Echelon Three Challenges

Challenge #1: Vision Quest

The Vision Quest (Gurûzûk-Kirkûd) is an ancient technique used by shamans and sorcerers to get in touch with a Source—whether they are called spirits, demons, God, nature, the Way, or what have you. The idea is simply to remove yourself from your normal, conditioned environment, with all its distractions and propaganda, and put yourself in a place where there is only yourself and whatever Sources speak to you in the wild.

To proceed, go into a wilderness area where you will be undisturbed by other humans for several days. Bring no food, a small amount of water, some fire-starting equipment and a minimal amount of clothing and shelter needed to stay reasonably healthy in your climate. If you have a Master or a training partner, he/she should act as the overseer of your quest to make sure that no one disturbs you. If you are doing this Challenge alone, you may wish to inform someone of your location so they can check on you if you haven’t returned by a designated time.

Find a secluded spot that feels powerful to you; follow your intuition in finding this spot rather than thinking about it or planning it. When you have found a good location, make a large circle, perhaps twenty feet in diameter, by drawing a line in the dirt, laying rocks, sticks or anything else you can find. This will be your perimeter for the duration of the Quest; you should not venture outside of it at all. If you wish, you can draw the nine-pointed nonagram symbol inside the circle for additional magickal power.

Now simply sit in the center of the circle in a meditative position and await your visions. You may occasionally get up to stretch your legs or relieve yourself, or build a fire to stay warm, but otherwise do nothing other than sit and experience the solitude and energy of your environment. This may sound easy, but it is not. After a few hours you will grow restless, hungry, bored, etc. Your mind may race with thoughts and torment you with fears, worries and doubts. It will try many tricks to try to get you to return to your normal life so it can re-assert its control over you. Resist these thoughts and carry on with your vigil.

If you persevere through these problems, after a few days you should experience a powerful transformation of your being. Your body will relax and purge itself of toxins and habitual behaviors. The conscious mind, having nothing to do, will loosen its grip on your being, allowing the more powerful Shadow-mind to take over. This is the point where your Source will contact you, for the Source speaks not through the conditioned language of the conscious mind but through the unconditioned, symbolic and visionary language of the Shadow-mind.

When a vision of a Source comes to you, you will know it. It will usually take at least two or three days, so we recommend this as the minimum duration for this Challenge. Shamans have been known to spend weeks in such vigils, so stay as long as you can until a vision comes upon you. When it does come, you will have found a Source to use for the remainder of this Echelon and beyond. If nothing comes despite your best effort, that is OK. You may try again at a later date, or proceed to the next Challenge and try that method.

Challenge #2: Source Meditation

{This Challenge is designed for those who did not connect to a Source during Challenge One. If you did identify a Source, you may skip this Challenge and proceed to Challenge Three, although we recommend doing this Challenge anyway.}

Go into a deep Void Meditation, relax and clear your mind. When you are in a state of mental emptiness, press your palms together at your chest and begin chanting repeatedly (out loud or mentally): “Tozg”. As you chant this word, notice if you feel any tendrils of energy emanating from anywhere. You may receive an image in your mind, or a word, or perceive an object in your vicinity that radiates energy toward you. The energy should focus itself on your Third Eye point between and just above your eyebrows. Focus your attention on this source and allow its energy to intensify. If it disappears, go back to your chanting and Void Meditation and see if it returns, or if some other energy source comes to your attention. If nothing appears, stop the meditation after 15 or 20 minutes.

Perform this meditation daily until you have perceived something powerfully and repeatedly over several sessions. It may be a word, an image or an abstract concept. This will be your Source for the remaining Challenges of this Echelon. If your Source appears as a word, call it that; otherwise meditate on it until you have given it a name. Record this name and other notable perceptions from your meditation sessions in your Acolyte journal.

Challenge #3: Power Space

Once you have identified a Source that inspires you, one of the first things you should do to begin tapping into its power is to re-order your environment to reflect that Source. A powerful way to do that is to create a “power space”, or râkâdwân, which is a room or space dedicated to your Source of Force power. You might paint a wall of the space, hang a banner, put a statue on an altar, draw symbols on the ground, or what have you. You may have already created such a power space as part of your Echelon One training; now make sure that it contains the Power Symbols of your Source, and doesn’t simply mimic the Force symbols of the Dark Lords.

