A Merciful Messenger

A reader relates how she discovered our website and how it changed her life for the better

Guest article by Lea Pesce

Introduction by Occult Mysteries

We have published a number of articles by guest writers over the years describing their personal search for truth, each one of which has tackled the subject from a slightly different perspective. This article is no exception. Lea Pesce's struggle to find light in the darkness that enshrouded her is one that will resonate with many of our loyal readers. We know of very few among them who have not, like Lea, abused either alcohol or drugs, or both, at some time to cope with the many challenges modern life throws at us. Inevitably they discover, as she did, that these narcotic palliatives solve nothing, and may well make matters much worse.

Lea's journey from darkness through twilight to the dawn of real understanding reminds us that the path to the Light is not an easy one. It is a steep road, fraught with perils of every kind, from alluring distractions that promise much but deliver nothing, to the sharp rocks of adversity that undermine the courage and wreck the hopes of the strongest. Those who conquer these vicissitudes gain an inner strength that nothing can weaken; they have reached the mountain-top where nothing of the shadow world below can harm them any longer. For those who stumble or fail, there are other opportunities, both in this life and in lifetimes to come.

But Lea does not write only about herself and her journey from darkness to light. In her Afterword she tackles several important issues which are, or should be, of concern to all seekers after Truth, primarily the scourge of division. This not only sows enmity between individuals, families and nations, making real cooperation and harmony between them almost impossible, but also divides the two minds — the Higher and lower selves as they are called. She also addresses the so-called 'war' between the sexes, the roots of which conflict go back a very long way indeed.

I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF formally and explain how I found Occult Mysteries. I went through a long period of my adult life in which I did not make the right choices. I had turned my back on God and was inhabiting a very dark place. I drank alcohol to excess and was filled with despair. I crashed my car into a tree just 40 days shy of my 31st birthday. The serious injuries I sustained woke me up and encouraged me to get sober.

As I healed body and mind, I gradually developed a sense of clarity I had not experienced in quite some time. I saw through the Covid Scamdemic and the veil of what I had come to know as reality began to lift. Have we always been lied to about everything? Who was running the show? What, if anything, was real? I sought out like-minded thinkers via podcasts, social media, and began reading some "alternative" literature. Some books such as The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and Dissolving Illusions by Dr. Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk, and Messages from Water by Masaru Emoto were beneficial. Dissolving Illusions is a searing indictment of the damage caused by vaccination and the modern culture of a 'pill for every ill'. Occult Mysteries link to a detailed review of this groundbreaking book by David Pratt which is well worth reading. Other books, such as Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza and How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan were mixed in their effects. Others led me down unending rabbit holes of darkness. These latter ones drove me to a state of paranoia, which often preoccupied my mind and had me thinking the worst about most things.

I believed that Thelemites, Freemasons, and all other occult orders shared the same beliefs and practices. I saw these beliefs as Satanic or Luciferian, although I wasn't sure which, or what the difference was. I believed they ran the world, or at the very least, Hollywood and the United States government. This paranoia came to a head after the Charlie Kirk "assassination" on 10th September 2025. The 1998 movie Snake Eyes contains much Masonic symbolism which seemed to foreshadow the assassination. I spent hours following tangled threads and connecting dots. I was determined to write an exposé revealing all the occult aspects of the film, the staged assassination, and the players.

One night, I lay in bed with my children watching Christian lullabies until they fell asleep. Some of the footage was of someone colouring "Jesus Loves Me." For some reason, that phrase resonated with me at that moment. I silently sobbed as I felt held by the Holy Spirit and a sense of relief washed over me. When I closed my eyes, I could see my children surrounded by a warm golden light. I didn't care about any of that occult stuff anymore. I was so thankful to recognise that I was loved, forgiven, and blessed with the most incredible gifts — my beautiful children and the chance to start over. I accepted that my purpose in life was simply to be a good mother. During this time, I had begun to work through some feelings regarding my childhood. Both fortunately and unfortunately, I had been raised as a Catholic. The hypocrisy of The Church is what turned me away from religion in the first place. However, the fear of God and hell kept me from ever practicing anything remotely "supernormal" that the dogmas of The Church forbade. For this and many other things, I am grateful.

In my newfound state, I wanted to lead the life God wanted for me but I was confused as to how to go about it. An approaching event was causing me immense anxiety as I would be required to face someone who I no longer wished to associate with. Unsure of how to pray, I repeatedly asked myself if confronting this person or avoiding them would be the best course of action. I asked this question while holding a Bible and opened it at a random page. Amazingly, the verse that confronted me spoke of silence. Wanting to ascertain that this wasn't a fluke, I closed the Bible and repeated the process. Again, another verse about silence. I was in awe, thankful, but also quite certain that this was not the proper way to pray. The passage I was led to during my second bout of bibliomancy was from The Chinese Theory of Art by Lin Yutang. It runs as follows:

"Among the ancients, some have brush [-power] but no ink [-power]. Others have ink [-power] but no brush [-power]. The difference lies not in external nature but in the man's natural talent itself. The ink splashes on the brush by soul and the brush controls the ink by spirit. Without nourishment and culture the ink lacks soul; without vitality the brush lacks spirit.

