“Tell the Truth.”
This has been my creed for the past few months. As an artist, it helps me stay focused on the purpose of my art, which is to express. So whenever I get writer’s block, or get stuck on a song, I say this little mantra (“Just tell the Truth, Alicen”) and the creativity begins to flow again.
This mantra has helped me express all manner of uncomfortable Truths through music and writing: Truths about my childhood… my hopes, dreams, desires… and my ever-evolving relationship with God.
But there’s something I’ve been silent about for many months, and I know that if I don’t express this Truth, it will continue eating at my psyche.
I’ve held back, because I fear the fallout. The way people react to this Truth is nothing short of rabid. For daring to hold a unique opinion on this Truth, I’ve been slandered six ways from Sunday. And I’ve even lost one very close friend over this nonsense. While I grieve her presence in my life, she goes around telling everyone I’m Satanic. As a survivor of religious abuse (forced exorcisms and all), this hurts more than I can say.
Well, thankfully, there’s another creed I live by: “Be not afraid.”
Thus, the time has come for me to stop giving a flying fuck what paranoid internet randos say about me.
The Truth is this:
I’m so fucking fed up with this “Illuminati” shit.
I’m fucking fed up with people drawing vile conclusions about strangers based on shapes, colors and numbers — instead of, you know, THEIR ACTUAL CHARACTER.
And I will not sit idly by while this Wetiko-level fear-mongering consumes the so-called “Truther” community at the expense of innocent people’s reputations.
Because my silence would be implicit consent — and I DO NOT CONSENT to the propagation of community-destroying paranoia.
As my contribution to community-building efforts, I will now express my perspective on what the Illuminati really is, in regards to its cultural impact.
In short, the “Illuminati” may or may not control the world. But one thing they certainly do is create paranoia.
Here’s how:
I’m aware that secret societies exist. There’s plenty of historical documentation of that, and enough confessions from politicians and celebrities to confirm foul play at the upper echelons of society.
And because “power” and “corruption” tend to go hand in hand, I’m sure all the evidence of elite child trafficking is, unfortunately, real as well.
Evil is real. I’m not denying that.
That said,
what makes Evil evil is NOT its aesthetic. Evil is actions, not aesthetics.
I’ll say it again:
Evil is actions, not aesthetics.
And again:
Evil is actions, not aesthetics.
So tell me: Why is it that people have become obsessed with hunting for “symbolism” to “prove” that someone is “one of Them”?
How did we get from “r*ping babies is Evil” to “if you wear spirals, you r*pe babies”?
^ If you think I’m exaggerating, I’m not. This is really how people think.
In fact, here’s a short list of all the symbols that are grounds for an “Illuminati” accusation (which is actually a “r*ping babies” accusation), according to my experiences and observations. Ready?
certain animals (rabbits, owls, snakes, butterflies, etc.)
black and white color scheme
wearing a red dress
wearing animal prints or ears
stripes, or checkerboard patterns
spirals
5-pointed stars
hexagons, and the numbers 3 and 6
roses
any logo with a ring around it (because “Saturn”)
any reference to Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz
accidentally covering one eye in a photo (e.g. bangs falling over the eye)
accidentally making certain hand gestures
etc., etc.
It’s so stupid I can’t even. 😣
Like BUTTERFLIES, bro? Fucking beautiful-ass BUTTERFLIES?
These lovely creatures, who float in the breeze and give us flowers every Spring?
Oh right, because “MK Ultra” “Monarch mind control programming” or whatever.
Need I remind people that butterflies existed WAY BEFORE THE CIA?!
But now suddenly the CIA gets to decide that all butterflies are some ominous symbol???
Who gave them that power?
Uh,
you did.
I know Monarch mind control is real, but even so: That doesn’t give the CIA the unilateral power to overwrite an animal’s entire history, symbolism, and cultural relevance.
And that certainly doesn’t make artists who like butterflies evil, either.
If we were all to kowtow to this shit, and stop utilizing any symbol that might be Evil, then there would be nothing innocent left.
