One of my favorite essays by Anton LaVey was one called “How to Avoid the DMPs.” It’s a brief essay that can be found in The Devil’s Notebook where he discusses the perspective of entities that are looking, more or less, to elicit the sort of emotion from you that will motivate you to make some action in their favor, whether it be buying newspapers, paying through the nose for medicine, or some other such thing. I especially appreciated this essay after the 2016 election when I woke up with America’s 2016 popular vote, stunned. For a period pre-election I had to isolate myself from social media you see, because this particular campaign was tearing my family apart and I needed to take a step back to prevent it from poisoning the relationships I cherished. Politics are really quite a personal thing when you take any look at it. People find them complex and boring because they don’t educate themselves and because politics are a violent ocean with deep waters that never stop moving. It’s a massive game of give and take, and some people don’t have the heart for it. That’s fine, however it’s important to remember that regardless of your opinion on the subject, those men and women in your elected government still have a very important power over your life. Yes, your life. They may feel distant because you never really see these people unless you engage yourself, but the effect of their decisions trickle down and affect your student loans, your mortgages, your health insurance, your parental leave rights, and of course, at the end of the road: your social security. When I was younger I didn’t care much about voting unless it was an election year. I didn’t really understand the role of the legislative branch since I put too much emphasis on the power of the Presidential Veto, and in the United States a great deal of national energy and glory is placed on that one single office of President. I never really cared for local legislation either. I didn’t have a mind for how bond grants would help my university since they only ever seemed to spend it on one expensive thing that only ten students could benefit from. Funding for roads and bridges seemed to fall under the, “If it’s important, they’ll figure it out” sector, and then suddenly I’ve gotten myself in the habit of only voting in an election every four years. It took too much energy, I would lament, who can look up all of those people—and what does it matter if they’re just going to lie anyhow? Yes, it was much easier for me to assume that all politicians were filthy swine, and go about my day, content to live with my consequences whatever they may be since they just didn’t seem to matter. Does any of this sound familiar to your situation? I hope not, because I was incredibly wrong. They matter; oh, they matter. I’ve heard that Satanists generally enjoy having a perspective on the world that the others don’t have the luxury of knowing. I’ve heard that we have a keenness to always know who is in power and what influence they may have over our lives. It is the President, yes; but not as much as the media would like you to believe. It’s not those individuals who sit in Congress either, as in my opinion many of their interests to the private sector (enterprise) disable them from having much power at all. It may have you wondering, “What’s the point in voting in the first place, then?” The reason doesn’t change. Voting is still your best shot at having a say in what laws are passed in this country and what programs make it or break it. Do you like social security? Do you think social security is a broken program? Do you prefer to ban plastic straws so you don’t intrude on industry production or would you rather ban CO emissions above a certain level? You know where you stand on these things and if you don’t stand up for yourself nobody is going to stand up for you. Just like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play. In this modern day there is no excuse for not voting. We (my fiancée and I) received our absentee ballots in the mail and returned them for our vote to be counted. We’re going to be around on November 6th, we just know we’re not going to be in the mood to go to the polling location since parking is a pain in the neck. So what? We’re still voting. There’s no reasonable excuse to prevent you from voting if you think ahead, and even if you don’t: call your city hall and ask them where to show up on November 6th to vote. They’ll tell you. Show up. Tell them you want a provisional ballot if you’re not registered and they must give you one for voting. Cast your ballot or cast your opportunity, it’s your choice. I challenge you to be different from the masses who didn’t turn up for the last election, and to have the courage to stand up for what you believe in. In the very least should you not get your way you will at least have the right to actually complain about it. Hail Satan Where to next?
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Who is the Witch?
Once I called myself a Christian, then an atheist, and a Satanist. At the end of the day, I'm just a person who is living her truth one day at a time. I'm interested in religion, its effects on the mind, the occult, and more. Learn more about me on the about page. Hellish History
November 2021
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