The Path of the Dark Goddess is not easy, nor can words easily describe what is ultimately a highly personal spiritual journey.



The Counsels of the Dark Goddess are not �commandments�, they are not rules given by some entity which, if faithfully adhered to, will define one as a �Dark Pagan� or a devoutee of the Dark Goddess. Rather these counsels are advice for living, for shaping your viewpoint and for evaluating life�s challenges. Like any good tool they need to be worked with, not filed away in some drawer or mounted as a tabarnacle on a wall. They are not written in stone, rather they are written in your mind where you have the opportunity to take them and shape your life according to your will, using these counsels as guides.



Finally, unlike commandments written in stone, the counsels of the Dark Goddess are, like the evolution they speak of, changeable. They are yours to work with, to improve on, to interpret, to craft out of them your own understanding.



Study them, learn from them, and craft your own path�

1. You are responsible for yourself and your own actions. Whether for good or bad, you make your own choices and reap the results. Do not look to persons or powers outside of yourself to save you from your bad choices; look instead to learn from your own failures and missteps.



2. The Dark Goddess proclaims no commandments to rule your life; She provides no distilled truth enforced by dogma. The Dark Goddess opens a path by example - She is a teacher, not a ruler or enforcer. The Dark Goddess, by whatever name you come to know Her, is your example and guide, not your overlord. Yours alone is the choice to learn!



3. Evolution is the force of life that overcomes stagnation and extinction. Life in the Universe is subject to infinite change that does not come about at one time, nor in one place, nor by one understanding. This is the primal force that the Dark Goddess embraced long ago when She chose the way of life over that of stagnation and death: this is the essence of the dark mystery. Know then that change and growth are the ways of life and power, and that any teaching that calls for submission to eternal sameness is the way of death.



4. You are responsible for your own evolution. You have within you the spark of creativity and reason - that which is called the soul - which is the energy of your existence. If you choose to grow your power by study, meditation and relentless expansion of your consciousness, then you will evolve, and your evolution will bring you to ever-greater levels of insight � which may be appreciated as higher levels of life. If you choose not to evolve, if you give-up evolution for the comfort of false absolutes and easy answers, if you substitute dogma for reason, then you have made the choice to die.



5. Know that the way of darkness is a hard one; to achieve it you too must be hard. If you are soft, then the result will be soft and lacking in resilience. If you are hard in your determination to evolve, then you will overcome the barriers.



6 Only a fool limits her vision to her eyes. Question everything and reject comforting illusions, for they lead you to weakness and death. The strong will looks within and shapes reality to its perception rather than being shaped by the illusions and the lies of others. Oppose mediocrity and stand for the victory of the individual above the herd.



7. The greatest qualities of the Dark Goddess are found within you � you must discover and nurture them within yourself, and bring them forth like a budding flower. The Dark Goddess shows you a path to your own divinity. She may be your Mistress only in the form of a teacher; someday - if you are dedicated � the student and teacher will be equals.



8. Embrace contradiction and eschew absolutes. Contradiction is the key that opens the door to greater understanding. Absolutes are the lock that closes that door forever.



9. Do not harm children - rather be as a guide and teacher unto them. A child should be educated, but no child can be made to follow a directed path. The child�s path is a realization they must learn of their own accord. If you have no love of children absent yourself from them, but do not use the dark path as an excuse to harm them.



10. Show respect to others first. Let them show their true colours before giving them disrespect or rudeness � in this show the superiority of your way to theirs.



11. The flesh is a temporary but essential gift. You are both spirit and beast fused as one. In the flesh you should live and indulge the passions. In your desires you will find the gates to higher understanding, and through these you will reach higher levels. Listen to your desires, but equally listen to the voice of your reason. Carry the two in balance, as contrasting voices that guide you to the higher synthesis of judgment. In time you will evolve beyond the flesh and take your evolution ever upward.



12. Give due honour to the flesh by preserving the health of your body. Strive to enhance the body through exercise and athletics to the best of your ability; make of your body a temple that reflects the inner esthetic of your mind. A healthy mind and body nurture each other, neglecting one for the sake of the other is like building a house without a foundation. Make your physical and mental health your responsibility.



