Unintended Controversies
It may appear that my statements are bold or controversial but these statements were made since the beginning. This company was created for multiple reasons. Some of the main reasons, as I have shared this many times over the years, was due to Satanic jewelry lacking in the space of occult jewelry.
Surely, there existed Satanic jewelry before I came along. I am simply saying it was lacking. How is that so controversial? It makes me believe that many people seem not comprehend reading, which was something we tested for in grade school. Now I get it. I get why that was so important. This brings up recent memories of memes where they parody why punctuation is important and usually a period or a comma makes a world of difference in how you read the sentence(s). So today, I write this blog to sorta clear and air on a few things I have recently stated on social media.
If you were a follower on Facebook since 2013 or even a couple years after that, you might already know some of the brief history I will go over. One of the hurdles we are facing today with Social Media and NEWS media are two distinct differences. One does not need to oblige to respected journalism tactics that make them highly credible and true to journalism standards across the world and the other one does.
Social Media posts made to look like news-worthy content. Most of what you see is sometimes news stories that look like a kind of journal written from a magazine or newspaper publication that you never heard about before. This is partially why Facebook and Twitter were under scrutiny for recently. More and more people are literally getting their CURRENT news from publications that are made to look and feel credible yet they are websites created JUST to look that way. We live in the age of photography that tells everything you need or want to know. We did used to say, in fact, that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, that seems to be the case for many people. Throw that in with a little statement about the pic and you can sway the masses by putting it on social media. Yet, try submitting such a thing through credible journalists or zines and you will likely get rejected for not doing the research.
One of the things I never mentioned about my social media and that I will clearly state, if its not obvious by now, is that I did NOT create the Facebook page nor the Instagram page to make new friends. Its not about whether you like me or not. Its not even ABOUT ME period. I didn't create these platforms to create a space for discussing politics, religion (other than Satanism), or share my point of view on things, NO! That's not the intent. I created a product that I felt was lacking and many people obviously took notice and agreed with that statement. I created these social media platforms to present the products I have designed in my own unique way and style. I never claimed I owned symbols. Why is this hard for some to grasp? The jewelry created is created around symbolism. The symbols that Satanists have adopted or created that are sacred and meaningful to Satanists or the other occultists. Whether they are Satanists or Pagan, I set out to create a better brand of jewelry and novelties that fill those spaces where it was lacking before.
Before 2013, Satanic Jewelry ONLY existed because many of the manufacturers of these products are not based in the United States and for that matter, in the United Kingdom (with the exception of most "Goth" jewelry, the likes of Alchemy Gothic, etc.) or Australia, Canada France, Spain, etc...The List goes on. Manufacturing is mostly outsourced to countries where its most affordable to produce these things. These include but not limited to Vietnam, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and of course, CHINA, JUST TO NAME A FEW. Did you ever wonder how they know what to make for those in the United States? How do they know what we want? They don't know our culture. They don't know our way of life. So how do they sometimes hit a home run on ideas? Well, I am going to explain that briefly here and it will make sense because its just so obviously true. SO much so that we are basically oblivious to this by now. Just like we have Tacos and Chinese take out. Its easy when you simply understand that we have a multi-cultural society now.
American culture is shared not just by Americans. People from around the world share our culture or at the very least, a little bit of it in every way possible. They love our movies! Yes, Iron Man gets shown in China, India, Mexico, etc. They see our culture through movies. There are people in business on much higher levels that are looking for product ideas and this is where they get inspired to create something we are most likely to want to purchase. Thus, you have the answer there. The world is watching is not just a catch phrase, it's serious business.
This is how sausage is made around the world, ladies and gentlemen. So when a popular website of a company founded by some Satanist, these corporations are watching! They follow the same social media platforms and have the money to move mountains at their disposal when little guys like myself simply cannot.
