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

How does 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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On “closed practices”

Having observed discourse circulating on Twitter re: “closed practices” for awhile, I thought I’d pitch my opinion on the topic. I do not by any means reject the concept as such – in some instances, it’s appropriate to apply. However, I have several concerns about how the concept is applied, and the implications of becoming overly hung-up on it.

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Overcoming obstacles in ritual magick: suspending disbelief

Not uncommon is the individual who feels drawn toward occult matters, yet struggles with suspending disbelief during the actual performance of ritual. I myself did not have the easiest time with this issue when I was younger. Certain measures, however, can help such individuals still find success – i.e., so my own experiences suggest. This post therefore contains some reflections on how I’ve designed Tenebrous Satanism’s ritual magick format to grapple with this issue. Everything alluded-to below is presented in much more detail in my book, Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness.

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Satanist, Luciferian, and related terms

What exactly do we actually mean when we throw around labels like “Satanist”, “Luciferian”, and related terms? What follows is a meditation on what “counts” as “Satanism,” issues I have with the theist / non-theist distinction, and other such label-related thoughts. There’s also an interesting tidbit or two re: what I was up to occult-wise before Tenebrous Satanism came along…

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