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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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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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.

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Against “it’s cool to be evil”

When one’s Satanism, like mine, is adjacent to the Order of Nine Angles (ONA/O9A), certain issues inevitably arise. One of these is running into Satanists who talk as if “it’s cool to be evil.” On one hand, I understand how a degree of flirtation with evil is inherent to the left-hand-path. But on the other, I ultimately find such talk counterproductive. This post will undertake a detailed examination of why.

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Dogmagianism: A better formulation of the enemy of Satanism?

Too often, one finds esoteric Satanists articulating “what is Satan the actual enemy of?” in an unproductive way. Our “enemy” is supposedly some conveniently-identifiable not-us group, e.g., Magians, Nazarenes, Clayborn, etc. Tenebrous Satanism contrarily contends that this fixation on monoliths is counterproductive. Having a “them” to lazily malign blinds us to maladaptive attitudes and behaviors that are the real problem. Instead, Satanists should recognize and oppose said attitudes/behaviors wherever they arise – including among ourselves. I associate these maladaptive attitudes/behaviors with what I call Dogmagianism. This post outlines some of its subtler manifestations.

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Commentary on the Tenebrous Creed

For awhile now, I’ve noticed a number of Satanic creeds in list format being posted on social media. These sorts of posts do strike me as an effective way of introducing unfamiliar people to various forms of Satanism. I therefore thought, why not do one for Tenebrous Satanism? The material this post covers can naturally be found in a number of places on my website already. With Nine Keys of Abyssal Darkness having now gone to print, though, the time seems right for a condensed introduction to the creed my book puts forward.

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Satanism, Gnosticism and Kabbalah: a few thoughts

In both left-hand-path circles generally and Satanic ones specifically, I’ve observed a certain enthusiasm for Gnostic ideas. While there are facets of this that do make sense, I find it a bit odd and troubling. Why? Because I see Gnosticism as one of the most thoroughly anti-worldly religions to have ever existed. And that is, to my way of thinking, the opposite of what Satanism is about – even a spiritual/esoteric Satanism. Yes, we esoteric Satanists do borrow, appropriate and repurpose ideas from many occult sources. But when I see people insisting Kabbalah is irredeemable, yet embracing concepts from Gnosticism, let’s just say, I have questions. This post will thus explore some intersections and clashes between Satanism, Gnosticism and Kabbalah.

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Satanism and Buddhism: some interesting parallels

I’ve long found myself having conversations about Satanism with Buddhists, and had these conversations be strikingly fruitful. So I thought I’d offer some food for thought here re: parallels between these two religions. Obviously, they are strongly opposed regarding a number of important things. But it’s for this very reason that I think the surprising convergences are interesting to reflect upon.

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Baneful magick and Satanic ethics: on not being a psychopath

In my previous entry on baneful magick, I discussed whether there is a Satanic conception of karma. I concluded that for esoteric Satanists, there may well be such a thing. If so, though, it is a metaphysical principle, not a moral one. If any moral principle restrains a Satanist’s use of baneful magick, it is not to be found in “Satanic karma.” Are there moral principles relevant to Satanists that restrain the use of baneful magick, though? Such is the question at the intersection of baneful magick and Satanic ethics that the current entry will explore.

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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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