They are notorious for stripping ideas from creative sellers on Etsy, Ebay, or Amazon and literally run with it! The worst part, is that there's nothing that can stop this. Its a very expensive process to try to secure your ideas legally because that alone is not enough from anyone stealing it anyway. You will need to take them to court and the costs associated with that are large. Even if you win a case, or you sue them, bankruptcy is a lifesaver for anyone getting sued. IF you don't already know this, when any company gets sued, the losing party typically files bankruptcy soon after they are ordered to pay. They throw in the court ordered payment as part of the debt and it all gets washed away. Meanwhile, its a corporation that files bankruptcy, not the individuals involved. Big money always saves the day. They can start it again and the brands change names but the product is the same. Meanwhile, the one who's ideas were stolen gets to move....BROKE from defending its product until the next corporate giant comes along. Anyway, I am sure many of you know this charade, do I really need to go further? Lets move on...
Corporations can take small ideas from unknown sellers and produce a product in less than a month. Making it appear as if they had the same idea and they just beat you to it. They scout for new product ideas and I came up with one a few years ago. The Baphomet plush doll. Let me be perfectly clear, Baphomet dolls already existed. Lots of crochet dolls were out there. All hand made. I even made a deal to support a master crochet doll maker to produce some for this site. It was a great deal because nobody has ever thought to do what I did. I have done many deals with other people whom have participated in creating some of my best jewelry too, which I will get to later. However, the dolls, were plentiful on Etsy. MY CLAIM is that I have produced this to "SCALE". Scale is a term used in business. Until I came along, a Baphomet Plush doll at this grand scale of things was simply NOT a thing! I made this perfectly clear in 2013 when the website had officially launched that some of my products were likely to get knocked off or spun off of my original. I was going to be setting the bar and the trend would commence.
I was the original Baphomet Plush Doll creator at mass scale and that came with a unique style. The Colors, the cuteness level, etc. Not an ARTISAN designer. I had entered into the big leagues by 2016. The big leagues of mass production. I am still a runaway squirrel in a baseball stadium but making an impact and setting the bar for many to follow. I never claimed I owned the symbols but my STYLE cannot be copyrighted. Ever seen an Andy Warhol Painting? How many pics have you seen mimic that style? The same applies with Baphomet or the Baphomet Plush doll, in that, I never claimed to have rights over a religious figure nor the first to produce a plush doll in the form of Baphomet. I DID state that I am the first to do a Baphomet plush doll in the ways that I did them, my style, a concept, if you will. It was later that Killstar began to produce a Baphomet plush doll of their own. Killstar, a corporation that is privately own and extremely difficult to see what the corporate structure is because unless they are publicly traded, any information about a company need not be shared with the public. Not that anyone has ever asked for it but I did try to search them out to get some answers on a few issues I had of my own. I know that there are alot of Satanists are also GOTH in their lifestyle by which they dress etc. Some are die-hard fans of Killstar and rightfully so, after all, who else if not Killstar? There's hardly anybody in the space. Black Craft Cult is also another corporation that wanted to go public in 2019. They filed for an IPO with the SEC. (Initial Public Offering, Securities and Exchange Commission) for those that wanna know. Black Craft Cult was denied an IPO due to some irregularities in their financing. My best guess is that there is some fraud or a financial audit that needs to take place before they are given a go-ahead to go public. Black Craft Cult started in 2012, at the same time I did, however, my website was started in 2013 as it is stated in most places when they online presence created. Ever wonder how Black Craft Cult is much bigger than THIS site? It's simple. You take on some inventors with large amounts of cash to invest. The more money you have for marketing and growing your product line, the more of a larger presence you will have in the eyes of the public. This by no means, means that you are making money, sales are through the roof, etc. Grant it, the more you have to sell, the likelihood of making more Sales, that really IS the nature of the beast, so its likely they have SOME high levels of success because of their revenues but of course, something is definitely going down in their corporate offices and their financial dealings and NOW YOU KNOW.