For example, the Dark Lords have created several râkâdwânz at their compound. They constructed their outdoor Black Temple, with its pillars, altar and stone floor, where they invoke Zy from the Black Sun via rituals and meditations. They have also set up an Inner Sanctum, a chamber equipped with a small alter, a pentagram on the floor, burning braziers and a goat-headed mannikin, where they commune with the dark Beast commonly known as Satan. They have also set up a “Black Sun room” in their home; on one wall they have hung a white sheet with a large black circle sewn on it. They meditate and perform yoga facing this black circle to invoke the Force power of the Black Sun, and mentally sun bathe under its black rays, which only the endarkened can see.

Now it is your turn to walk in the footsteps of the Dark Lords by creating a power space dedicated to your own Source and using it regularly. Once you have done so you may proceed to the next Challenge.

Challenge #4: Power Symbol

For this Challenge, you will need several sheets of drawing paper and pen, pencil or paintbrush. Place them on an altar or the floor of your râkâdwân. Perform a Void meditation until you are in a clear, focused state of mind, and can feel dark Force energy surrounding you and flowing into you.

Begin drawing shapes on the paper with your pen or other instrument. Don’t think about what you are doing; just let the pen flow unconsciously across the page. You may wish to keep your eyes closed or look away as you draw. Allow the dark energy around you to guide your hand and take form on the paper. You may start to hone in on one shape, drawing it many times until its shape becomes clearly defined. If not, continue drawing unconsciously, filling several pages with your doodling.

If you have honed in on one shape, and you feel some strong energy coming from it, select that as your power symbol (râk-kotân). Otherwise, look over the pages of drawings again and see if anything attracts you. If so, draw that shape again and see if it crystallizes into a powerful symbol.

You may not discover a powerful symbol your first time doing this exercise, though often the most powerful symbols are the first ones that come to you. Continue doing this meditation daily until you hit upon a symbol that gives you a Force charge just by looking at it. Also meditate upon a name for your power symbol. When you have found your symbol, draw it at large size in a prominent place in your râkâdwân. You could tape a paper drawing or cutout to the wall, or paint the symbol directly on the wall, floor or altar. Also record your power symbol and its name in your Acolyte Journal.

Challenge #5: Force Self-Evaluation

This Challenge is a self-evaluation that applies the Force theory contained in this book to your own life and personality.

Re-read the “Force Polarities” section of the “Aspects of the Force” chapter of this book. Now identify ways the three Force tendencies and six Force manifestations discussed in the “Aspects of the Force” chapter manifest themselves in your life, personality and thoughts. List them in your Acolyte Journal under three headings:

Creative Aspects:

…

Preservative Aspects:

…

Destructive Aspects:

…

These lists should include your ideas, visions and dreams as they relate to your Source, and may include both light and dark side manifestations. For example, if you fantasize about destroying a political regime for the Empire or killing someone to please Satan, list that under Destructive Aspects; if you dream of establishing a new imperial regime or building a temple to the Black Sun, list that under Creative Aspects; if you wish to preserve something sacred to you, such as your life or a your relationship to a Dark Lord, list that under Preservative Aspects.

The purpose here is to become aware of how the three Force tendencies and the two polarities manifest themselves in your life, and to start using them as a metaphysical lens for perceiving the world and guiding you on your path to Dark Lordship.

Challenge #6: Force Weapon

Choose one of the Force weapons described in the “Force Sorcery” or “Force Warfare” chapters to use against a target of your choosing. The weapon should tap the power of the Source you identified previously, and should serve some purpose appropriate to that Source. It should also exploit the target’s own worldview for maximum effect.

