As has been written – opfers are human culling in action. That is, Satanic sacrifice makes a contribution to improving the human stock: removing the worthless, the weak, the diseased (in terms of character). Naturally, this culling occurs on a somewhat larger scale by using magickal means to direct/influence/control events in real time (i.e. in the causal) and so produce historical change [war/ strife/ struggle/ revolution and so on] than it does by choosing a specific opfer and executing an act of sacrifice. However, the correct choice of opfer means that with their elimination the sinister dialectic will be aided and thus the intrusion of the acausal into the causal speeded up. [ In non-esoteric terms read: "aid the Dark Forces to spread over Earth."] The choosing of specific opfers depends on three things:
(1) Satanic judgement; (2) and insight into and knowledge of Aeonics and the sinister dialectic; (3) the means for undertaking the act without compromising the individuals involved are available.
Generally, it is the duty of a Master or Mistress to select opfers, although any Satanist, from novice upwards, can suggest suitable targets, in which case the Master or Mistress, after due consideration, will give judgement as to the suitability of the target.
(1) means a judgement is made, based on experience. Often, this is judgement concerning the character of the victim. The victim may be suggested/chosen (a) because one or more of their actions has brought them to attention and made them seem suitable; or (b) their removal will be beneficial to Satanism/the sinister dialectic. The suitability of the victim is decided by a Master or Mistress, and once confirmed, the victim or victims are subject to tests (qv. ‘Guidelines for the Testing of Opfers’ MS). Often, the Master or Mistress arranges to meet to victim or victims ‘accidentally’ and so can judge them on a personal level.
(2) means the proposed action is assessed in the light of Aeonics/the sinister dialectic – i.e. will the removal of the victim or victims aid the cause of Satanism? The dialectic?
(3) Means that (a) members are available to conduct the tests; (b) the loyalty of those members and the others who will participate in actual sacrifice is assured; (c) the Temple has the means and the abilities necessary to conduct the act: for example, make it seem ‘accidental’ if an “accidental death” is decided upon as a means of avoiding detection; can ensure safe untraceable disposal after the act; arrange an alibi should any participant need one.
Opfers are not chosen at random – they are always carefully selected, then judged, then tested. The actual act – be such a ritual or a practical act (such as an assassination) – is never done for any personal reason. That is, it never arises out of personal emotions or from personal desires. Instead, the act is supra-personal – done with a Satanic judgement and a Satanic detachment arising from both sinister knowledge (e.g. of Aeonics) and direct knowledge of the character or actions of the victim. The act itself and the prior judgment as to the suitability of the victim or victims is often communal – involving a Temple/group and thus a participation which enables a reasoned and balanced assessment by those participating. In such communal action, one member is appointed to argue the case for or on behalf of the intended victim or victims during the special sunedrion which is convened by the Master or Mistress to consider the selection of victim(s) and arrangements for the act.
The act itself is one which glorifies the Satanic, which affirms Satanic values – that is, it aids evolution in a positive way, enhancing the lives of individuals. In short, it aids self-development (of the participants) and aids evolution (via the sinister dialectic/nature of the culling). Opfers become/are chosen as victims because of their nature and/or because of their deeds. Mostly, victims are dross – those whose removal will aid change/the growth of civilization/the Aeonic imperative. As has been written – opfers are human culling in action. That is, Satanic sacrifice makes a contribution to improving the human stock: removing the worthless, the weak, the diseased (in terms of character). Naturally, this culling occurs on a somewhat larger scale by using magickal means to direct/influence/control events in real time (i.e. in the causal) and so produce historical change [war/ strife/ struggle/ revolution and so on] than it does by choosing a specific opfer and executing an act of sacrifice. However, the correct choice of opfer means that with their elimination the sinister dialectic will be aided and thus the intrusion of the acausal into the causal speeded up. [ In non-esoteric terms read: "aid the Dark Forces to spread over Earth."] The choosing of specific opfers depends on three things:
(1) Satanic judgement; (2) and insight into and knowledge of Aeonics and the sinister dialectic; (3) the means for undertaking the act without compromising the individuals involved are available.
Generally, it is the duty of a Master or Mistress to select opfers, although any Satanist, from novice upwards, can suggest suitable targets, in which case the Master or Mistress, after due consideration, will give judgement as to the suitability of the target.
(1) means a judgement is made, based on experience. Often, this is judgement concerning the character of the victim. The victim may be suggested/chosen (a) because one or more of their actions has brought them to attention and made them seem suitable; or (b) their removal will be beneficial to Satanism/the sinister dialectic. The suitability of the victim is decided by a Master or Mistress, and once confirmed, the victim or victims are subject to tests (qv. ‘Guidelines for the Testing of Opfers’ MS). Often, the Master or Mistress arranges to meet to victim or victims ‘accidentally’ and so can judge them on a personal level.
(2) means the proposed action is assessed in the light of Aeonics/the sinister dialectic – i.e. will the removal of the victim or victims aid the cause of Satanism? The dialectic?
(3) Means that (a) members are available to conduct the tests; (b) the loyalty of those members and the others who will participate in actual sacrifice is assured; (c) the Temple has the means and the abilities necessary to conduct the act: for example, make it seem ‘accidental’ if an “accidental death” is decided upon as a means of avoiding detection; can ensure safe untraceable disposal after the act; arrange an alibi should any participant need one.
Opfers are not chosen at random – they are always carefully selected, then judged, then tested. The actual act – be such a ritual or a practical act (such as an assassination) – is never done for any personal reason. That is, it never arises out of personal emotions or from personal desires. Instead, the act is supra-personal – done with a Satanic judgement and a Satanic detachment arising from both sinister knowledge (e.g. of Aeonics) and direct knowledge of the character or actions of the victim. The act itself and the prior judgment as to the suitability of the victim or victims is often communal – involving a Temple/group and thus a participation which enables a reasoned and balanced assessment by those participating. In such communal action, one member is appointed to argue the case for or on behalf of the intended victim or victims during the special sunedrion which is convened by the Master or Mistress to consider the selection of victim(s) and arrangements for the act.
The act itself is one which glorifies the Satanic, which affirms Satanic values – that is, it aids evolution in a positive way, enhancing the lives of individuals. In short, it aids self-development (of the participants) and aids evolution (via the sinister dialectic/nature of the culling). Opfers become/are chosen as victims because of their nature and/or because of their deeds. Mostly, victims are dross – those whose removal will aid change/the growth of civilization/the Aeonic imperative.
The judgement which decides the fate of an intended victim or victims is of course a Satanic one – and quite often, this judgement is akin to an act of ‘natural justice’ and/or a Satanic retribution: the victims have effectively condemned themselves by their deeds/their nature. In effect, Satanic sacrifice is conscious evolution in action.
Order of Nine Angles
MS first issued 1989 e.n.
Dark Imperium
(ONA Esoteric Notes 71)
One of the exoteric – practical and outward – aims of The Order of Nine Angles is to aid the creation of a Dark Imperium. This Dark Imperium is and will be a manifestation, a practical implementation, of The Sinister, of The Sinister Dialectic, where Sinister Adepts (and, of course, Sinister Masters and Lady Masters) guide, control and manipulate – on a large scale – ordinary (non-Initiated) mortals, and thus effect sinister changes in a particular society, or in many societies.
It is one of the aims of the person named by sinister esoteric tradition as Vindex to create the foundations for this Dark Imperium, and, in practical terms, the Dark Imperium will be a large, organized – most probably militaristic – society whose ideals are those of excellence and of the noble honourable warrior and warrioress, and whose ethos will be essentially pagan. In addition, this Dark Imperium will function on the basis of the warrior leadership-principle and not upon any form of democracy, just as – and importantly – the basis for the law, for the justice, of the new societies of this Imperium will be personal honour (the law of the warrior), and not the abstract, dis-honourable, law that has come to dominate all Western societies,to the detriment of our evolution as a species.
Given this distinctive practical nature of the Dark Imperium, it will thus be ideologically, violently, and of necessity, opposed to the current materialistic, “politically-correct”, democratic, plebeian, status quo, in the West, and elsewhere, and – once established – one of the first practical aims of this new Imperium will be to extend, if necessary by force of arms and conquest, its Law of the Warrior to other societies, creating in time a new world-wide Empire. It is this new world Empire which will efficiently begin the practical colonization of Space, first in our own Solar System, and then among the stars. It will do this practical exploration and colonization of Space both as duty and as a necessity, since such practical exploration and colonization is an integral part of its fundamental, irrevocable, pagan and warrior ethos.
