In light of the imminent publication of Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness, I thought I’d preview some of my material. This post will therefore give a taste of the Fifth Key’s meditation practices. The meditation I describe here is called “Contemplation of the Nine-Angled Nexion”. I’ll be explaining the background of that name, what the meditation is meant to do, and what it generally entails.

Introduction

In my book Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness, the Fifth Key describes four methods of Tenebrous meditation. Each serves a different purpose, such as purification, energy raising, etc. All are, however, ultimately oriented toward the same goal: acquainting an occult novice with acausal forces.

My position on this – i.e., the position of Tenebrous Satanism – is that re: spiritual success generally and ritual magick specifically, most people benefit from mental training. Yes, some people are by default open to the acausal, such that they do not “need” such training. And yes, there are people who are not good at meditation, yet can perform divination, ritual magick, etc. just fine; it’s not my intent to make such people feel like they cannot succeed without meditation. But these opposite ends of the spectrum aside, I believe meditation does generally improve spiritual engagement and ability.

Part of where I’m coming from here is, I myself began far less “attuned” than most serious occultists. Like, I am not one of these people who had spirits speaking to them from a young age etc. To the contrary, I have come to recognize that I am naturally extremely shielded from such forces. It has thus taken a lot of work to cultivate the degree of receptivity I have come to possess in recent years. I wish, in turn, to assist those who, like me, are alienated by the general occult scene’s discourses that make it sound like only those who intuitively “get it” right out of the gate can hope to succeed, and the lack of concrete, actionable advice that tends to follow re: how can those who do not naturally feel this acausal connection still attain it?

A word of warning

The meditation I describe below has been effective in heightening my own experience of the acausal. I recommend it in my book for that reason. However, the nature of this meditation is such that some people may find it psychically destabilizing. As per what I said above about people at opposite ends of the sensitivity spectrum, two risk scenarios follow. One, people already sensitive to acausal forces may find this meditation’s effects overdrive their sensitivity to an unpleasant extent. Two, people not formerly sensitive may find it produces sensations which, because novel, are distressing.

Let’s therefore be clear: I’m providing the info below primarily for the sake of interest, not instruction. Of the four meditations my book describes, this one is the most advanced. I therefore suggest practitioners work with the other three first. I am also not able to cover every how-to detail thoroughly in a blog entry of this length.

For such reasons, I strongly recommend reading Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness’ description prior to actually trying it. The book will be out at the end of August / early September, and I’ll be announcing via my email list (sign up at top-right) and Facebook / X when exactly it’s available.

But that said, a certain amount of “fuck around and find out” is inherent to the Sinister Path. So if anyone in the audience is bold, eager and willing to experiment, I’m not going to tell you not to. I’m just suggesting a degree of prudent caution in proceeding.

What is the Nine-Angled Nexion?

I’ve derived the term “Nine-Angled Nexion” from the beliefs and praxis of the Order of Nine Angles (ONA/O9A). Tenebrous Satanism’s aim is to make productive components of O9A esotericism available without O9A’s unproductive extremist baggage. Those with concerns about this or otherwise wanting to learn more should read this previous entry.

The significance of “nine” in this context is its allusion to four dimensions of the causal world + more-than-four of the acausal. “Angle” and “nexion,” meanwhile, both refer to places where two different things connect with one another. I therefore put these words together in this way as “O9A-speak” for “a point of interface between two worlds.” One, the causal, is evident to our senses; the other, the acausal, is the more-elusive spiritual dimension.

One may next observe that such an object is easy to find wherever occult doings are going on. As I state too in my book, Hellraiser’s Lament Configuration and Lovecraft’s Shining Trapezohedron are both this class of object. Certain vampire-themed occult currents use a mirror for similar purposes, and I find it interesting that instructions on using the black mirror elsewhere in the LHP not-infrequently instruct the user to position the mirror upward and away from any recognizable objects in the room, toward the angle where the ceiling and the wall meet.

When it comes to O9A esotericism, my experience has been both the Septenary Star (an angled diagram) and the quartz crystal (with its facets) function too in such a manner. The tie to O9A’s current, together with quartz’s accessibility, are then why Tenebrous meditation uses such a crystal.

What does Contemplation of the Nine-Angled Nexion do?

The actual usage of the quartz crystal in O9A texts is broader than what I describe here. Depending on context, it may be used to transmit, receive or store energy. It is, however, the receive function that is of primary interest in the meditation I’ve designed.

In Tenebrous ritual magick, the dagger is used to direct one’s own energy, while the crystal is used to receive. I’ve observed elsewhere that too often, the practitioner’s ability to receive is simply taken-for-granted in esoteric circles. This, I believe, sets up those who lack a natural talent for such things for failure.

This does not make the crystal a crutch, but rather, simply a tool: a thing that makes the task at hand easier. Those who do not feel they need it are free not to use it, but may find that they get even better results when they do use it. Regardless though, it is obnoxious to me when such people look down their noses at those who do need it. My goal here may be stated simply as “less dick-measuring contests, more actual magicians”. i.e., instead of fixating on whether others are living up to one’s own standard of “hard,” just get them to where they can experience the Dark Gods for themselves, and let’s see then who handle themselves and who cannot, yes? 😉

In order to have such experiences, though, one first trains oneself in the use of the crystal – i.e., the Nine-Angled Nexion – as a device for listening to the acausal Void. The meditation thus acts as an implicit consecration of the crystal for this purpose. The experience it generates enables the magician to know, before performing ritual magick, that the device is active and working.

