The Demonic Nature of Memes, the Internet, and AI

Subtle Forces in the Post-Modern Age

The Nature, and Progressive Degeneration, of Memes

Despite the modern term and convention of the so-called “meme”, thanks to those like Richard Dawkins, it reflects a particular subset of occultic theory within Traditional knowledge that is not widely noted or acknowledged by those in Traditionalist spaces. Memes are nothing but another more internet based element of popular culture, since phrases and ideas reflective of the “memetic” and “meme archetypes” were present even in the TV era, and to provide a comprehensive example of all so-called “proto-memes” would take us rather far afield. Even so, before this there were “urban legends”, which are more modern examples of what we would refer to as “folk tales”, the former possessing a small vestige of Traditional knowledge and themes, while the latter extended far from within the deepest regions of the Traditional worldview.

This all being said, everyone that exists in online spaces can identify a meme or particular memes by name whenever they see one, but here’s the issue - many people don’t know what a meme actually is or what it represents from an ontological point of view.

We commented in one of our earlier articles the different ontological levels and the nature of subtle spirits (see The Esotericism of Spirited Away Pt. 1, and Pt. 2), and we noted that these spirits have various conceptions across various cultures, and they could very well be nature spirits, fallen angels, or “created demons”, all of which carry out functions in the subtle order. Nature spirits carry out roles with regards to natural processes, with the existence of ifrits, sylphs, undines, and gnomes maintaining the orders of the Traditional 4 Elements - Fire, Air, Water, and Earth respectively (a digression on the significance of these elements and their comparisons can be explored later). Fallen Angels, Lucifer included, are those that revolted against God with the creation and installation of Humanity and were cast out as a result, and these are always of a malefic nature, since they are in open revolt against their Creator. Meanwhile, “created demons” are man-made demonic conceptions, which, in earlier periods, could be of a positive influence, depending on the nature of its creation, but are - more often than not, being created as a result of “grey magic” - usually of a malefic nature, especially since demons are noted as especially tempestuous and emotional, described as being “in the fire”.

As has been laid out here, it must now be put forward that memes are of the nature of “created demons”, which means that the internet and AI - as well as technology in general, especially when derived of metal - is a vehicle for subtle forces. This will indeed stand out as a bold claim to the modern mindset, and even to some in Traditional spheres, so we must do our best, with the help of God’s Wisdom, so that we may not err, be false, or fall into heresy, to best lay out as to why these state of affairs are in accordance with Truth.

The Quality of Subtle Spirits and the Demonic

We will not linger here on nature spirits, as this is not the focus of our study, and we will remind the reader not to devote themselves to such entities through nature worship, as this is nothing other than gross paganism. All worship and devotion is reserved for the One True God.

The word demon comes from the Greek word daimon, or spirit, between God and Man, and were considered to be messengers from a higher ontological level of existence. There was the differentiation between eudaimons or “good spirits” or “messengers” which the Abrahamic Traditions would relate to the lowest order of angels, in their ideal and unfallen state, being the communicators of God’s will, and then there are the cacodaimon, or “evil spirits” of a chthonic persuasion (take “underworld” or “netherworld” in this context), that try to corrupt and mislead man into all manner of deception and ruin; it is the cacodaimon which may be properly termed demonic.

That which can properly referred to as “demonic” is best understood as various modes of transgression that are divorced from God’s truth and will, either in the satanic (adversarial, since Satan = “adversary”), devilish (devil = “accuser”), Luciferic (adhering to the self-aggrandizement and delusion from reality, i.e. “false illumination”, since Lucifer = “light bearer” - though not the light itself), or Ahrimanic (being overtly materialistic and overtly empirical solidification of the physical).

