The CollectedJewels

Of

Satanism

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

SECTION ONE

The Three Stages towards Satanism 5

The Ghost Orchid 7

The Book of Pleasure 8

If you are in love with Deity 10

How To Pray 11

The Projectionist 14

The Two Gods of Satanic Gnosis 15

To Lady S 16

The All As Deity 17

SECTION TWO

Whom I Love 18

Echo 19

The Process: LVX 20

Prayer 21

The Nine Commandments of Satan 22

Sigil Fragments 22

SECTION THREE

FAQ On Satanism 23

APPENDIX

Shadows 26

Hidden God 26

The Qualities of a Pilgrim 27

Rite of the Nine Gates 28

Secret Affirmations of the Ninth Gate 30

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INTRODUCTION

True to the adversarial spirit of Satanism, this book will challenge your preconceptions of the nature of Satanism; no apology is needed; the title 'Satan' means 'adversary'!

Satanism seems to be as much as search for definition (self-definition) as it is a quest for ‘spiritual enlightenment’.Indeed, ‘spiritual enlightenment’ would be considered by many Satanists to be far too metaphysical an expression! Most Satanists disdain metaphysics: they want to live in the here and now, not in some other dimension, and they want to engage the senses – they are not much interested in extra-sensory perception! They hold empiricism to be of great value, they desire to define their terms with rigour.

The search for definition – the attempt to answer the question ‘What is Satanism?’ – is, in Satanic terms, exactly equivalent to the quest for so-called spiritual enlightenment...

Certainly, a survey of posts on satanic message boards, chat rooms, Satanic articles, books and youtube channels reveals an insatiable thirst for clear definition. All my writings strive after definition,; as do my illustrations (see pages 6,9,10,13,19 and 22)

Moreover, I am searching for that ‘perfect expression’ of Satanism: this small publication represents years of refinement, always trying to answer that central question: ‘What is Satanism?’

This book is divided into three sections. The first contains the core of my understanding – but really only of my own flavour of Satanism – neo-deist Satanism. The second section covers my personal expression of Satanism – poetical, romantic, and whimsical – I indulge myself! 'Sigil Fragments' (p 22) represent a special teaching. Finally, I include a FAQ on Satanism which I consider to be my most honest set of answers to date. I really try to pin down my beliefs!

In Prayer (Section Two, page 21), mention is made of the Ninth Gate; directed by the great Roman Polanski, this is the best movie on Theistic Satanism ever made (better than Rosemary’s Baby, in my opinion); it is loosely based on the novel The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte; the story concerns a mysterious book ‘Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows’ supposedly written by lord Satan Himself. This book features a set of nine woodcut engravings depicting a pilgrim’s journey towards Satanic Gnosis. 'Created by Francisco Sole, these darkly enigmatic engravings seem to suggest a pilgrimage or journey, mystical or real, to Lord Satan’s ‘Kingdom of the Shadows’. This journey the mystic must make if he or she is to fully comprehend the nature of Deity.' (Source; Wikipedia.org)

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God’s nature is hidden or occult, but the engravings seem to reveal a method of acquiring knowledge of the divine. Or perhaps they reveal the nine discreet stages of attainment that are available to the aspirant.

They seem to describe a unique journey towards enlightenment – a quest for the truth about the nature of God.

The engravings may even provide clues as to the nature of divinity as if the goal is somehow to be found along the way, or as an accumulation of knowledge and experiences - until the truth is fully revealed by journey’s end.

Be this as it may, study of and contemplation on the engravings are vital components in the pilgrim’s progress; they speak to all seekers on an individual basis.

For this reason, I include a section (appendix) which might be called Pilgrims of the Ninth Gate: including a Ritual for Pilgrims to celebrate their ongoing quest.

It is recommended that the seeker prints large versions of the engravings, memorizes them and uses them to stimulate either reverie or dream; to create a set of divinatory cards or portal images.

A good place to start your on line investigation of the Nine Gates (a website from which you can download the engravings themselves, not to mention the text which accompanied them, even re-create the book if you want to! ):-

http://www.apocprod.com/props/tutorials/the-nine-gates-to-the-kingdom-of-shadows-tutorial/

If any practical work or contemplative path arises from The Collected Jewels of Satanism, it is to the Nine Gates (engravings) that the sincere seeker is referred.

I hope this book brings you to a better understanding of Satanism.