Furthermore, such as Dark Imperium will, outwardly, not be directly associated with “the Satanic” or with “Satanists”, although, under the guidance, the leadership, of Vindex and his (or her) successors, this warrior society will be aiding the Sinister Dialectic and thus achieving long-term Sinister, Satanic, goals.
Of course, Sinister Adepts – and some sagacious non-Initiates – will understand that such a Dark Imperium is itself only a stage; only one part of an Aeonic process; and that, as such, it does not represent the essence, nor the ultimate aims, of the ONA itself, although it is only to be expected that the majority among the plebeius will fail to appreciate the difference.
In essence, the Dark Imperium is a stage toward the emergence of – a means to create – that new human species which Sinister Adepts have named, variously, as Homo Sol and Homo Galactica: the Promethean species whose homes, whose dwellings, whose life, will be among the star systems of our Galaxy, and then among the star-systems of other Galaxies in the causal Cosmos.
Order of Nine Angles
119 Year of Fayen
It is a fundamental principle of traditional Satanism that all prospective opfers must be subject to several tests before becoming actual opfers either during a ceremony or otherwise.
The purpose of the tests is to give the chosen victim a sporting chance and to show if they possess the character defects which make them suitable as opfers. The victim is chosen according to Satanic practice – those whose removal will aid the sinister dialectic, for instance, or those who have or are proving troubling for Satanism in general, or those who have been judged by a Master or a Mistress (or someone of a higher Grade) as suitable for receiving Satanic justice/vengeance because of one or more of their actions. Once the victim is chosen, it is the duty of the Master or Mistress of the Temple or group who wish to perform the sacrifice to appoint suitable members – and if necessary train them – to prepare and execute the tests.
It is principle that no opfer under any circumstance be informed directly or indirectly that they are being tested for whatever reason as this would invalidate the test.
The tests are constructed so as to give the victim a choice of responses – either a positive one, or a negative one. A negative choice leads to another test at another time and place. If this choice is also negative, then the victim is deemed suitable, and becomes the opfer. Sometimes however, a third test may be deemed necessary by the Master or Mistress.
The tests are to appear to be incidents of everyday life such as the victim might be expected to encounter, given the society of the time. The tests are designed to test the character of the victim – to reveal their true nature. Positive, Satanic qualities, are courage, daring, defiance, and so on. Negative qualities are cowardice, meek fear, treachery and so on. It is for the Master or Mistress to use their judgement, experience and knowledge to construct the appropriate tests which seek to prove if the victim possesses the qualities deemed appropriate. Basically, the victim must, if they are suitable for sacrifice, show that they possess a weak character and be lacking in Satanic qualities such as nobility and excellence.
An example will best illustrate the type of test which is required.
For this example, the victim is male, and to undertake the test, four members will be required, two of them female. The victim has been under surveillance for some time, and his routine, habits etc. noted. It has been found that he has a certain fondness for young ladies. A female member is to ’set him up’ for the actual test – she meets him, `as if by chance’ at a place he frequents. She shows a subtle sexual interest in him. If he runs true to form, he will suggest a future meeting, to which she agrees (or, if he does not suggest this, she does). She specifies the place and the date/time. This is a place where few if any other people are likely to be around at the time specified. At this assignation, he is observed by the three (two men, one woman) who are to conduct the actual test, until they judge the time is right. [If the victim does not turn up, the first lady member meets him, again `by chance', and arranges another meeting. If this meeting does not occur, another test is devised.] The second lady then passes near to where the victim is waiting – she makes certain he is aware of her. The two men then come onto the scene and begin to harass her, verbally at first. Then they begin to `molest’ her physically and try to drag her away (toward a car, probably). She screams for help. The test is to see how the victim reacts – what his choice is. He has two choices – to do nothing, and pretend he has not heard/noticed anything (a negative response), or he can go to the aid of the lady. [Note: 'Help'/aid here means actually trying to rescue her, not merely feebly asking the men to stop.] If he tries to aid her, the two men run off, and she thanks him gratefully. If he does nothing to aid her, he has failed the test, for he reveals the character of a coward. The Master or Mistress will be observing events from a discreet distance.
The performances of the members, during the test, must be totally convincing, as must their timing. In all aspects of the tests, from the initial surveillance to the final execution of the test, they must be professional.
It will be seen from this example that the tests are quite complex – require planning, rehearsals and so on. This planning, and the surveillance, might take months. Little, if anything, should be left to chance in the execution of the tests. The rewards, however, justify the operation – there is, firstly, a probable victim for sacrifice, enabling the quintessence of Satanic ritual to be undertaken; secondly, there is the involvement of the whole Temple – the planning, the choosing of victims, the rehearsals of the tests and then finally their execution. This involvement, from the initial choice to the final test, is an extended magickal act, imbued with Satanic essence – creating and presenting sinister energies, aiding the development of Satanic skill and character, drawing the members together in a vivifying way. As such, it is a prelude to the act of sacrifice itself. Thus, even should the victim not be chosen because he/she proves unsuitable having made a positive choice during a test, the effort has been extremely worthwhile, both in terms of aiding the development of members on the levels of character and knowledge and skills, and also magickally.
The decision of the Master or Mistress regarding the outcome of a particular test is final and binding. It needs to be stressed that the tests give the victim a sporting chance and serve to confirm/deny their suitability – before the tests are even planned, the victim will have been chosen as a probable opfer by the Master or Mistress using their judgement.
Opfers are examples of human culling in action.
Order of Nine Angles
MS first issued 1988 e.n.
A Guide to Culling
In ceremonial rituals involving sacrifice, the Mistress of Earth [sometimes called 'The Lady Master'] usually takes on the role of the dark or ‘violent’ goddess, Baphomet, and the Master of the Temple that of either Lucifer or Satan – the sacrifice being regarded as a gift to the Prince of Darkness. This gift, however, is sometimes offered to the Dark Goddess, the bride of our Prince.
Human sacrifice is powerful magick. The ritual death of an individual does two things: it releases energy (which can be directed, or stored – for example in a crystal) and it draws down dark forces or ‘entities’. Such forces may then be used, by directing them toward a specific goal, or they may be allowed to disperse over the Earth in a natural way, such dispersal altering what is sometimes known as the ‘astral shell’ around the Earth. This alteration, by the nature of sacrifice, is disruptive – that it, it tends toward Chaos. This is simply another way of saying that human sacrifice furthers the work of Satan.
Sacrifice can be voluntary, of an individual; involuntary, of an individual or two; or result from events brought about by Satanic ritual and/or planning (such as wars). Voluntary sacrifice results from the traditional Satanist belief that our life on this planet is only a stage: a gateway or nexion to another existence. This other existence is in the acausal realm where the Dark Gods exist. The key to this other existence is not negation, but rather ecstasy. A Satanist revels in life because by living life in a joyful, ecstatic way, the acausal that exists within us all by virtue of our being, is strengthened. For Satanists, not only the manner of living is important, but also the manner of death. We must live well and die at the right time, proud and defiant to the end – not waiting sickly and weak. The scum of the Earth wail and tremble as they face Death: we stand laughing and spit with contempt. Thus do we learn how to live.
Voluntary sacrifice usually occurs every seventeen years as part of the Ceremony of Recalling: the one chosen becomes Immortal, living in the acausal to haunt the edge of the minds of those un-initiated.
An involuntary sacrifice is when an individual or individuals are chosen by a group, Temple or Order. Such sacrifices are usually sacrificed on the Spring Equinox, although if this is not possible for whatever reason, another date may be used. While voluntary sacrifices are always male (and usually twenty-one years of age) there are no restrictions concerning involuntary sacrifices other than the fact that they are usually in some way opponents of Satanism or the Satanic way of living.
Great care is needed in choosing a sacrifice: the object being to dispose of a difficult individual or individuals without arousing undue suspicion. A Temple or group wishing to conduct such a sacrifice with magickal intent must first obtain permission from the Grand Master or Grand Lady Master.
If this is given, then detailed preparation must begin. First, choose the sacrifice(s) – those who removal will actively benefit the Satanist cause. Candidates are zealous interfering Nazarenes, those (e.g. journalists) attempting to disrupt in some way established Satanist groups or Orders, political/ business individuals whose activities are detrimental to the Satanist spirit, and those whose removal will aid the sinister dialectic and/or improve the human stock.