"Those who receive the well-nourished ink but have not the vital spirit have ink-power but no brush-power. Those who have the vital spirit but do not transform the altered soul have brush-power, but no ink-power. Life in nature consists in the ink-wash expressing the concrete forms of hills and rivers and things, seen from the front or the back, from the side and on a slant, scattered or clustered together, distant or near, external or internal, solid or empty, continuous or broken; they have layers and sections and falling aspects; they have charm and elusive expanse.

"Thus all nature presents its soul to man and man has the power to control its vitality and culture. If it were not so, how could the brush and ink create the embryonic form and skeletal structure, the opening up and closing in [of spaces], the bodies and functions, the forms and gestures, and picture those that are bending in ceremony or standing erect, those that crouch and leap and hide and soar, and all those that are rugged, expansive, stiff and tall, all those that are awe-inspiring and overpowering and strange — how else could all this soul and spirit of things be captured and given their full effect on paper?"

Some time after this, I found myself still feeling guilty for performing bibliomancy. I wasn't sure if the fact that I used a Bible made it more or less sacrilegious. I turned to the Internet for answers. When searching something along the lines of "is Bible bibliomancy a sin," I found a Reddit thread in which someone recommended John Temple's articles. I followed the link and my life has not been the same since. At first I was conflicted. His wonderful articles spoke to me but the rest of the website had the trappings of that occult stuff which, at the time, I firmly associated with everything that was evil. Strangely, I didn't feel that unnatural, dark sense I got when looking at other occult things so I cautiously revisited Occult Mysteries occasionally. Despite my pledge to no longer follow rabbit holes and to be content with my life as a Christian and a mother, I felt that something was missing. I still had questions that needed answering, and found myself more and more looking for them at Occult Mysteries. The name was the first hurdle I needed to get over. I initially believed "occult" had only negative connotations. Something else about the name, especially the icon, gave me pause. In elementary school, I had been in a programme by the name of Odyssey of the Mind. Our group had made t-shirts in which the O was positioned above the M, just as it is in the Occult Mysteries icon you see in search engines. Furthermore, we had made the O into a sun and the M into two pyramids, as our group project was an Ancient Egyptian flavoured venture. The word "Lucifer" and all that it implied to Christians, was another obstacle I had to overcome. Hermes was just as big a challenge. I had come to associate Hermes with Baphomet — the goat-headed occult deity worshipped by the Knights Templar and some contemporary self-styled 'magicians', and thus feared his teachings. One day, a green Ford Focus with the license plate "HERMES" pulled out in front of me as I was exiting a parking garage. I laughed. Touché; it proves we inhabit a synchronistic Universe!

I became aware of many other strange occurrences and so-called synchronicities. A package I wished I hadn’t sent was returned to me with a fishing lure advertisement peculiarly fastened to it. I found an index card with call numbers for two books in my driveway. This isn’t so strange in itself as I live next to a library. However, when I looked up the books, one was related to Acupuncture. As someone who is very interested in healing, medicine and the human body, this alternative therapy greatly intrigues me. I ordered both books from eBay, hoping they would help me in some way. Instead of the Acupuncture book I ordered, I received a book about Chinese Art Theory. I performed bibliomancy with this book, asking for help and it opened to page 144. This number seems significant as it is mentioned several times in different articles on the website, in one of which it is stated as the average time between two subsequent incarnations. In fact I began been noticing an abundance of fours. I was the 444th follower of the Occult Mysteries Instagram account. Upon reading the passage on that page in the book about Chinese Art Theory, I wept with relief. Once again I felt as though I was being held and being seen. I had this reaction another time, when I was struggling with abusing a certain substance. I typed "stimulants" into the Occult Mysteries Search Engine and part 13 of the series of Vox Stellarum articles had been published that day, containing that very word in the part dealing with the predilection of Pisceans to succumb to alcohol and substance abuse. Furthermore, the number thirteen when split into one and three also adds to four numerologically.