Zeit23geist (who has 'received' this Book) aka nargargole, the Devil's Disciple:http://www.youtube.com/user/nargargole

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SECTION ONE

THE THREE STAGES TOWARDS SATANISM

A belief in Satan as deity (Satanism) requires faith. Faith is the belief in the existence of a supernatural agent (deity) that needs neither rational argument nor empirical proof in support of its assumption. The existence of deity is assumed.

Now it is true that the line between faith and unquestioning obedience to authority or brainwashing or auto-suggestion (delusion) is often blurred – as the history of religion shows. Faith is vulnerable to terrible abuse!

But just as it might be seen as a waste of time to question the reality of everything around us, because the question does not change anything about the reality (it persists despite our questioning of its reality!), similarly, it is a waste of time, say those professing faith, to question the reality of God because God, being the underlying reality, persists despite our questioning of the deity’s existence. And yet question it we do because Man, the free spirit, cannot help but question the existence of all things.

Indeed, faith is purified and strengthened by doubt. And the first stage on the path towards Satanism is to doubt all, including or especially the existence of God. At first, I decided to reject faith and belief in the existence of deity. I was an atheist Satanist because I saw Satan as simply a symbol for ‘Man’s most realized self-potential’, or the True Self of every individual. In so many ways, I still believe Satan is Lord of the True Self.

Proceeding quickly from this first stage – to reject all religion per se – I arrived at the second stage of my path towards Satanism: belief in Magick. And Magick, as well as being the ‘art of causing change in conformance with will’ (Crowley), became, for me, the quest to discover and to exercise the True Will (for me True Self is synonymous with True Will). To my mind, the so-called existence of the Magickal Universe (its existence assumed!) was a mirror of the True Self/Will. Discover the Magickal Universe and you discover the Self – the Satan of the modern satanic magickian. And I still believe this - up to a point. But now it is just that I have arrived at the third stage!

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For my experience, as far as Magick is concerned, is one of Limitation. I have not discovered who I am – only an unfathomable infinity of images (of Self) – and no realities! So the symbol of Satan as being ‘Man’s most realized self-potential’ is becoming increasingly chimera-like, because the point of most self-realization seems never to be realized (it is lost to infinity!).

For me, the symbol and the Magick seem empty - as empty as infinity! I have become aware I could spend an infinite number of life times exploring the Magickal Universe (or myself) and still be no nearer discovering who I am. Moreover, my Self would have no reality – well, it has none: I am just the intersection of social forces – I am merely the sum of my genetics, environment and culture (language).

These may or may not be real, but I am not. So in order to become real (to feel this), I must define myself as a Being (eternal or not, I do not know) who is in love with God; and for this deity to be the underlying reality of my Self – this is how my Self is detected as being real.

Moreover, this deity is the underlying reality which is beyond my preconceptions and senses. Also, this deity stands in opposition to my preconceptions (arguments) and senses (empirical proof). Therefore, this is Satan – the Opposer.

But if this deity is beyond my preconceptions and senses, then only faith lies behind my belief in God. It is a faith that has been purified and strengthened by doubt. I have reached the third and final stage of my path towards Satanism.

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THE GHOST ORCHID

What can be said or known or assumed about GOD?

GOD is God. God has a godly appearance, thinks godly thoughts, or has godly characteristics (for example, God is the colour or image of God).

God is god-real, yet God is the supreme object of my devotion in a way that is unique to God.

God is bracketed out of all attributes that can be known about God.

God defies definition (in this sense, God can be said to be the 'enemy' (SATAN) of definition – of all thoughts and statements about God).

I can only really know what I feel about God i.e. 'I love you, God' (of course, this assumes that there is something about God that is supremely loveable!).

So, in point of fact, there is much that can be said or known or assumed about God; it is just I am also aware that there is much that can be said or known or assumed about God that is merely the projection of my psychology, my cultural upbringing, my social conditioning, my philosophical reasoning (rationality) that I project onto 'God' (making God a human construct, rather than a construct of divinity).

Despite this awareness, I am confident about who God is and this stimulates my response to the ‘fact' of God's existence.

This is because God is also my love for God; that love is known and that love is declared. Obviously, this love would be pointless were it not for a basic knowledge of the object of that love, (and that this love for God is of ultimate value to me).

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THE BOOK OF PLEASURE

“Everything is broken up and dancing”

Jim Morrison, American Prayer, 1970

Religionists – ‘God-speak’ propagandists – fill their heads and others’ with lies about who God is, what God thinks about such and such; what God approves of; what upsets God, etc. They wallow in a quagmire of absurdities and contradictions.