There are three methods of conducting an involuntary sacrifice: (1) by magickal means (e.g. the Death Ritual); (2) by some person or persons directly killing the sacrifice(s); (3) by assassination.
Both (2) and (3) can be undertaken either directly by the group/Temple/Order and its members, or by proxy. Proxy involves the Master or Mistress finding a suitably weak-willed individual and then implanting in the mind of that individual – usually by hypnosis – a suitable suggestion.
Whatever method is chosen, a date for the sacrifice should be set and on that date a suitable ritual undertaken. This ritual is most usually the Death Ritual – if method (3) is chosen, the Ritual is performed twice: first, seven days before the chosen date, and then on the date itself while the member/proxy is undertaking the sacrifice. The energy of this latter ritual is then directed (or temporarily stored), or dispersed over Earth, by the person conducting the ritual.
Method (2) involves the Ritual of Sacrifice. The victim or victims are brought or enticed to the area chosen for the Ritual, bound by the Guardian of the Temple and at the appropriate point in the Ritual sacrificed by either the Master or the Mistress using the Sacrificial Knife. The body or bodies are then buried or otherwise disposed of, care being taken if they are found for suspicion not to fall on any of those involved. Those involved, of course, must be sworn to secrecy and warned that if they break their oath, their own existence will be terminated. Breaking the Oath of Sacrifice draws upon the individual or individuals who break that Oath, the vengeance of all Satanic groups, Order and individuals – and this vengeance is both magickal and more direct, the Master or Mistress of the Ritual appointing Guardians to hunt down and kill those who have broken the Oath.
Those who participate in the Ritual of Sacrifice must revel in the death(s) – it being the duty of the Master and Mistress to find suitable participants.
Order of Nine Angles
MS first issued 1984 e.n.
(Last revision 1904 e.n.)
The Darkness Behind and Within
Satanism, Sacrifice and Crime – The Satanic Truth
Due to the plethora of imitation Satanists who abound today (particularly in America) it has become necessary to openly declare the facts about genuine Satanism in relation to Sacrifice and `criminal behaviour’. Such a declaration will establish for all time a permanent record and will expose the fraudulent ‘Satanists’ for what they are – individuals who like to be associated with the glamour of evil and darkness, but who lack the inspiration, courage and daring to be evil and dark. Furthermore, I repeat what I have written before – Satanism is not now and can never be, an intellectualised philosophy just as it most certainly is not in any way ethical or moral. It is an individualized defiance and an individualized striving which vitalizes, which affirms existence in an ecstatic way – as such, it is a way of living which courts danger, excess. It is not nor can ever be, dogmatic just as it never involves submission to anyone or anything. For this reason, there can never be genuine Satanic Churches or ‘Temples’ where Initiates conform to dogma or authority – such things are not for genuine Satanic Initiates but for the deluded, those lacking spirit and talent: in brief, for the manipulated, rather than the manipulators.
Sacrifice:
In genuine Satanism [primal or Traditional Satanism] sacrifice is accepted, and indeed necessary. In former times, it involved both animal and human sacrifice. Today, however, it involves human sacrifice only – since there are an abundance of suitable specimens, due to the increase in human dross.
Sacrifice is accepted Satanic practice for several reasons. First, it is a test of Satanic character – to kill someone on the personal level (e.g. with one’s own hands) is a character building experience, and today enables various skills to be developed (e.g. cunning in execution and planning). Second, it has magickal benefits (qv. the Order MS “A Gift for the Prince”). Third, it sorts the imitation or toy Satanists out from the genuine – the former find excuses and usually retreat to their comfy, intellectualised world of playing at `Satanic roles and rituals’, or they are genuinely horrified and expose themselves for what they are – gutless cowards who lack Satanic darkness.
However, as explained elsewhere, genuine Satanic sacrifice is always done for a reason – a calculating purpose. [qv., for example, 'Satanism, The Sinister Shadow, Revealed.'] It is never strictly personal – i.e. it does not arise from any desire which is personal, whether unconscious or not.
Further, it is accepted practice that the victims, the opfers, choose themselves. Thus, opfers are never selected at random just as they are never children (although occasionally an opfer may be a virgin). Mostly, the victims, whose removal will aid the sinister dialectic, are tested, and only if they fail these tests will they become opfers. The tests, of course, are unknown to the victim. For example, a series of tests, or `games’ are prepared once the victim has been chosen, and each test or game requires the victim to make a specific choice. One choice leads to another test or game. After a certain number of choices of a certain type, the victim is deemed to have failed, and so chooses their own sacrificial death. Most often, the tests are tests of character – those that are shown to be worthless in character become opfers.
Thus, a number of victims are selected – those whose removal will aid the sinister dialectic of history [qv. 'The Sinister Shadow' MS for an example.]. These are then, without their knowledge, tested. If they fail, they become opfers. [See below, under 'Crime', for an example of the kind of tests that may be involved - the ones for sacrifice are, of course, much more 'testing'.]
The actual sacrifice has two forms: (1) during a ritual; (2) by practical means (e.g. assassination/’accidents’) without any magickal trappings. If (2) is chosen, then a ritual of sacrifice may still be undertaken, but with a `symbolic’ opfer (e.g. a wax figurine named after the actual opfer).
The actual execution of the act of sacrifice – whether during a ritual or otherwise – will be carefully planned, and calculatingly done. This planning will mean the death will seldom if ever be seen as a Satanic act even if it has occurred during a ritual. Today, and in the recent past, most sacrifices are of the second type – i.e. acts of execution undertaken by a Satanic novice ‘in the real world’, involving assassination and ‘accidents’ or viewed by others (e.g. the Police) as seemingly “motiveless crimes”. Further, in genuine Satanic groups, the execution of this act is an essential prerequisite to Adeptship.
The aim of the sacrifice can be either (a) part of a dark ritual – i.e. to presence sinister energies in the causal, causing changes in the world, such changes aiding the dark forces (examples would be the Ceremony of Recalling; the Sinister Calling); or (b) as part of general sinister strategy, adduced via Aeonics. [Note: This latter occurs when a novice progresses along the Satanic path according to tradition.]
Crime:
Crime is not an end, but a means. A criminal act is not done because it is criminal but because the act itself has a purpose or intent – the criminality of that act being irrelevant. This purpose is either to aid self-excellence (build Satanic character) or aid sinister strategy.
Basically, an act is judged not by whether it is illegal (and thus criminal) in a particular country, but rather by its purpose or intent. Or, expressed more simply, by whether that act can serve Satanism in general and self-development in particular. An example will best illustrate this.
A Satanic novice conceived the idea of gaining experience by burglary. The monetary benefits were useful, but incidental to the main purpose. As a Satanist, he of course planned carefully and chose wisely. First, the jobs themselves had to be difficult, challenging and thus interesting – they would require careful planning and delicate execution. So he chose Apartments, and entry mainly via windows and roofs – this needed some training and the acquisition of skills, plus daring and courage. Second, the people to be deprived of some of their belongings would choose themselves – they would be ‘tested’ to see if they were suitable victims. The selection would be by character – according to their nature. This required the novice to use his own judgement and instinct. He would select those who showed they lacked character, breeding, nobility – who lacked, in fact, the virtues of a Satanist.
The novice selected some Apartments in a city where the pickings would be rich. Then he observed the occupants for some time – watching them, their routines and so on. Next, he arranged for the execution of his tests. Two friends (who were actually Initiates of his Order – or rather the Order he had joined) were enlisted to aid him in this. They would appear, on his signal, and seem to rob him as he lingered near the entrance to the building when one of his chosen victims was near. On the first occasion, the victim ignored the ‘robbery’, and continued on his way. On the second, the next victim came to his aid and actually knocked one ‘robber’ unconscious with a punch, albeit for a short time. Thus, the first victim or mark became selected, or rather selected himself by his actions, and it was from his Apartment that the novice stole some things some days later. Of course, the planning and execution of such a test was difficult – requiring acting, timing, manipulation, daring, zest – in brief, experience in the real world. Following this success, he moved to another target and found some new victims for his test. It was interesting that these tests confirmed the novice’s instinctive assessment of the victim’s character – and thus aided his Satanic judgement.