13. Beauty may contain the seeds of inspiration, yet while beauty is pleasurable, beauty is not truth. Truth often comes in ugliness and amidst great pain. Be mindful of this and welcome insight in all guises, for it will aid you in your growth.



14. Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. Absolute laws that deny desire and reason are the way of death. If you are to evolve you must cast these aside, and determine by your own will what course you will follow. No law is sound that cannot withstand the question �Why?� No principle is sound that denies the validity of this question.



15. To be stupid is to invite death. Abandon neither your reason nor your judgment to wild instinct. Desire and Passion are guides on the path of your evolution, but if you abandon Reason and Judgment you risk your own destruction. Instead, as part of your evolution learn to keep all of them in balance and rely on each to guide you. As all these forces are within you, to truly evolve as a whole being you must master them all.



16. Fear is the greatest enemy of life, beware its grip from within you and its purveyors from without you. Fear is the greatest disease - once it takes hold it eats away until you are left an empty shell. Guilt is the harbinger of fear, just as fear is the whip that makes the human a slave to false prophets. Those who embrace the dark path show the strength of will to cast away their fear; and for them guilt has no place - it becomes nothing more than a lash of your own making that the enemy will use to break you down. Conscience is but a word that cowards use to keep the strong in awe and the weak in chains. Therefore, cast away your guilt.



17. Embrace both pain and pleasure. Together they tell you that you are alive. But, without pain, you are dead, so do not be afraid of it, but accept pain in due measure.



18. Know what is good and what is evil. The good is that which serves your evolution and growth, which only you can discern for yourself. The good will change with the seasons of your life just as all living things change with the seasons of nature. Evil is that which weakens you and leads to your destruction, and just like the good it too changes with each season of your life. Fixed measures of good and evil are as immovable as stone statues, and just as dead. So, to possess true insight you must constantly discern what the good and the evil are, and live accordingly.



19. Laws must be made to govern a society, for chaos results without them. This is the reality of the herd. But, in creating Law and Order, do not make your laws into dogma. Laws should serve you; you should never serve the laws, either spiritual or temporal.



20. Embrace neither a cause nor an ideal at the expense of your survival. Only you can determine what is worthy of your life. There is no negativity to giving your life for a cause, but be sure that what you give it for is worth the cost.

21. To hold the highest regard for all life is to be enlightened. To place the value of other life before over your own is foolishness. Do not do harm for its� own sake or as an amusement, for this is stupid. Do not refrain from harm at the expense of your own survival - remember that in life you are in competition, so at times there will be winners and losers. If you must defend yourself against harm, do so. Offer not the other cheek when a fist is called for. She who dies for empty values contributes little and loses too much.



22. Nature is without mercy, and at times you must be more ruthless than nature. This premise is not a license to disregard the consequences of your actions. Rather you should dispense your mercy according to those who are deserving and refrain from mercy to those who are not. Make a jewel of mercy, not mud. The discerning mind will know when to apply mercy.



23. Forgiveness is for the deserving. You may forgive but it is seldom wise to forget. Instead use forgiveness as a tool.



24. Hate your enemy, because your enemy hates you and will return your compassion with destruction. Destroy your enemy with cunning and intelligence; use her weaknesses against her. Succumb neither to rage nor emotional impulse, for they are the uncontrolled fire which can be too easily turned back upon you. When you destroy your enemy spare her not a measure of respite, for surely she will take it and use it to strike back at you. If your enemy offers you mercy, take good measure before accepting it. If you offer mercy, do it wisely.



25. All actions have consequences; all people will act and react. You should discern the consequences of your actions, and choose your course accordingly. No fool is greater than she who acts without thinking of the reaction. There is no �moral equation� in this; it is the way of the Universe. Think of Chess as the teacher of life.



26. Make no enemies unnecessarily. Choose your battles according to your interests; subject all conflict to the judgment of your reason and not the passions of your rage. Sometimes a struggle is necessary and an enemy must be overcome. Sometimes discretion is the better part of reason and it is wisest to walk away. Learn to distinguish between the two.



