Divination: Ones in the Tenebrous runic-tarot

On one hand, as the name would suggest, the Tenebrous runic-tarot has features familiar to tarot and rune readers. On the other hand, though, this divination system that I’ve devised also has a number of unique features. Something I therefore wanted to do in my divination series was to provide additional commentary on the system’s omens. This struck me as particularly worth doing where omens may seem superficially similar to one another at first glance. I’ll begin this examination with a comparison between the ones – i.e., 1 Attainment, 1 Communion, 1 Strife and 1 Innovation.

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Ritual magick vs. Chaos Magick: a false opposition

I’ve often seen people draw a distinction between ritual magick and Chaos Magick that positions them as dualistic opposites. Upon reflection, this strikes me as a counterproductive product of unclear thinking. It seems to me that the resulting mental map narrows thinking about magick in a way that holds magicians back. This entry therefore aims to provide some food for thought re: how we think and talk about these concepts.

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Divination: elemental symbolism in the Tenebrous runic-tarot

One would anticipate, from the term “runic-tarot,” that Tenebrous divination has features in common with both those systems. The tarot side of the influence is the current post’s focus. Tenebrous divination is like tarot in that its omens contain a fourfold division evoking the four classical elements. But it is unlike tarot with regard to which element is assigned to each “suit.” This post will thus discuss elemental symbolism in the Tenebrous runic-tarot – and also in tarot more generally.

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On extremist misconceptions about Tenebrous Satanism

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.

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Divination: exploring the Tenebrous runic-tarot – series introduction

Those who have read Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness will know that divination is a topic of interest to me. The Sixth Key of my book contains a detailed overview of the divination system I’ve devised. Said system is a hybrid of tarot and runes, but also has several features distinct from either of those systems.

I’ve wanted for some time to elaborate on certain details of this system. It made sense, though, to wait until my book had been out long enough for others to develop an interest. I’m feeling said time has come, or at least, is close enough for blogging on this topic to be productive. So in this entry, I’ll be setting down some ideas for specific angles I’d like to explore going forward.

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Round-up of 2024 blog posts

Time for a round-up of everything I’ve written on this blog in 2024:

Baneful magick series

Tenebrous Satanism -related stuff

Other miscellaneous topics

Closing thoughts

2024’s definitely been a bit of a mixed bag re: new horizons and opportunities vs. setbacks and disappointments. I can’t complain about selling over 120 books in 12 different countries despite not trying nearly as hard as I should on promotion, though, and seeds have been planted on an initiative or two that I hope to see bear fruit in years to come.

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

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What’s New

  • Post category:Announcements
  • Reading time:1 min read

Author portrait of T. L. OthaosWelcome to the website of T. L. Othaos, author of Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness (click for purchase info) and founder of Tenebrous Satanism.

Scroll down to read my latest blog posts, or check out these annual round-ups of all entries: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021

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Causal / acausal dimensions of magick

Between my in-person and online interactions, I find certain themes and implicit questions recur re: the nature of magick. So for this post, what I thought I’d do is address a few of those. They pertain to such topics as how I define magick, the causal/acausal distinction, and different approaches to magick.

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Baneful magick: politicians, collectives, spirits – part 2

Many magicians seem to hold the view that certain targets are not suitable for baneful magick. There seems in particular to be widespread skepticism about cursing such targets as politicians and spirits. My own intuition is that indeed, one is unlikely to get results from baneful magick against targets like these. But I’m not particularly satisfied with rationales I’ve seen elsewhere as to why you “can’t” curse spirits and politicians effectively. I’ll therefore be working through a few of my thoughts on the topic in this entry – specifically, regarding why I think baneful magick on such targets tends not to work. I’ll also discuss the issue of whether casting curses against collectives of people is similarly an act of folly.

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Baneful magick: politicians, collectives, spirits – part 1

Many magicians seem to hold the view that certain targets are not suitable for baneful magick. There seems in particular to be widespread skepticism about cursing such targets as politicians and spirits. My own intuition is that indeed, one is unlikely to get results from baneful magick against targets like these. But I’m not particularly satisfied with rationales I’ve seen elsewhere as to why you “can’t” curse spirits and politicians effectively. I’ll therefore be working through a few of my thoughts on the topic in this entry. I’ll also discuss the issue of whether casting curses against collectives of people is similarly an act of folly.

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