In this example, the burglary was a ‘crime’, in Law – but, in fact, the illegal nature of the act was irrelevant. The act, and its planning etc., aided the self-excellence of the novice, and thus his magickal development, because it was a Satanic act, not because it was ‘criminal’ – that is, it involved danger, required skill, judgement, daring, and it was real. It was, in a sense, a practical ordeal and its Satanic character meant that its victims were victims of themselves: the act was akin to an act of `natural justice’. To some, it may seem a game – and so it was, but one played in earnest, in which losing meant capture and probable imprisonment (factors which made it interesting and worthwhile). And it was only a few incidents in a life crammed with such incidents – at different levels.
Furthermore, this ‘realness’ is important – genuine Satanists involve themselves with the real world, in real situations with real people and real danger. The imitation Satanists play mental and intellectual and ’safe’ games. The difference is that a real Satanist will actually be an assassin, for example, while the imitation Satanist will dream of being one and will probably obtain a moronic pleasure from watching some fictional story and ‘identifying’ with a fictionalised assassin – or, more likely, will `act out’ such a role in some pathetic pseudo-magickal ceremony and believe he/she has attained something.
Naturally, in the real world things can and do go wrong. But as always, the real Satanists survive and prosper, while the others go under, get caught, give up or are killed. Also, sometimes even the best get things a little wrong – but they learn from their mistakes, they grow in character, in insight, in skill. Genuine Satanists are survivors: they learn and prosper, and die at the right time.
This growth means that a Satanist moves on – there are always new challenges, new delights, new tests of skill, daring, endurance, courage; new insights. A `role’ is only a role – played, then discarded, transcended. Thus, even crime, sacrifice, tests of others, become left behind, given time – they have served the purpose for which they were intended – and a new being is given birth, one more joins the elect. This is simply another way of saying that a Satanist is never trapped by the act, the desires for and against that act, its consequences, or indeed anything to do with that act, whatever the nature of the act. An act, such as a sacrifice or a crime, is a means – to something beyond. All acts are experience. A Satanist is above and beyond acts – a master or mistress of them, rather than a slave to them.
So it is, so it has been and so it will be – for genuine Satanists. Meanwhile, the imitation Satanists will play their word-games, feast on self-delusions, and continue to claim that ‘Satanism’ never involves sacrifice, or criminal acts but is a rather pleasing philosophy which has had a rather ‘bad press’. But, henceforward, anyone who is taken in by these gutless, posturing charlatans will deserve the epithet ’stupid’.
Order of Nine Angles
(MS first issued 94 yf)
Opfer
0
Opfer
(Extract from Memoirs of a Satanist)
Although it was over seven years away, I believed the time was right to begin the planning for my performance of the Ceremony of Recalling; a sinister ritual of sacrifice where the victim or opfer was offered to Baphomet, the Dark Goddess of Satanic tradition, regarded as the Bride of Lucifer. According to the tradition I was heir to, the ritual was performed every seventeen years by the Grand Master or Grand Mistress who represented that tradition – the opfer being a Priest of the tradition. In the ceremony, the Mistress of Earth identified with the role of Baphomet.
The sacrifice could, of course, be purely symbolic, but that was not my plan. It had been a long time since a voluntary sacrifice had occurred, the opfer, in the recent past, being carefully chosen. I believed I should continue this recent trend. I would need to plan the rite carefully – carefully choosing those who would take part. They would be sworn to secrecy, and would have to have no doubts of any kind. I, like a few others, understood the meaning of the rite itself – it would continue a tradition, creating a link with past deeds and thus magickal energies, and it would also create or draw down its own sinister energies. These could be directed to achieve a specific goal, or they could be directed into a chosen individual or individuals who would have an important sinister Destiny to fulfil, or they could be stored to await further use. Whatever, it was an extremely powerful and sinister rite, and would surely also be good old fashioned Satanic fun, fittingly ending with an orgiastic feast.
Such a sacrifice would thus be for a specific Satanic goal, and in accordance with Satanic honour the opfer [for this would have to be an involuntary sacrifice] would choose him/her self by their deeds. That is, their removal would benefit evolution, and consequently aid the sinister. They would not be chosen at random, as they would not be, despite the claims by those who knew nothing about genuine Satanism, virgins or children. They would be those whose removal would actively benefit our long-term aeonic goals. Let me express this plainly so that it will be understood. The victim or victims would be the type of person or persons whose death by whatever means would not be mourned – someone of whom many would say: ‘He/she deserved it…’ The sacrifice would be akin to an act of natural justice. Naturally, it would be myself, in consultation with a few others, who would decide, and this decision would be based on sinister strategy or aeonics. Such an opfer could be chosen by such means at other times and the appropriate rite of sacrifice performed, but the Ceremony was more specific: its aims, intent, were for a definite purpose.
Accordingly, I began to plan for the ritual – 1 already had a few vague ideas concerning suitable candidates, and asked a trusted Guardian of one of the Temples to begin research into their backgrounds. I also visited a few possible sites for the ritual, researched others, and began to consider those who might participate with me.
Of course, I had undertaken sacrifices before – in the approved manner. And even before those, I had tried a ritual of sacrifice. This was in my early days, before I assumed my role as heir. I, with some others involved in politics and vaguely involved with the sinister, planned to sacrifice someone to commemorate the founding our new political movement. We chose the victim, and gathered on a crag in Yorkshire one night. Our plan was to will the victim to fall over the cliff to his death. So invokations were done, energies directed. The victim became possessed, stumbled and fell. Unfortunately, he fell only a short distance, and was mostly uninjured. So in that sense the ritual failed. I knew why – of those gathered, only myself and one other really wanted to cause someone’s death. The others were not committed to the sinister.
My other attempts were successful. The victims fell by assassination, or were victims of ‘accidents’ – all achieved by my “underground” political work, and what followed thereafter. I simply – before the act of execution – dedicated their death to my sinister cause. It was quite simple, and very effective, even in battle. I was merely continuing a long-standing pagan tradition – dedicating enemies beforehand, and then killing them, for a cause, of course. Being enemies, they deserved to perish, their death aiding the sinister dialectic. Such was the “approved” Satanic manner. Thus did the victims choose themselves.
Naturally, those who have no understanding of Satanism, as well as those who oppose that philosophy of living, portray sacrifice differently. According to them, it is always the ‘innocent’ who are victims, who are opfers. They seldom, if ever, define what is meant by ‘innocent’ – and cannot, however they try, define on a satisfactory basis, what ‘evil’ is. Hopefully, my revelations will destroy such myths – as they will destroy the attempts by the feeble, mostly urbanized, people who call themselves ‘Satanists’ and who deny sacrifice exists or ever has existed as a Satanic practice. These people know nothing about real, primal, Satanism – they like the glamour of the sinister but are weak individuals, lacking in character, who play at “roles” in a fantasy world. They do not have the passion, the spirit, the desire, the pride or the creative genius of genuine Satanists. Such people, in fact, would make good opfers …
Finally, what I have written before bears repeating – wars are the ultimate sacrificial rites, and it no coincidence that sometimes the sinister dialectic has aided these, and occasionally brought them about.
Order of Nine Angles
(First issued 95yf)
The hard reality of Satanism is that it is very different from both the media image and the more recent image pedalled by imitation Satanists in both Europe and America.
I. What Satanism Is:
a) Satanism is a quest for self-excellence, involving real danger, real challenges and requiring real courage. It involves taking your body to and beyond its physical limits of endurance. It involves real action, alone: without the support of friends, comrades, lovers, relations or anyone. It involves accepting challenges – physical, psychic, intellectual and triumphing solely by one’s own efforts. It involves the triumph of pure, individual will and desire.
b) Satanism is, in part, an Inner quest, an exploration of the `hidden’ (and overt) aspects of consciousness: a discovery of the darkness within and beyond the individual psyche. This involves ‘magickal acts’ – such as rituals. This magick, however, is a means, not an end.
c) Satanism involves ordeals, both physical and magickal. Those who are suitable triumph; the others fail. [One such ordeal is the Grade Ritual of Internal Adept - where the candidate lives alone and isolated, bereft of everything except the bare necessities for physical survival, for a period of three months.]
d) Satanism requires the practical experiencing of all moral limits, and then a mastery of the feelings, desires, pleasures, terrors, pains and so on that these imply.
e) Satanism involves the individual defiance of all subservience: a Satanist accepts guidance only, and refuses to be dominated or intimidated by anyone. This guidance is toward practical experience, and it by this experience that the novice learns and develops a genuine Satanic character.
f) Satanism involves sacrifice – this is a necessary test of character [qv. the MSS, "Satanism, Sacrifice and Crime - The Satanic Truth", and "Satanism - The Sinister Shadow, Revealed" for more details.].
g) Satanism is a means – a method, or way, and the purpose of this means, method or way is to produce a specific type of individual: the next stage of our evolution as a species. Satanism is thus an expression of evolutionary change – on both the individual level and in respect of `societies’ and ‘history’. The individuals so created often inspire in the supine majority a certain terror/awe/admiration/fear/jealousy.
h) Satanism is elitist. It does not compromise – its tests, ordeals, methods and character-building experiences are severe and will never be made easier to make them acceptable to more people or easier to undertake.
i) Satanism is esoteric by nature and intent: it is both a ’secret’ way, by virtue of its methods etc., and it is not nor probably will be suitable for the majority for many, many centuries.