As for Killstar, hard to say where they are at publicly because they do not sure it. Nor does BCC (BlackCraftCult) now that they are not applying for an IPO anymore...or for now anyway. I remember when people would ask me if I had permission to use the Sigil of Baphomet. Everyone assumed it belonged to the Church of Satan. The details are somewhat shady on that. Our understanding is that we do not use "CHURCH OF SATAN" with the symbol together in any pic. As a hashtag yes, its for attracting people of share interests. BCC used a Sigil of Baphomet and nobody bats an eye for that. Oh wait, just because it said "Believe in yourself"?? Did that make it seem any better? You see the irony here?
When it came down to my recent controversial post over KillStar coming up with a Baphomet Plush that was resembling my style, of COURSE I was gonna call it out for what it was. It was MY style of producing a product. The colors schemes used and the timing was quite obviously. The original Baphomet Plush I came out with was Black/Red and Killstar always made their products in BLACK so I thought it was a strange coincidence that they too did a plush doll right after mine was introduce. Grant it, at the time, I DID say something about it but hardly made a big deal of it because theirs was Black and mine was two colors. We were also different! That is not the argument I made. I don't claim that we were ever alike. Nor did I claim Baphomet was mine some how. Again, this is a religious symbol. Killstar was MAINLY a Goth Apparel company and they were producing more and more Satanic themed apparel. I spoke out a little about it because it was becoming apparent that they were invading a space that I was in. It was not just the space I'm in but in general, Satanism and what it means to us. I didn't think it was right for them to exploit the symbolism in their apparel like its some kind of fashion trend.
As time progressed, they introduced more plush dolls. Of course, this is what big corporate DOES. Start producing EVERYTHING related to occult, demons, etc. before the little guy heads deeper into that direction. Which of course, that WAS my intention but small companies like myself, don't have big budgets. They KNEW I was small and they know how to kill a small business. A page right out of the Walmart handbook!
Just to be clear, ONCE AGAIN, styles cannot be copyrighted. Its just a fact of life. I wanted to take credit for setting the trend. There's too many to fend off and highly expensive. I knew this and there was no way I can catch all of them. However, when this thing began to grow and I took notice that companies like Killstar was also following my style, I wanted to cement my place in history. Earlier I stated Andy Warhol. Does this pic look familiar to you? Its ME, XERXES. Its not a painting. Its a pic made to look like the Andy Warhol style paintings. His famous painting of Marilyn Monroe has been parodied many times over even with apps that can transform any pic into this style. He is forever credited for this whether you used HIS original work or a picture to parody his style. And THAT my friends, is the fucking point to all of this madness over a Baphomet Plush doll post made on social media. Not the same thing but definitely the colors are the same, the concept is the same, the marketing was the same, etc. Very similar. Is there a case against Killstar? NO. You can buy whatever you want. I never called for anything outrageous against another company. I am simply calling out some truths of the matter. Stamping my name where it rightfully belongs. I don't expect everyone to know the entire truths because not everyone is following the entire story or the history for that matter. This story has its roots to 2013 and I don't expect everyone to know it all. So a blog post such as this was finally essential to drop. For the archives!
As if things couldn't get worse, a CROCHET doll maker had also accused me of stealing their crochet doll idea. And let me put that to rest here too. Crochet making is a craft and these crafts are created by hand. When it comes to crochet dolls, there are PATTERNS that you must utilize. These patters are created by someone and sold as such, PATTERNS. Once you get your hands on the patters, ITS ANYBODY'S GAME as to what you do with your creations. Crochet is a dying craft in America. These days, we pay for having someone make us a scarf, sweater, or a doll. Then there's people that give them away but because its a craft that takes so much time and the expense of materials is not cheap, some have created a business model around this concept. I do not make crochet ANYTHING. I merely helped boost a master crochet doll maker's business and they supplied me with dolls. Lots of people are doing this on Etsy and other places where dolls are sold. I just so happen to be a large walking target for criticism because the unique thing about this website is that I am literally accessible. A rarity in companies these days. They typically want you to leave your complaint in a box or with a receptionist.
