DUNGEONS, DRAGONS, AND ALTAIR IV by James Lewis IV The Temple of Set A recent radio broadc

 
DUNGEONS, DRAGONS, AND ALTAIR IV
by James Lewis IV*
The Temple of Set
 
A recent radio broadcast devoted a
bit of its time to some rather
hysterical allegations of the anti-
Dungeons and Dragons crowd.  Everyone
knows D&D players use the services of
wizards and demons, right? It must be
a tool of the Devil!  My, my, not
another one...
 
On the other hand, there have been
any number of murders and suicides by
D&D players, so what is going on?
Somehow it is difficult for Setians
to accept the proposition that Set
may have been pulling a fast one on
us for yea many years. [Just itching
to cast us into the fiery pit, 'eh?]
For some reason that doesn't quite
ring true.  The other possibility is
that of human error. Religious
leaders over the centuries have found
it easy enough to put words in the
mouths of their gods -- take a look
at Christian evangelists of today --
to explain away events and capitalize
on them on the side.  The D&D adverse
publicity is another example of the
same; while deploring the unfortunate
children who have fallen prey to this
instrument of Satan, those lucky
enough not to have gotten into the
same trap are encouraged to
contribute financially to the
minister's own organization (ie, his
personal bank account) so this
oh-ccult danger c'n be fought,
breathern an' sistern. [In plain
English the evangelist's spiel
translates to ''I'd rather see that
money come to me than go to the D&D
company!'']  Oh well, we all know the
syndrome, right?  Of course.
 
Back when the EXORCIST hit the
theatres, the rash of possessions
came to the attention of everyone not
a hermit.  I think then-Magister
Michael Aquino best summed up the
whole thing when he wrote, ''What is
the REAL reason behind the popularity
of THE EXORCIST?  Is it only that
people are morbid and like to see a
little girl subjected to various
sorts of abuse?  No doubt this is a
factor.  But I rather suspect a
certain wishful thinking on their
part - that they too could indulge
in, rather than abstain from their
hidden compulsions.'' [01.22.09,
Exorcism Fact Sheet for the
Priesthood and Regional Agents of the
Church of Satan]  Now we're getting
somewhere! It's all too easy to blame
having boiled sweet old Aunt Lucy in
oil on the supernatural force of the
Devil & Co. than to admit you just
couldn't stand the old broad's bossy
airs one second longer.
 
People who take seriously the
Devil-Made-Me-Do-It philosophy aren't
saying too much for themselves. I do
not deny the enormous power residing
in Set, but I do think it foolish to
feel he devotes all his time and
energy to making life difficult for
humanity.  And if the Devil-Made-Me-
etc doctrine is right, we have no
freedom of Will and find ourselves
mere pawns in the hands of Good and
Evil. [Yawn, not again...]  The truth
of the matter is that any little
nasties people do come from within,
not outside.  There is no Ministry of
Lust demon forcing you to take a
second look at that knockout of a
woman or hunk of a man walking down
the street.  Admit it: that woman or
man is pleasing to the eye.  And just
as your superego can appreciate the
finer points of view, your id can
make any number of recommendations of
its own.  Speaking of superegos, mine
just told my id to shut up and let's
get back to the main theme: D&D and
Altair IV.
 
For those of you who may not
immediately place Altair IV, it is
the home planet of the Krel from the
movie FORBIDDEN PLANET.  It is a film
Setians and aspiring magicians should
watch a minimum of one time.  Not
only are the special effects good
ones and the overall show interesting,
but the magical implications of the
doom of the Krel are worth
consideration.  The main problem of
the Krel was of having overlooked the
ever present inner forces while in
the pursuit of accentuating the
powers of creation.  The Krel stood
at the height of their powers and
forgot that the baser parts of their
beings could and did have access to
their ultimate machine.  Thus the
Krel died, victims of their own id
monsters; Morbius (what a nice name!)
suffered the same fate at the movie's
end and the viewers are left to
ponder, if they will, what CAN happen
from within.
 
And from within is the home of the
Dungeons and Dragons demons.  Players
of the game are no Krel and it is
somewhat sad to see minds so delude
themselves as to think the awakened
creative powers come from elsewhere.
The id monsters from D&D are simply
that: facets of the personality. They
are like the FORBIDDEN PLANET's
script description of the late
inhabitants of Altair IV: ''After a
million years of shining sanity, the
Krel could hardly understand the
power which was destroying them.''
Setian Magicians have the jump on
kids who get carried away with D&D
because we KNOW where the demons come
from and just as importantly, how to
deal with them.
 
So enjoy your D&D game, dust off the
OUIJA board, and have yourself some
fun.  Any demons you meet are of your
own creation.
 
...probably.
 
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'Dungeons, Dragons, and Altair IV'
originally appeared in Vol II, No 3
of THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT, March of
XX A.S.
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