II. What Satanism Is Not:
a) Satanism is not, nor can ever be, a religion, nor just a ‘philosophy’. A religion means acceptance of authority, the rigid structure of a ‘Church’ or a ‘Temple’, and a unified dogma (with the consequent schisms and claims to ‘authenticity”). The religious attitude is the antithesis of what Satanism really is – for Satanism is a way of living, a way of experiencing, in the raw, whereas religion abstracts, limits endeavour, behaviour and moralizes. In short, a Satanist plunges into reality, without any supports (moral, psychic or human) whereas a religious person has that reality prescribed by dogma, authority and such like, and is supported by a `Church’, its members and their attitudes. Satanism is an ecstatic affirmation of existence – a taking of existence into new and higher realms, as well as a plunge into existing darkness and the creation of new darkness.
b) Satanism cannot have anyone impose upon it any structure, authority, or institution of any kind by claiming a ‘dark mandate’ or some kind of ‘revelation’. There can be no such thing as an, infernal mandate’ of whatever kind because the only thing that really matters to Satanism is experience, its accumulation and the highly individualized learning that results from such experience. A genuine Satanist, for example, confronted by an entity which exhibited all the powers attributed to Satan would not even accept what that ‘entity’ said and would most certainly not show any submission – instead, they would a defiance, a reasoned assessment of what was said, and then a judgement made from experience. A Satanist never surrenders to anything – and would rather die, proud and defiant, than submit. This applies even to ‘Satan’. If and when a Satanist accepts guidance, it is from someone of experience who has explicated Satanism by their life and thus who can offer advice based on that experience. The aim of Satanism is to create wilful, characterful, defiant, unique individuals who have or can fulfil their potential as gods – it is not to create followers or sycophants. An `infernal mandate’ implies sycophancy.
c) Satanism does not involve discussions, meetings, talks. Rather, it involves action, deeds. Words – written or spoken – sometimes follow, but not necessarily. The ideal candidate for Satanism is the individual of action rather than the ‘intellectual’.
By the nature of most Satanic actions, they can seldom be mentioned and thus remain esoteric. The essence that Satanism leads the individual towards, via action, is only ever revealed by that participation which action is. Words, whether written or spoken, can never describe that essence – they can only hint at it, point toward it, and often serve to obscure the essence.
Satanism strips away the appearance of ‘things’ – living, Occult and otherwise by this insistence on experience, unaided. What is thus apprehended by such experience, is unique to each individual and thus is creative and evolutionary. Discussions, meetings, talks, even books and such like, de-vitalize: they are excuses for not acting.
A Satanist will sometimes use such forms as he/she may use the form of a Temple – to enhance and/or provoke experiences. But they are then actively manipulating, actively creating experiences – the others involved are being used by that person. That is, there is only one Satanist at such gatherings (usually) – the others may believe they are ‘Satanists’, but they are deluded.
d) Satanism does not apply moral absolutes to real-life situations and forms. This may best be explicated by two examples. First, politics. Satanism does not affirm or deny any political forms or type of politics – it does not, for example, announce that ‘fascism and Satanism are incompatible’. Such announcements/pronouncements arise from a moral bias and a lack of insight into both Satanism and `society’ and thus Aeonics.
A Satanist, concerned with experience, may use a political form for a specific purpose – the nature of that form in terms of conventional politics and morality (such as `extreme Right-wing’) is irrelevant. What is important is whether it can be used to (a) Provide experience of living and the limits of experience, and/or (b) Aid the sinister dialectic of history. Thus a Satanist may become involved in, or set up, an organization of the extreme Right – this is dangerous, exciting, vitalizes, provides experiences `on the edge’ and should thus aid the development of the character and insight of that Satanist (1). What is important is that this involvement is done for an ulterior, Satanic, motive: what others think and believe about such actions is totally irrelevant. Anyone purporting to be a Satanist who criticizes such an action, whatever the political hue of the group/organization, reveals by that criticism that they are not Satanists – but rather, moralizing curds lacking in insight and real Satanic understanding.
The second example concerns the formation and use of Satanic ‘Temples’ and groups by a Satanist. A Satanic novice, in order to gain experience of magickal rituals and people manipulation, usually forms a group to perform Satanic rituals The people recruited are for the most part used – and the novice often assumes a specific Satanic `role’ for this: the role of sorcerer/sorceress. He/she may dress in a certain way and so on, as he/she may use fables to impress and/or manipulate. This, however, for a genuine Satanist, is only a stage – and one which lasts a year or two. After that, experience and mastery of ceremonial and hermetic magick gained, they move on to new challenges and experiences, as all good Satanists should. Further, the individuals of this ‘Temple’ or group are not Satanists, although they may believe themselves to be – they are simply being used to afford the novice pleasure/excitement/experience and so on. Had any of them any Satanic character or potential, they would rebel to undertake their own quest by forming such a group/’Temple’ and experience the limits of themselves.
Sometimes, the group has another aim – an Aeonic or supra personal one, in which case its life may be extended. But whatever, genuine Satanic guidance by an Adept or Master/Mistress to a novice always occurs on an individualized basis, never within the rigid and constraining form of a ‘Temple’.
Thus, there is not nor can be any constraining rules applied to the conduct of such ‘Temples’ and groups – there is no ‘moral code’, no bounds which cannot be overstepped. The rules, such as they are, are made by the Satanic novice according to their desire and goals. That is, they can do with that group and its individuals whatever they desire to do and no one – not even the Adept/ Master/Mistress who may be guiding them – can set limits or prescribe their behaviour, They must learn for themselves – and from their mistakes, should they make some.
This naturally leads to the obvious Satanic deduction that a group like the Temple of Set may contain one, perhaps two, Satanists – who are using the ‘members’ for their own Satanic goals. This person (or persons) would of course deny this, and if that denial was sincere, they could not be Satanists. What is certain, is that that group cannot contain more than perhaps two Satanists – for the members accept the constraints imposed upon them from above, and are servile, in both theory and practice. They are also not being led into real experiences, but accept a sterile, sanitized and safe ‘Satanism’ as pedalled by their leader.
e) Satanism does not seek any form of official recognition as it does not seek to become respectable or the prerogative of a majority. Rather’ Satanism operates’ and must operate’ for the most part in a clandestine or ‘underground’ manner. ‘Official’ recognition mean someone or some organization is granted some sort of “status” and thus assumes both in theory and in fact an ‘authority’ and an organizational structure to support it. This authority and this structure mean followers, sycophants – and contradict the essence of Satanism.
‘Respectability’ means a moral stance broadly in line with that pertaining at the time – that is, it means a restricting morality, ethics, as well a limiting of action to what is deemed broadly ‘acceptable’ by the ’society’ of the time.
Both of these – official recognition and respectability – also mean that the self-appointed authority which is recognized and becomes or seeks to be respectable, sets its own limits: there is ‘proscription’ of other groups, a peer hierarchy and all the many trappings of herd conformity; the triumph of illusive forms over essence. In brief, the deluding of others, rather than their liberation.
Since the experience of the essence that Satanism brings is unique, this uniqueness is totally contradictory to all forms that seek to constrain, define and restrict – two of these forms being ‘official recognition’ and ‘respectability’.
Some other hard facts about Satanism are in order – to be placed on record
Satanism is hard and very dangerous. This danger is much more than just a ‘mental’ or a psychic one of the kind sometimes experienced in magickal workings. It is a personal danger of the ‘life or death’ kind. If it is not, then it is not tough enough, it is not Satanic. For far too long the pathetic imitation Satanists, such as those in the Temple of Set and the Church of Satan, have had no one to contradict their sickly, wimpish versions of Satanism – they have tried to deny the darkness and evil which are essential to Satanism because the frauds in those organizations are fundamentally weak: they have never gone to their limits, never experienced the realness of evil. They have tried to make ‘Satanism’ safe and ‘respectable’: they have intellectualised it because they are typical products of this present intellectualised, peace-loving, “we need to be safe” society.