I will spare you the details of the slew of other curious events, most admittedly less remarkable, as I have the annoying tendency to over-analyse things and incorrectly attribute meaning to them. I am not always sure what is significant and what is not. Strengthening discernment is a goal of mine. At some point on this spiritual journey, I was convinced that cannabis was the only way I could attune with a higher level of consciousness. Discovering that Canopus was the pilot of a mythological ship (figured as the constellation Argo Navis) temporarily confirmed that belief. It wasn't until I read what the renowned herbalist Juliette de Bairacli Levy thought about cannabis that I denounced it. Although it has assisted me in making some useful connections, it has also made me highly susceptible to everything else which was not beneficial or meaningful. It also led me to frequently ignore my mundane responsibilities, such as paying bills on time. Maintaining balance is crucial. I found that I was eventually able to make those aforementioned connections without aid of the drug and with a clearer head and firmer resolve. Occult Mysteries continues to educate and enlighten me. It has helped me in profound ways, especially with developing and maintaining patience, humility, and courage. The article about the dangers of fascination with the dark side of life — Dabbling with Darkness by Aiden Williams — along with some of the articles on esoteric philosophy have been monumentally formative in improving the lens with which I view earthly life through.

In reprising the Biblical theme covered earlier, I think I have worked out some of the significance of the short story 'Real Faith Tested' which forms the Afterword to the article on Optimism versus Faith in which the narrator’s wavering faith is strengthened by a Biblical tract he encounters in a derelict property. Although he longed to retire to enjoy all the beautiful things in the world of music, literature and art he had always dreamed of, it was not to be. Fate stepped in and in one sudden blow he lost his job and was thrown on the scrap heap. Recently, I found myself in a not dissimilar position, believing I had finally hit upon the perfect way to earn money while sharing love by selling homemade cookies at the farmers market in my town. However, it must not have been the correct avenue because on my drive home from the latest gig, my car was involved in a collision. Thankfully, no one was hurt. In addition, my home insurer threatened to cancel my policy if I didn’t cease production. The search for my terrestrial purpose continues!

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The Delusion of Division

Afterword
Adapted from the Afterword to Bridge Over Troubled water by Eve Bennett.

Every day we are incited by emotive headlines to be angry or upset about something or someone. Most of us are well aware of the saying "divide and conquer." But how many are aware that this weapon has been used throughout history by those in 'authority' to cunningly trick us into mistrusting one another? To divide families, communities, nations and races?

Rather than searching out the true causes of divisions among families, communities, nations and races, we are encouraged to lay the blame on "right wing thugs," or similar bogeymen. Always, the appeal is to our feelings; to our likes, dislikes, preconceptions and prejudices, never to our critical thinking. By this I mean the higher part of us that knows there is little or no difference between human beings.

This is the part of us that sees beneath the surface of things and people. It recognises that the issues we are faced with as human beings, are not only similar, but often overlap. To condemn this or that religion, ideology or culture because it espouses things we do not like, is to fall into the trap of divisiveness.

What divides us is at best skin-deep, such as cultural differences, political views and affiliations, wealth and poverty, social status, religious beliefs and the like. All such differences belong to our personality — the lower mind — they do not touch the higher and better part of us — the Higher Mind.

The forces of darkness arrayed against us and the human tools they use to further their evil designs rely upon our base lower emotions to cloud our better judgement. They want to keep us in ignorance that anything exists beyond these divisive 'polar opposites'. They want us to 'cancel' those who dare to hold a different viewpoint or opinion, even if many of their other beliefs are the same as ours.

What these divisions really undermine is the simple fact, so often ignored or denied, that Nature intended men and women to complement and complete each other. This fact is based on the Universal Hermetic Law of Polarity described in considerable depth by the authors of this website in their series of articles on the true teachings of the Egyptian Sage, Hermes Trismegistus.

Women, unless their innate virtues have been corrupted, are by Nature nurturers, and men, protectors. Of course, there are strong, warrior-like women, and compassionate and sensitive men, and an uncountable myriad of combinations in between, proving that each sex possesses some characteristics of the other. In other words, we are all a combination of Male and Female to a varying degree; no man is fully masculine and no woman is fully feminine.

As ever, it is the wrong interpretations placed upon the pure teachings of the teacher by his followers that give rise to divisions, strife and bloodshed. Then we get the Spanish Inquisition, the violent schisms between the various churches, and in Islam the dire enmity between the Shia and Sunni sects.

The foul murder of the Greek philosopher Hypatia by a fanatical mob of Christian monks in 415 A.D. proves the truth of this. It is always these later converts, and not the founder of the religion or his close and loyal disciples, who turn a message of Light and Love into a battle-cry of darkness and hate, as the authors of this website explain only too clearly in their investigation of 'How peace leads to war.'

What we see in others is a reflection of what is in us. This is the reason why the attitudes, beliefs, virtues and vices of two or more opposing factions are really quite similar. The differences between them, as I said earlier, are skin-deep. What each side sees are their own beliefs, prejudices, preconceptions and insecurities reflected back at them, as in a distorting mirror.

Once we recognise this truth, it becomes clear that the similarities in the various 'divisions' within society which together make up the collective external world are only a reflection of our own strengths and weaknesses in the aggregate. From this it follows that the more we focus on the shortcomings within ourselves or our fellowmen and women, the more will these grow ever stronger, until eventually they snuff out the flame of goodness entirely.

