Ego 

So what’s the point of all this? Some of you may have been struggling with some of the ideas I have presented you with so far. But would it surprise you to know that you are not the one struggling. NO, you understand full well what I have been saying. That is why you have continued to read these, and today you will be rewarded for it. Because you have been in conflict with the Enemy, the Self, your personal Daemon… the only real devil you may ever come to know.

It is the source of your fears, it hands them to you like gifts, with an implied promises that they will protect you from them… its fears, which it has shared with you. It has taught you to fear, and you have welcomed the lessons by accepting its offerings. What offerings you ask? Emotions… emotions which you claim as your own, and seek to protect even at the cost of your own reason. In so doing, you have embraced it and given it power, you have made it part of who you are… you don’t identify with it, but with yourself, because you have become incapable of making the distinction. To some this daemon is an angel, to others a devil, we have personified it as conscience and allowed it to sit ring-side on our shoulder telling us lies and exploiting our ignorance. The devil is in you… or is it the voice of god you here? In the end you are the one to decide this. Others can only judge your actions, for they can never truly know your motives for acting.

There are religious, let’s call them, observations… which speak to this reality. The ideal that the devil can try to influence you. The ideal that each of us is born with a Jinn to watch over us. For those who are unfamiliar with the Jinn, they are the angels born of fire, the race from which the Arch-angels were formed. they are also the legend behind the ideal that genies, who can grant your wishes, are sealed in bottles to serve you. Lets talk about that. Genies are depicted as demons with the power to grant your every desire, but they are tricksters and illusionists, often granting wishes that end up teaching you a lesson about reaching beyond your own means, or end up destroying you… a deal with the devil has a high price, your soul… your will. These vessels they are sealed within are perhaps metaphorical representations of your own body, or perhaps man in his great wisdom ran around at some point sealing god-like beings in jars and lamps to protect themselves from them (it makes great fiction. In fact, I write about this very ideal… the story of Solomon, greatly embellished, is part of the backstory in the world in which my immortals series take place. But I wont spoil it by naming which fiction specifically).

In truth, the Ego is a spirit, one that is born within you at the moment you come into the world. It is your spirit, neither friend or foe… but it is your adversary, as much as it can be your ally. It has been placed in you to bring about the life you have chosen, in a sense you have designed it to train you to become who you desire to be. Yet it is a dangerous tool, one which will destroy you if you fail to rise above it, if you fail to become strong, and give in to weakness. If you cannot walk the path before you, then it will walk it for you, dragging you across the ground as it does so. But if you tame it, it will walk behind you, in your shadow, whispering its foolish concerns in its master’s ear from time to time… waxing nostalgic of memories you once had together, feelings you once shared, seeking every opportunity to win your graces and walk by your side again. This part of you, you can never get rid of, but you can master it, force it to respect who you are and submit to your will. Though you may always know your emotions, you can learn never to be ruled by them.

So say, “Get behind me devil… I can grant my own wishes.” Teach it to know its place, and recognize it for what it is… an obstacle, a mirror of what you could be, a thief and a liar too weak to lord over you any longer. Say good bye to your old friend, you know its name, because you’re not buddies any more… its your bitch now, and you’re the master.

Life Hacked…