In hopes of opening some minds. Maybe clear away some obstacles for some one. Any one.

The idea is to give you all of the information you need to create your own world-view. An informed and accepting world-view, completely your own. Creating a philosophical, theosophical, ethical, and moral system that makes you happy. Your ideology.

Is that too lofty? Maybe.

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101
Lesson #26
The Battle of Purpose

In the simplest of terms, ideology is the study of ideas.

In the previous philosophical series, Developmental Theology 089, we talked about very basic ideas that can help develop an open mind, and teach us how to create our own philosophical views, overlooking prior prejudices. You can read the entire Developmental Theology series in this PDF.

With the foundation built in Developmental Theology, my hope is to extend this learning with my Basic Ideology lessons. These lessons haven’t seen the kind of popularity as the former lessons. I think this is because the ideas and concepts are more complex. I’ve struggled with making the subject itself more accessible to the everyday person, with no prior knowledge of philosophical concepts. I’m beginning to think this is the mistake. It has been suggested that to better understand the current lessons, one should have read the prior lessons.

Which leads us to this lesson. I’ve provided a back link, so those who are behind, but would like to catch up, can. I’ll be working on better ways to do this as we continue these lessons.

Back to the question at hand: What is ideology?

Well, it is indeed the study of ideas, but it is also much more personal than that. Every person adheres to an ideology, whether they realize it or not. It is the sum total of one’s beliefs concerning right and wrong, and the degree to which things are right and wrong. Further it includes a person’s concepts of justice, punishment, reward, and how to deal with our own actions, as well as the actions of others.

Sometimes these ideologies have names, such as Humanism, which we talked about in the last two lessons, or a religious grouping. More often, one’s ideology is very personal, and crosses over many identified ideologies, as well as those without a name. It is influenced by events in life, and their effects, the things children are taught by their parents and other authority figures, books read, and things studied. Personal ideologies are constantly changing and evolving as new ideas and experiences are introduced.

I believe that by talking about these ideas, we can shift our focus and purposely evolve our own concepts. And in this sharing, we might find that we are not so different, despite our personal ideologies. Helping to build the community of man is the most important thing to which a person can aspire. And it’s what I aspire to here, and I hope at least some of my readers are with me on this cause.

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101
Lesson #25
The Battle of Focus

Do you continue up the mountain?

—-

Jack
I Listen.

Lesson #22
The Battle of Determination

It’s easy to forget that we have perfection in our hands when times are rough. Richard Matheson spent a lifetime writing horror and dark fantasy, to end up his masterwork as one of the greatest love stories ever told. Why did it take so long? Love is so hard to express, even for the most sensitive of us. Passion is so much easier. This is why we are barraged by “love stories” that are nothing more than sex driven fantasies. In the rare instance that passion and love meet, we find something truly great. Something that transcends words. The love story is now even harder to tell, and it can become downright scary.

As writers, when we find this kind of extraordinary relationship, our first instinct is to run. We want to run because for the first time in our lives we have no words to describe what is happening to us. It’s confusing, we stumble, we fall. We falter. You see, in running, we can understand, in words. The only way we really understand anything.

With love comes fear, but hopefully passion and love together can offset our natural fear of loss.

In Matheson’s What Dreams May Come, the main character has to come face to face with not only his greatest fear, but also the greatest fear of the majority of mankind. Is that what makes it so compelling? It is definitely what makes it ring so true in the hearts of so many.

By using this novel, I’ve skirted myself(safely around), for now, the subject of my own feelings and fears. Eventually I’ll face them down, as Matheson, and so many others have, finding the strength in their constant growth.

Jack.
I Listen.

Fragments
#5
What Dreams May Come

But every Tuesday that this happens, it gets a little worse. Life looks a little more bleak. You can’t count sheep anymore. You stare at the back of your eyelids in a daze that seems, almost, like sleep. It’s so close, you can taste it. You can smell the dreams at the boarder of your thoughts, screaming to come out.

But they don’t. And it’s no where close to sleep. It’s worse than counting sheep. It’s worse than racing thoughts. It’s emptiness. Silence. Loneliness. Apathy.

