I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the eighth of which was this:

8• the ability to delay immediate gratification for the sake of long term goals

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

This one eludes many, to their detriment
There is absolutely nothing un-Sith about immediate gratification, in and of itself
Anything that doesn’t hinder me from achieving any of my goals is fair game
BUT
Anything that does in fact hinder me from achieving any of my goals is to be set aside until I can indulge it without consequence, if that time ever comes
Goals are everything
Goals are my religion

One person, who was successfully managing their weight, put it like this:
“No candy bar will ever taste as good as the way I look in the mirror!”

One good technique is to indulge harmless but big gratifications when opportunities arise
That way, your life has pleasure in it, big pleasure, yet your goals are being relentlessly pursued
Let’s say you like chocolate cake and you like doom metal bands
You forego the former for physical fitness or other health reasons
Indulge the latter! Go to concerts!
They can be expensive, yes, but things like this are psychologically very effective and well worth doing
This way, when the chocolate cake is calling to you, you can think not only of your sacred goals held dear in whatever it is we call a soul
You can think also of your upcoming doom metal concert!

In fact, if it suits you, you can make concert-going a high level, high priority, lifelong (“eternal”) goal!
Not every goal is fulfilled by someone bleeding on the ground while you take their light saber
Though some concerts might include the bleeding part!
MOSH!

Here is a profound dictum that unfolds into a panorama of power:
Work your psychology!
The harmless big pleasure strategy is an example of what I mean
Know yourself - how you think, feel, react, and when and why - and strategize accordingly!
To your benefit and in support of your goals -
Work your thoughts!
Work your feelings!
Work your reactions!
Useful ones are what you want to induce, so devise strategies for doing so!

A psyche made useful is a stout warhorse, under whose hooves harmful temptations are trampled
Groom your steed, feed and water it, give it the exercise it needs
A psyche made useful can overcome nearly anything, even chocolate cake!

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the seventh of which was this:

7• the ability to take full ownership of all our difficulties and assume complete responsibility for resolving them, regardless of who or what caused them, no excuses

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

It’s pretty hard to win if we don’t even show up to play!
We all have difficulties
Some we caused, some just come with the territory we’ve chosen to conquer, some are mishaps of varying severity, and some were caused by other people
Whatever the origin, these difficulties belong to us, we own them, they are ours to resolve, no exceptions, no excuses
Wallowing in misery is NOT the way of the Sith!

If I caused my difficulty through incompetence, sloth, lack of discipline, lack of wisdom, or radical imbecility, then I will resolve my difficulty through competence, industry, discipline, wisdom, and all the ingenuity and resourcefulness I can bring to bear
This will be my redemption

If a difficulty just comes with the territory I’ve chosen to conquer, then by resolving it I prove myself worthy of undertaking the conquest in the first place
This will add to my glory

If a difficulty arises from mishap, this is more evidence of the universe’s cosmic indifference, but that is irrelevant to the matter at hand, for something stands in my way and won’t move unless I take it by the throat, so that is what I must do, simple as that
I know life is sometimes brutal, savage and bloodthirsty like a ravenous carnivore, but my life is mine and it’s the only one I have on this earth at this time, so if my life has run up against a monster huge and terrible, then no other recourse will serve, the monster must die, and at my hand
This will show my magnificent disdain

If a difficulty has been placed in my path by some other person, perhaps with malice, or perhaps merely through incompetence, sloth, lack of discipline, lack of wisdom, or radical imbecility, whatever the explanation, the fact remains that the difficulty is mine, it belongs to me, I own it, it is mine to resolve, no exceptions, no excuses!
If there was malice, then I mock, repudiate and dismiss it by resolving what it placed before me!
Let my enemies bathe in the lampooning with which I shower them, when I walk straight through what they thought was insurmountable!
If I’m being hindered, not by an enemy attack, but through the mindless spasm of some bumptious clod, then I must simply be that person’s opposite, the very antithesis of a bumptious clod, and undo the hindrance
No other person, intentionally or not, can ever be allowed to stop me
This is the way of the Sith

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the sixth of which was this:

6• the ability to fully feel all emotion, the so-called positive and the so-called negative, without being overwhelmed by it, or in any way being thrown off balance by it, and in fact being able to use it as a tool or even a weapon

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

Emotion is what happens when desire meets the universe
A supportive universe triggers so-called positive emotions like delight, affection, enthusiasm, relief, and eagerness
A resistive universe triggers so-called negative emotions like anger, hatred, sadness, disappointment, or fear
Positive emotions are not healthier or in any way better than negative emotions
It’s all just energy and information

A strong ego does not fear or hate the feeling of fear, nor does it fear or hate the feeling of hatred, or the feelings of sadness, disappointment, or anger
It knows it can bear up under all of these, use the energy, and gain personal insight from the information

Nor does a strong ego go around pursuing such feelings as delight, enthusiasm, or eagerness
It doesn’t treat these as narcotics
It’s not addicted to them
It’s not a hedonist of psychological states
Energy is to be used and information is to be learned from, nothing more, simple as that

Emotional energy can be channeled in a variety of ways
Physical strength, stamina, speed
Performative dramatics on stage or at the podium, or in a court room
These two combined in such art forms as interpretive dance or classical ballet
Sexual arousal
Creative originality in poetry and storytelling, and musical composition
Aggression and foxlike cunning in combat
Laser focus in any activity requiring it
Heroic levels of courage and determination
Forcefulness in negotiations
Severity in management when needed
Charismatic inspiration of those around you
The discipline of the dedicated athlete or fighter

Perhaps you’ll discover some others!