A Satanist is like a beast of prey – in real life, not in fantasy. A Satanist may be and often is an assassin, a warrior, an outlaw – in real life. The imitation Satanists, however, pretend to be these things – their fantasy-life is greater than their real experiences of such things. A Satanist seeks and makes real his/her fantasies and then masters the real-life situations and all those desires/feelings which give birth to those fantasies – they live them and then transcend them, creating from those experiences something beyond them: a new individual. Often, things go wrong – but as always in life, the strong survive and the weak perish, are written off. The Satanist creates the dreams, standards of excellence and spirit which others often later aspire to emulate. This creation is in real life, by deeds and deeds alone.
Because of this, few indeed are the genuine Satanists. Sometimes their lives (or aspects of them) become public – but often they are hidden, working their darkness in secret, for the benefit of evolution.
1. It can also aid the sinister dialectic – here, an understanding of Aeonics is important.
1991 e.h., Order of Nine Angles
The pseudo-Satanist Mister Blackwood – aka Tom Erik Raspotnik – has produced another item in his unintentionally funny series he has called Satanism Exposed.
This time, his focus is on the Order of Nine Angles, an organization which – for years – he publicly boasted of having “reformed” and of being an “Inner Council” member of, until someone actually from the ONA pointed out that there is no such thing as “Inner Council members” and dismissed his claim of ONA membership as “fantasy” (See Endnote 1). Mister Blackwood – aka The Lost Sputnik or whatever he calls himself – then dropped such boasts, and now somewhat lamely claims that he was merely taught by someone who claimed to be an “Inner Council” member of the ONA, which claim actually doesn’t say much about Blackwood’s magickal abilities, does it, if he can be fooled so easily by some other charlatan.
In his latest hilarious article – posted on his various blogs and no doubt soon to be hurriedly cut and pasted by him elsewhere and everywhere, including Usenet – Blackwood cuts and pastes chunks of various articles and interviews by Anton Long (which are freely available on the Internet), and then pens his own comments on these. However, his sloppy editing means not only does he mix up the various articles and interviews by Long, but also that it is often hard to distinguish his “comments” from the quoted ONA texts, unless one has the original ONA texts to hand. Perhaps – to give Mister Blackwood the benefit of the doubt – this running together of his comments with quotes from Anton Long is intentional, given the nature of the comments and the jolly good quotes from GrandMaster Anton Long.
As expected, all of the comments by Mister Blackwood are devoid of substance and often of sense, and yet again show him for the pseudo-Satanist he is. Thus, they do not merit being commented on, themselves. However, let us just comment on one of them, just for the hell of it.
Blackwood: Much of this is available again for membership of the Temples of Satan.
That is, you have to pay him money – and join his personality cult – in order to receive his “secret teachings” and claimed “historical texts”. At best, this sounds like a new hustling satanic Initiate manufacturing and running his own “Satanic Temple” for the benefit of himself; nothing more. At worst, it sounds like a delusional charlatan.
The Pseudo-Satanism of Blackwood
Let us take some minutes of our – at this time of year – not particularly valuable time to consider the so-called “Satanism” that Blackwood pedals.
Basically, it’s a mixture of the kind of stuff that is easily found among devotees of the Temple of Set cult (known to Traditional Satanists as “ToS-ers”) and devotees of the Magian cult of showman LaVey, with just a little bit of High School Halloweenism thrown in. There is nothing genuinely esoteric, or even remotely Sinister and original, about it.
Note in particular that Blackwood claims to be in contact with – and to have received messages from – Satan Himself, and thus to have the authority of Satan behind him. What the ONA said about those who claim such things is worth reproducing here:
A genuine Satanic Master (or Mistress) does not need to pose – they do not need to claim they have a mandate. The authority of a real Master or Mistress arises from their experience – it is rooted in them by virtue of their character and is evident in their eyes, their attitude, and their knowledge. They have a unique, individual character – they do not play a “role” or claim to be in touch or have been in touch with some supra-personal entity. What they say and teach is based on their own experiences, on their own learning – they have struggled along the Path for many years, and learnt the hard way, via direct experience. They *know* because they have *done*.
Accordingly, anyone who claims and needs to rely on a mandate given to them – either by some entity or someone who instructed them – reveals themselves to be a charlatan.
The whole of Satanism is a defiance against the religious attitude. Satanism is a rebellion against all those forms which hold or try to hold our existence, our being, in thrall – and the most potent form of thralldom had been and still is, religion. Religion emasculates us – whether it be overtly, via a religion, or covertly by a religious attitude such as is evident in political or social zealousness, in conformity to a dogma and an authority.
Let us all hoot at the following claim by Blackwood:
“In the recent days I have been involved along with several other Satanic Priests, working directly with channeling to Satan, and his somber message warns of coming disaster and coming turmoil.
His image came to Satanic Priests in a circle that was used along with several icons of power including a slain goat, this message was interpreted by Grand Magister Blackwood a famous Satanic Conservative and Satanic Priest.”
Wow! Breaking News! He uses “a circle”, and “icons of power” and had to “sacrifice a goat”. Sounds very DennisWheatley-ish to me. Note that he claims he is a “Satanic Conservative” – and elsewhere comes out in support of the “great USA” and its values, with a “Love America” logo on his website, which incidentally is totally devoid of esoteric and sinister content. Blackwood – imitating certain American Nazarenes – even writes about Satan “warning about Obama”. Now that is original.
But perhaps the greatest laugh comes from his claim that “Grand Magister Blackwood is currently working with several others to help society and negoitate [sic] with Satan to bring this Chaos to a minimum…” No doubt Mr Blackwood – aka The Sputnik Lost in Space – will be rushing out with his Priests and Temple members to vote for good ‘ole patriotic John McCain and Michael Palin (oops, I meant Sarah Palin) come voting day in November. No doubt also he’ll be doing his public duty as a citizen and donating his blood to the nearest vamperess – oops, I meant his regional Blood Centre.
Finally, let us roll about laughing as Blackwood writes about saying “a prayer” to Satan. Church of Satan, anyone? Oh, I forgot, that’s been done already.
Written by Miss Whiplash (in a rather fetching mauve Pointy Hat) on One Boring Sunday Afternoon
Endnote:
(1) Usually, the ONA maintains a dignified and rather sinister silence about any and all such claims by such people. But in this instance – as sources close to the ONA report – they decided to make an exception, given the repeated public claims, over some years, by Blackwood to have reformed the ONA, given that he attached the name of the ONA, over some years,to his Old Aeon Magian-derived half-baked pseudo-Satanism, and, probably most importantly, given the fact that the ONA wanted to make a specific point, which point the esoterically sagacious – and genuine Satanists – will understand and appreciate. Not to mention the fact that it would, after all, be a good jape, of the “turn the key and watch him go” kind.
Now, in a manner typical of egotists and people of a grandiose delusional nature, he claims that he merely had “brief interactions and it is merely you and your remaining merry fellows and ladies that continue to attack me over this…” In fact, he had no “interactions” – only made claims; they were not “brief”, but lasted some years.
O9A
Concerning The Temple of Set
The Temple of Set, as both it’s High Priest and its members admit, understands what they regard as Satanism as a religion. Furthermore, the fundamental basis on which the Temple was founded is the “Infernal Mandate”. This mandate, it is claimed, was given to Aquino by the Prince of Darkness Himself (in his manifestation as Set) and, it is said, makes the priesthood of that Temple the only one consecrated by the Prince of Darkness – that is, only the Temple of Set is a true representation of Satanism. The Temple sees itself as a sacred guardian – it has a “sacred duty” because it’s High Priest has been chosen by the Prince of Darkness.
However, these two things – which so define the Temple of Set – show that it cannot be a genuine Satanic organization. To prove this, we will consider each of these things in turn – first, the question of an “Infernal Mandate”, and then the question of Satanism as a Religion.
Aquino maintains he has a “sacred duty” because of the mandate, and that this mandate gives him authority to consecrate his priesthood. Furthermore, he claims that only this priesthood is truly consecrated to the Prince of Darkness. What this means in practice, is that the Temple of Set has set itself up to be the unique representative of Satanism.