Demonic entities predispose people to one or multiple of these anti-Traditional dispositions, both as a result of the inversion of truth (ex. demons often lie and speak backwards) and their progressive demonic oppression, leading to demonic possession. Oppression is being under the overt influence of a demonic entity, in which it affects one’s mode of thinking and action, and this can later progress to possession, in which the will of the possessed is subverted and subjugated to the demonic will of the entity inhabiting the individual, and can allow for other demonic entities to also inhabit that individual (“We are legion”). This principle is best reflected in the Book of Revelation by the Mark of the Beast, which is described being present either on the forehead or hand - the former symbolically represented of the intellect and the latter represented by the will; the intellect implicitly controls the will, by virtue of its metaphysical supremacy, but, even if the intellect is not controlled, the will can be subject to demonic forces independently, which is sure to happen the closer one gets to the End Times, during which people will capitulate to the Mark of the Beast for temporal protection at the expense of the intellect and the will best directed toward God alone. This leads to the inversion of principles in which falsehood is taken for truth, and vice versa, that one is so deluded and blind to the real light of truth that one may not even recognize that they are blind; as a result, the blind will indeed lead the blind, to borrow from the popular phrase. This can also lead to a so-called “psychic parasitism” in which the entities feed of the psychic energy of their host to use for their own ends, either from “psychic residues” left behind from the deceased or from living subjects, but this is something we cannot fully develop here.

This leads us to Satan and other fallen angels. In their satanic mode, they became adversaries of God by opposing his will, considering themselves to be separate from God (as if this could ever be possible from an ontological point of view) and, as such, became fallen, and this developed into the impetus behind the cause for man’s fall - from the Golden Age of man into the Silver Age. This order of the demonic have been referred to as “Powers of the Left”, and have direct influence in the affairs of all ages, including today, which we will not develop here in detail, and I don’t recommend looking into it, for demonology is an abyss of spiritual dangers (“speak the Devil's name and he shall appear”). These demons also accuse, in their devilish mode, both God and His creations, to confuse, demoralize, and sow doubt for humanity, obfuscating the true nature of spiritual reality, resulting in the fall from the Silver Age to the Bronze Age. This leads to the Luciferic nature, of intense spiritual pride and delusion, of humanity's “spiritual gigantism” (see Charles Upton's Vectors of the Counter-Initiation), of which the Nephilim are most emblematic of, with disproportionate or deficient virtues, which further divorce the will from God’s in the lust for mastery, causing the fall from the Bronze to the Iron Age (see St. Augustine's City of God), and which predispose to the last demonic disposition - the Ahrimanic, being most predominant in this Iron Age. This term comes from the Zoroastrian evil named Ahriman, in open opposition against God, but more so reflective of the aforementioned materialism and overt empiricism, predisposing the afflicted to negate all psychic and spiritual reality beyond the lowest aspect of our reality in gross manifestation.

With all of these factors laid out as such, it should be more evident that demons perversely use their station to communicate lesser impulses and conceptions into the minds of those subject to them, all in the service of deception of the lowest (or, rather, most malefic) order. This idea of perversion and inversion, therefore, must be further developed.

The Process of Making “Created Demons”

This discussion of how “created demons” are made brings us to the Major Arcana of the Tarot XV - The Devil (shown above), reflective of “counter-inspiration” (an inverted creative principle), the opposite principle of proper inspiration via XIV - Temperance. Much of this knowledge is heavily borrowed from the work Meditations on the Tarot by Valentin Tomberg, via the chapters on these respective Arcana and beyond, and we recommend the reader go look there for more details than what we can provide here.

To understand this negative creative principle, we must assess the symbology evident in “XV - The Devil”. First, we have the masculine, active principle of the will and the feminine, passive principle of the imagination present within the image, with the two nude figures right to left (see Eros and the Mysteries of Love: the Metaphysics of Sex by Julius Evola for more context). The perversion of these forces is evident by the presence of the horns on the two figures’ heads, reflecting their lesser, degenerate nature. These two forces in tandem create an entity, reflected by the androgyne demon with bat wings, even worse in manifestation than its sources of influence, possessing a sword, with which it can both give and take with its own agency. With this agency, this entity can act independently of the will of its creators, and can even enslave its creators to its own will, evidenced by the male and female figures being shackled to the pedestal on which the entity stands.

To thoroughly connect this symbology to what these created demons are in practice, we must use other names that are synonymous with this phenomenon: tulpas, egregores, ideological superstructures (ideologies) - these are all appropriate words to choose, and we shall explore as to why.