And sometimes you wonder if it’s ever going to get any better. It’s more than Tuesdays now. Then, you find yourself reading something like this. Something totally asinine.

When I started writing the novel, The Cost of Magic, which is unfolding slowly on this blog, I grabbed a few characters from a novel I could never bring myself to finish a few years back. The name of that novel was to be: Blame it on Tuesday. It may still come together, as I allude to it more than a little in The Cost of Magic.

We’ll have to see how bad these Tuesdays get first.

Jack
I Listen.

Fragments
#3
Blame It On Tuesday

Enter Odin, or The Hanging of a Demi-God
—-

Minus woke up a few hours later, hanging upside down from the giant tree. He could see an older man, with unkempt hair and beard. He only had one eye and the ravens were sitting on his shoulders. He was still very large and muscular for his age.

“What is it this time, old man?” said Minus.

“Oh, so you do remember our last talk, youngling? This is indeed a surprise. My brother Othin told me you would be here. Of course, I knew already. What is it you seek, child? What more could I possibly teach you? You are too weak. Your mind too fragile.”

“All-Father, I did not come here for your knowledge. I have come for my own.” Minus spoke with a harshness that his expression could not show, since he was hanging upside down by a rope tied to one ankle.

“Ahh… I see. You are tired. Tired of your delusional life and your ‘doctor’s’ pineal poisons. This is admirable. To hold ones own memories as only the Aesir can. I will take my leave. Should you succeed, you will see me again.”

The old man looked weary as he left. Minus had never seen him look so tired and beaten. He didn’t like what this could mean.

***

Back at Minus’ house, Jane was busy studying with a see-through Victor Mancini. She was alone today. Some days Kotoko would show up, and they’d study together, but Kotoko had a job and she was still in school.

Minus had been gone for three days now. Mancini insisted he would be fine and return unharmed. Jane tried not to worry, and regularly took the tiny little purple pills that Mancini had recommended. Apparently they were something that Minus had made up in his “Apothecary,” as Mancini referred to it.

Sometimes Jane would go upstairs and look out the windows to watch that horrible Mist. She didn’t like the idea of Minus and Kotoko being out in it. Kotoko couldn’t even see it until the night she met Minus.

“And what was so important about Minus?” Jane thought to herself. She loved him, she knew that much. But it seemed like he affected everyone he came into contact with. Without even realizing it, people seemed to find that their lives revolved around Minus and his actions.

Sometimes, when Mancini would be talking, Jane would daydream a little. She would start to get the feeling that there was something important that she could not remember. There was a hazy feeling to her eighteenth year. She started to think a lot about that time period.

After Mancini would leave for the day, she would try to remember things about that year. But everything seemed perfectly normal. That’s what really bothered her. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that her memories had a sense of fabrication to them. It was too normal. She would dream of it at night.

These thoughts began to occupy more of her time as the days passed. On the fifth day, she asked Doctor Mancini about the Akashic Library, and how she could get there.

—-

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #20
Enter Odin, or The Hanging of a Demi-God

And So He Walked
—-

They were roused from a light sleep around 7:30pm by the ring of Minus’ phone. It was Kotoko. Minus answered.

“What the Hell, dude,” Kotoko was clearly frustrated. “I’ve been driving around for almost an hour. The street you said you lived on. It’s not here! I’m fairly certain it doesn’t even exist!”

“It’s alright, Kotoko,” Minus seemed very calm, and this calmed her down. “Do you know anything about synchronicity?”

She started to answer, but someone was opening the passenger door to her car. She reached for her purse, scrambling for the mace.

“Hi, I’m Minus. I think you’ve heard about me.”

“How the.. What? Where did you come from?” She wasn’t as confused as she should be. It seemed almost normal that Minus was now sitting in her passenger seat.

“My place. Go ahead and pull out of this parking lot, and go the right.”

Kotoko did as she was told.

“There will be a road on your left, the sign will say, ‘King’s Lane.’” Minus was directing her to his house and Jane.

