Time for my usual quick annual round-up of everything I’ve written in 2023.

It seems that the two most prevalent themes on the blog this year were i) baneful magick, and ii) reflecting on Satanism’s convergences and divergences with other religious and/or esoteric ideologies:

Baneful magick series

• Introduction
• Satanic karma: law of the acausal jungle
  A Satanist can believe in karma-like forces of cause and effect without these forces having much to do with morality.
• Baneful magick and Satanic ethics: on not being a psychopath
  Even those who fervently “believe in” baneful magick usually do not go around casting it frivolously. What restrains them, though: ethical considerations, or purely pragmatic ones?
• Atheistic misconceptions about baneful magick
  I read The Satanic Temple author Shiva Honey’s The Devil’s Tome; it’s a decent book, but I used something it says about baneful magick as a jumping-off point to discuss how I think some atheistic Satanists have unproductive understandings of what baneful magick is, how it works, why do it, etc.
• Alternatives to baneful magick
  Enthusiast of baneful magick though I am, I readily acknowledge it’s not always the best tool for the job. Maybe what you really need is a banishing, cord-cutting, etc.? This entry discussions the concepts behind those sorts of workings.
• Working with the Nekalah, part 1 of 3
  This was probably my most liked/retweeted post on X this year, which I was very pleased to see. I look forward to sharing even more of my gnosis of the Dark Gods of O9A in the new year!

Satanism vs. other religions

• Satanism and Buddhism: some interesting parallels
  You’d think they’d be fully opposite, and yet…
• Satanism, Gnosticism and Kabbalah
  It seems to me that Gnosticism is one of the most opposed creeds to Satanism it is possible to devise. I don’t know then why some Satanists seem so keen on embracing Gnostic ideas. Especially insofar as the self-same Satanists are often vehemently anti-Kabbalah. “Pretentious anti-worldly body-hating philosophies are only cool so long as Jews aren’t the ones behind them,” guys? 😉 I’m not that quite that snarky in this entry, but seriously, I do think certain Satanists could stand to think harder about what’s going on here.
• Commentary on the Tenebrous Creed
  Curious about what my book is all about? If you’re new on this page, this is a good entry to read along with What is Tenebrous Satanism?
• Is Theistic Satanism an inherently right-hand-path religion?
  A consideration of multiple definitions of “left-hand path” and “right-hand path”. A key point this entry makes is that theism itself need not be inherently right-hand-path. Vs. If you think that it is, you may yourself be possessed by unacknowledged right-hand-path assumptions re: the only possible relationship a person can have with a god is a servile one, as opposed to relating as equals, allies, etc.

Other entries

• “Thou Art the Emperor of Darkness”
  An argument that Emperor’s “Inno A Satana” is a more “Satanically correct” song than some people might tend to give black metal credit for.
• Comparing notes on incense
  Other LHP practitioners: I’m curious about what incense you prefer, contexts in which you use it, etc.
• Contemplation of the Nine-Angled Nexion in Tenebrous Satanism
  An entry to give readers an idea of the sort of meditation exercises found in Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness. This one’s purpose is to render the practitioner more receptive to acausal forces.
• There were two updates for Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness’ publication this year, in May and November. The book is out now though, so go check it out!

Closing thoughts

This has been what I’d consider an especially good year from me, with the minor exception of health issues plus work obligations getting in the way of promoting Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness quite as aggressively as I’d have liked for the last few months. I anticipate things improving on that front in the new year, though!

As always, my thanks to everyone who has supported me on this blog, on Facebook and on X as my journey continues…

Here’s a quick round-up of everything I’ve written on this blog in 2022:

On magical praxis:

• Overcoming obstacles in ritual magick: suspending disbelief
  I’ve received a lot of positive feedback about this one from some of my Chaos Magick friends.
• The Rite of Banishing: An antidote to unproductive delusions
  An overview of how I do banishing rituals and in what circumstances I’ve found them helpful.
• On “closed practices”
  A dash of politics as well as praxis, what with the cultural appropriation angle discussed here.
• How does magick “work” – and why might Satanic denominations clash over it?
  An argument that if atheistic Satanists actually took the time to understand what theistic Satanists do magick-wise, they might not find as much to object to as they initially imagine.