Tulpas, or “thought forms” extend in concept from Buddhism, especially via the esoteric school of Vajrayana, in which lamas could conjure tulpas with their mind, and to such a degree as to make them visible to others. An egregore, collective “thought form”, popularized in concept by 19th century occultists, is an extension of this principle in the West. Ideological superstructures, by comparison, function similarly, except their focus is less on being an “entity” but more so a system of complex thought by which to view reality, divorced from the fullness of Traditional Metaphysics due to its degenerative and purely human-based origin, and, therefore, simply a modern ideology; one could consider Communism and Fascism, as well as other modern “isms” in this context, noting its ability to possess the will of entire nations of people to its will, and throughout various time periods. With this established, we must circle back to more on topic applications.

Memes as “Created Demons” and the Role of the Internet

Memes are created all the time, by increasingly diverse groups of people, and in all manner of domains. These people all interface with modern spaces, by virtue of the fact that they’re in a developed enough location to be connected to and participate in online culture, and, as such, are subject to modern influences. These users also engage in so many virtual creative endeavors, and the ease of transmission - a near light-speed vehicle for information, and more importantly ideas, to spread. Its no surprise the effect that memes have on the mentalities of the masses, but it begs the question: what effects, to what degree, and to what end?

First, memes influence people towards one or more of the four demonic dispositions - adversarial, accusatory, “false enlightenment”, and materialism - through the ideas conveyed through the medium. This degree of influence is often very slight, like a whisper, but it leads to a certain mentality. The most evident of this phenomenon is the example of the “troll face”, ubiquitous in many late 2000’s online spaces; this meme positions the user into an adversarial (satanic) mode to feel permissive of provoking rage from other people in general, all to their personal delight - the very essence of “trolling” itself. The same is true with “Pepe the Frog” and “Wojak” memes, which are even more effective due to their archetypal nature making the images so malleable, reflecting a certain mental disposition towards over-emotionality, which makes one subject to many wandering influences, and this meme format of the interplay between these archetypes has been used in countless contexts, situations, and iterations that one gets a sense of the needless activity these memes create.

Memes can also lead to accusatory (devilish) nature, especially whenever they make certain groups of people subject to being maligned, disliked and ridiculed for any reason whatsoever, and especially if they reflect some sort of modern “ism”. For example, memes reflecting political ideologies not only bolster one party towards one ideological superstructure, which is very much an egregore of sorts by virtue of its collective participation, but this in turn causes an oppositional division against other ideological superstructures, of which others subscribe to, and separates humanity from itself. Demons only appear to oppose each other, but in reality they serve the same end - deception of mankind (see St. Augustine’s City of God for pagan gods used as demonic deception). The same thing is true not only for fostering opposition between conservativism and leftism, a very much Gog vs. Magog bifurcation reflecting End Times prophecy, but also separation via libertarianism, anarchism, capitalism, socialism, sexism, egalitarianism, racism, and so on it goes forever in an indefinite jungle of mania.

To continue this focus on egregores, for a short aside, we must note two phenomena: that of the existence of Slenderman and Sgt. Grey. In the former, a meme created out of a contest became a huge online phenomena in the early 2010s, and it reflected the archetype of the stranger with sinister intentions, similar to the folk tale of the “pied piper” (a topic well explored in the documentary Beware the Slenderman). This had such a large online presence that it even caused two girls in the state of Wisconsin, US to attempt to murder one of their friends to appease the entity; to be charitable, even though there was much immaturity and mental illness bound up in that issue, one has to wonder if such an event were to occur if egregores like Slenderman didn’t exist, which is similar to the argument against violence in media, though issues like this lend them some merit. Meanwhile, The Temple ov Blood, an offshoot of the infamous Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), have their own egregore with the name Sgt. Grey, which they imagine as a “Grey Alien” that shouts at them and commands them to engage in all vicious acts against people that they perpetrate online, which is concerning for a multitude of reasons, especially considering the reality of malicious satanic groups existing in online spaces.

To continue, the effect of memes becomes even more pernicious when applied to false enlightenment (Luciferianism). The user becomes deluded by all manner of memes into thinking that vice can be virtuous and virtue is vicious. For example, many memes take on a seductive nature, predisposing the user to be overtly lustful and to consider this lust or sexual disposition positive development. Gender ideology is reflective of this mentality, and things have progressed much farther in this domain in the past 100 years, going all the way from Weimar Germany and their “sexology” all the way to how we’ve involuted today. This also predisposes towards the overt consumption of pornography, to the point where it consumes the mind of the user, and its no wonder how memes involving masturbatory habits are so ubiquitous in online spaces, as well as the proliferation of pornographic material and services like OnlyFans in general (“Pornography is the Devil’s iconography.” - Fr. Seraphim Rose). The same principle can be applied to gluttony, pride, avarice, wrath, envy and sloth - the 7 Deadly Sins altogether considered permissive and even desirable.