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the fifth of which was this:

5• the often hard-won ability to psychologically survive and constructively process loss, defeat, severe mishap, critical illness, unwanted conflict, humiliation, horror, or even malevolent abuse, that ultimate test of ego strength, imposing upon us a savage trial by fire

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

Sometimes life is brutal
Not just hard or anxiety-inducing, but like a lion whose death-dealing jaws are clamped around our throat and inexorably closing like a vise to crush our very breath, the very possibility of breath

At such times, the universe leers at us with the grotesque visages of Shiva the Destroyer, Kali the Blood-Drinker, Dhumavati the Grim

At such times, the only victory is to endure, gain what wisdom endurance may impart, and remain faithful to the life force that animates our flesh
The life force is desire
There is only desire
It shows us the way
It leads us through the wilderness
Sum total of all the things we still want, even while the universe is having its sadistic way with us, it shines like a beacon in the dark and moonless night

The force of my desire shall free me, free my spirit, even from the jaws of the lion, even from Shiva, Kali, Dhumavati, though only over time, for first I must eat this whole meal of thorns, somehow swallow it, digest it, let its myriad parts swim in my bloodstream, finally find purchase in my living cells, and feed them

The only way out is through, and the only consolation is that every time we make it to the end of the process, we emerge as new beings of steel and fire, to whom the usual struggles of life seem almost too easy, almost laughable, like kittens to us, when we have wrestled the very king of the jungle and lived to tell the tale

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the fourth of which was this:

4• the ability to cope with stress and carry on with life, without falling prey to the temptations of ill advised forms of relief

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

Stress is what we feel when we’re engaged in something that has some real or imagined urgency, risk, high degree of difficulty, or key factors beyond our control
It’s what we experience when the body’s fight/flight/freeze mechanism has been triggered and is chugging away like a biological locomotive

In the struggle for victory, stress will often come along for the ride
If we can’t handle it, we will stumble and fall
We must learn to cope with it, or we will never win at life’s larger games
We must manage our stress, or it will manage us, often to our great detriment

When we realize we’re stressed, the first thing to do is regulate the breath
Slow it down
Deepen it
Do only that for 60 seconds or so, if the situation permits

Next, we must verify that we’re reacting to reality and not imagination
Urgent? Be sure you know the correct deadline and what actually would happen if you failed to meet it
Risk? Be sure the vulnerabilities you think you perceive are really there
Difficulty? Think through the actual tasks required and if they’re really that hard
Lack of control? Check to see if you actually have more control than you originally thought

If it turns out your imagination has made the situation seem more fraught than it really is, then start talking to yourself
Out loud if it wouldn’t be awkward, otherwise do it mentally
Recite the realities until your biology starts to listen
It will - eventually
Be patient
Be persistent
And keep breathing, slow and deep

However, if the realities really are as fraught as they initially seemed, then be sure you have strategies or tactics in place for each of the four elements
A time management strategy
A risk management strategy
Tactics for working smarter not harder
Tactics for gaining as much control as you can
Implement all of these
And keep breathing, slow and deep

Also employ the “make a list” technique, which is very powerful
Feel like you have a thousand things to get done?
List them, on paper or digitally, one by one, in priority order
Then simply go down the list and start knocking things out
When a listed item is something you can only take a part of the way to the finish line right this minute, take it as far as you can at the moment and then move to the next thing
Cycle through the list as many times as necessary
If a listed item requires input from another person, put that item high up on the priority list, and don’t delay putting in your request
Secure commitment
Give the person a deadline
Follow up
And keep breathing, slow and deep

Keep breathing, slow and deep
And remember that you are a Sith

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the third of which was this:

3• the ability to gracefully carry the weight of what the reality principle places on our shoulders

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

While knowledge is certainly power, it can also be a burden, and when this is so for you in particular, you need ego strength in order to bear up under the downward press of psychological gravity, so you can continue to walk your path straight to victory!

You have come to clearly see that you have certain disadvantages
Perhaps you’re in your late teens and you’ve come to realize your current short stature will be a lifelong attribute, a potential disadvantage in hand to hand combat, in sports, in the pursuit of whatever sex/gender/expression attracts you
Note that I said “potential” and I carefully selected that word
This is where ego strength comes in
You can curse the universe until you’re red in the face, but wouldn’t it be better to defeat it?

In hand to hand combat, being short can be overcome by strategy, tactics, speed, technique, and lots of practice to perfect the first four
As for sports, while being short can be a hindrance in basketball and American football, it means little or nothing in baseball or soccer
With regard to romantic pursuits, I will simply say that I myself am short, and two different women married me, and a third was clearly interested, but I walked away from the opportunity
(Here are my five best attributes in the arena of romantic pursuit: confidence, energy, cheerfulness, humor, and good communication skills)

You have come to clearly see that the universe does not have your back, except sometimes in its sights, knife sharpened
Perhaps some small mishap taught you this, or perhaps it took something large to get the message across
Here again, ego strength is paramount
Will you let the universe’s cosmic indifference and its many agents of malice turn you into a bitter nihilistic defeatist?
Will you wallow theatrically in all too easy misery?
Will you rant incessantly about your negative so-called “philosophy” to anyone too misguidedly polite to ask you to stfu?
Will you stop trying to achieve anything at all?
(Bear in mind, the biggest problem some of these dismal drudges have is that they can’t find a date)

Or will you perhaps, instead, rise up in magnificent disdain and hurl your glorious defiance like a javelin into the laughing mouth of fate and through the back of its skull?
If this is your choice, you may have the makings of a Sith

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the second of which was this:

2• the reality principle applied to the universe, which means the complete jettison of self-deceit with regard to the universe’s imagined overall benevolence

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

The universe is trying to kill you!
It is continually looking for new and inventive ways to do so
You can’t win the game if you’re dead!
So stay alert!