If we wish to counter this tendency we must nurture the good qualities within us. We must water the seeds of forbearance, charity and patience in those who lack the strength to cultivate these virtues for themselves. Let us strive with all of our might to rise above our lower natures and instincts that we may see the good, or God in our fellow brothers and sisters and not the bad or the devil.

This does not mean we should compromise our moral principles, much less abandon what we know to be true and condone evil. But it does mean that we should tip the balance of our thinking to focus on good and not evil. This reminds me of a profound saying by Shakespeare. "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."

These wise words come to us from Hamlet, Act 2, scene 2. I take this to mean that we, and only we, have control of our thinking. It is up to us to choose whether we see things in a positive or a negative light. This obeys another Hermetic Law, the first and most important of them, that of Mentalism, which is described in the series of articles about the teaches of Hermes I mentioned earlier.

In essence, this law states that evil can be influenced by good if there is the slightest spark of goodness in the evil thing, person or condition. This there must be, for as we saw earlier when discussing the amount of masculinity or femininity in men and women, good must be present in evil to some degree, and vice versa, or it would not be possible for either to exist.

Each one of us is on a very distinct and unique path of evolution. No two human beings will ever be at exactly the same stage on their individual path. What unites us is that we are all God's children. For this reason and the other reasons I've mentioned in this Afterword, the illusion of Division is the biggest threat mankind faces.

Although we should not to judge our fellowmen and women, neither should we stand idly by in the face of evil. Instead, we must find the courage and compassion to fight for what is right, whilst sparing a thought for those who cannot distinguish truth from falsehood. We must strive to find the balance between showing love and kindness, whilst vigorously eradicating ignorance.

These seeming contradictions were well understood by H. P. Blavatsky. When questioned as to what to do when we hear bad words said about others, she answered, "you must demand proofs of the assertion and hear both sides impartially before you permit the accusation to go unchallenged. You have no right to believe in evil, until you get undeniable proof of the correctness of the statement."

When she was asked what one should do if proof of evil has been provided, she replied: "Pity and forbearance, charity and long-suffering ought to be always there to prompt us to excuse our sinning brethren, and to pass the gentlest sentence to those who err. We ought never to forget what is due to the shortcomings and infirmities of human nature." When she was further asked if one ought to forgive in this instance, she replied, "in every case, especially he who is sinned against."

Those who insist on regarding Blavatsky as a 'fraud' at best and a devil-worshipping racist at worst might wish to be reminded that in answering the question if one ought to forgive in the above instance, with the words, "in every case, especially he who is sinned against," she was repeating the advice of Jesus to his disciples.

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21-22). But Blavatsky's detractors may counter this by quoting Shakespeare, who wrote: "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart" (The Merchant of Venice, Act 1, scene 3).

The only answer to that calumny is to examine the life of Madame Blavatsky as it has been recorded by her many biographers, several of whom had no great liking for her as a person or respect for her teachings. But none of them called her 'a villain with a smiling cheek' or 'a goodly apple rotten at the heart'. For those who remain unconvinced that she was one of the wisest teachers ever to grace this Earth, here is what she had to say in answer to the question of what one must do if, by forgiving those who sin against us, we run the risk injuring others or allowing others to be injured.

Blavatsky replied: "His duty, that which his conscience and higher nature suggests to him; but only after mature deliberation. Justice consists in doing no injury to any living being; but justice commands us also never to allow injury to be done to the many, or even to one innocent person, by allowing the guilty one to go unchecked." In saying this, she demonstrates that whilst we must always strive to forgive and show compassion, we must not stand idly by and allow injury to another living being or evil to go unchallenged.

I would like to conclude this Afterword with a final quote from this peer among occultists. "Every mean and selfish thought sends us backward and not forward, while every noble thought and every unselfish deed are stepping-stones to the higher and more glorious planes of being. If this life were all, then in many respects it would indeed be poor and mean; but regarded as a preparation for the next sphere of existence, it may be used as a golden gate through which we may pass, not selfishly and alone, but in company with our fellows, to the palaces which lie beyond."

occult mysteries

A Merciful Messenger

A reader relates how she discovered our website and how it changed her life for the better

Guest article by Lea Pesce

Introduction by Occult Mysteries

Search our website

The Delusion of Division

Afterword
Adapted from the Afterword to Bridge Over Troubled water by Eve Bennett.

Further reading

occult mysteries

A Merciful Messenger

A reader relates how she discovered our website and how it changed her life for the better

Guest article by Lea Pesce

Introduction by Occult Mysteries

Search our website

The Delusion of Division

AfterwordAdapted from the Afterword to Bridge Over Troubled water by Eve Bennett.

Further reading

Afterword
Adapted from the Afterword to Bridge Over Troubled water by Eve Bennett.