Three statements comprise the Satanic Gnosis:

‘God exists’‘Lord SATAN, who is God, is worthy of devotion (Love)’

'God is mysterious.’

We know God exists, just as we assume that outside the confines of our homes the ‘external’ world exists, Yet the existence of God, unlike the world, is not even something that we experience directly, yet we assume God’s existence.

Nor is it possible to say God is this or that, or even that God is Love; only the predicates ‘existence’, ‘worthiness’ and ‘mystery’ can be attached to the Subject (God).

And beyond these predicates: God is God.

All other descriptions of God are really projections of ourselves onto God! They are pegs on which to hang our love for God (to express such love), nothing more!

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God is the source of our pleasurable experience of loving God. Is this source real? All we can say is that the Belief is real, and that the pleasure such Belief brings us is real; and that it would be pointless NOT to assume the reality of the source of our pleasure.

So God’s existence is assumed; but then we are so caught up in the pleasure associated with loving God that all other thoughts dissolve – they are broken up and dancing!

God is then the One Thought and Love is the One Emotion.

This delimits the extent of our Knowledge (gnosis), which is based more on ourselves than even God!

This God is SATAN, meaning the ‘dark one’, shrouded, like the Grail (of our Love for God), in mystery.

God is the Mystery behind our Pleasure, though our pleasure is no mystery at all!

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If you are in love with Deity, then you are His or Her Prophet, Priest or Priestess, Congregation and Church.

In the midst of every emotion,

I am in love with GOD.

I love GOD in the midst of my fear.

THE TWO QUESTIONS

Who am I?

A GOD-lover.

What is my purpose in life?

To love GOD.

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HOW TO ‘PRAY’

WITH A COMMENTARY

LORD SATAN summon notAs if He* were some spirit of the air1;

Invoke not the MASTER,Unless you mean your Magick Self

(Known as SATAN also)2;Do not beg for favours like a dog!3

But sacrifice – make holy? Nonsense, no!God smells not the burning bones below!4

Nor cry for mercy –In this life or hereafter;5

Do not grovel on the groundBefore some Oriental Potentate;6

Proclaim not in publicThat others might admire your piety

Or stand in judgement by itBeing not as you!7

But to yourself, with Self as silent witness to your Love,8

Say plainly the Four Words Great, NOT-Holy:9

“I love you, Satan!”

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NOTES 1) The opening line is clearly against the Magicians, who reckon Man is above the spirits and is therefore entitled to summon them; this may be true of ‘spirits’ but not of Lord Satan!

2) It is the Magickal Self who commands the appearance and departure of occult entities because He has created them (they are aspects of the Magickal Self); but God is above and beyond the Magickal Self, otherwise known, by the Gnostics, as the Demiurge; confusingly, the Magickal Self is called SATAN because the Self is hidden, dark and powerful – of ‘force and fire’; and a Unity unto Himself; this ‘deity’ may be freely invoked at any time, for any reason;

3) Our word ‘to pray’ comes from the Greek ‘precare’ meaning ‘to beg’; Man is not a dog, but a God – see point 6, below; The Hebrew word for ‘to pray’ is L’hitpallel meaning ‘to stand in self-judgement [before the Lord]’. By this means, Jews believe they can make themselves worthy enough in the sight of the Lord; from this being worthily present before the Lord, all blessings flow.

4) In ancient Greek religion, after the meat from the sacrificial victim was divided among the priests, the left-over fat was wrapped around the thigh bones of the animal, and these burnt upon the altar – it was said the smell wafted up to heaven and was pleasing to the gods. SATAN is the life force, this force used to be present in the animal before it was needlessly killed; at the same time, God is immanent in Nature (for example, God IS the bones and the fat), He is also beyond and aloof from the material world – therefore He would not smell the burning bones below;

5) Satanism, both as a philosophy and as a religion, utterly rejects the notions of Man’s ‘original sin’ and that God stands in judgement of Man’s sin; therefore, His mercy is not required! There is no such duality as good and evil; there are only consequences, favourable or no;

6) The idea of grovelling before the oriental king was that your head should always be lower than that of the ruler. But in Satanism, Man is equal to the God; the believer is made divine by loving Divinity;

7) Much religious expression is simply egotistical; hence, the sad case of Religionists – they seek to use religion as a way to promote themselves (they have an inferiority complex) and to have power over others; Satanism is implacably opposed to religionism;

