The Pit and the Pendelum

The famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe is summarized by a prisoner during the Spanish inquisition thrown into a dungeon strapped to a table while a razor sharp pendulum swung closer and closer to him. By now most have read or at least heard part of the story. Why this specific story comes to mind in these modern days is the psychological factor of the unknown and the tricks that can be played by the ones controlling the pendulum. It’s the sheer terror of not knowing when/if that pendulum was going to swing through his body as he laid bound to the table, that level of uncertainty with so much at stake could be enough to make the most sane person crack. It’s this aspect of the story where mind tricks are used as a mechanism of torture, as I would argue the worst kind of warfare is the one of the mind.

This comes to mind as I think about the current state of society not just in America, but in Europe as well. There’s a war that has been waged on the mind with no formal declaration, no one specific event triggering the cause that can be pointed at in history books as this is when the psychological war era began. This war is one of the surprise varieties, that just rolled in like a slow moving, thick fog. One that captured people and turned them into an army seemingly overnight without those who are participating even realizing what’s occurred to them. This war is much more diabolical and feeds on people that have been longing for a place to fit in. See, politics didn’t use to be so personal, spiteful, hateful even on such a broad scale. It used to be maintained in a small minority of people who would shout down any word of opposition. Now there are families being torn apart by radical ideals and “calls to arms” by the ones controlling the pendulum. The shift is the scale at which the hateful rhetoric is reaching, whereas it used to be a minority, now seems to have expanded rapidly to the point it’s challenging the majority.

I find myself wondering sometimes how things have become so skewed, how have we fallen as a society so far? How can the masses be ok with what is going on around the globe all seemingly simultaneously? My argument is people are a lot easier to reach now, the world is much smaller due to the connectivity and devices available at our fingertips. When people are so easily reached and can be so easily manipulated, it leaves a lot of opportunity for the ones controlling the pendulum to exert that control. What has become obvious to me is the ones in control right now are not savory characters. Spiritual Warfare is the term that is being tossed around now as the most accurate description of the current place we find humanity. As people have grown removed from physical war fought with tanks, planes, bombs and armies the imagery of that would be too difficult to get the masses in support of a movement without conducting a huge terrorist event, which has been done throughout history. What the ones in control have discovered is that armies can be formed in a much more passive, easier way that’s seemingly non-disruptive yet just as effective.

See what’s happened is the ones controlling the pendulum have found how to use the fear associated with inevitable death to galvanize a group of people, without providing facts or evidence, only using fear. Fear is a strong motivator as an emotion and can be a healthy emotion as it does possess potential life saving qualities. Unless it’s used as a manipulative tactic when it’s weaponized by people with ill intentions. That’s where we stand. Fear being used as a weapon on the mind, with the purpose of creating an army of drones who will not question the source of the information. They know who to prey on, the ones that are searching for belonging. They know this because they have all the data and algorithms to the point they can pick and choose their targets. That’s what we are seeing happen now, people are being picked off en masse in an effort to create a mob (army) to fight their battles for them. What makes this particular type of army even more dangerous is the fact they think they’re doing it for a noble cause, to virtue signal, to feel like they are fighting against something they blame for their particular set of circumstances whatever they may be. So now the ones controlling the pendulum have a willing army, ready to create violence as an answer to those with opposing views. Complete intolerance is not what humans are designed for, yet, is an example of how out of touch the current mob is.

This has all happened in such a short time frame and so subtly that even the ones that are still connected, grounded and unreachable by the ones in control have already become the minority. War has already begun, but only one side has been privy to it the entire time because the ones who are in touch could not comprehend the ease and swiftness of how the masses could be influenced so readily. People in touch struggle to comprehend intolerance of differing ideals because it’s just not the modus operendi for them, they can’t connect to the idea of being a parrot of a headline without wanting to seek further truth. Ones in touch can’t comprehend the idea of being so out of touch with emotion that it can shape your entire being while dispatching compassion which is core to human existence. So here we are, in a raging spiritual war that one side is just discovering they are the minority and for the most part unaware there was even a war going on until it was showing up in their reality so directly.

What Happens Now?

How does this version of the Pit and the Pedulum end? We’ll have to wait and see. Maybe there will be our own version of a French general pulling us (humanity) out of the pit by offering an extended arm. What would that even look like? An individual figure? All I know is that we are currently in the darkness of the dungeon and the pendulum is swinging not so silently and the grounded ones are strapped to the table unsure of what is next to come. Puppet masters army of social justice warriors show up as the rats around the table that aren’t there to help the grounded ones off the table, but to feast on the scraps of whatever is left of humanity. It’s important in these moments we stay vigilant in faith and stick to the “knowing” that good will always defeat evil. As difficult as it may feel in the moment given the events around the world and how close some of these countries in Europe are to complete societal collapse as both sides seem gearing up for this spiritual war to turn physical. These are the moments where simply having faith that with the good at our backs we can overcome this darkness and find our way out of the pit. If this is done as a collective there is no doubt whatever cabal is controlling the pendulum can be overtaken. This would take a large collective effort however, and that is what I’d challenge people to do now. Come together in faith, for a collective unified can defeat any evil, we just need belief. As we find ourselves approaching a dark hour, seemingly on the precipice of a significant event, just remember. Believe.

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