Another thing that occurs with being the first to set the trends people will either love or hate is that not everybody will believe some of what you say. It may come off as arrogance to make a claim. Well first, I prefer to not call my statements CLAIMS because I don't see it that way. They are statements of truths as I know them to be because its been something I have stated AS I PUT THESE NEW ITEMS OUT. Many new followers to my social media were not around in the early days. I would introduce a product and literally state that at some point, someone will want to copy this. I mentioned this for a few reasons. The first was that, you will be buying something from sellers that are literally attempting to sway traffic to their site. This happens on every level in business, big and small, as I stated earlier. From Artisan sellers to giants like Killstar and foreign entities that are trying to make a stake with the American pop culture. This is a never ending thing. I know this well and it will not stop me short of putting the truth about what I know, out there.
You have options. You can go with those that are known to take ideas and concepts from others or from the original creators of such products. The original creators put alot of work into their ideas. These other giants are typically the ones that are just looking for a temporary idea to increase their chance to stay on top while squatting the little guy. This ALSO works in reverse-order. I have seen little guys mimic bigger guys, Such is life. GO with what you know is the better option and dig a little deeper if someone makes a statement. You might find that perhaps they are right. There is a reason why they share this bit of information. Its not arrogance. It's the truth. If you want say its arrogance, then Thank you. By all means, you fed my ego for the day, I suppose. I am not here to convince you if you are mind is made up about me. I am here to share my story for the archives. In time, people will look back and have a better understanding of what I am intended to do.
I hope this lengthy blog puts a few things back in order for understanding what goes behind the scenes or for that matter, from my perspective on things. You may disagree and I don't understand that completely. I did not create my social media to make new friends. Nor do I wake up wondering if I am having new followers or not. I created a brand for what I felt was lacking in the spaces I am in. Some have approved and showed their support. I honor them for that daily with real people wearing our brand. In nearly 8 years on Facebook, I have only shown a pic of myself less than 10 times. I have accidentally shared my political views or done other controversial moves before and those events, not relating to the brand were experiences I have learned alot from. These recent posts caused alot of comments and uproar from many whom never supported this brand but are quick to make a statement that are baseless. I welcome people with varying differences of opinion on some of the posts I make. However, there are alot of people that are uneducated and it shows by the way they react and post their comments. It is easy to be a social media ninja. Anybody can say anything and these days, too many people are holding some of what is said as TRUTH when it is not. On MY social media, I DO welcome anyone that disagrees with what I share, however, it becomes questionable when people do not know how to handle themselves with it comes to the content. Stupidity is a cardinal Sin in Satanism and when it begins to show that non-Satanists are coming in and making blatant statements, I suspect they are simply trolling. An internet troll is someone who goes around literally trying to start a commotion or controversy with wild and baseless statements to get everyone engaging and heated. You may have seen that Facebook and Twitter are being to do some king of regulation against articles or stories that are NOT proven to be accurate. Making baseless claims or Fake news is not being tolerated. This is something I have been doing on our social media since the beginning. Trolls get blocked, end of story. Anyone that appears to simply continue to rant against anything I share that they do not agree with can simply go on THEIR OWN Facebook page and do so there. This is not your personal space to share baseless commentary.
This blog is based on the recent content that I posted and many had jumped in from the Killstar fans to some unknown crochet maker making claims and having their followers attack my social media posts. In order to clear the misinformation, I decided this blog was a bit overdue to give people my perspective and where things are heading with our social media. Relatively staying the same but cleaning house whenever it is necessary.
Comment on Facebook what your thoughts on this blog post is. I know its long and perhaps irrelevant to some people but again, its for the archives of the content relating to this company.
Xerxes
*Killstar eventually created a Black/Red Baphomet Plush doll, which led to believe that they were attempting to mimic, copy, or parody my concept. We also had a PINK Baphomet Plush doll in which AGAIN, Killstar also produced one. The most recent was when we announced our New Version of Baphomet Plush which is a Gray color that appears more White in pics. This was announced just over a month before Killstar announced they too were going to bring a new Baphomet Plush doll that highly resembled our version.