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8) Only the Self is ultimately interested in your expression of Love (AGAPE) for the Lord; the feelings of intense pleasure (Indulgence) you experience when contemplating your love for God are for and made by yourself, although religion is born from when people unite to experience that pleasure as a community; when all is said and done, humans are social animals, it is hard to criticize such a collectively held desire;

9) The Four Holy Words: ‘I’ – you are divine for loving God; ‘love’ – God is simply love; ‘you’ – God is personal, if non-intervening – you love God unconditionally, not because if you scratch His back, with flattery, God will scratch yours! But God’s existence is assumed; this assumption is the source and basis of one’s love for God. ‘Not-holy: neither holy nor unholy, but beyond the duality these words express!

*God cannot be assumed to possess gender because this would make God a Particular, whereas God, as supreme object of devotion, must be a General case. The male pronoun is included for reasons of scanning (such as there is!) and brevity.

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THE PROJECTIONIST

Even the Magickal Self – which touches all points of the universe, on every level, in every dimension – does not appreciate the limit of what can be known about the characteristics and nature of God.

Moreover, the Magickal Self resents the mystery that is God and seeks ever to project its own ideas about the nature of God onto the phenomenal and even psychic worlds, as if such ideas originated from an external source, or as if some external reality was being detected.

For example, the Magickal Self thinks ‘God is green’ and behold – from out of the shadows of Mystery, steps a green God! The Magickal Self knows – has gnosis of – God’s undoubted existence, so it thinks that there exists a ‘green God’.

But the Magickal Self is deluded, for God remains a mystery because God is totally other than the Magickal Self, whereas everything that is thought about God originates from what can be known about the Self. (Often it is whatever the Self has absorbed from experiencing the many dimensions with which it has contact.)

There exists another source of error: the Magickal Self asserts that ‘God is X’, but this is not to say that X is God, because God is God, of whom only a certain limited number of characteristics can be predicated e.g. existence.

The Magickal Self (and the human self as such) must be careful to distinguish between the fact of God’s existence and any ‘facts’ that may be asserted about God.

Beware the Projectionist that is the Magickal Self!

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THE TWO GODS OF SATANIC GNOSIS

Man is becoming GodExperiencing God-realisationAs Man gains knowledge of –Becomes intimate with –The Workings of His Magickal Self; For this Self is greater thanThe human who experiences ITBut God is greater thanEither Self or human. The Magickal Self is beyond the individual;God is beyond the individual and the Magickal Self. This is why ‘Man becoming God’Must remain a turn of phrase,It means Enlightenment. For to ‘realise God’ Is to realise that you are not GodAnd that God is external to and beyond you,Greater than you In the sense of being more than you can conceive, Even of yourself. To know this,Is to enter into the Satanic Gnosis!To become enlightened.

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TO LADY S

Because you love the Lord your God, Lord SATAN, however you understand the meaning of the word ‘deity’, you are a most beautiful person, and this Beauty, which arises, as a feeling, from just one moment of Love (AGAPE) for the Divine, goes beyond all those your attributes that might be called ‘beautiful’.

You, and all those who love the Lord, are more beautiful than the usual measure of beauty can encompass, beyond your intelligence, your practical or artistic abilities, your intentions and actions, your physical presence, social status, ethnic background, age, gender and sexual orientation; beyond your successes and failures; beyond your state of physical and mental health – meaning that your Love for God is a constant amidst your ever changing fortunes.

And yet your beauty as a ‘God-lover’ remains part of your attributes, character traits and present life situation. This love for God, which you profess, is integral to your life and physicality; there is no need to deny materialism and the material world. “I will not torture my body with austerities.” (Mahavirvana Tantra)

On the other hand, a natural asceticism arises that is based on:

a) recognizing the difference between loving God and loving all else, simply

in terms of the intensity of the emotional experience; so one often chooses to love the former above the latter;

b) The appreciation and application of your True Will in all matters; thus you avoid becoming a slave to fashion or to culturally fashionable ways of thinking. For a Satanist – ever questioning and seeking personal freedom – views every issue on its own merits as being multi-faceted and revealing different agendas, truth being a relative thing, except when acknowledging the truth of your feelings towards God.

As someone who loves the Lord SATAN, you ought to be loved by all spiritual Satanists, for this if not for anything else; it is on the basis of a mutual love for the Divine that religious communities are formed and maintained.