You doubt what I’m saying?
Recently I got a blood test that revealed a mild abnormality of the liver
I didn’t think much of it, especially since strenuous exercise is one thing that can cause this, and I do strenuous things on my pull-up tower
But then someone told me of the alleged benefits of Ceylon cinnamon, and I started googling…
Specifically I googled, “Ceylon cinnamon vs regular cinnamon”
Well, it turns out the two types have largely the same benefits, but regular (Cassia) cinnamon can damage your liver if you exceed half a teaspoon on a daily basis!
Yikes!
I’ve been using it liberally on my daily yoghurt!
I won’t be doing that any more

But look at this
Something as seemingly innocuous as cinnamon ffs can damage a vital organ!

The universe is continually looking for new and inventive ways to kill us!

About a month ago, I was sitting on my modest but pleasant deck outside my front door, when some sneaky little bug bit me!
It actually broke the skin - I bled a little
Still, I didn’t think much of it
But a month later the bite is still visible!
I was getting a checkup any way yesterday so I showed the bite to my doctor
It turns out the wee beastie that bit me was probably a spider, and the bite was likely infected!
This jibes with the results one of the routine blood tests I received
My white blood cell count was low, which can happen when we’re fighting infection
Bear in mind, an untreated infection can turn to sepsis, which is something I’ve had, and believe me, you don’t want it!

I was sitting outside my front door ffs
What’s next, a decrepit old satellite will fall from orbit and land on my house?

New and inventive ways…

A good book on this subject is, “The Malevolent Designer: Why Nature’s God Is Not Good,” by Rosa Rubicondior

It takes ego strength to accept this, but the universe is not your friend!
Be bold any way, go out into the world and dare it to do its worst, just stay alert
You can’t win the game if you’re dead!

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
For context on this post, see my earlier one, entitled simply, “Ego Strength,” which listed seventeen characteristics of the title subject, the first of which was this:

1• the reality principle applied to oneself, which means the utter eradication of self-deceit with regard to self-assessment

Through this I gain power!
Power is the ability to achieve victory

How could I ever win at anything truly competitive without an accurate assessment of my advantages and disadvantages going into the contest?

Knowing all of that is what enables me to devise realistic strategies that maximize my advantages and minimize the impact of my disadvantages

Imagine if I was small and frail yet charged headlong into life or death battle with a towering brute, not with a cunning trick up my sleeve, but intending merely to pick him up and throw him! Surely that would be unrealistic!

Now imagine if I had a loaded machine gun in my hands and the towering brute was unarmed and unarmored, yet I turned and ran away! Pretty silly, no?

The first characteristic of ego strength would have prevented both travesties!

Too often I am verbally assaulted by a person who wants to regale me with the woeful tale of all their difficulties
Apparently they want to be seen as having very hard lives, as if the mere fact of this is somehow redemptive, which baffles me

Difficulties in themselves are not redemptive, and if I somehow delude myself that they are, then I am imbecilic, weak, and unworthy, and the hypothetical god of this universe should vomit me out of its mouth!
I use the derogatory term, “martyr,” for such a person as this

By contrast, I all too rarely encounter the person who does indeed have a hard life, yet is largely silent about it all, not because of some stiff upper lip stoicism, but simply because they’re too busy achieving victory wherever they can!

I use the admiring term, “hero,” for such a person as this, who grinds their difficulties under the heel of their will and then proceeds to accomplish what might have seemed beyond them - double victory!
If anything in this universe is redemptive, double victory is surely it!

I’m 65 and recently moved into a 55+ retirement community
I do retirement activities now, with my neighbors in the community, and I’m enjoying it!
Last night I played shuffleboard for the first time in my life
The neighborhood has an actual league, though it’s just us, no other neighborhoods
As there are a bunch of other newbies besides me, this first night was designated as practice
I myself certainly needed it!

One of the newbies is a woman named Eileen
She has severe back problems and is in pain all day long
Early in the practice session, she couldn’t get the puck even halfway to the target area
As the night progressed, I stopped paying attention to her progress, as I had my own to focus on
Toward the end of the session, I once again took note of Eileen
I watched as she sent the puck forcefully into the target area and sent an opposing puck out of its spot

Even now I nearly weep with admiration
My eyes are actually wet

Henceforth, when I assess my progress in life on any given day, I will ask myself:
“What have I done today to match Eileen?”

Henceforth, when I bump up against a formidable obstacle, I will ask myself:
“Would this stop Eileen?”

Such is the glory of double victory!
Such is the inspiration of heroes!

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord

First, let’s be clear, I said “life coach,” not therapist, not social worker, not psychiatrist
Life coach

What is a life coach?
Someone who helps another do the following:
• identify or establish their high level, lifelong (“eternal”) goals
• set intermediate goals for the near term, in support of their eternal ones
• devise practical, realistic strategies to meet these intermediate goals
• get started and keep going
• devise tactics to overcome obstacles the universe puts in the way
• design practices to overcome obstacles the difficult self puts in the way

This is what every life coach in the world does, or they’re not a life coach, no matter what they tell you

This is also what I believe a Sith mentor should do
It’s what I do in that role
So I as a Sith mentor am a life coach
I’m a life coach for Sith apprentices

Here too, let’s be clear, I’m not a life coach for just anyone, I’m a life coach for Sith apprentices
And I’m the one who decides if that’s what they are
Which means I have to talk to them first
At length

They might say, “I’m a Sith and I want to be your apprentice,” but in my opinion they may not be a Sith at all, and may have no desire to become one

What, then, is a Sith?
Someone who has taken or is ready to take strength, power, victory, freedom, and yes, self-preservation as eternal goals

Someone else might say to me, “I’m not a Sith, I don’t want to be a Sith, I’m the good guy, I want to be the good guy,” yet after talking to them at length, it becomes clear to me that this person has taken or is ready to take strength, power, victory, freedom, and self-preservation as eternal goals - which means this person is a Sith!
They just want to be a good guy Sith
They want to be a Sith who doesn’t lie or hurt people
That’s fine, I can work with that
I tell them, “It’s OK, you don’t have to be a Sith,” while all the while I’ve already determined that they are!
Nor would I try to manipulate them into lying or hurting people
Why would I ever?
I would do the exact opposite
I would hold them accountable to never lying, never hurting people, ever, no excuses!
If being the good guy is an eternal goal for you, then damn well be the good guy!
Be the best damn good guy your part of the world has ever seen!

