DEMON OF DIVISION

On the Roots of Unholy War

Dear Reader;

My heart, like your heart, breaks in these dark days. May this transmission support your understanding of the tragedy of Palestine and Israel.

DEMON OF DIVISION

Buer, the 10th spirit, who teaches "Moral and Natural Philosophy". Illustration by Louis Breton from Dictionnaire Infernal

Cruelty 
begets cruelty
which teaches us
that we are all Divine
and we are all capable
of the demonic

Only when we are 
finally able
to understand this
may we exorcise the power
of the dark

It is not just  
that we are meant
to no longer take sides
to no longer say
I stand with this one
I stand with that one
but when we agree 
to see the inherent shadow
within us all 
we tell the truth
and when we tell the truth
we are humbled
and when we are humbled
we return to peace

There is no One to fight
and no One
to fear

Conquerors
sewers of vengeance
when you reach toward God
know that
the devil reaches 
with you

When you suggest
that God is on your side
whenever you use God’s name
to justify harm in this way
be it Yahweh
Allah or Christ
the devil speaks through you
and this is 
the inherent risk
of any attempt 
to organize God

For the heart of Man
is most weak
when he presumes to suggest
that his own fear
his own broken need
knows anything
of the Divine
The idea of God
uttered in human fear
is the furthest thing
from holy

There is 
no holy war
There is 
no holy hate
And there is never
ever
such a thing
as holy vengeance
for there is no god
of any name
who celebrates this 
base human emotion
And to suggest otherwise
reveals only
how far we are willing
to travel
from the truth of
Divine Love
to justify our own
unholy games

The sacred
is now fully absent
from these lands
where once
the prophets roamed
There is nothing righteous here

An abducted Israeli mother and her children, surrounded by Hamas militants.

A Palestinian infant in Gaza. Photo: The Economist

In the willingness 
to harm one child
just one
all grace is gone
no matter what
is written
no matter what
is believed

A weapon which
touches a child
is held
in the devil’s hand
for religion
is the attempt of Man
to organize 
his own dreams
of power
through the lens
of his own fear
and unconscious hunger

And while there is 
divinity in every moment
religious warfare
is nothing but 
the negative image of the Divine
that which we call evil
on all sides
and in all forms

True faith
does not divide
it embraces
True consciousness
never blames
but only heals
True love 
owns nothing
not land
and not people

True wisdom
seeks no power
but rather transforms
suffering through faith
consciousness
and love
Love takes no sides
for it is whole
Holy
Whole

Love is a pulsing sphere
and hate is but a circle
yet each will come back
unto itself
And so Where is God?
you ask
when children die
when safely is stolen
And the answer
is always, always
that Love is the choice 
we make
in every moment
between the shadow
and light
within our own hearts

Tall concrete separation barrier wall between Northern Gaza strip and Netiv Haasara Jewish settlement, Southern Israel. Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

It is the day
when each soul rises
that the world
will transform
The day when
nation
race and religion
dissolve into One
And until we are ready
the demon of division
will rise
will grow
will feed upon our fear
our spite
turning the sky black
with our own thoughts
and the rivers red
with the blood of those who die
in innocence and ignorance
until the choice
of their souls
to return and live once more
in the realm of the opportunity
of another human day

Know this
your flags
mean nothing
Your borders
mean nothing
Your military forces
your displays
of righteous retaliation
mean nothin
when seen through the eyes
of Creator

Danerien via Alamy Stock

And so lift yourselves up
you children 
of the history of hate
rise higher 
than who you think you are
Notice how easily
the very fires
which burned your ancestors
now fall
from your own lips
over and over
until you are ready to see
you slaughter 
your own cousins
your own sisters and brothers
you rape your own mothers
and torture your own fathers
You make hell
for your own children
until you choose
until you choose
to be the authors
of your own fate

And yes
the lies are everywhere
And yes
the powerful 
hold the greatest
capacity for evil
because they dance
with the greatest
capacity for good
They have forgotten
alchemy
the demon of division
has seduced their souls
They have become 
the masters of illusion
who claim to be
protector of the lambs
while quietly inviting 
the lion
to eat his fill