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THE ALL AS DEITY

Some might be rather confused about the differences between a theist and a deist position; or whether God is the Self, or an external Other; whether or not the God Satan is a humanoid figure (a ‘Father Satan’) or a ball of gas or energy; or even a real Being greater than which can be conceived and yet possessing of existence, an idea of which we can conceive!

For those who want to acknowledge an existent ‘something’ within the Self, with which you can have a relationship, but which lacks human intelligence (an idea you may find too far fetched to swallow), or any intelligence we are capable of understanding, perhaps the idea that God (Satan) is the All may be more appropriate, that is:

a) the whole universe of matter, all 10 to the power of 52 tonnes of it, being the estimated mass of the observable universe (Satanists hold matter in the highest esteem);

b) the life force that permeates all sentient matter – Satanists hold sentience to be of ultimate value;

c) a combination of both.

This concept of God will have moral significance: instead of seeing the universe as being either good or evil (a battleground between these forces), it is seen as a mixture, or better, as something beyond our notion of good and evil – the universe just IS – it functions in certain ways that are either or at once hostile or favourable towards us.

And, far from God being a ‘ball of gas’, God is matter and life – the fullness of existence of which we are sensible, to which we are connected via the senses. Moreover, this God is not anthropomorphic; we humans are not made in the image of God, but simply a congealing of the matter-stuff of the universe and a combination of its forces …

Thus God is All and as Satanists we can celebrate our intimate connection to matter. We call the All Satan, and deify the universe.

In modern times, when Science has laid the universe bare for all to see, we may think it appropriate, given our scientific culture, to view God as an impersonal all or life force rather than a personal and anthropomorphic deity. Either way, God is the significant Other, and stands as the object of devotion par excellence.

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SECTION TWO

WHOM I LOVE The God whom I love

Is labelled ‘the Devil’.

Has a bad reputation.

Is the “centre of pestilence”,

Wears an iron mask, fearful, terrible;

A crown of thorns

Condemned for sedition,

For crimes against religion.

The God whom I love

Is the one they love to hate;

At whom the killing stone is thrown;

Spat upon, whipped the scapegoat out of town,

The Outsider, an Insurrectionist!

“The evil one”, “do not follow Him”!

Ah, but nothing's as it seems,

And all may be the opposite of appearances:

Folk fear the mysterious –

Convinced it will bring them no good -

This fear - the source of their hatred –

Forgive them, Lord, their egocentricity!

Now they swear to repudiate His evil works

Which, all, are simply theirs to project

Onto some demon who, they say, led them astray!

Oh dark, mysterious One!

Known, named -

The nameless Something -

Centred at the heart of Love,

My ability to love …

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ECHO

There is nothing left but the desolate, meaningless space my mind has left behind, where, beholding itself, found

there was nothing.

Then from afar, there was a faint echo of a flute-like sound, dancing out of the trees, softly ruffling their

scented boughs.

I listened intently and it seemed to me that it was in fact the sound of my own voice returning to me from across

the universe.

So must I have sung:

‘I love you, Dark One!’

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The Process: LVXL

The Virtuous love Powerfully;In their Love, they are Powerful.

GOD is the Power of Love –V

For the Weak, Love and PowerAre both enemies,

And of each other!.

To attain Power, the WeakMust Love not;

To Love, they mustGive their Power away.

X

By Loving GOD,The Weak become Powerful

And by their WeaknessBecome they Virtuous!

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PRAYER

I possess a secret love

For an unknown deity,

Feared by the majority,

Revered by a few:

To say His Sacred Name,

To reject a Shadow,

That falls across the paths of those

Who curse Him;

For then their ‘evil one’

They bring upon themselves!

A secret love have I

That dare not speak His Name

That leaps across the barrier

Between Known-accepted

Unknown-rejected –

Brings Unknown into the fold.

So to the Lord of the Ninth Gate

(Which is that Barrier)

I am devoted.

Let pleasures of such devotion fill me –

Even unto my last spark of consciousness.

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THE NINE COMMANDMENTS OF SATANISM

1) Allow yourself to fall in love with God, however you understand those words;2) Honour free will;3) Smile wryly at the behaviour of yourself and others; at the irony of human life:

the good that we omit to do, and the harm that we do frequently;4) Be a guardian of the inner peace, for it may manifest in your world;5) Cultivate self-sufficiency in yourself and others; stable communities are

founded on this endeavour;6) Balance introspective caution with fearless action;7) Be positive about the future but be prepared to lower your expectations of

yourself, of others and of the world; you will break these commandments many times!

