Satanic karma: law of the acausal jungle

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…

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How does magick “work” – and why might Satanic denominations clash over it?

How does Satanic magick “work”? I have enough background in Chaos Magick to consider this a non-urgent question – that it works is more the point. It occurs to me, though, that misunderstandings about magickal mechanisms may aggravate misconceptions Satanic denominations have about one another. Toward the end of addressing such issues, the current entry discusses the extent to which magick is “one’s own” power – i.e. how much of magick is the magician themselves “doing something,” vs. how much comes from an external entity/force/ etc.?

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On “past lives” and the possibility of reincarnation

I often cross paths online with esoterically-inclined folks – left-hand-path or otherwise – referring to past-life memories / experiences. This phenomena struck me as interesting to reflect upon in connection with Tenebrous Satanism’s beliefs re: spirits, the afterlife, etc. This entry therefore presents my general impressions on this topic, plus some gnosis I’ve received re: my own past lives.

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“The great sower descends…”

As stated in my bio, I am a passionate fan of black metal and similar genres of “Dark” music. Therefore, from time to time, I like to share songs that I think especially capture the spirit of Tenebrous Satanism. “With Hearts Toward None II,” by Mgla, is one such song. What I find striking about this song is how vividly it conjures up a vision of a totally malign deity. If such a being truly exists, how can one nonetheless live in affirmation of Life? I find the sheer bleakness of this song compelling to meditate upon, because of the confrontation it forces with this question.

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Honor in Tenebrous Satanism

Recently, I witnessed some fellow walkers of the Sinister Path lamenting the decline of honor in today’s society. Seeing this got me thinking, perhaps it would be of interest for me to share my own take on honor. A large portion of this post accordingly consists of excerpts from my forthcoming book, Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness. But I have also added some additional commentary, in connection with further reading I’ve since done, and thoughts thus stirred.

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Satanism without the Satan: just politics, or something more?

In a few recent conversations I’ve had on social media, some interesting issues have come up re: “What is Satanism?”  In particular, if atheistic Satanists “don’t believe in” Satan, what do they believe that justifies associating themselves with the name? To outsiders, it may well seem that the theistic Satanist “really believes in something,” whilst the atheistic one is “just” trolling – either for one political side, or the other. So is atheistic Satanism “just” slapping Satan’s name on your preferred progressive, reactionary or libertarian cause randomly? Such a question leaves me feeling it might be beneficial to walk folks through the logic of “a Satanic ethos”…

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Magick vs. science in Tenebrous Satanism

Despite being of a tradition whose initiation protocol uses astrological symbolism, astrology is among several parts of the occult that I have no use for. How does one go about drawing such lines, though? For instance, how can one believe in “spirits,” yet be highly critical of certain other folks’ anti-scientific worldviews? This entry is about where I draw Tenebrous Satanism’s “science vs. magick” lines, and why…

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