Performing Contemplation of the Nine-Angled Nexion

Foundational concepts of Tenebrous meditation

A similar fundamental concept underlies each of the four meditations in the Fifth Key: the visualization of an appropriate sigil from O9A’s current acts as a sort of map or moderator of energy-flow within the body; this energy-flow is then used to bring about physical-psychological shifts both in the practitioner and in the tools they use as part of the meditation.

To envision the bodily aspect of this simply, I do not attempt to give a crash-course in chakras etc. Instead, I use my own terms to outline only the minimum necessary to do the meditation:

• The fornax point is located just below the naval.
• The adamanteus point is located in the vicinity of the roof of the mouth / where the spine joins the skull.

Traditional energy-work knowledge reveals a) these are locations of minor chakras, and b) they operate largely as energy-redistributors. It follows that by manipulating these points, you can efficiently manipulate multiple other components of the energy body to do things that would be otherwise more complicated to explain step-by-step. Such is, I feel, a good approach for enabling relative novices to accomplish things that might otherwise be beyond them.

One more commonality of all four Tenebrous meditations is the breathing pattern. Basically, you take ~30 deep breaths, then exhale and hold for ~30 seconds, then inhale and hold for ~30 seconds. Even I, a relatively energy-insensitive person, can be made to feel “something happening” by performing this pattern. Furthermore, the meditation demands undivided focus for a finite period of time. And during that time, the practitioner is occupied by something other than “try to think about nothing” (good luck). I believe these traits make it more suitable for the inexperienced than other forms of meditation.

Specifics of the Nine-Angled Nexion

The sigil visualized for Tenebrous Contemplation of the Nine-Angled Nexion is as follows:

In O9A’s tradition, this is the sigil of Naos. The Caelethi entry for Naos refers to “the Temple within,” where one might “grab the lightning and hold it.” I therefore construe its significance in terms of intentionally opening oneself to acausal forces in order to receive their insights. What I thus intuitively see here is an energy map as follows:

• The lower two white circles map to the fornax and adamanteus points within the body, as defined above.
• The upper white circle maps to a point in front of the practitioner, e.g. the black candle on their altar, or in communion, an acausal entity manifesting before oneself
• The black circle toward the left maps to the crystal, which the practitioner holds in their left hand.

What the meditation entails is:

1. Hold the crystal in your left hand and envision the Naos sigil.
2. Breathe in, envisioning energy gathering both in the fornax and adamenteus points in your body, and in whatever point of acausal contact is before you.
3. Breathe out, envisioning that energy gathering in the crystal in your left hand. i.e. the energy in your body flows from fornax and adamanteus down your arm into the crystal; at the same time, the acausal element before you sends its energy into the crystal also.
4. Perform the breathing pattern described in steps 2 & 3 about 30 times
5. Upon your last breath out, hold the exhale for 30 seconds. During this time, rest your attention on the three rightward points in the Naos diagram.
6. Inhale and hold for 30 seconds. During this time, envision those three points (two in your body, one in front of you) as churning vortices whose energy surges to maximum.
7. Exhale to send all of that energy into the crystal to “activate” it.

Effects of the meditation

98%+ of times I’ve performed this meditation, I feel a pulsing sensation in the crystal in my hand upon “activation”. At the same time, I find myself at that moment in a trance state. Usually, this manifests as a profound state of stillness and receptivity. Occasionally, it is accompanied by unusual visual or auditory sensations. And once in awhile, I have received messages from acausal beings in that moment. Usually it is brief/vague, such that full communion via ritual magick is necessary to elaborate and confirm.

Such circumstances strike me as comparable to what other LHP practitioners experience via black mirror divination and the like. Which makes sense insofar as I readily understand the mirror as also acting as a Nine-Angled Nexion. At the same time though, I have also used the practice I have just described to enhance my own divination. e.g., I continue to hold the crystal while consulting the omens of my own runic-tarot system. This can be especially helpful when consulting about a delicate matter, to receive guidance on otherwise-ambivalent omens, seeing synchronicities one might otherwise miss, etc.

A broader significance of this meditation is the way it trains one to intuit the crystal’s use in ritual. I do not believe that such things as crystals have inherent spiritual properties. Rather, if such an item is to function as conduit, the magician must train themselves to perceive it that way. Whether or not one picks up anything specific from the crystal during this meditation is then not so important. What is important is the sheer act of opening the same channel one will need to open in ritual, when one’s purpose actually will be to go forth to seek a full communion experience with the Dark Gods.

Closing thoughts

Again, yes, some magicians will respond to all this with “but I can already contact spirits without all this rigamarole.” To those people though, I say: i) you are not the central audience of my project – I am seeking to help people who cannot do that, and ii) well, what if you tried it and you got even better results – would that be so bad?

Not that trying what I describe here without actually reading my book is the best of ideas. But hey, a certain amount of dangerous idiocy is built into the O9A brand. So lest I seem “too safe” for some peoples’ tastes elsewhere, I will leave you here with just enough info for some of you to get yourselves into trouble with… 😉

What do folks think, though, about:

• In your own experience, does acausal contact come with ease? Or are you among the “very curious + frustrated that it eludes me” types?
• Do you feel upon reading e.g. Luciferian books that there is an expectation LHP folks “just know” about things like chakras? Does this “work” for you or do you find it an obstacle as a Western person pursuing meditation practices? (In an era of enhanced sensitivity about cultural appropriation, I’m wondering if more people may be troubled by this than was once the case.)
• If a person would like to become more receptive to acausal forces, what would you recommend they try?

Feel free to share these and any similarly-related thoughts in the comments.