“Why Tenebrous Satanism instead of some other Satanic denomination?”, someone recently asked me. Answering said inquiry has inspired me to write the post that follows. Denominations I’ll address include LaVeyan Satanism, The Satanic Temple, Church of Satan, and the Order of Nine Angles (ONA/O9A). Why did I develop my own denomination instead of just joining one of these? Read the post to find out.
Too often, one finds esoteric Satanists articulating “what is Satan the actual enemy of?” in an unproductive way. Our “enemy” is supposedly some conveniently-identifiable not-us group, e.g., Magians, Nazarenes, Clayborn, etc. Tenebrous Satanism contrarily contends that this fixation on monoliths is counterproductive. Having a “them” to lazily malign blinds us to maladaptive attitudes and behaviors that are the real problem. Instead, Satanists should recognize and oppose said attitudes/behaviors wherever they arise – including among ourselves. I associate these maladaptive attitudes/behaviors with what I call Dogmagianism. This post outlines some of its subtler manifestations.
For awhile now, I’ve noticed a number of Satanic creeds in list format being posted on social media. These sorts of posts do strike me as an effective way of introducing unfamiliar people to various forms of Satanism. I therefore thought, why not do one for Tenebrous Satanism? The material this post covers can naturally be found in a number of places on my website already. With Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness having now gone to print, though, the time seems right for a condensed introduction to the creed my book puts forward.
In both left-hand-path circles generally and Satanic ones specifically, I’ve observed a certain enthusiasm for Gnostic ideas. While there are facets of this that do make sense, I find it a bit odd and troubling. Why? Because I see Gnosticism as one of the most thoroughly anti-worldly religions to have ever existed. And that is, to my way of thinking, the opposite of what Satanism is about – even a spiritual/esoteric Satanism. Yes, we esoteric Satanists do borrow, appropriate and repurpose ideas from many occult sources. But when I see people insisting Kabbalah is irredeemable, yet embracing concepts from Gnosticism, let’s just say, I have questions. This post will thus explore some intersections and clashes between Satanism, Gnosticism and Kabbalah.
When a magickal current believes that baneful magick works, but you shouldn’t do it, karma is a commonly-given reason. The Threefold Law is a widely-known concept, even among those who reject it as simplistic or simply false. I think it is safe to assert that most Satanists have little use for moralizing metaphysics of this kind. At the same time, though, the notion of an entirely consequence-free universe seems foreign to esoteric worldviews generally. So is any kind of karmic belief plausible for esoteric Satanists? I would argue yes… but this Satanic karma will deviate significantly from how other esotericists typically imagine the “law of karma” working…
A thread went around among LHP Tweeters awhile back, asking/speculating about the “gods” vs “demons” distinction. Unsurprisingly perhaps, my kneejerk response was “well, the entities I’m involved with are obviously both” ;). The topic is sufficiently interesting, though, that I thought it deserved lengthier reflection. Hence the blog post that follows.
What exactly do we actually mean when we throw around labels like “Satanist”, “Luciferian”, and related terms? What follows is a meditation on what “counts” as “Satanism,” issues I have with the theist / non-theist distinction, and other such label-related thoughts. There’s also an interesting tidbit or two re: what I was up to occult-wise before Tenebrous Satanism came along…
Many Satanists will point out that the upside-down cross is “not a real Satanic symbol,” contra what popular culture seems to think. I can appreciate a number of reasons for this position. Nonetheless, I would argue that the inverted cross can be used as a legitimate symbol in Satanism. This entry explains my rationale.
Despite being of a tradition whose initiation protocol uses astrological symbolism, astrology is among several parts of the occult that I have little use for. How does one go about drawing such lines, though? For instance, how can one believe in “spirits,” yet be critical of other folks’ anti-scientific worldviews? This entry is about where I draw the lines of magick vs. science in Tenebrous Satanism, and why…
What follows is a lengthy set of thoughts about how Tenebrous Satanism can be “O9A adjacent” without in any way endorsing the Order of Nine Angles’ political ideology or associated crimes. I encourage anyone concerned about my ideological leanings to read it carefully…