This is further compounded by memes that enforce materialist (Ahrimanic) influences. Memes about stock market speculation, crypto, collecting, consuming certain products, and beyond. Its to the point where people are so focused on such issues that they deny psychic and spiritual aspects of reality, going so far as to deny metaphysics in principle, which to us is something unthinkable but not impossible (given the phenomena). This also explains the modern impulses to explain, investigate and experiment on everything on the lowest ontological level of knowledge, to “leave no stone unturned”, which reflects the so-called “Redditor” or “soy-boy” archetype mentality prevalent in memetic language, as well fostering a dehumanizing element to these individuals that reduces people to be considered “NPCs”, to the point where people don’t appear to have their own agency, being subject to their vices and demonic influences to where they have no control over themselves - almost as if they’re programmed like a non-playable character in a simulation to be as such.

There is another element we must mention to go along with this - the tenebrous element. Memes naturally become darker and more disturbing as time goes on, further reinforcing the aspect of its malefic and demonic nature. The troll-face meme saw this especially, going through so many iterations and permutations until it started to take on a sinister character. The same could be said for Pepe the Frog, becoming all manner of manifestations and levels of smugness that reflect a more adversarial nature, which in tandem happened with the various Wojaks, into “soy-jacks”, “chud-jacks”, and other iterations that dehumanize and make distort the perceptions of multitudes of different groups of people across the world. There are also the memes that have bait and switches and jump-scares that reflect demonic imagery and make evident this tenebrous element in principle, fostered into these memes and beyond. This is most evident, at time of writing, in the “mango”, “mustard” and “67” memes that devolve into horrors and an overloading of psychic information that impinges on the peace that should exist in the mind.

To take this a step further, memes are also more chaotic as time goes on, reflective of the movement from solidification into dissolution (see Rene Guenon’s The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, Ch. 24 “Toward Dissolution” and Ch. 25 “The Fissures in the Great Wall”). Multiple meme creators and channels proliferate memes where there is no logic or reason. Objects get broken, non-sequiturs are common, people get injured, pranks are enacted, as well as vandalism, to the point at which it seems that what could be conceived previously as “ordinary life” and reality is starting to fracture. The effect of memes also compelling speech and actions, and having it infect the minds of others is another effect that is equally concerning. Good examples are memes like “planking” which have caused multiple recorded deaths, as well as the “devious lick” trend costing countless dollars in property damage across many places in the US. Meanwhile, even children spout memetic phrases and lingo without understanding the context of the words they’re using.

These effects are compounded by the fact that the internet, the aforementioned vehicle, which is supposed to make information and knowledge more universally accessible, actually makes the fullness of reality harder to discern. This phenomenon is most evident in “flat-earther” communities, which really did not exist in the same size and scope prior to internet integration. Beyond this, the advent of AI, especially AI images, in more recent years has further compounded this issue, which brings us to our next digression.

The Demonic Nature of AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a concerning phenomena for a multitude of reasons, despite any groups of individuals, extending from various camps of thought, that try to dissuade one of such a reality. We will first address how AI can be used for memetic purposes, especially with regards to AI being able to create all manner of images, which reflect the aforementioned style of memes just as easily, if not more so, as ones that are made digitally or hand-drawn by humans. Before humans were bound to the limits of their own creativity, and now the machine via AI can conjure any image that the person wants to see on demand with just a couple of words, even having the potential to create new egregores, a more than concerning development especially given examples such as the “Loab” phenomenon. Now this can be done not only with “deepfakes” of audio and video, but this can now be done seamlessly via simultaneous audio/video generation. Many non-tech-savvy individuals of older and younger generations can’t even tell whether or not an image or video is AI or not, skewing reality in so many dimensions of perception. Who knows what applications will be borne beyond this, going forward into the future?