In reality, Aquino *claims* to have received a Mandate during some magickal working and thereby *claims* authority. A genuine Satanist, on the contrary, has authority by virtue of his or her Wisdom – and has achieved Wisdom by virtue of practical experience. There is not need to claim a “spiritual” authority given by some “entity” real of imagined, be that entity Satan or Set or what-ever. Indeed, to so claim such authority via an entity external to oneself ex-poses the person who so makes the claim as needing this spiritual crutch because they lack real Wisdom – that is, they rely on something external to themselves, something external to their own achievements. Such an individual has to rely on something external because what really matters is missing – what is missing is that which is created by the following of the Black Arts to the ultimate ending. That is, direct practical experience and the mastery and wisdom which are thereby won.
A genuine Satanic Master (or Mistress) does not need to pose – they do not need to claim they have a mandate. The authority of a real Master or Mistress arises from their experience – it is rooted in them by virtue of their character and is evident in their eyes, their attitude, and their knowledge. They have a unique, individual character – they do not play a “role” or claim to be in touch or have been in touch with some supra-personal entity. What they say and teach is based on their own experiences, on their own learning – they have struggled along the Path for many years, and learnt the hard way, via direct experience. They *know* because they have *done*.
Accordingly, anyone who claims and needs to rely on a mandate given to them – either by some entity or someone who instructed them – reveals themselves to be a charlatan.
The whole of Satanism is a defiance against the religious attitude. Satanism is a rebellion against all those forms which hold or try to hold our existence, our being, in thrall – and the most potent form of thralldom had been and still is, religion. Religion emasculates us – whether it be overtly, via a religion, or covertly by a religious attitude such as is evident in political or social zealousness, in conformity to a dogma and an authority.
Satanism, in essence, is an individualistic defiance – an individual pride, an individual striving, and individual quest for excellence. It is about fulfilling the potential inherent in our existence – and this means finding and fulfilling our unique Destinies. Satanism means self-effort, self-learning, self-experience: it means each individual striving to become like a “god”: striving to be like the Prince of Darkness Himself. The Prince of Darkness does not seek weak, docile followers. He seeks Comrades, individuals of strength, character, full of pride and defiance, overflowing with existence itself (which is expressed in deeds, in creation, in changing, in altering evolution). Of course, He (and all genuine Satanists) use others for Satanic ends – they manipulate. He, as Satanists of character do, has followers – have those who obey. But these are not Satanists – they are tools, used to achieve something, perhaps broken, but mostly discarded when what they have been used for has been achieved. They are the dominated, the slave-majority, while the Satanists are the masters. Satanists are never constrained – they learn for themselves, via experience, and so progress toward great understanding, toward a new existence. It is the aim of Satanism to produce unique individuals possessed of character.
Accordingly, a genuine Satanic Master or Mistress or group merely guides others- merely offers advice, based on experience. There are no restrictions, no religious zeal. There is not and cannot be any dogma – any authority which the individual must be subservient to. There cannot be any form of conformity. If there is – it is not Satanic.
The Temple of Set constrains it’s members by dogma, by ethics, by making them subservient to the authority of the priesthood, and to the High Priest himself. It fosters a religious attitude – “Believe! because I/we are empowered by Set/ the Prince of Darkness and so possess his authority”. It restrains – “do not associate with that person/organization, for they are proscribed”. It breeds a sycophancy, stifling genuine experience and creativity.
Naturally, there are many fine-sounding words and phrases, a great deal of intellectualism, which obscures these brutal truths. The Temple of Set encourages verbiage at the expense of real, dark, sinister experiences. It’s members wallow in the illusory world created by words and ideas when they should be alone undergoing formative ordeals. They play at magic(k) and enjoy the glamour of pretending to be “Satanists” – but they do not go to and beyond the limits of their lives, they do not live life as a succession of ecstasies, they do not go to “the edge” again and again. Instead, they correspond with one another, meet and talk, meet and talk, do little rituals together or alone, read, and talk and read and write… And they know they are safe – the Prince of Darkness has been tamed: he is not really “evil” (as we are not, they say to themselves and mean it). And they have their “progress” mapped out for them – awarded to them by the priesthood in whom they trust, and by Aquino, their High Priest. If they please this priesthood, and Aquino, they are rewarded – exalted to the higher grade and can give themselves and call themselves an exalted name: Priest, perhaps, or Adept, or maybe even “Master of the Temple” if they truly have been sycophantic for long enough…
Meanwhile, the few genuine Satanists get on with their hard tasks – with following the path of Black Magick by their own efforts, by learning for them-selves the hard way. They work to achieve a real mastery, of themselves, of magick – making errors, perhaps, but learning, and so growing, so changing and so becoming a changer of evolution itself. For them, there are no restraints, no dogma, no authority. There is only success – or failure. They achieve their own Grades, in their own time, and have the self-honesty and the insight to know if they really have achieved.
One illustration to end with. Consider the path of Satanism to be as a marathon race. There is a start, and a finish, which we will consider to be Adept-ship in this instance. Satanists and would-be Satanists line up at the start. The race begins. The Satanist runs the race, and finishes, by his or her own effort – there is no help, only the will to finish, the hardship of the race itself. It is an individual achievement. But the Temple of Set members are those who run some of the distance, and then find someone running alongside (or perhaps driving them on would be more apt) saying “The rules are now changed! By a decree [read: Infernal Mandate] the marathon is now only 10 miles – so stop and I will award you your certificates [read: “confer Grades”].” The Temple of Set members of course believe this person, they do not doubt the decree – or if they do, they accept it. They stop, and receive their “rewards”, and believe they have succeeded: they have run a marathon. But in reality, they have deluded only themselves.
To conclude: The Temple of Set is the epitome of what Satanism is NOT.
ONA
103 yf
['The Book' is the text that forms the basis of The Temple of Set, both philosophical point of view, and the Occult. From it, the Temple claims a mandate and thus a "Satanic" authority.]
The text gives several clues from which its Occult significance can be deduced. First, it purports to be a communication from a supra-personal being (Set); second, its style and content; third, the ‘entity’ confers upon the scribe the magickal Grade of “Magus”; fourth, the ‘entity’ confers (or seems to confer) upon this “Magus” an authority – to ‘reconsecrate my Temple..’; fifth, various ‘aeons’ are mentioned.
The information contained in the text about aeons’is very interesting – it states that an aeon was begun in 1904 (eh) by Crowley, and that this aeon ended in 1966 [a period of some 62 years]. It also announces another new aeon with the announcement of Aquino as ‘magus’. This information is interesting, from an Initiated Satanic viewpoint, because it reveals a total lack of Initiated insight – instead, it seems to continue with the obfuscations of the like of ‘The Golden Dawn’ regarding “aeons”, something continued by Crowley with his description of the ‘magus’ (a description which seems to have been used by the ‘entity’ in the text).
The reality is that an aeon is a causal manifestation of acausal energy – an intrusion, into the ‘everyday’ world, of the creative, evolutionary force which has been described as ‘Satan’. Such manifestations occur about every two millennia – and give rise to higher or aeonic civilizations, which civilizations give form to the acausal energies. That is, such a civilization is means whereby evolutionary changes occur. These civilizations are organic – they grow, and then they wane and die. This takes a period of causal time – generally, one and a half millennia. At any one time, there is only one aeonic civilization – and of course only one aeon. An aeon means the presencing of acaual energies over a certain period of time in the form of a civilization: and each aeon is a ‘new’ manifestation of the acausal: i.e. it is apprehended, magickally, through new forms, symbols, words and so on. A genuine Magus does indeed re-present an Aeon.
Expressed simply, an aeon cannot last for a mere 62 years. A new aeon means a new civilization, in the real world: a new ordering of societies a new ethos within those societies. It means a process of organic growth over many centuries. It means the changing of individuals – a more conscious awareness – over centuries. Anything less than this is not, magickally, an aeon.
Thus, either the word ‘aeon’ is used, in the text, in the wrong sense – or the text itself reveals a lack of genuine magickal understanding.