When they approached the street sign, Kotoko was astounded. She had driven by this area a dozen times, and there had been no King’s Lane. She was certain. But there it was. A gravel driveway. She turned on to King’s Lane.

“My place is the only house back here. You can park next to my truck. Jane will be waiting for you at the door. I’ll take care of the groceries.” Minus said as Kotoko parked her jeep.

He got out of the jeep and reached into the back seat, picking up some bags. Kotoko went to the door, where she saw Jane peaking out. Minus could see them hug each other, and the tears that followed.

Kotoko went in, and Jane bolted all the locks behind them.

“What about Minus?” Kotoko was no stranger to magic, but she was clearly confused at the situation.

“It’s okay,” Jane said through the tears, “he’ll meet us in the basement.”

They continued through the house and into the basement door. Jane turned all the locks and knobs, locking them in again.

As they went down the flight of stairs, Kotoko was surprised that Minus was standing there, pouring three glasses of wine. She could see all of the grocery bags on the small counter he stood next to, and the luggage full of Jane’s clothing was by an opened closet on the other side of the room.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kotoko. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’ve heard a lot about you. Jane tells me you have interest in the occult?”

He reached into the drawer of pills and pulled out two tiny blue capsules.

“Take these.”

And Kotoko did. She swallowed them with a large drink of wine. She was startled again for a moment, as she realized that she did not drink and had never taken drugs. Why had she done what he said without thought or question? As soon as these thought passed through her, her mind was quieted. She felt calm, and relaxed, and at home.

“Wait, you’re a straight, aren’t you? You must be. Jane said you were good at divination,” said Minus. Both of the girls looked confused.

“Like, you don’t drink, or take any kind of drugs, right?”

“No.. I mean, yeah, I don’t do anything like that.. But I just did, didn’t I? Why am I not bothered or worried?” Kotoko tried to look stern, but she wasn’t really able to.

“Okay, no worries. Those pills. Not drugs. Not real drugs anyway. It’s a metaphysical relaxer. Opens your senses, and leaves you calm. No dangers or addictions. Now had you actually been into pills, I’ve got stuff around..” Minus trailed off.

“No, I feel great.. It’s like my soul let go of my fears and pretensions.” Kotoko was surprised at how easily she understood things, and how clear and fluid her thoughts were.

“You’re not bothered because it was me who gave them to you. Just like you weren’t all that upset when I got in the car seat next to you. I don’t really know why that is, but Doctor Mancini has told me things like that before. A lot of people have really..

“Anyway, just relax, we’ll fill you in and you’ll fill us in, alright?”

Jane and Kotoko nodded in unison.

The three talked for what seemed like hours. Then there was an odd, snapping feeling, and Kotoko left, and Jane went to sleep.

Twenty minutes later, Minus locked the basement and front door behind himself, and started walking due north.

Jane, Kotoko, Mancini, and Othin would all awake the next morning, around the same time, feeling unusually happy.

At that exact moment, Minus would see two ravens, perched on a tree older than the continent, and feel horrible despair. He did not enjoy this the last time.

—-

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #19
End: Part 1
And So He Walked

Please Don’t Leave Your Ectoplasm
—-

Minus touched the top of the monitor where Mancini had been sitting. He pulled his hand up and it had a yellow slime on it that stretched to the monitor.

“Aww, dammit. He always messes up my fucking monitors. Jackass.” Jane could tell that Minus’ irritation was mostly sarcasm.

“So he talked you into taking one of his messed up astral travel pills, eh? I think he always gives me so many in hopes that I’ll mistake them for Vicodin when I’m drunk,” Minus laughed.

“Yeah, he told me that you were quite the alchemist,” Jane replied.

“I like to play around. I can move molecule to molecule from the base if I enter into speed thought. So just about everything in that drawer is a custom made mind trap of some sort.

“Did he tell you that he’s afraid of the Alacrity Motion?” Jane nodded at this question.

“He can barely understand the concepts, but he was probably right. You should work on other things first. He’ll be able to teach you a lot while I’m gone.”

“Where are you going? That tree you were talking about?” Jane asked.