27. Teach those who are deserving, waste not your knowledge or time upon the fool or the weak. You will know whom the black flame touches, and whose fire can be built until the desire for the dark path energizes their soul.



28. Be flexible in your mind and methods; all is in flux and ever changing. So you too must be open to new ideas and new methods, as suits your goals and how they can be achieved in the current reality. Never forget tomorrow may well tear down the presumptions of today.



29. Ritual, worship and meditation are opportunities for growth and evolution. Take part in these - develop your own path through these. Some will tell you that worship is fawning and weakness. This is true if you worship a false deity at your own expense. But in worshipping the Dark Goddess you worship yourself, for in opening to Her you open the path to your own life. Therefore, use ritual to worship your own evolution. Ritual is as you conceive it to be, for the Dark Goddess demands no liturgy, nor provides one. Make your own.



30. Family is an accident of biology; those who burn with the black flame are your true family. They will share your passions and desires; they will walk similar paths to your own. Use biology, but do not be used by it.



31. Discard not love, but treat it as a fickle companion - one that can be the most treacherous. Love is in the power of the soul, and a great power when achieved through mutual respect. If you love another's life more than your own, be sure that this dedication is truly returned. Give not your love to one who will absorb it, and return pain and distress in it s place. Lust is about the physical and is transitory, love is about the spirit, and has lasting qualities. That which destroys the spirit is not love, but the way of death. Keep each in their proper place in your mind. True love contributes to your evolution as true partnership brings mutual growth. False love takes your life from you.



32. Narcotics open the mind to new realms and open doors unto the dark understanding that the conscious mind alone may not grasp. Use narcotics in appropriate measure, or not, as is your choice. But keep in mind that they are but tools and enjoyments. The true will controls them; the weak will allows itself to be ruled by them. Addiction is weakness, not strength, and all weakness is the path of death.



33. At times hypocrisy is a tool for survival. There is no fault in using deception and falsity in order to promote your survival among the hostile. But, do not lie to yourself and keep in mind always who you are. A strong will masters its falsities as tools, a weak mind succumbs to them.



34. When under investigation seldom affirm, frequently deny and always distinguish. Look for the weakness of the opponent and turn it on her. Give not your enemies a measure of comfort by confirming their weak arguments. Disarm your enemies by turning their thoughts back upon them.



35. It is foolish to judge someone by his or her outward appearance or genetics. Biology is but one aspect of nature, and should never be your master. Rather, use your judgment and instincts � evaluate a person by the strengths of their mind and the testimony of their actions. Respect all ideas; accept that the path of evolution unfolds according to the insight of each, and that each spirit chooses its path accordingly. Proscribe no dark path as �wrong�, instead open your mind and listen to the insight gained by another. Perhaps you too can learn from another�s path.



36. One stick can easily be broken by two hands. Two tied together require a greater force to break them. Many gathered into a bundle can resist a much greater force applied to them - the whole becomes stronger than the sum of its parts. So it is with the Dark Goddess, in whose mesh are the wills of many freely joined to the common cause. So can it be in a community of those on the dark path. Each has strengths as each has weaknesses. Together, all is a compliment of strengths and from this can grow a greater understanding of the dark gift. But remember, choose your community wisely - look to actions and minds, not words or promises.



37. Often what you seek will remain beyond your vision when you look for it. When you stop seeking it, it will come to you.



38. No one can be converted to the dark path, nor achieve their own evolution through force applied by others. Only those who reach into the dark and freely seek the dark path of their own will can find it and flourish upon it.



39. Maintain perspective on all things. Never become so comfortable with an idea or concept that you lose the desire to question it � and be not afraid of new answers to old questions. No matter is ever truly resolved, rather each question leads to the next level and the next question.



40. Strive to add something through your life, accept nothing as complete. Make a contribution of your ideas and vision, build or fashion according to your innate abilities and insights.



Take these Counsel and build upon them, for they are written not upon stone tablets � but in the energy and awareness of your mind � and are gift for you, not a whip!