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The Glamour of Severity:

“Blessed are they whose malice is a thing of beauty, for theirs is the highest art.”

If this is your first “Glamour” post, read the Note at the bottom before proceeding.

Over the long history of human apes, the very top spot in the collective, the apex of the pyramid, has often gone to the individual who was most creatively and mercilessly severe. As archetypes, consider Genghis Khan and Joseph Stalin. Why has this pattern persisted over untold millennia?

The most obvious answer is not the right one. Individuals didn’t line up behind Genghis Khan or Joseph Stalin because they were physically afraid to do otherwise. Not initially, anyway. Eventually, yes, but not in the early days. One man, even a Genghis or a Stalin, is easily dispatched by ten men, or a hundred, or even just one skilled assassin. Without the apparatus of the collective wrapped around him, no individual can survive when numerous rivals or opponents decide he has to die, and the mere fact that they feel physically threatened would be enough to decide them. So what, then, is the answer?

Glamour. The glamour of severity. There is something in human instinct (especially among betas and omegas) that responds with subservience when confronted by unrestrained and sophisticated severity.

Severity done right is an art form. What is art? It is creativity undertaken to evoke a psychological response, and done skillfully. Glamour, in all its variations, is art. Let severity, then, be undertaken to evoke a psychological response, and let it be done skillfully, with the long-term goal being ascension up the pyramid of organizational power.

The long-term goal is critical to keep in mind. Severity for the sake of severity is sadism, which has its own satisfactions, but is not a glamour and will not reliably set your foot on the next higher step up the staircase. Sadism, in fact, can become self-sabotaging, especially if it becomes addictive, and Ego (the reality principle) is ignored. Let the goal of ascension be the lynchpin of your art, around which all else revolves.  

Skillfulness is also critical to keep in mind. What is skill? In this case it is clarity of rationale, of intention, of technique, and of observation. Why have you selected this target at this time? What exact punishment do you intend to inflict? How exactly will you go about it? How will you know if and when you have accomplished your will? Skill also entails self-discipline. In this case, self-discipline has to do with knowing if and when to abort and deciding to do so. If your rationale is unclear, or your intention is muddied, or your technique is unsure, or your observational vantage point is obscured, or you observe the fact that your actions aren’t having the intended effect – Abort.

It should go without saying that severity, to be a glamour, has to be done publicly, unless you are only trying to influence the target of your actions. There may in fact be times when you apply severity to someone specifically to achieve the subservience of that person and only that person. But often that person will be of little use to you. In fact their uselessness may factor into your calculus for selecting that person in the first place. When such is the case, your severity will need an audience in order to be a glamour and accelerate your ascension. As with everything else, be skillful in the selection and management of your audience and venue. In fact, apply all the same guidelines as discussed in the previous paragraph: clarity of rationale, of intention, of technique, and of observation. Also apply the same self-discipline around knowing if and when to abort and deciding to do so.

Finally, know yourself. The glamour of severity isn’t for everyone. You can probably already feel in your gut if this glamour is for you. Trust your gut on this. If it’s telling you to abort before you even start, my advice to you is: Abort. At least until you do the necessary mind-work to reorient your intellect and emotions. Don’t rush that process.

If you have the right ears to hear, then hear: Spare the rod and spoil the ascension.ISCHYROS DIAVOLOS!

Note:

Any of the “Bad Attitudes” from WOLFISM XIX can form the nucleus of a catharsis ritual, but only if it speaks to you and only if you’re able to have fun with it. If the one identified above meets those criteria for you, then make it the core of a cathartic ritual for yourself, and perform it. The effect of repeated performances over as long a time as feels right to you, will be to kill the part of your Superego that functions as the jailer of your natural instinct for severity.

I use the word “glamour” in its archaic sense, and I use the British spelling because it’s more likely (at least for us Americans) to conjure up archaic connotations. Vampires were said to have the power of glamour.