.


Response:

Because it's a major FORMULA for Western culture as we know it.  Christ the
Martyr is the pattern of liberation in our culture - the resistance to
wayward authority.  It is great because it is so important, not because
it has 'so many members'.  Membership is something which institutions
foster for their parasitic pleasure. ;>


Semhaza:

2. Martyrdom--I still don't like this term, and I think Scott expressed
eloquently how I feel. The general understanding that goes with "martyrdom" is
persecution in the form of physical torture and death, and I don't see any of
*that* happening. Sure, I suffer, but I suffered without being a Satanist, and
plenty of other people suffer for the same reasons without ever becoming any of
the things you've described. Everyone suffers. Is everyone a martyr?

I recall you said that "One escapes from the GMC only by dying" (paraphrased).
That doesn't qualify them as martyrs, because they would have to die *on
account of* their faith.


Response:

Each faction of the GMC points back to people in the past who died as a
result for practicing in their tradition.  Suffering is not as important
as going all the way to death for one's religous freedoms.

(Jews? if nothing else WWII is good, but there are countless persecutions)

Christians - Romans as I mentioned, and of course the pre-eminent Jesus.

Witchs(Pagans)/Satanists - Inquisition

(There are others - Islam - Crusades; OTO - Templars, etc. etc. etc.)

The role of martyrdom within Western traditions is paramount.  It gives
adherents the feeling that they are fighting on 'the just side'.  Note
that most factions of the GMC are co-opted and that this feeling STILL
persists.  This is why many Christians today don't realize that they
are so numerous.  They are focussed upon the past when their numbers
were small and their efforts were thwarted by an 'evil Roman oppressor'.
As so many have pointed out, the Romans adopted Christianity and began
to oppress the same people under different names later.

Note that these groups were the CORE of Western religions.  The core group
of martyrs find its way into the start of almost all Western social
constructs.  Look at USA.  Look at AACP.  The CORE is what I'm talking about.
When the core becomes institutionalized then it fractures its ties to
the GMC.  It BECOMES the establishment which it was attempting to resist.

Thus martyrdom is a pattern that is central to the GMC and all of Western
society.  The renegade wanderer who had to leave home to join 
the labors of the 'Wild West' joined social groups due to their
BASIS of martyrdom.

While everyone is not a martyr, the martyrs are the focus of most
social lore.  I say that the only way to escape the GMC is to DIE because
those who are 'members' are furious at the oppression and are not
about to submit.  Their choice to die rather than submit to coercive
authority is their 'membership card'.  They cannot withdraw from their
passions.  They live them.


Semhaza:

3. Cult--it's not a cult. There's no coherence, no continuation, and no contact
between members except indirectly:  through the medium of the whole society.

Obviously I, like Scott, am most concerned with "martyrdom" since I devoted the
most space, but "cult" is bothering me more as time passes.


Response:

Me too.  I don't know what else to call it.  Admittedly I began using it
because it was the first word that came to mind which seemed to fit.  I
know that all these words will be misunderstood by some.  All I can do is
attempt to show you how this word applies.

From my Bible (American Heritage, Second College Ed.):

Cult: ... 4. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric interest.
From Latin 'cultus', worship, a past participle of 'colere', to cultivate.

I would note here that what I'm describing is similar to what Western
esotericists have said about TRUE Churches (Merton's 'Mystical Body of
Christ' in which they may never know one another) Universal Brotherhoods 
(the Rosicrucians/Golden Dawn 'Great White Brotherhood' and Crowley's
Argenteum Astrum which became first 'disembodied oversouls' and then
members of an elite school) and other core groups which form the basis
of large or important traditions.

The fact that they don't have much contact among them does not indicate
to me that 'cult' is inaccurate, but I do see your point.


Thyagi
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I really appreciate your time and criticism.