martyrs, mystics, monsters

"There is no way on the spiritual quest to avoid demonic forces. At the very least the seeker carries them within himself, in the form of his own passions and illusions. At various stages of the path, he must confront and deal with each of them in one way or another." - "Wrathful Deities" by Edwin Bernbaum, Parabola Magazine [Volume 6: Number 4]

The age old debate over fate and free will has wound from discussion to debacle between friend and foe. 

The overly righteous purport them self as idealist, believer or victim transforming mere mortal into maligned martyr.

The masses seek and elect their hero and assign mysterious mystical magic upon often too human a being.  

Such leaps of faith often disappoint at the least and at its worst lead to massive misfortune when monsters of their own creation break their molds.  

Rather must we each embrace our shadow self [the demon within] and acknowledge all of who we truly are.

The path to our enlightenment involves moving past our demons to honor our own divinity.

of fathers, padres & daddy issues

We were once a conquered land, ruled by the church back in the time of the Inquisition. Many old families can trace their ancestry back to their parish priest. Unfortunately, long after we rebelled and won our independence, priests continued fathering illegitimate families.

Today being Father's Day, I wonder how they opt to celebrate the day with their families and in their communities. Overtly or covertly? Acknowledged or denied? Condemned or ignored?

Our great great great [to the nth degree] grandmother was the housekeeper of the old Spanish priest in our province. She bore him many children in his lifetime. And when he passed and was replaced by a new and younger priest, her housekeeping duties extended to bearing him his own set of even more children.

To this day our family back home populate a whole village which has since grown into a town and then expanded into a city. From the mayor to the janitor we can trace bloodlines and lineages to all our relations.

In our tiny agricultural island inter-marrying among cousins is not uncommon. Several families have generations of first cousins marrying first cousins. Originally intended to keep the land undivided
but who knows for what reasons long after.

Family issues tend to be complex to begin with. With relations and histories going on both sides - these are bound to be compounded even more. Today I wonder how many are truly celebrating a happy father's day?