A conversation with a fellow Satanist awhile back got me thinking about introversion and extroversion. How do we define these terms, and what are their implications for humans generally and Satanism in particular? The more I thought about this, the more I thought it might make for an interesting blog entry. So here are my thoughts about introversion, extroversion, society, and Satanism.
The question of how earthly concepts like sex/gender apply to acausal beings seems of general interest to many. I’ve also encountered recurrent push-back against my perception of the gender of a specific entity I’ve often worked with. This blog post therefore unpacks some thoughts of mine re: sex/gender – both in general, and with specific reference to Nythra, one of the Dark Gods (Nekalah) of the Order of Nine Angles (ONA/O9A).
Adversity is a quality often emphasized in discourse about the sinister path. But what life experiences “count” as adversity? This entry doesn’t aim at a complete answer, but does seek to make two points. Firstly, adversity can take many forms – including forms that many people are unhelpfully trained to dismiss as “not real adversity.” Secondly, certain distinctive elements of the sinister path can be no less relevant to overcoming these forms of adversity than they are to overcoming “harder” kinds of adversity. This entry thus bears upon the question of how Tenebrous Satanism constructively extends the salience of a “sinister” mindset beyond the narrowly-envisioned extremism more typical of Order of Nine Angles (ONA/O9A) practitioners. It also touches quite personally on why I myself have found this path meaningful.
Recently, I posted sample excerpts of Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness’ Intro and First Key. I’ve since learned that these, in combination with certain website contents, produced extremist misconceptions about Tenebrous Satanism. That kind of thing is of course never completely avoidable when one is at this end of the Satanic spectrum. Nonetheless, it struck me as worthwhile to make a post directed at two related ends. First, I’d like to clarify some congruences and divergences between myself and the “Satanic extremists” in question. Second, I want to provide a directory of articles illustrative of the contents of Nine Keys, touching on the entire book rather than just one chapter. This should provide a more representative taste of my content than I think some folks took away from reading just the first chapter in isolation.
“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, Luciferianism, 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.