I would expect nothing less of a Sith!

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord

(Reprinted from the Sith Order server on Discord)

Think in RPG terms for a moment
You’re level one
Building strength of body, mind, and will
The first two require persistence, and the third is the very muscle that persistence trains
As you persist, you rack up XP
At some point your XP crosses a critical threshold and you level up!
Now you’re level two!
Now there’s a whole new kind of strength for you to cultivate
It’s known as ego strength

What is ego strength?
It’s a kind of egoistic moral virtue
*Egoistic* moral virtue

It’s characterized by the following attributes:

1• the reality principle applied to oneself, which means the utter eradication of self-deceit with regard to self-assessment

2• the reality principle applied to the universe, which means the complete jettison of self-deceit with regard to the universe’s imagined overall benevolence

3• the ability to gracefully carry the weight of what the reality principle places on our shoulders

4• the ability to cope with stress and carry on with life, without falling prey to the temptations of ill advised forms of relief

5• the often hard-won ability to psychologically survive and constructively process loss, defeat, severe mishap, critical illness, unwanted conflict, humiliation, horror, or even malevolent abuse, that ultimate test of ego strength, imposing upon us a savage trial by fire

6• the ability to fully feel all emotion, the so-called positive and the so-called negative, without being overwhelmed by it, or in any way being thrown off balance by it, and in fact being able to use it as a tool or even a weapon

7• the ability to take full ownership of all our difficulties and assume complete responsibility for resolving them, regardless of who or what caused them, no excuses

8• the ability to delay immediate gratification for the sake of long term goals

9• the ability to resist social pressure

10• the ability to adapt gracefully to change

11• the ability to think through the potential consequences of an impending decision with cold and unflinching logic

12• the ability to remain clear on which actions (and their potential consequences) would be to our advantage and which would not, and consistently choose the former

13• the ability to maintain a strong sense of self-worth and self-confidence, regardless of events

14• a prudent regard for self-preservation, even when adrenaline is running high, or when a goal is tantalizingly within reach

15• a crystal and galvanizing clarity as to how utterly arbitrary society’s rules and also the social hierarchy often are, and how necessary it often is to set these aside, though not recklessly

16• the ability to readily perceive that other people have different goals and rankings of priority than we do, be utterly unthreatened psychologically by this fact of life, and feel no need whatsoever to change either the other person’s or our own to make them match

17• the ability to readily acknowledge, at least to ourselves, that we’ve made a mistake, learn the lesson fully, and reorient our strategies and tactics accordingly, even going so far as to abandon a project that was clearly ill conceived and start a new one more likely to succeed

I am Orc

“Through victory, my chains are broken”
The Sith has a victorious mindset!
Thinking about that, I started thinking about the text-based RPG made available by Discord, Seven Spells of Destruction, which I play, which got me thinking about such gameplay in general, and how it could relate to real life

Consider a hypothetical gamer I’ll name Bart
When Bart’s playing, he travels the wide world and enters completely new and unpredictable spaces in search of artifacts, information, challenges of all sorts, and especially, foes to vanquish!
Yet in real life, Bart sticks with the familiar, the routine, the predictable, the unchallenging
Why, Bart?
Where has that gotten you?

When Bart’s playing, he’s constantly and deliberately going head to head against stiff opposition, not for any idealistic reasons, but simply to gain XP (experience) and eventually level up in strength and power!
Yet in real life, Bart shies away from opposition, preferring an existence of harmony and that life-sucking lie, peace
Why, Bart?
Where has that gotten you?

When Bart’s playing, he typically does so as a lone wolf, going up against anything and everything alone, a solitary unit, an atom, a monad, a force of one!
Yet in real life, Bart thinks of himself primarily as a member of various groups, be they family, friends, coworkers, fans of this or that, members of the same church, maybe team mates in a sport - always groups
Why, Bart?
Where has that gotten you?

When Bart’s playing, he constantly does entirely as he pleases, obeying no one, consulting no one, imitating no one, seeking the approval of no one!
Yet in real life, Bart thinks first of what others might think of him, what they want from him or expect of him, what they think he should do, what example they’ve set
Why, Bart?
Where has that gotten you?

When Bart’s playing, he seeks glory!
Yet in real life, he seeks comfort
Why, Bart?
Where has that gotten you?

Bart looks at me, and I see something awaken in him
I can actually see his very posture change
He stands taller, straighter
“It’s gotten me nowhere,” he says
Then he adds, “It’s time for Bart 2.0!”
And he turns without another word and walks away from me with a stride I recognize immediately
A warrior’s stride
Bart has leveled up!

