Change and the Promethean Spirit

The mind and the human condition are not unlike a body of water: ever flowing. To loosely paraphrase the saying “one does not step in the same river twice.”

That is the beauty of life. To be challenged again and again by new concepts and ideas. It is certain dirt and leaves will fall and momentarily cloud the water; but the ever constant movement soon clears them off.

As Sith, we must remember to always renew ourselves, lest we become bogged down. Lest we allow bad ideas to clog and ultimately rob us of oxygen. Lest they kill our indomitable flame.

It is important to at first lean on the works of our intellectual “superiors”, who have in many ways laid out a myriad of concepts and modes of thought. But unless those fountains are replenished, they will soon be a breeding ground for pests and parasites.
We can look at ancient texts as guidelines, but not as everyday mandates. It does not matter how many people adhere to some belief, if it is harmful it does not make it less so. For centuries people have held horrible notions, and they still do. No matter what evidence is presented to them, they will not change their minds and so they will live out their lives as walking hosts to these parasitic ideas.

The Sith spirit is the Promethean/Luciferian spark. Wherever tyrannical ideas take root we must destroy and overcome them; their ashes will nourish new growth.
There will always be the fear of the tyrants to condemn and besmirch our name; As Prometheus himself was tied to a hillside to be ever tortured at Zeus' command, so have many leaders calling for liberation been victims of the justice system meant to disadvantage them and silence them permanently.

Originally a Roman deity, Lucifer has become the name for the Devil. In the Bible he gives Eve a fruit from the tree and bestows upon her the knowledge of good and evil; After that Yahweh cannot contain her or Adam anymore and thus banishes them from the garden of ignorance as disobedient children he can no longer control.

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became (an adult), I put aside childish things."

When we grow up we come to see the world not as others would have us see it --- like our parents or our teachers; but as it really is, if we so choose. And therein lies the issue; choice. Choice we may be told does not exist. After all-- why leave the comforts of the system? Why venture off into the wilderness to face the hardships of independent thought? Why indeed bite the hand that feeds?

We get to eat the scraps, but not eat at the table. It is about damn time we chomp down on hand and fingers both and dine on their flesh. It is time we realize that freedom isn’t simply given, but it is something which must be taken.

Authoritarian regimes with godlike arrogance will dole out punishment and send their armies against dissenters. They will use every weapon in their arsenal to cut off our tongues so we don't speak and tie our hands so we don't write in their disfavor. Their weapons consist of propaganda from institutions such as schools and churches, as well as the media to parrot their narratives.

I would even go so far as to say that even the “famous” have a hand in sustaining their spell and the lies they would have us believe. For how else will we be appeased? I am as much of a victim of consumerism as others in the name of self-expression. For that is another myth they’ve fed us: we can all be different, but only if we buy the same things. Brands profit off our insecurities and create body image issues, on top of instilling in us a disdain for ourselves as we are.
Each and every single one of us are marketable; why else would our online movements and shopping trends be there for these companies to see? 

Once people cease to be marketable and not wearing the same fashions and owning the latest gadgets we must regard them as outcasts. Don’t they travel every Summer? Don’t they vacation? Can’t they afford X subscription? What do you mean you don’t know who (insert celebrity) has been doing?
I don’t like to use the term “bread and circuses,” but I, too, fall for these tricks. I, too, crave notoriety. I crave nice clothes and jewelry. I crave the attention and the validation of my fellow humans who see someone sharing their same interests.

So strong is this urge to belong and find kindred souls. Often at the loss of our sense of self and our individuality— something that is more and more nebulous to define still. Is the individual apart from the whole or a part of the whole? 

How can we then as Sith and bearers of the Promethean flame hope to overcome all of this? Must all bridges be burnt? Must all contact with the world be shunned and force ourselves to withdraw from society and its vices? I will not eschew the comforts of home or my nice clothes, so long as I understand that I am not my possessions, and that the novelty of them is not something which will ever define my value. 

We must define our world daily and base our value not on that which we are perceived as, but by that which we hold to be true in ourselves: that we are beings of immense power; that together we can accomplish so much more than that which we have been led to believe.
We must not simply be content to live in this system and stop to aspire, inspire and change every day.

I and I alone will be the standard by which I will be measured.