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Category: Demons

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Dark Forest Theory

Why is it quiet in the forest in the night? Some animals are sleeping. Humans don’t enter the forest normally in the night. But there are other more important reasons: It is import to stay quiet in order to survive. Predators are out there. And perhaps there are other things roaming the night. It is better to make no noise and make sure nobody can see or even smell you. It is dangerous in the night in the forest.

Liu Cixin. The Dark Forest (Novel): “The universe is a dark forest. Every civilization is an armed hunter stalking through the trees like a ghost, gently pushing aside branches that block the path and trying to tread without sound. Even breathing is done with care. The hunter has to be careful, because everywhere in the forest are stealthy hunters like him. If he finds another life—another hunter, angel, or a demon, a delicate infant to tottering old man, a fairy or demigod—there’s only one thing he can do: open fire and eliminate them“.

The quote is from a sci-fi novel. It became the source for “the dark forest theory”. Scientists discuss this theory seriously. Why is it so quiet in the universe? The majority of scientists believe there must be a tremendous number of alien life in the universe, some of them intelligent. Why is it that humankind seems to be the only civilisation sending radio signals out there? The theory has a frightening explanation. Most civilisations stay quiet because it is better to not make a noise because it is dangerous. Predators are out there.

There is no proof for the dark forest theory. We better pray that this theory is wrong. Furthermore, there is no scientific way to find out if it is the wrong idea. However, like many other ideas, the dark forest theory has a long tradition. If we take a closer look, we will find it is a very old experience.

Of course, we had this situation in ancient times. The forest was indeed a dangerous place. In our times the forest at night might be a safer place as the roads of a big city. But what about the otherworld? The otherworld is sometimes described as a shadow world as the Upside Down. In such world there are dangers. Maybe some inhabitants of the otherworld are hiding because they are afraid. It is better to hide because it is a dangerous place.




Perhaps the dark forest theory refers not only to experiences from ancient times but is related to our idea of the otherworld.

It is a common idea that there are places where the veil is thin between our world and the otherworld. There are forests where the otherworld is closer to us than anywhere. These are dark forests. They are haunted. The dark forest theory applies here. It is important to stay quiet in these places.

However, we might find this a narrow-minded concept. The dark forest theory completely relies upon the assumption that everything is about the survival of the individual. Complex civilizations instead survive because they learned about cooperation. And if we stick to the example of the forest at night it is not true that it is completely quiet. We hear the noises of animals which are active in the night. Not anybody is afraid in the dark forest. However, isn’t cooperation always a risk? There is a saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Cooperation happens often simply because it is necessary for some time. Survival instincts are always at work. The same applies to the creatures of the night. They have found a way to survive even if you can see or hear them. They are risk-takers.

There is one key question here which might explain why the dark forest theory rings true: If we ask ourselves, what is life? There is no real satisfying answer yet. We understand the concept of life. And we know what life is like: Life is always about survival: Survival of the own race, the own form of life, my survival, the survival of my kins. The dark forest theory appeals to us because it is about what life really is: Survival.

If the otherworld matches our world in basic principles it will be also about survival. It could be a war of ideas or principles or different forms of entities.

Perhaps staying alive in the otherworld is something different as in our own world. Being quiet in this dark forest can mean to hide your thoughts. In the other realm, it is important that nobody can read your mind because you could be overwhelmed, invaded and lose your wits.

It is very interesting that Liu Cixin speaks of “demigods”, “angels” or “demons” and “fairies”. These are typically inhabitants of the otherworld. They are not what we think as “aliens” in the context of science-fiction or the universe. But if we see the universe and the otherworld as closely connected – perhaps, in the end, the universe is the otherworld, the dark forest theory makes sense as a universal experience. If we look at the myth of mankind or even the ancient stories from the Old Testament our world appears more like the dark forest as anything else.

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The Origin Of Evil

Stories about the other world often explore the origin of evil. My work is no exception. The question about the origin of evil lies at the bottom both of philosophical work as work of art. In philosophy and theology, the question is often discussed as “theodicy”, which also implies the question why is there evil in the world?

Season Three Of Twin Peaks, already mentioned in the latest post “Ontological Shock“, is not only an example of a visionary experience but also a breathtaking meditation about the origin of evil by David Lynch in episode 8 of the outstanding series.

 

Episode 8 led to many discussions and became a milestone in modern TV, its central sequence of a nuclear blast turning into a surreal trip compared to Kubrick’s Odyssey 2001.

Along the convincing creative work of David Lynch there are a couple of remarkable things: on one side there is a near-literal visualization of gnostic ideas and also neo-platonic philosophy where things getting transformed from the world of ideas into the material world. The gnostic dualism has never been so obvious as in episode 8. On the other side, it evokes a feeling of a cosmic evil without explaining too much. On some level, there is no explanation necessary.

I wouldn’t even say this is an explanation of evil or the creation of evil (the appearance of Bob – the later killer-demon triggered that interpretation).

There could not be an explanation where there is no real explanation. There might be belief-systems or philosophical systems but episode 8 let us feel a darkness which can’t be understood in an intellectual way. There is no explanation. The atomic blast might not have created evil but perhaps it was something like a door-opener. If we imagine a universe full of life, full of conscience there are always elemental cosmic powers waiting in their otherworldly realm for an invitation.

Todd VanDerWerff is right when he writes in his article on Vox.com, “you can try to evoke evil in the audience”. What we can do in a movie or a series is that kind of meditation which let people remember something which they do know but what has been forgotten.