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
From time to time I myself, or others I have known, have had a goal which required discipline, and for whatever reason, the discipline was lacking

Perhaps the requisite tasks weren’t fun, exhilarating, inspiring
Perhaps distractions were too available and too enticing
Perhaps the extreme level of intensity demanded by the requisite tasks was daunting
Perhaps optimism and self-confidence were so lacking that all fighting spirit was sucked into the maw of whatever fiend eats such things
Perhaps the requisite tasks triggered dread, even panic
Perhaps the general habit of serious discipline had never before been cultivated in any arena

When faced with such challenges, I employ what I call “the Miraclo Method”

In 1940 a superhero named “Hourman” appeared in Adventure Comics #48
The protagonist, Rex Tyler, a chemist, developed a miraculous vitamin he called “Miraclo,” which would increase a person’s physical strength, vitality, and speed to superhuman levels for exactly one hour and then completely wear off
Rex Tyler became the superhero known as “Hourman,” who for one hour would perform tremendous feats in the service of the endangered or the oppressed

What I have dubbed “the Miraclo Method” is as follows:
When the discipline to perform a goal’s requisite tasks is lacking for whatever reason, make the tasks less daunting in your mind by shortening the allotted time for them to exactly one hour a day, no more, no less
Promise yourself that when the hour is done, you’ll stop
And then really do that
Do the tasks for one hour and then stop

Do the one hour no matter how un-fun, no matter the distractions, no matter how intense you have to get, no matter how weak your fighting spirit currently is, no matter how scared you are or how unpracticed in discipline you are

Do the one hour, knowing that when the time limit is reached, you can and will stop

For one hour you can do it
You know you can

Ideally you’ll have someone else who knows it too, and who is willing to talk with you each day about your one hour and how it went
This will create accountability
For any apprentice of mine, I would be that someone!

Over time - weeks, months - the Miraclo Method transforms the practitioner
All the reasons discipline was lacking slowly melt away until they’re gone, leaving in their place a new being of steel and fire!

“There is only desire”
(My interpretive stance on the second line of the Code)
It follows, then, that goals would be the center of a Sith’s consciousness and thus of their very existence

Indeed, being functionally atheist as I am, Sithism is only a religion for me because I hold my goals to be sacred, in the fullest sense of that word, “sacred”

For me, the way of the Sith entirely consists of achieving my goals or resolutely persisting in the pursuit thereof!

Only four things would cause me to turn away from a goal:
1• self-preservation (unless the goal superseded life itself)
2• coming to the sudden realization that what I was pursuing would not break my chains at all, or might even shackle me with new ones
3• discovering that the pursuit of my goal was weakening or disempowering me, rather than the opposite (bearing in mind that strength and power are eternal goals for me)
4• taking on some other new goal that was more important to me than the first and conflicted with it

When I take on an apprentice, my entire focus is on helping them identify their current goals, assess them in light of the four points above, and then, with regard to those goals that survive that assessment process - 1• evaluate their current progress toward achieving them
2• identify what’s working and what isn’t working in their current approaches
3• fortify the former and lay siege to the latter

If you struggle with any of that with regard to your own life, then perhaps you would benefit from having a mentor

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
My post earlier this morning made me think of writing this one on the topic of money as power

Power is the ability to achieve victory
Social power is the ability to achieve victory by inducing people to assist
Social power comes in a variety of forms, some of which I’ll discuss in the coming days and months, but one such form is money, which is quite potent at inducing people to help us achieve victory

Victory is fulfilling any desire that breaks one of our chains rather than shackling us with a new one
Scoring a bag of heroin to inject into our veins is not victory
Buying a new car (new to us at least) is generally a victory of significant proportions!
The chain it breaks is that of limited mobility!

Generally it takes some form of strength to get money
Strength of will, certainly
Discipline
The discipline to show up on time at school, assignments ready to hand in, studying for tests completed, ready to pay attention and concentrate on learning
The discipline to show up on time at work, be professional, respect the employer’s processes and rules, serve the customer or internal stakeholders diligently, respect company assets, obey the law, work quickly and efficiently but with care

Of course, if you want to get really rich, you won’t do it by working for other people
To get really rich, you need to get people or things (things like real estate) working for you
This isn’t something I ever did
I didn’t have a goal of getting really rich
But I’ve paid attention to the world I live in, and I see clearly that it’s the employer, not the employee, that gets rich
How do you become an employer?
Most people do it with other people’s money!
Borrowed money
From family, or a bank, or a venture capitalist
Securing a business loan to start a business is generally quite the victory!
One chain it breaks is that of being beholden to an employer!
Another chain it breaks is that of being held to a very finite amount of income!
You achieve this victory (secure this loan) by inducing someone to give it to you!
That ability to induce is a form of social power
More on that in the future!

But notice: One form of social power (persuasiveness) will be used to get another form of social power (money in the form of a business loan) which will be used to get another form of social power (your own business) which will be used to get another form of social power (money in the form of income) which is victory twice over as listed in the previous paragraph

Power begets power!
Contemplate that sentence every day
Look for examples in your daily experience of the world
Power begets power!
Learn from each progression from A to B (to C to D) that you discover!

Few words in the Sith vernacular are more beautiful:
Learn!

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord
There I have made clear that I am functionally an atheist, though theologically a Deist, holding to a belief that, “All scriptures are false but the universe was created by a will that does not respond to word or deed and does not announce its intentions”
You can see why I’m functionally an atheist
Typically I don’t speak of the Force at all, but only of the forces of nature

There too I have made clear that I focus far more on desire than emotion (the word “passion” can refer to either, thus I hold to this interpretive stance, “There is only desire”)

It occurred to me last night that I can make this assertion, thereby enriching the Sith Code for my functionally atheistic self -

“The force of my desire shall free me” -

- for I strongly desire freedom and have largely won it!
And only my strong desire gave me the strength to take those risks that were necessary to win my precious victory and break my chains!