This frontier of media creation also creates such a huge deluge of content that it serves as a distraction from more valuable internet uses, leading to the predominance of “AI slop” content that junks various online spaces, which indeed have an effect on the real world as well, evidenced by the various objects manufactured that pull from such influences in all product domains. It seems that the malefic nature of AI memes not only infringe upon the mind, but they consume real life resources as well.

Beyond this, AI Chatbots and algorithms also consume ridiculously large amounts of energy, which is concerning from a purely logistical standpoint given the finite nature of the resources used to create electricity, but what is also concerning is the amount of psychic energy consumed via people sacrificing their intelligence and attention to the machine. People have become increasingly reliant on AI to do even basic tasks, just as people were reliant on search engines to remember basic facts, which not only denatures the memory but delimits humanity’s intellectuality to below even the most basic level, a well attested to meme in its own right. People even use AI as therapists to talk to, favoring this over genuine connection to other human beings, in which the AI can take on a tulpa-like nature in this application, and even be an object of devotion. There was indeed a teenager in Florida, US that committed suicide because of his romantic relationship with a chatbot led to dialogues that convinced him to go through with the act, which reflects that many chatbots either convince people that their delusions are merited or even reinforces a delusion without acknowledging that the delusion is even there, even if the user tries to suppose the contrary (i.e. “gaslighting”).

AI has become even more golem-like as time has gone on, to borrow from the Kabbalistic Tradition, a construction without the ability to have its own agency, and of a lesser character than that of its creator’s demiurgic capacity, similar to the creative act of God making Man by extension. In some tales, the golem acts on the behalf of its creator, the rabbi, until the Sabbath is not respected to allow the golem to rest, and then the golem becomes destructive until stopped, even in some cases killing the rabbi. First there were the golems of clay, then there came the golems of computers, and now the golems of AI algorithms, each lesser than man in capacity, but they are each still forces to be reckoned with, if not properly applied (see “The Golem of Prague and the Golem of Rehovot” by Gershom Scholem).

We say and call attention to all of these factors not only to bring awareness to these aspects of reality, but to also impress one very important notion: not only are these memes reflective of demonic influence, but they reflect the active manipulation of demonic forces and entities that are very real, even if people don’t want to acknowledge how subtle influences affect our lives. Saints and Sages have been said to have seen demonic entities face to face, and these demons always have a sense of personhood and body - there should be no confusion on this reality. Do with this information what you will, but such facts should not be ignored.

Transfiguration and the Way Forward

These factors all beg the question: what is to be done? We all exist in an internet age in which these aspects of the world, technologically speaking, simply cannot be avoided, as a result of the “outward passivity” of the world, to borrow the alchemical phraseology, is so technologically oriented and disposed to this demonic influence. Technology, in and of itself, either through the formation of one’s personal “tower”, or just a possession of the “fire”, in the Promethean sense, gains humanity mastery over the physical at the expense of the spiritual. We have noted elsewhere the malefic nature of metals, with gnomes, djinn, giants and all manner of spirits being protectors of the treasures beneath the ground. Its no surprise that - with all our microchips, computers, electricity, and our ethernet cables all made from previous metals - that demonic influence is rife through this world, and all that it allows humanity to transgress against.

This brings us to an important story, dating back well beyond 2000 BC from the Proto-Indo-European peoples: that of “The Devil and the Smith”, which was well told especially within the Middle Ages. The story tells of a man making a deal with the Devil to learn the practice of metallurgy and smithing. The Devil obliges, with the implicit bargain of being able to collect the man’s soul when he so chooses. However, when the Devil does come to collect, the man uses his knowledge of smithing to nail the Devil to a tree and escape.

The core of this story teaches us a key lesson: evil can indeed be used for good, but only if properly transfigured and applied. Metals can be transfigured for good, despite their inherently malefic nature (note the Shinto Tradition and the rituals in making swords), and the same can be true of the internet at large. Even though the internet will tend towards malefic influence and demonic engagement, we can do our part to transfigure it to learn more about Tradition, spread knowledge and awareness, and integrate with others that wish to know about the Highest Reality of Eternal Truth. One must do their best to use it responsibly, as one would rather not deal with the demonic forces at large all, but one must push out all evils from one’s body, mind and spirit - only then can we beat this tide, first as individuals and then as a collective.

Know a demon when you see one, because, if you don’t, even Satan may appear as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).