Mara
It is no accident that many languages, that share only a few identical words (for example, mama is ‘mama’ across languages), also have the word “Mara,” “nightmare,” denoting the shadow side of virtual reality.
Buddhists call Mara a demon‑tempter, a sower of vice who distracts people from spirituality and, ultimately, drives them into further rebirths in the wheel of reincarnation.
The Scandinavians called Mara a demon of night terrors (still called nightmares). In European legend, Mara sits on sleepers’ chests causing suffocation (Polish “zmora” (“nightmare”), French “cauchemar” (“nightmare”));
In Britain, Fata Morgana — Morgana the fairy, a Celtic goddess said to dwell on the sea bed and deceive travelers with phantom visions — Morgana was also one of three women who carried the mortally wounded Arthur on a black ship to Avalon.
The Slavs described this power in equal detail — isolating it as a distinct aspect of the Great Mokosh — the goddess Mara. Mara was regarded as Lada’s daughter (the Black Serpent), embodying the dark side of the Great Waters of life (“the sea,” as opposed to the life‑giving fresh river waters).
A grim goddess of nocturnal peril, a spirit of passage into another world, Mara is very close to the modern image of the “Grim Reaper” — since sleep and death are manifestations of the common force of departure, loss of identity, and disembodiment. In her aspect as Mistress of Death, Mara appears as Morena — ruler of Mor — the realm of the dead (the Scandinavian Hel). These two aspects — Mara and Morena — show two sides of the goddess.
Twice a year — in midwinter and midsummer — the image of Mara was burned, an act intended to guard against her powers. Her symbols are the Black Moon, mounds of shattered skulls, and the sickle with which she severs the Threads of Life. Morena’s season is associated with decline: all the leaves fall, the nights are impenetrably dark, dull rain often patters and the wind howls.
The mirage and the mor, fused in the goddess’s guise, also align her with the Greek Hecate and the Indian Maya — mistress of illusion. West Slavic mythology also features the goddess Marjana, identified with the Roman Ceres.
Accepting illusion as reality that brings about death; immersion in delusion leads to death.
Death and cold are attributes of this goddess of desolation, because illusion is emptiness, a mirage, not fullness.
Legends tell how Morena, with her evil minions, tries each morning to waylay and slay the Sun, yet each time she withdraws in terror from its radiant power. This myth not only depicts day and night but indicates that illusion retreats beneath the rays of reason. The constant opposition of Mara and Dazhdyoga, brother and sister (both children of Lada), is the principal conflict in the mind.
Morena rules those dark depths of the psychocosmos where the demons of the unconscious nest, and at the same time the forces of decay and division on the level of the macrocosm.
At the same time, the Slavs did not regard this goddess’s functions as unequivocally hostile or harmful; they recognized their necessity in life cycles and understood death as an element of the cycle of life.
Thus, night and winter, death and illusion — these are the domains of Mara‑Morena.
It is not surprising that Morena’s consort was Koschei — an aspect of Veles turned toward the Navi. In this union Mara also appears as a goddess of death necessary for the continuation of life.
An important lesson this goddess teaches is that sleep and illusion can be both a path to death and a precondition of life.
The Magus’s Way is not simply out of darkness; it also runs through darkness. Immersion in the manifested world implies the awakening of the virtual space, in which one may find a source of power and wisdom, or an abyss of powerlessness. Balancing on this threshold without succumbing to illusion is no easy task, but unless resolved the Sun will not awaken.
All of the above indicates the undeniable connection of Morana with manifestations of the parasite of consciousness, which, as you noted, En, also has a feminine nature. In this regard, I would like to know if I understand correctly the question already raised. The urge towards decay and darkness is an inseparable part of the world and the human psychocosmos, and open opposition to the forces of Mara can even doom a person. As embodied beings, we can only control those processes that are at least partially manifested. That is, as the possible power of Mara decreases. To notice and suppress destructive desire within oneself, before its actualization into action, one can only when it has already partially manifested on the level of thought or emotion. But the accumulation of unmanifested desires, as psychologists say, is a direct path to self-destruction. Is it possible for any human aspiration, whether a whim or a true desire, to be born but become fully manifested? Such is the intention of the Absolute, that potential becomes actual. In this regard, I am sure, He has no preferences. Perhaps the focus in this question should shift towards how exactly the embodiment process will proceed? Will it be conscious and controllable? One of the principles of homeopathy states – one should not fight the disease, but allow it to go through all the stages it needs. The doctor’s task is to conduct this process under control so that the harm from the disease is minimal. Lesser evil is better than greater. As far as I can judge the influence of the inner predator, it has no desires of its own, except for the urge to decay and consume. Perhaps all destructive and unproductive desires are our own true desires, distorted by the parasite. Therefore, behind every impulse to act or to do nothing, we should discern not only the charms of Morana but also our own pure desire. As mentioned, in the manifested world, destruction necessarily precedes creation. For example, every angry manifestation may stem from the desire to eliminate the internal ‘crookedness’ or obstacle on the Path of Power, which the parasite will project into the outer world. And, one more point. The ability to distinguish the influence of the parasite, and behind it, the true desire is undoubtedly a complex skill. Perhaps in case of difficulty in identifying true desire, one can make a ‘substitute sacrifice’ to the parasite. To perform a formal ritual action close in vector but conscious, controlled, and predictable in its consequences, and then the illusion will retreat under the rays of reason?