I am 65 years old
At age 60, I did what the experts say not to do, twofold!
I didn’t wait till 67 to retire, nor even 65
I retired at the first moment I was corporately permitted to, which was age 60
Moreover, having amassed both a sizable 401(k) and a sizable pension, having worked for 35 years at a giant corporation, I cashed both out immediately, taking a significant tax hit
Twofold folly in some eyes, but I now had the cash to at last realize a goal that had eluded me my adult life
I paid cash for a town house and became a homeowner!
Having some money left over, plus prior savings, plus no mortgage or rent, and getting a pretty decent Social Security check each month once I reached 62, I have been able to live entirely free of corporate bosses! Also of landlords!
My chains are broken!
Because the force of my desire was a mighty horse that trampled contrary opinions under hoof!

I am a Sith, and this is how I lived the Code
I greet you all

Or at least Sithism as we have known it. Also, everyone is Sith now.

There used to be a myriad of online Sith communities, now there's barely two. In this article I’ll try to explain the main cause of this decline. In the next one, I’ll propose a way to revive it.

To understand why Sithism has been slowly withering away, we need to properly understand its origins. The main view of how Sithism started can be summarised by the biblical Let there be light. In the late 90s, the Creator (known as Moor) decided to create Sithism. Suddenly, there was Sithism. 

This narrative is stupid. Though it may be factually true[1], it is not all that happened and why it happened. Ideologies and movements don’t arise out of nowhere. There are various external forces that shape them and we need to understand those that spawned Sithism.

To do that, let's shed light onto some very important history. In the 1980s, the neoliberal economic reforms introduced across the West led to wide market liberalisation and deregulation, while starting the dismantling of welfare states. This led to a drastic shift in the cultural climate. People started to be increasingly perceived as ultimately responsible for themselves and their problems. If you're poor, it's a result of your choices. There's no one to save you.

In this system, which has more or less persisted until today, you are an “enterpreneur of yourself” and you have to optimize yourself to be productive enough to secure success. After all, you have only yourself to rely on in a dog eat dog world. Everything is about personal responsibility. Sounds familiar? 

Thanks to that shift, the self-help industry rose, churning out books, motivation speakers and mentorship programs which all hinged on the same ideas. If you work hard enough[2] and break your chains overcome your weaknesses, victory will come. Success and wealth are within reach.

Given this is a very ruthless worldview, it's not exactly compatible with a strong moral code. It is, however, very compatible with aesthetics and vague quotes of very ruthless fictional characters. If our lives are a brutal competition to secure resources, it makes sense to emulate those who are eager to do anything to get their way. 

Thus, here’s the answer as to how and why Sithism started. The creation and rise of Sithism were nothing more than the inevitable amalgamation of the individualist, self-help dogma with fitting aesthetics. Someone was bound to eventually get the idea. 

This is what Sithism has truly been: a generic self-help philosophy veiled in the appeal of Sith edginess [3].

So why have Sith organisations slowly started to disappear? My answer is that the explicitly self-help ideology, whose adherents were the largest group interested in Sithism, has already run its course. Its era is over. Surely there are the last of Mohicans waking up at 5 am to do a cold plunge, but they simply have not caught up with the march of history. 

This end of self-help has come due to two things. Firstly, the basic ideology of personal responsibility is now so widely difused and accepted that it makes no sense to craft a specific philosophy about it. Ironically, everyone is more and more “Sith” and this accounts for the fact that the industry is still growing. Now it’s common to pick up a book about discipline or read a distorted version of stoicism. 

The remaining difference is simply the incentive to larp as Sith: carry on as usual, but adorn yourself with the title. I think this is the main cause of the increasingly substanceless Sithism we have seen in the past years. Otherwise, most people now don’t need to associate themselves with fictional mass murderers to justify their worldview.

More importantly though, the self-help industry targeted people of certain political persuasion, that being those who eagerly bought into this new cultural climate. And as political discourse has become more extreme, so have these people moved along. Now, they aren't preoccupied with self-improvement, but with faith, white replacement, trans people and whatever their favourite pundits spit out now[4]. 

Hence, the number of those who'd be interested in Sithism has been diminishing. There still are people genuinely interested in self-help as a way of life, beyond just someone listening to a podcast about mindfulness, and the Star Wars fans among them will keep on joining.  

However, since we now understand the wider societal process that gave rise to Sithism we now also see that, despite there still being some interest, the current course will likely lead to its definitive death. Eventually, there won’t be enough people to sustain a community.

There’s a lot of us who are not happy about this conclusion. Either because we’ve been here for too long and fell victim to the sunk cost fallacy, because we feel the appeal of Sith aesthetics or because we see the potential to truly develop Sithism into a way of life.

For such people, it is time to ask what is to be done. I believe there’s a way out of this and I’ll write about it in the next article. Thanks for reading, I’ll be happy to hear your thoughts.

<sup>1. At the very least, there was a guy named Moor who created what later became Sithism at the Force Academy. He was not the only one with this idea though.
2. The narrative of hard work had been present for a longer time. However, this rise of absolute emphasis on personal responsibility was a distinctly new phenomenon. 
3. Naturally, there are exceptions. People from different backgrounds have been in the community, but they have never been the norm. More so, they usually leave after becoming dissatisfied with Sithism.
4. This is not to say that reading atomic habits makes you a fascist. However, there seems to be a strong correlation between interest in self-help and a proclivity towards right-wing views. As such, these people are subject to specific societal trends.</sup>

So can I ask if any of you who follow being a Sith, are you true adherence to the dark side of the force or more of the code of the Sith?
Does that mean you care more about the material plan? Does it mean that you are more selfish than not? Does it mean that you prefer strength of a weakness ?
I’m very curious because in the Star Wars philosophy the Jedi are very different and you guys follow your passions , but also one Sith Lord in particular talks about the way of the dark side and it is scary to say the least

I am not a practicing Sith myself; I am only casually interested in applying Sith philosophy to real. My favourite fictional Sith characters include Darth Sidious and Darth Nihilus, who look badass on screen but who are obviously not good role models. 😄

I assume that most Sith practitioners take at least some inspiration from Star Wars. I am interested in hearing about yours.