Nothing is as it seems
because the old illusions
must fall
and the more tightly
we hold 
to how we think it should be
the more painful
the rebirth will seem
in the grip
of our comfortable 
fears

The truth is
Love is easy
so much easier
than you might think
While vengeance is hard
and eats up everything good
within the soul
Forgiveness
has nothing to do
with the blame
to which you cling
And brutality
is never new
for it breeds and grows
in the gardens
the prisons
and the ghettos
we create

But once revenge is spawned
it will initiate armies of peace
a great rising
of the many millions of aspects 
of Divine Consciousness
to come together
resistance
of the highest order
as the devil
dissolves
starved to death
by our refusal
to feed
what is not born
of true Grace

Be not afraid
for there is no power greater
than our willingness
to love
beyond borders
beyond religion
beyond our forefathers’ 
ancient hate

The day must come
when we do unto others
not what has been done to us
but rather what
pure love
commands 

Relatives mourn people killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Monday, October 9, 2023. FATIMA SHBAIR / AP

We are asked to understand
that no conflict
no suffering is one-sided
There is always a mutuality
a collaboration
the victim/persecutor dance
lives within us all
The persecutor
can only exist in relation 
to the victim
and so 
when we lift a victim up
into the development
of their own power
persecution loses its hold

If we can turn our gaze away
for a moment
from the proud 
the fierce
the righteous persecutor
and look instead
toward lifting up those
who have found themselves
in the land of the victim
division has the opportunity
to transform
and the new consciousness
arise
This is the perfect
invitation
of our times

To lift up
means to shed the identity 
of victim
It generates a strength
which has nothing to do
with attack or counter attack
This strength runs deeper
than any primitive
child-like rage
for only he who holds
a broken child within
is capable of cruelty
to other children 
in turn

Until awareness rises
the circle of hate
must always return

A Palestinian walks amid the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip October 9, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

As the world bears witness
to Nakba once more
we may ask
how many times
must suffering come
How many lives 
how many losses
how much horror
before we learn?

It is the gift of those who suffer
to awaken those
who have been afraid to see
and from the stage
of this act 
of human theatre
it may seem so difficult to understand
how even in this horror
there is no mistake
under Heaven

We are asked to consider
that it is the darkness
which allows the light
to illuminate
and if we look to
every great leader
teacher
or wisdom keeper
throughout human history
these souls 
have known suffering
the very suffering
which created their strength
To wish 
an easy life 
upon a soul
is to take from them
the source
of their gifts

Instead 
we witness the final throes
of the shadow upon our Earth
flushed into awareness
like a flock of birds
from a bush
and we allow our hearts
to open wide 
to every grieving family
every terrified child
and say
You cannot know
just how much love 
is all around you
How many souls
are beside you
How deeply your pain
is felt and understood
Even when it seems
all have abandoned you
you are not alone
you are not alone
you are not alone

But we also say 
to those who are able-bodied
who may live a world away
from these scenes of horror
Stand up and speak
Stand up and care
Put aside your fear
of opposing or being opposed
You are as much a part
of the unfolding
as those who inhabit
the physical experience
of this oppression
and this war
If you do not know how
simply ask 
your own aching heart
and you will find
your path

Artwork by Banksy featuring two grey concrete slabs of Israel's 700-kilometer wall surrounding the occupied West Bank being prised apart by two angels representing Israel and Palestine.

When purpose and meaning
are discovered
our pain is eased
so please 
do not give this honour away
to your gods
You are the owner
you are the shapeshifter
you are the one 
who creates poetry
out of hurt
and soon you will begin
to witness
how there is magic in the heartbreak
for there is no angel
who regrets their days
of living and dying
in the human way

The night is dark
but the dawn will come
The remembering
of affection and compassion
will one day surpass
the need to divide
and own
and destroy

Your daily thoughts
your moment to moment 
willingness
to envision and act 
in the glory of  an utterly new world
has so much more power
than you know

You 
and you
and the many
are the answer 
to every question
you hold

Photo by Benedetta Polignone

much love,
Adi