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.