A magician keeps a diary. But the role of writing down your actions regularly isn't just to keep a record of your deeds. It is to use the act of writing to understand your own actions. This practice of high magic is especially important today because you're competing with the data vultures to know who you are. These big data companies make money off the margin of you that they know better than you know yourself. They sell that margin to advertisers so that these advertisers can manipulate you. The magician who does the same also does it for the exact same reason: he wants to be able to manipulate himself. Or, as the humble magician's world would call it, to act according to his will. Or, as real magicians would call it, to bend the universe to your will. So, if the data company knows who you are better than you know yourself, they bend you towards their will. The competition is not for you to bend them versus them bending you; it is for you to be able to retain sovereignty over the actions of your body. These are just many words to say, have agency. Have free will. There are too many bafere in the spiritual industry, so simple truths have been cluttered with a lot of useless, holy-sounding words. But the challenge of life, basically, for the magician is to know thyself more than anything else can know you. That is why some are mysterious; they are trying to confuse you. That is the essence of magic. If it runs you mad, maybe that is your cue to stop. You're following the magician too closely; you're getting lost in the mystery he is building up.
As a magician, I understand that the role of secrets is very important in sustaining autonomy. Therefore, XkMato is launching (building, really) the XkMato Diary. A space in the digital realm for someone to express themselves privately or selectively without worrying that the Big Data vultures are snooping on them. A space with reciprocal transparency. You decide how much of yourself you want to share with whom, and you always know how much others know about you. Basically, freedom of expression, but like on the internet.
I am also recruiting, but I don't have money, so if you're struggling with money, this is not a good fit. But you can actually contribute money if that is your strongest effort. Let us build freedom in a box. On demand. Put all the clever, futuristic-sounding phrases from Silicon Valley. But if you're tired of fighting for freedom and you're ready to just create it, holla at your boy and let's step this game the fuck up.
Okay, I will take a break from Kanye West's music. That shit will balloon my ego and people will start avoiding me. Say what you want about Kanye, but that guy makes a very good case for why life should be enjoyed. When he keeps name-dropping Steve Jobs, Disney, and all those white people he admires, that guy is selling himself short; he is a greater magician than any of those guys. The fact that he is not violent cancels all the other guys out. Like, would I have enjoyed university more in a world with button phones but access to Kanye music, or the alternative? It is easy to listen to Drake and think that hip hop is all the same sounding shit. And if you're used to that kind of music, you imagine that Kanye can just be replaced by 50 Cent or some other black guy with ghostwriters, but Kanye is not a product. That motherfucker is the magician. He is in charge of his life. The industry has some power over him, but it doesn't own him. That is serious high magic shit. This is how I write when I listen to too much Kanye West; you cannot deny the influence.
Expression, including music and other intellectual property, needs to be owned by the magician in order for the magician to feel brave enough to express themselves more clearly. That is why the XkMato protocol is going to rebuild trust on the internet from the ground up with self-custody, reciprocated transparency guarantees, and secret-keeping in place. As a peer-to-peer protocol, the level of privacy and expression you choose to share on the internet is determined per interaction; there is no central organization trying or capable of learning you based on your internet interactions. You can choose to share more with your wife and less with your boss without worrying that Mark Zuckerberg's WhatsApp is selling your messages with your wife to your boss in order for him to decide how much salary he should pay you.
You see, if you have an untrained mind and you get too close to Kanye West music, you may run mad. The passion in that music will push you to do things you'd otherwise not do. Same with Jay Z, that shit may trick you into worshipping the corrupt. Same with Kendrick, let's take it easy with the gang shit. You're the greatest; let's take the violence out of gang culture. The rest of that shit is dope. If you ever come to Uganda, you'll see how many of us look, act, and talk like you, but we're worried that if we get too close, you're going to put guns in our hands and send us to kill Congolese. Let's tone the violence shit down. You can show them how to rewrite the devil’s story without violence. The Game, you too, nigga. Grow the fuck up. We call it Kyejo over here. Same with Wayne, Eminem, Cole—you guys are overhyping the workaholic shit; you're forcing most of your fans into unfair employment. And you dancehall motherfucker, you’re turning sex into porn. And all those other musicians. But in the end, if Drake knows more about you because the UMG billionaires buy your data from Google, and Drake gets you into prison for defilement, you cannot use him as an excuse. The onus is on you to learn yourself better than Drake does. Unless, of course, you don't want to be a magician.
If you ever change your mind, consider yourself officially initiated.
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