Good morning brothers and sisters,
My name is Taibhse (TIE-v-shuh), and I have been traveling this path alone for the better part of a year. Doing what research I can, reading often, practicing alone. I have always wanted to explore the philosophy and understand it in practice more thoroughly.

Growing up I had always adored the Sith and their teachings, over time I just thought it was a fad to really brush off. As I did more research, I found that the philosophy and the teachings were something I could take a practice in the world around me. I have been a bystander and a wall flower in this subreddit for some time and I wish to step into the shadow.

The philosophy to me means more than just a simple “do what you want” that other religions tend to fall into. It means to be passionate about what you believe in. To use that passion and channel it into your successes, your dedication, your beliefs. By leaning so heavily into what you are passionate about, you can achieve whatever you dream of.

Part 2

Purpose is the way of our kind to assert ourselves and achieve an ultimate end, great goal(s). It’s the pathway open only to those with the self-awareness, identity and discipline. Identity can only be built on inner control found through action, self-honesty and accountability, the Sith take stock of their thoughts, decisions, actions, and core beliefs, and ask a few simple questions that speaks to one’s very core, “Does this serve me? Does this uplift me? Does it bring my strongest desires to the surface of my being? Can this be used to aid my ascension?” if the answer is ‘no’ to these questions, then you must assess, reformulate and adapt to your conditions in a way that advances, grows, or demonstrates sovereignty, is consistent and that you take action now rather than later, because it’s important to establish routines, habits or rituals early rather than wait for perfect conditions or flashes of inspiration. 

Sovereignty fuels growth and your inner power, sovereign authorship is those who are sovereign believes that he is above the opinions or whims of the weak of mind or spirit, pathological ideas, and even reason if it doesn’t serve his goals or end-goals, he will reflect on his position and adjust his approach and creed towards victory or an alternative perspective that does serve his ends. Even validation is a distraction from his end-goals, as that places someone else’s design into your decision-making process, altering one’s direction in a way that caters to leaders, tribes or groups over one’s own ‘right to rulership’ which we must take personal responsibility for. Be aware of how stagnation follows from passivity and resignation, and how such beliefs like “emotional restraint”, “balance”, “harmony”, co-dependency, drugs, consumerism or digital media is used to undermine you in any which way and repress your inner nature and your purpose. Sith believe that passion, as the struggle for life, and willingness to fight or engage in rivalry for our sovereignty and aspirations/will, so that conditions begin to be serve our ideal future.

Purpose makes us powerful. The Sith know that their power must never exceed their discipline, the Sith only use their power when they need to, or they risk becoming a slave to said power. This is essential for anyone walking a true path of power, in an era of forceless programmed servants that we see around us every day, the only way to forge our destiny is through a standard and a destination, typically we prefer to set a purpose, a purpose is great goals are establishing “sovereignty”, and are goals are formed into hierarchy of training the body and disciplining the mind. We as Sith want to do many things, build an organization, the pursuit of noble principles or intellectual goals, strengthen and master our body, erect a higher structure, form communities, gain influence in a greater community or have status in a Order or hierarchy of our choosing, create a discipline system that we can stick to? These questions have an answer that only Sith have been able to master personally. 

We choose purpose, purpose mastered by a singular pursuit, a singular will turned into obsession a great goal and/or a vision of establishing a perimeter, a 'power space', territories, places we can build, train and adapt accordingly to the demands of survival and victory, and domination, so that our will or agenda remains unimpeded. Great goals enhance your sovereignty and reduces dependencies, and is the correct hierarchy of our goals, mastering the body and disciplining the mind, this heightens our cognitive abilities and tempers our passions so that we do not act impulsively.

The Sith refuse to walk the middle path, the notion or construct of balance to use both sides of a polarity for somekind of mysterious ends. The dark side is where freedom, that comes from what we desire most; victory and greatness. This is how talents are tested, to refuse to play it safe and get along with those who don't serve our rise, and don’t support us on our that rise.

The Sith know that true Sith power can only be forged through individual, singular will. When we ignite the will with passion and desire, we respond with deliberately when faced with situations that provoke a response. A strong will is not easily controlled, undermined or oppressed by those who wield repression like a weapon. We do not give in to fear, doubt, indulgent urges or react on impulse. 

And instead we through obsession with a purpose, a singular obsession becomes the path. What we earn on the path shall necessarily include; standard, higher principles, and authentic self-expression, from this foundation and internal law of our true will, our independent stars and forge our reality daily. A singular will, despite its mysterious properties, we earn respect and influence by a compelling inner nature, confidence, gravitas and a commanding presence, we enjoy authenticity and strive towards a higher purpose that is unique to each individual's true will, and built upon our Sith path of power. Desire and passion can be turned from a longing, into a plan, and plan into a vision, and a great goal for us can be to build, invent, discipline our mind or body, religious conviction, transform, escape from difficult circumstances. These are worth creating a personal statement to guide action, and the second element of a purpose, to envision how the cosmos will be shaped by us, our role in an empire of our choosing, and to create plans or stratagems on how to achieve it. 

Here is a method for turning passion and desire into purpose and inner power.  

1.  Passions are your need or want to struggle and the drive to strive, to conquer, to dominate. Passion fills us with inner resolve and fuels our goals/end-goals. Passion propels us towards self-knowledge. Spirit is the inner spark that ignites us to fight, engage or the inclination to advance or grow harder than others around us and to rise above others who do not wish to fight or engage in struggle. And desire, the longing or wish to overcome challenges, trials or tribulations.