Imagine counting like “1, 2, _, 4, 5, _, 7, 8, 9, 10” because you’re afraid your friends will witch-burn you for saying “3” and “6”?
That’s how stupid this is to me. And I’m done playing along.
Done.
My stake in the game is that I’m an indie musician.
It’s hard enough to be indie. It means I have to fund all my own projects using money from my day job, or bartering with other creators when possible.
But you know what makes it even harder? People accusing me of shit —
dismissing hours and hours of studio time, days upon days without sleep, perfecting my craft —
because my first album was inspired by rabbits.
Rabbits, y’all.
I literally have to laugh to not-cry.
And what makes rabbits “Illuminati”? To be quite honest with you, I don’t even know. Some people say it’s because of Alice in Wonderland, which is allegedly used by the CIA to program mind control victims.
Again: Who the fuck is giving the CIA omnipotent control over what an entire species symbolizes in our culture?! NOT ME. (’cause I’m a free bitch, baby!)
Do any of these accusers know that I made a 45-minute video explaining why my album is focused on rabbits?
No, of course not.
Because apparently, sparing 45 minutes to educate oneself about symbolism — or to get to know an artist before judging them — is wAyYyY too much to ask.
It’s easier (and faster!) to be an NPC who goes around saying “Illuminati” at everything, as a substitute for actually thinking.
Which brings me to my next point:
Evil is actions, not aesthetics.
What makes a person Evil is what they do.
Not what they look like, or the art they make.
Evil is character, not image.
And in order to know someone’s character, you need to take the time to look past their superficial appearance, give them the benefit of the doubt, and get to know them.
Heart-to-heart. Human-to-human.
Having discernment, rather than a “guilty until proven innocent” mindset.
So if I have act-ually acted in a way that was harmful to anyone, then by all means, you can call my actions Evil… and you would be correct.
But if my black-and-white aesthetic gives you the spooks… then just… don’t look at me???????
It’s so easy?????????
Here’s the thing:
It’s dangerous to start conflating “symbols” with “evil.”
Because if you allow the Illuminati to decide what all these symbols mean, then guess what? You’ve become their drone, carrying out their paranoia-inciting agenda for them, sowing division and strife, projecting “Evil” onto Innocent things until there’s nothing innocent left.
And that IS. EVIL.
Accusing innocent people of evildoing is evil, because it inverts innocence. It’s a lie. It is not the holy, sacred Truth.
The holy, sacred Truth is that all numbers, shapes and colors are holy and sacred.
So with all that said, I implore you:
SNAP OUT OF IT.
If you’ve gotten to the point where seeing innocuous things like rabbits, eyes, and colors fill you with dread, your mind has been captured. You’re giving your power away to forces of “evil” so ambiguous and insubstantial that they might as well be shadows on the wall.
I, for one, refuse to give the Illuminati the power to determine what I wear, or what symbols I use in my art. Fuck them! and fuck their accusatory drones!
I will wear black and white because I like black and white.
I will write albums about rabbits because I like rabbits.
I will pose however I want in photos.
I will be unapologetically sovereign and magickal.
I will see beauty in our dreamy symbolic world, because Innocence is beautiful…
…and only Evil would say otherwise.
Oh, and here’s that SUSPECT rabbit-inspired album I mentioned:
Thank you Alicen.
I feel moved to post this here for some reason. https://youtu.be/XW0ThOShEzg
Thanks for writing this, I 100% agree! In 2021, deep into the scamdemic, I was once asked outright if I was "controlled opposition" (ha, as if one would reply "yes" if that was the case); I cracked up at that question! Afterwards I wondered why and I realized there are all these accidental "signs" that people misinterpreted in my art and music (eg the one eye being covered on a cover artwork for a single, a pentagram in a video (which I only realized later), a picture of me wearing a hexagon necklace... I could find many other symbols if I looked hard enough), all these symbols I had no idea about before I was "awake". I would always reply "But who decided that *they* own numbers, shapes or colours, or any literary reference. Such things existed long before they existed, and/or in spite of them...".