“Yeah. Closest one is north of here. In the park area of Washington. I’ll have to walk most of the way there, but that’s not really an issue. There are waves I can ride. My truck will be here, if you need it. But please try to stay inside.”

“I’m sure Victor will keep me busy most of the time. It seems like I am pretty out of the loop. I never thought people could use magic like this. I thought the glamors and astral stuff was my gypsy heritage. I mean, my mother taught them to me…” Her head was starting to swim. She felt floaty and very sleepy.

“Why don’t you call your friend and see when she can get here. After she’s stopped by we’ll rest. I’ll need to leave early tomorrow.”

—-

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #17
Please Don’t Leave Your Ectoplasm

Is It Worth It?

—-

Mancini picked up the phone after a few rings. He was in his study, relaxing after a hard day of astral projection. He’d been sipping Scotch and thinking about the problem of the two lovers. On the line was a female voice he had never heard.

“Doctor Mancini?” the voice asked.

“Speaking, my dear, but please call me Victor.”

“Hi, my name is Jane. I believe Minus may have talked to you about our situation.”

“Ahh, young Jane. Yes, Minus has told me much about you, and I’ve learned much more from the Akashic life books. You are quite intriguing, did you know that?”
“Well.. um.. no. I guess not.” Jane was stumbling over her words. This man was very elegant, and she felt a little inferiority.

“Minus… He doesn’t think. He just moves. Do you know how he can always make things work with so little thought? Minus’ mind, body, and soul are all tied in deeply with the Synchronicity Stream and the Alacrity Motion. He doesn’t even need to meditate. He steps forward and obstacles move away from him. He is that in tune.

“People like me and you, on the other hand, have to work hard to get these things on our side. Before I met Minus, I was just a sad, delusional drunk. And before you met him, you knew only some simple glamors, some basic theory.

“To Minus, the things that you and I know…. Well, they don’t really matter. He can pull from those other worlds with no effort. He effects the people around him in profound ways, without trying. Sometimes the effects are not pleasant.

“Before I say more, I need to know something. Do you really love Minus? Are you ready to suffer for that love? Because it will bring you deep sorrow. This is the point where you can leave clean. Forget all the craziness, and live a normal life. Or, you can stay, and do your best to help him. What do you say Miss De la Moore?”

“Yes. I love Minus. I’ve loved him through lifetimes and had no idea. If I suffer, it will not be the first time,” Jane replied.

“Then we have much to discuss. Are you at Minus’ desk? Look for a pill compartment. It will be closed, and labeled ‘VM.’ Take one and swallow it. We will then discuss your future.”

Jane did not hesitate. She found the small pill box easily and swallowed the oddly shaped pill.

—-

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #14
Is It Worth It?

In Which Minus Dreams A Memory
—-
He runs across the roof tops. This city is dense and the alley ways are small. He jumps, falls short, dangling with a one-handed grip on the bricks. He let’s go.

Rive.

He hits the large, overly stuffed bed hard. Panting and sweating in his full John Constantine regalia. Suit, overcoat, cigarette in mouth, all dripping wet. His mind raced. Had his pursuers seen the rive he had opened? He didn’t know who they were, was uncertain of their abilities. Aside from the fact that they were inhumanly fast.

They shot through alacrity with a focus that matched his own. This was very rare. Understanding alacrity had driven more men mad, than had ever been able to run with it. The problem people have with the magic of speed is that after the first taste, it’s never fast enough again. Always trying for more. You can see perfection in the distance. And anytime you can see true perfection, it’s dangerous.

After a few minutes, Minus knew that they had not traced his rive. He relaxed a bit, then reached for some dry clothes.

***

Back in Jerusalem, the three men dressed in black, stood surveying the rooftops and alley ways. Wet footprints ended and never started again. They were confused, but not worried. He could hide all he wanted, but he could never out run them.

Even so, the Three-Headed Lion would not be happy with his extensively trained alacrity spotters. He had dug their souls from Hell, and trained them for a reason. He needed them in this war. This was not like the last.

—-

Jack
I Listen.

The Cost of Magic
Section #13
In Which Minus Dreams A Memory