For example, if your Source is Satan, the ideal target is a devout Christian or Jew. You could construct a Devil-Doll—a poppet or figurine, made to look like the victim and connected with him by incorporating his hair, fingernail clippings or a piece of clothing. Paint pentagrams and other symbols on the doll to indicate is Satanic nature, and attach it to an upside cross or menorah for maximum effect. Place the Devil-Doll somewhere where your target will see it, preferably at his place of worship. Done cleverly and repeatedly, this type of curse could turn into a psychic detonation, exploding your target’s sanity and causing him to lose faith in his god.

Another example would be to start spreading a mind-virus or meme online at various social media, forums, blogs, etc. This could be an imperial power symbol, a slogan such as “Râk âm chod!” or anything else you can devise. The purpose of this weapon is to spread the ideas and symbols of our Order, in order to begin infecting the Shadow-minds of others in preparation for future black magickal conquests.

After you have devised your Force weapon, describe it in detail in your journal, then employ it in an attack and record the results.

Challenge #7: Kindling a Fire

This Challenge requires the Acolyte to manifest on the physical plane the main metaphysical goal of this book, as expressed in the introduction of this book: Every Sith Acolyte must die and be reborn in a Force fire which he kindles about himself. It is a task that takes considerable skill and determination; consider it a test of your passion for this Path and thus your Force power.

To complete this Challenge, you need to start a fire from materials found in nature. This usually means using a stick and creating a bow or hand drill, but there are other methods, such as using a block of ice to focus sunlight, that you can consider. We leave it up to you to research the precise methods of starting the fire. Do not use any manufactured tools, with the possible exceptions of a knife and a string (make a knife from a rock chip and a string from tree bark or plant fibers for a much stronger Challenge).

When you succeed at this Challenge, you will have accomplished an act of sorcery that has made hominids supreme among the beasts for hundreds of thousands of years—mastery of fire, made possible by your own Force-heightened will and skill.

Challenge #8: Force Conquest

This exercise requires you to find a person of at least moderate Force strength—someone who already has a a Source of some kind, whether it is a conventional religion, a personal philosophy, an occult path, or what have you. Choose someone with intelligence and strong character, not a nihilist, an idiot or a depressive.

Now try to impose your Force upon this person, using methods such as those discussed in the Force Warfare chapter of this book. Infect him with your passion. Get him to believe in your Source. Attack his own Source. Break down his belief system by sowing confusion, fear and doubt in his mind, then offer him a stronger alternative. If you are successful, you may find your target submitting to your Source and seeking to become your disciple. This is excellent. Even if you fail, this process will sharpen your own beliefs and heighten your own Force power. Remember that a Dark Lord only achieves greatness and Force mastery in the crucible of conflict!

Challenge #9: Force Monument Construction

The Dark Lords do no claim to be able to move heavy objects directly with their Force-heightened minds like they do in far away galaxies of fantasy. But we do claim it is possible to move heavy objects indirectly in this universe, by the power of our Force transmitted to our Acolytes.

For this Challenge, you will magickally make matter move, in the manner of the Egyptian Pharaohs and the other ancient temple-builder cults. You will move large objects, not for any practical purpose, but out of pure passion, powered by the Force from your Source and your will to glorify that Source.

Find a suitable location to build your Force monument, in the wilderness, on your own property or in an abandoned urban area. Your task is simple: construct a large monument out of available materials. Examples would be a column made by stacking large, flat stones, a large mound made of smaller stones, or a log set upright and secured with stones or planted in the ground.

Paint, engrave or otherwise decorate the objects with the symbolism of your Source. For example, you could engrave or paint symbols on stone, sculpt the monument into a symbolic shape, or carve it like a totem pole.

Such a monument is known in the Black Tongue as a zhinzun—a shrine or monument where you can make offerings to your Source and channel its Force. More information about zhinzuns is available in our book Sith Academy: The Templar Handbook. Once you have built your zhinzun, you should perform an appropriate ritual, such as making an offering if it is a shrine dedicated to a god-form, or meditating at its base if it is intended as a lightning rod for bolts of energy from the Black Sun. Return to the site regularly, adding to the structure as desired. You will find that just being at the zhinzun will invoke Force power from your Source, and every time you visit you will charge it with more Force. Thus, the zhinzun becomes a “Force station” that is both an expression of and a storehouse for your Source’s power.