Furthermore, words fail to explain what evil is. What David Lynch does brilliantly in his work, is to make the invisible a visible and palpable thing through an atmosphere, through stories told in pictures and the interplay of actors who can express something which works like a virus and can possess you completely.


We get it that the ancient gnostic idea is true that the material world itself carries the energy of evil, that is is always around us and looking for expressing itself in horrible manifestations. You can show how it is always at work and be shaping our lives if we don’t care.

It always finds a way into our world, and there are endless forms or masks or ways of deception. It needs chaos to prevail and tempts us in ways we don’t imagine.

In the Forest Dark Movie Project, I will present my own vision about the origin of evil. I believe there is something we all know about this, but the definition is also a thing of individual belief and experience in life. A problem I see at the core of this question is that words fail to describe precisely what it is. As we have seen in “The Demonic Principle” even Goethe struggled with appropriate definitions.

Maybe there is even a relationship between creativity and the origin of evil. Longtime creative work is often also an attempt to express what is unspeakable, and it can be a gift or a curse to deal with certain things – it can mean for the artist to undergo his own dark journeys or he risks to become the sorcerer’s apprentice and gets abused in the cosmic battle between light and dark. Even more, the artist might be chosen a long time before by higher forces without knowing himself and given the task to communicate and to give us insight into the real order of the world.

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Dark Entities

Feeling some bad influence? The presence of some unseen force?

If you look up “dark entities” on the web an endless row of articles pop up. Obviously we are surrounded by dark otherworldly entities. The invasion must have happened a long time ago. A lot of people have a very precise idea what a dark entity is. This is a bit surprising since these ideas sound pretty fantastic.

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Artist love to create endless variations of dark entities. Currently we are seeing the revival of a prominent shapeshifting dark being – Pennywise, Clown, Monster and much more. In some cases the dark entity is closely connected to a person like “The Horla“. ATTACHMENT is an attribute we hear very often when it comes to dark entities.

It’s interesting to ask what’s really going on when so many people seem convinced such things exists. And if it comes to potential real stories it seems again that “dark entities” are often connected to places. The ominous “Freestate Fall River Forest” was mentioned before with its sinister creatures. The mysterious orbs of lights here and at other places are sometimes harbingers of darkness.

Of course it’s such places where people get confronted with dark entities or feeling followed from some dark presence after they visited a special place. The theory is that energies are highly concentrated there “People also come into touch with the Unseen through the influence of places. Someone who is not actually psychic, but who is sufficiently sensitive to perceive the invisible forces subconsciouslly, may go to a place where they are concentrated at a high tension” (Dion Fortune).

Otherworld entities can appear in many forms. According to many writers we should be careful. Patrick Harpour (Daimonic Reality) writes that the: “Daimons draw on our psychic energy to give themselves substance” and Dion Fortune (Psychic Self Defence) has very precise ideas about different kind of entities like “thought forms” or psychic vampires. When it comes to dark entities the “tulpa” idea often is mentioned, which is kind of a energetic thought form, something which is created by our own thoughts.

It would be an interesting question if real “alien” dark entities exist in the intermediate plane and can have a certain influence in our world. The daimons from the ancient candidates are good candidates. Sometimes they don’t appear too dark or dangerous in the first place but they are powerful archetypes. For example the nordic-god Loki is a good example for a shape-shifter. Or what about Mephisto? Sometimes people invite such entities. Dark entities always are quickly answering the call.

Dark entities can be ambiguous beings. They don’t do you any good but that’s not because they are pure evil but they get their victims into a certain mode. They make them doing things. It seems also the case with some visionary encounters when the person who had that experience changed somehow. It looks like there could be some sort of “dark attachment” after certain types of encounters.

This is the moment where we should ask if “dark entities” could be also a creation of our own paranoia. Sometimes people getting talked into some sort of paranoia. Or the idea that you are followed or there is some mysterious force around you is like a powerful computer virus corrupting our thinking. One of the strongest stories which turned into the horror-classic “Night of the demon” is “Casting The Runes” by M. R. James. It’s about a curse but it is also the perfect example of a personal paranoia story. The fear of dark entities can kill you. Perhaps the truth is that we can relate much more to that feeling rather then to the demon (the cheesy demon at the end of the movie nearly ruined that film).

Deep in the forest in the middle of the night we might not see a “dark entity”. We even can’t say if these things exist or if our mind make them up, but we know that fear. That fear of something lurking in the trees, watching us, following us, getting into our thoughts. Something which becomes attached to us. This is what my movie project is also about.





Or is it some sort of awakening? Is it that these entities had been around us for a long time but then there is moment in these special corners of the forest (the ancient indian burial ground, the magical grove, the ritual site) when we become aware of them. Perhaps Dion Fortune is right: “Normally, although we move in the midst of these forces (for they sustain our universe), we are oblivious of them. Where they are concentrated, however, unless we are very dense-minded, we begin to be dimly conscious of something that is affecting us and stirring our subliminal self”. This is the moment. From now on we are under the spell.

There is one question left over: what does a dark entity want? Psychic vampirism was mentioned. Destroy us? Or perhaps use the victim in the eternal battle between good and evil which is happen behind the veil of ordinary reality? And is it possible that dark entities can become or exist as ordinary humans? Perhaps it’s the best idea to check our direct surrounding in the first place.