° The text itself, in both its style and its content, is reminiscent of a working done by a Satanic Initiate following the seven-fold way – i.e. a working with one of the pathways that link the spheres of the Tree of Wyrd when various ‘entities’ are invoked. [An example of one such working has been published, in 1974 eh - 'The Message of the One of Thoth']. Such workings are generally understood to be learning experiences – when the Satanic novice is exploring, via archetypal symbolism and archetypal forms, their own psyche. Most magickians, of whatever path or tradition, produce such ‘communications’ in their learning years. Those who are insightful, learn from these – and then the novice moves on: the workings are seen as merely explorations of the unconscious. Those who are not insightful, dwell upon such workings – they fail to objectify them, they fail to integrate them via a conscious understanding of what they really are: merely workings with various archetypal symbols. [A classic case is John Dee.] Those who fail to integrate them, usually see such workings as ‘pronouncements’ by some supra-personal being or entity: that is, they are seen as actual and important revelations of some ‘deity’. Accordingly, a lot of time is spent ‘understanding’ what the often cryptic ‘communication(s)’ means, and in writing “commentaries” upon them.
Thus, either the text is an example of one such working by someone not yet achieved real Adeptship, or it is an actual “communication” from an entity.
° The ‘entity’ confers upon the scribe the title of ‘magus’ and instructs the scribe to re-consecrate the Temple, and so on. In the real world, the magickal Grades are understood as personal achievements, and represent the gaining of knowledge, experience, insight and skills by the individual magickian – a learning of wisdom by the overcoming of adversities; a transformation of the personality via both magickal and real-life achievements.
As such, the Grades apart from the first (i.e. Initiation) – are never awarded or conferred by others. They are only and always achieved, by each individual: by that individual attaining the level of personal development – each Grade re-presents. The aim of a genuine Occult path is the liberation of the individual – to progress to a higher stage of personal evolution: to go beyond the inertia of the herd. That is, the individual works at their development, perhaps aided and guided by others who have gone that way before. In a sense, genuine Occult paths are means whereby evolutionary advance can be consciously achieved: they represent the knowledge and insights of the current and previous Aeons. What is evolutionary is individuality – the coming into existence of unique individuals who can reason, who can judge, who can act, who possess insight. What is de-evolutionary (or just a stasis) is conformity – allowing others to do the reasoning, the judging, to inform one what `insight’ (and such like) are: i.e. to accept the solutions of others, the answers of others, rather than work these out for oneself.
In a real sense, the magickal Grades represent the stages of an individual’s coming into being: of them appropriating more and more of the acausal (or ‘expanding their consciousness more and more into the acausal’ in a rather inexact way). This cannot be done for them – at any stage. Thus, for anyone, or ‘anything’ to confer upon anyone else a particular magickal Grade, is a sign that those so conferring and so accepting, do not fundamentally understand what the Grades represent – in effect, they lack an understanding of what genuine Occultism is all about. Those so accepting, allow someone else to judge and decide for them; those who confer, maintain the illusions of those upon whom they confer Grades.
This is so even (or rather, particularly so) in the case of a Magus – that Grade is achieved by an individual as a result of that individual going further along the Occult path chosen than anyone else: achieving more, appropriating to themselves more of the acausal (or ‘the sinister’ if one prefers). At this stage, this means opening/creating a nexion to bring forth into the causal world, acausal energies: i.e. channeling aeonic energies and presencing them. This of course requires an understanding of aeons, and how aeonic energies are or can be presenced in the causal, via civilizations, ethos, wyrd and so on. This is manifestly not the case for the scribe of the text under consideration.
For this person accepts the conferring of the Grade by what is alleged to be ‘Set’ and accepts that being a ‘magus’ means manifesting, via a mandate, the ‘will’ of this entity, via a ‘word’ (and a ‘consecrated Temple’ and thus Priesthood).
° The mention of Crowley and his ‘law’ is interesting in that it shows that there is no real insight into the forces which have and do shape the present Aeon. Crowley’s ‘Law’ and `magick’ were manifestations of that distortion of the aeonic energies which has affected the Western aeon – one aspect of which is the Nazarene religion. Other aspects are the ‘qabala’, the ‘demonology’ of the Grimoires, the glorification of the ego at the expense of insight, and a lack of genuine reasoning.
The work of Crowley continued the distortion – it was not a cure for it. Crowley’s understanding of real magick was minimal – and he possessed no insight into either aeons or aeonic energies. In fact, his life and work show that he never achieved real Adeptshlp, let alone Mastery.
If the ‘entity’ from which the scribe received the text was as that scribe described him – the Prince of Darkness – then one might expect an understanding of aeons and Crowley’s essential irrelevance. Instead, there are some rather pseudo-mystical, pseudo-philosophical statements regarding the “Aeon of HarWer” and “Opposite Self”: i.e. a clear, concise, rational account is not given. What is given, requires ‘interpretation’.
A consideration of the text reveals it as in essence a working done by someone who has absorbed what has hitherto been accepted as the ‘Western’ tradition of Occultism – as exemplfied by John Dee, the Golden Dawn, Crowley et al – where communication with extra-terrestrial/supra-personal entities is accepted, and where such communications tend to be accepted as mandates, authorizing those who receive them to found Temples/Lodges/inaugurate an ‘aeon’ and so on. This `tradition’ – which is actually a part of the distortion exemplified by revelatory religions like that of the Nazarene – accepts such revelations and the individuals receiving them. The scribes of such communications treat them with respect – often as ’sacred’, and interpret them via numerous commentaries for the benefit of the initiated and un-initiated alike. This tradition thus fosters a certain mentality – the religious attitude, where revelation, mandates and ‘interpretations’ are seen as not only of great value but also as more important than real understanding and rational knowledge; where the notion of exclusivity, of ‘electness’ is preserved. There is acceptance of a ‘mandate’ which gives authority – and members are expected to be obedient to that authority, which reserves for itself the right to decide who is acceptable, and what ethic/doctrines/views are acceptable/’right’.
The whole text reveals this religious attitude and approach. Internal revelations are considered more important than the insight and judgment born via practical experience. It is indicative of the pseudo-intellectual approach which has so come to dominate present day societies thanks to the distortion of the aeonic energies – individual character has less importance than assumed, pretentious ‘knowledge’. A mass of useless ‘esoteric’ and non-esoteric (historical, philosophical and so on) knowledge is valued more highly than deeds, than learning via practical experience. This is evident in the “Commentary” on the text. In short – the text and the forms erected around it (the Temple etc.) appeal to a certain type of individual: those who need the comforts of old aeon values where there is affectation and delusion of attainment via the amassing of meaningless ‘facts’ and where those ordeals and experiences which can really change and provide self-insight are shied away from; where the individual delegates to someone else the task of providing answers and judgments.
One final consideration – from an entity described as the Prince of Darkness, there is no consideration given in the text to what actually is evil, sinister. Once again, there are only pseudo-mystical, pseudo-philosophical ramblings of the kind familiar from Blavatsky and other charlatans. One would have thought the ‘Prince of Darkness’ could have provided a clear, precise, concise, unambiguous statement which made sense to both a Doctor of Philosophy (if for the moment one assumes a Doctor of Philosophy would know sense if it hit him on the head) and a non-academic, but literate, person.
In summary, the text makes sense as, and is a good example of, a working done by someone striving to achieve Adeptship – to integrate within themselves archetypal opposites. If it is not this, then it can only be a conscious creation by an individual to enhance the image of that individual for the purpose of manipulating others, and possibly thereby achieving some sinister goals.
If the scribe of such a text believed it to be a genuine communication from a supra-personal entity, then that scribe had obviously not attained genuine Adeptship*. If the scribe believed that such a communication was however from his own ‘higher self’ or something of that nature [i.e. he did not posit it as originating in another, discarnate, entity] then that scribe had obviously not attained Adeptship and the understanding which goes with it – as is evident from the content of the text. If the scribe consciously constructed the text to use it as a means to create and maintain a Temple and his own standing in that Temple, then that scribe might just be said to possibly be an Adept – but certainly no further along the Left Hand Path [a Master has no need of such trickery - to pretend he has some 'Mandate' from someone/some entity; or has received some kind of 'revelatory knowledge'].
In essence, the text represents – both in its content/style and in the use made of it – everything that is wrong and has been wrong with what has and does pass for ‘Occultism’, as far as initiates of genuine traditions are concerned. As a document of Satanism (or even of the Left Hand Path) it is of interest as a curiosity – an example of what Satanism and the Left Hand Path are not. Risum teneatis, amici?
ONA lO4yf
* Judged both by the belief itself and the specious content imparted by the entity: a content replete with the use of past aeonic forms (Egyptian, here) and an intent to revive them: something that has blighted the fake Occultists since Romantic times.