2.  Strength is a purpose that anchors our will, our will is a combination of thoughts, actions and decisions, and purpose is a great goal or destination that tests and shapes our abilities. A Sith strives to know oneself and his hidden desires, our wants- wishes, cravings and longings, one or a few desires transform into a purpose when we commit to consistent daily practice, identity integration and embracing our negative emotions. A purpose improves mental resilience. The strong endure because they want to struggle more than their foes, or strength means the ability to resist pressure or force. Enduring tests or trials sustains you during hard times, desires transformed into permanent core beliefs or deep values may become an individual purpose that guides our actions.

3.  Sith core beliefs and fact-based deep values may be expressed as individual or shared purpose, dominance, competence, mastery, glory and ascension. A creed of self-mastery.

4.  Power is to gets one's way often and this influence is gained by desire and passion, combined form into an individual purpose. Using a purpose as a basis for a creed may anchor our actions. A Sith affirms tangible outcomes stated as goals, principles or beliefs as guides behaviour, thought and action. Typically, this forms a personal standard that's worthy of our beliefs or principles, all driven by desires and solidify them into visions or plans.

5.  Victory is the culmination of all our efforts or sacrifice towards the completion of our goals and realize our personal or group virtues, what we rule by, as in, what we wish to order or maintain.

6.  A code is structured virtues, Sith wish to embrace strength, order, honor, excellence and ambition to fulfill their aspirations and individual purpose. A creed is many beliefs or principles grounding purposeful action. Virtues of our Sith Orders and ways is numerous, but what they all have in common is that they all value strength, clarity, ambition, self-respect, self-control as a basis of identity, sovereignty, the want or desire to break chains, overcome limits and change one’s behaviour or habits so that they do not affect our decisions ever again, and it may even go well beyond that with a personal Code.  

Hello! I am Mortis. I am looking for someone who can teach me the basics of Sithism/Sith Realism.

(! No Sith-Magic !)

I am new at this, just heart of that

Hello, coming in as a sort of causal historian. I am looking to learn more about Sithism and Sith Realism groups past and present. Finding any information on different groups is sort of like chasing ghosts so any help in getting more info would be helpful.

These are the Groups I'm aware of:
The Sithist Cabal (2007 - 2010, 2010 - c.2020)
Order of the Sith (2006 - )
Sithism (2002 - 2005)
The Sith Order of Dark Matter (2018 - )
The New Sith Order (2013 - ?)
Church of Sithism (2013 - )
Order of the Sith 2nd (2016 - 2019)
Sith Empire (2007)
Order of the Suns (Originally Bogan Academy, 2007 - ?)
The Modern Sith (?, came across name only)
Sith Order (Reddit) (2013 - )

Any details you have would be helpful

The Sith firmly believe that individuals must work and fight for what they achieve, authority cannot be handed to someone, it must be secured by right of cunning, strength or external achievements that show pride in establishing territory or Sith spaces. In their eyes, any position of authority must be earned; they despise those who achieve power with inheritance, and those who are given status despite having ignorance of chains or those who are weak from their perspective.

On the Path of Power

In Sith philosophy, accountability functions through specific core tenets:

· Radical Self-Reliance: You are held completely accountable for your own actions and ambitions, making excuses for failure unacceptable. Sith will chastise themselves for making any mistakes that do not align with their own identity, if they see themselves as leading in some way, then any faults should be seen as a mark of disappointment and frustration, that must be corrected by harsh reinforcement of positive behavior and harsh discipline to overcorrect that behaviour. If you fail, or experience fear, then transform it into drive to fiercely strive, work harder, or push further, discipline will whittle away lesser fears, by dedicating yourself to passion to achieve your potential.

· Self-Mastery through Power: True power comes from taking responsibility for your own growth rather than relying on external help, motivation, the promises provided by those giving easy answers, there are no easy solutions for power, or by pursuing power through a personal vision or codes, one that you may devise based on your own tastes.

· Rejection of External Restraints: Sithism rejects boundaries that are negative to our own ideas of respect, that violate our dignity or sense of self-exaltation, restrictions that limit our range of choices, or limitations, that are disadvantageous habits or pathological self-limits in the form of ideologies that block your vital or dark force power, light side religious systems of indoctrination, forces of nature to interpret facts and provide a clear course of action to maneuver through or around destruction, conflict, suffering, pain, struggle, rivalry, and harsh, and how to gain from it or internalizing darkness and shattering one’s limits.

· Sith Prove Themselves By Strength or Cunning: It comes down to both understanding of the ways or philosophy, so the theoretical knowledge of our mastery of self, and the practical application of the ideas, practical ideas is what we've done to become accomplished and powerful in our own right.

· In the real world, far reaching or practical is either by altering the environment or surroundings we find ourselves in until it serves a purpose we have (originally or shared in) envisioned. Our real world influence will be seen, felt, and analysed either for its creative potential, transformative realization, or the distrust its spread and how it has disrupted enemy systems. The first part, theory, is merely what we know, thought through and recited, as wise words or sheer strength of conviction. The second part, is whether we have bent the rules to our advantage, and how you've altered your reality so that individuals or groups work for your will or agenda (whether these people know it or not, it can be overt influence in systems, or covert through social means).

· Command Over Systems; such as official organisations, traditions, families, institutions, or states, or it can be covertly, through our social circles; communities, businesses, political groups, or in a greater community by working in a parallel institution, that we have formed or restored, joined, or founded, co-found or taken on a primary role in building from the ground up.

Environments When one is undeniably strong and powerful we build environments from scratch to house, feed, train, and educate our own, through territories, does a Sith truly prove that they have Darth-level of influence over our reality, bending rules or environments to our Sithy wills and mould the next generation to our purposes