Other metaphysical stuff:

• “Gods” vs. “demons”: what do these terms mean?
  A consideration of secular perspectives, spiritual practitioner perspectives, and what the entities themselves think.
• On “past lives” and the possibility of reincarnation
  Wondering why I go by the name “Othaos”? There’s a hint in this entry.

On Satanic ethos more generally:

• On New Years resolutions
  It’s that time of year again, folks!
• The lost art of suspending judgment
  i.e. Why I hate idiots who beak off about how terrible some book is based solely on what their friends think of it.
• Satanism without the Satan: just politics, or something more?
  This entry has the dubious distinction of being this year’s most-hated as far as the Twitter reactions went.  The fallout proved an enlightening experience on the “wow, really glad to have abandoned my previous Satanic denominational affiliation now” front, though…
• Honor in Tenebrous Satanism
  Contains the longest Nine Keys excerpt of any entries I’ve written so far, so if you’re interested in my book, be sure to check it out!

A couple sources of inspiration…

• “The great sower descends…”
  Reflections on Mgla’s “With Hearts Toward None II”
• The dark Sufism of “The Black Path”
  I read a Martinet Press book so that you don’t have to.  It was actually pretty good, though!

…and a couple more personal entries

• Another progress update on Nine Keys publication (May 2022)
  Including a random plug for Graeber & Wengow’s The Dawn of Everything, because I liked that book a lot.
• Alterations to unproductive Twitter usage
  “I therefore hope we can just disagree like adults and not start Satanic jihad over it.”
  No such fallout to date, though, so hopefully that trend continues.

Lastly, a quick update:

Certainly there have been some bright spots this year, foremost being that my ever-ongoing string of synchronicities involving a certain black metal band has now wound up connecting me with an unexpectedly excellent consort.  In areas impacting my productivity, though, this has not been the best year for me.  Between having surgery, being ill no less than four times, and assorted work-related disruptions, many things have not gone as smoothly as I would have liked.

Nonetheless, on Xmas day I finished approving all changes that emerged out of the professional editing of Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness.  The main things still remaining to do are largely in such areas as formatting, cover design, and other such pre-publication errands.  I also have a certain amount of additional work to do now in rendering past blog entries consistent with stylistic changes I’ve made to the book – something I’ll be posting updates about on my social media as things proceed in the next while.

As I discovered during this last year, it is perilous to predict a release date when one hasn’t written a book before and hence lacks a full grasp of what all is involved.  At minimum though, I do badly want to get to where I would be able to announce a release date by August 2023, if not before.

As always, thanks to everyone who has supported me on this blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter as my journey continues…

Here’s a quick round-up of everything I’ve written on this blog in 2021:

On the doctrine and practice of Tenebrous Satanism:

• Does advancing in Tenebrous magick require practicing meditation?
• How worried should I be that Tenebrous Satanism “draws inspiration” from Order of Nine Angles?
  Spoiler: I definitely sympathize with anyone concerned, but no, we are NOT Nazis, criminals or etc.!  If you are looking for my take on the Nekalah, the Dark Gods of O9A, I refer to them generally in this post and to a specific one, Nythra, in this post.

On my personal views and experiences as a Tenebrous Satanist:

• The significance of the Moon for occult endeavors
• My thoughts about the applicability of labels such as “Luciferian,” “theistic,” etc. to what I do
• Why the inverted cross is a valid Satanic symbol
  Note: I know “it’s the Petrine cross” – read my argument re: why it can still be “Satanic” anyway!
• On navigating the tension between science and magick
  Note: In the time since I wrote this, Twitter’s proved educational re: I did not know how much I did not know about astrology; my personal experience remains that thus far I have not found it useful + continue to be skeptical, but I may revisit that specific topic with more nuance and reflection sometime in the future.

Explorations of Satanic narratives:

• Intro to the “Is Empathy Satanic?” series
• The Serpent in Eden (Empathy 1)
• Satan in the Book of Job (Empathy 2)
• The Abyssal Void of Darkness and the Nekalah (Empathy 3)

Black metal bands who have inspired me:

• Uada
• Alghazanth
• Watain

To lastly touch on an update I issued in November: my day job’s situation is evolving in a direction that will cause it to totally monopolize my time from January to April.  So I suspect the June-August range of 2022 may be most realistic re: the earliest I anticipate Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness going to print.

So that’s it for 2021. Big thanks to everyone who has supported me on this blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter throughout this initial part of my journey!