Round-up of 2024 blog posts

Time for a round-up of everything I’ve written on this blog in 2024: Baneful magick series Working with the Nekalah, part 2 of 3 Atazoth, Athushir-Kthunae, Budsturga, Mactoron-Falcifer, Nemicu, and Sauroctonos are entities I don’t actually recommend for baneful magick, but here’s a discussion of them within that context nonetheless. Working with the Nekalah, part 3 of 3 Abatu, Azanigin, Gaubni, Nythra, Shaitan, and Shugara, on the other hand, I’d consider our baneful magick superstars. (Note: part 1 of this series was in 2023, see here) Baneful magick against politicians, collectives and spirits, part 1 Why other magicians seem to think these are “hard targets” - rationales that I don’t find entirely convincing. Baneful magick against politicians, collectives and spirits, part 2 Why I think these are hard targets… but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t still attack them… Tenebrous Satanism -related stuff Dogmagianism: a better formulation of the enemy of Satanism Ever feel like Satanists could be making better use of their time than bitching about Christians, Jews, etc.? So do I… Why Tenebrous Satanism instead of some other denomination? A comparison of what I offer vs. LaVeyan Satanism, The Satanic Temple, Luciferianism and the Order of Nine Angles. Excerpts from Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness: the Intro and First Key Curious to read part of my book before purchasing? Be sure to check out the .pdfs here! Other miscellaneous topics Some thoughts on lunar and solar eclipses A piece I wrote after returning from my travels to see the solar eclipse back in April Esoteric recruitment and mentoring questions Some angles one might think about when trying to put together a nexion Against “it’s cool to be evil” My critique of Tempel Ov Blood and similar forms of “edgelord Satanism” Causal / acausal dimensions of magick Are humanist forms of Satanism's psychodramas "magick"? Does "acausal" inherently mean "theistic"? etc. 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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Excerpts from Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness: Intro and First Key

The one-year anniversary of the publication of Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness falls in September. So this struck me as a good time for something I’ve meant to do for awhile: post a few excerpts.

Here are two .pdfs for those curious to check out the book prior to purchasing it:

Introduction to Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness
The First Key: The Just Preference of Earth Over Heaven

Read the rest of this post for some related reflections of mine. (more…)

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What’s New

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Welcome 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: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 Sign up for my mailing list to receive a digest of recent blog posts every 2-3 months, as well as other updates, offers, etc.!

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Round-up of 2023 blog posts

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…

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A final update for Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness?

Up to the publication of Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness, I’d been posting updates on book progress every six months. I haven’t decided yet whether to continue this pattern in connection with future projects. I do however want to post a “final” book update, now that it’s been out for a couple months. For one thing, I thought I would share a few thoughts on how the launch period has gone so far. For another, several aspects of my work I’d like to hear more feedback on than I’ve received so far… (more…)

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2023 update on Nine Keys publication…

Previously I was doing six month updates on what’s happening with Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness. There wasn’t much to report last November though because the day job was massively getting in the way for awhile there. Probably three-quarters of the time since then hasn’t been great either. A lot of progress happened in the last few weeks, though. I’ve also recently gained more insight into what still needs doing. Hence, just a few notes here about that. (more…)

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Round-up of 2022 blog posts

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…

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Another progress update on Nine Keys publication…

The last time I posted an update on Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness was about six months ago. I therefore thought I’d say a bit about that here today. Doing so helps me take stock of where I’m at, in addition to satisfying others’ curiosity re: current progress.  There’s also some links to previous blog entries in here, for those who may have only started following recently…

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Round-up of 2021 blog posts

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!

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An update regarding Nine Keys publication…

With only a month left in the year, it’s become apparent that 2021 publication for my book isn’t happening. I’ve heard from many sources that the final phase of publishing one’s first book tends to inevitably run longer than expected. Certainly that is part of what’s happening here. Additionally though, there is simply an incompatibility between the rhythms of my day job and making progress at the moment. In such circumstances, one gains nothing by trying to rush to meet a self-made deadline. And so, given said work rhythms, something in the range of April-August 2022 is likely more realistic. Below are some details re: the book’s status, though – mostly taking stock for myself, but sharing for those curious…

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