8) Increase the happiness of those who are known to you first; and remember you, too, are known (to yourself);

9) Judge every case on its own merits; be assured but not dismayed – life will disprove your theories and your generalizations.

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SECTION THREE

FAQ ON SATANISM

How do you feel about being questioned about your satanic beliefs?

I feel nervous. This is because Satanists are feared or at least mistrusted – with some justification, but we will come to that later; we are mocked – the Hollywood image of Satanism does not help of course. We are also scapegoated by new-age pagans and Wiccans who like to say they are not Satanists in order to gain a measure of respectability.

So what is Satanism?

Broadly speaking, Satanism comes in four flavours and Satanists interpret the word ‘Satan’ differently:

a) as a symbol of hedonism, materialism and atheism, including pragmatism; Satanism is in militant opposition to religion, but not necessary Marxian! Religions oppresses the individual, not necessarily the working classes;

b) As Magickal Power; this is released by many ‘extreme practices’ when the superego or the conditioned self is suspended; any action that does this is justified, dependent on personality and circumstances; in practical terms, if you can get away with it, do it! But the Satanist takes responsibility for his or her own actions; the devil did not make the Satanist do it!

c) As a real, existent and external deity, which may or may not intervene in human affairs or may or may not be accessible by humans; or even the True Self, held in as much regard as a deity, a subset of this category, the Traditionalists who believe that La Messe Noire, for example, was inspired by Lord Satan, whose characteristics are known and who does intervene in the lives of His worshippers;

d) As an impersonal, natural Principle of conflict – the Adversarial Spirit in Nature. Satan represents every kind of force of opposition AND every instance or condition of conflict between two (or more) forces. Nevertheless, this is how Nature ‘works’ (for example, muscles function in groups of pairs which work antagonistically to each other). Through conflict which stimulates adaptation, every living system in nature evolves.

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So Satan, as a combative or antagonistic spirit, works positively – for growth and evolution (after Jason King). This is a form or variant of neo-deism.

Which kind are you?

I am a neo-deist Satanist; the deity exists, is somehow worthy of love and yet who is mostly hidden, but is aloof from the human and the world – but stories are created by worshippers in order to express their devotion (they are just that!).

You mentioned the modern, atheist variety, why call this - what is it?- A life philosophy Satanic – why not call it humanist, libertarian? And why not call theistic Satanism paganism; why not call Satanic Magick, witchcraft?

This is partly out of respect for all those free-thinkers, alchemists, scientists and witches who were condemned as Satanists by the Christian Church – and the witch has always been a useful enemy by to pre and non-Christian communities.

To indicate our extreme critical analysis of religion or society, its assumptions, its values, its traditions, its fashions, etc. Hence, Satan is the Spirit of Adversary!

Because Satan has an traditional association between darkness or that which is hidden – but which is revealed to those who are open to it. Satan is also associated with fear – to penetrate the mysteries or the Self or god, it is necessary to overcome fear, which is a product of conditioning.

But really Satanism is merely the worship of evil, negativity and the destructive, self-destructive, anti-social side of our natures? And why would you want to do this?

Well, the objective of Satanism is sometimes seen as ‘thinking outside the box’ – this box could be moral; that is one thing; the other theme that may run through Satanism is the pursuit of power over environment, over people, the magical Universe. When you combine these two objectives or themes, many Satanists will be drawn to extreme actions. But it is all relative: a person who was vegetarian could eat meat! And this would only apply to a Satanist as a modern shaman; the theist will take on board much of the morality that has come down to us via Christianity. In my experience, modern Satanists are quite conventional: they are into the pursuit of happiness but not at great cost to

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themselves at least! I don’t condone or condemn because people will attain to Power by whatever means, according to their psychological make-up and life situation. Moral indignation will never make a Satanist break out in a sweat! If the Satanic Shaman’s got your name on his list of people he wants to make life difficult for, you could be in trouble! (But if he has, it may be to teach you a useful life lesson!)

So as a Satanist, what do you actually do and think and why?

Okay, but I can only answer for my own actions.

I carry out occasional rituals or ceremonies and daily religious observances to remind me of my love for the ‘Lord, my God’

I try to develop virtue which means ‘strength’ – whatever that means!

I pursue a sense of my freedom of choice in all matters

I practice yoga because I believe yoga brings me a sense of inner freedom.

I try to appreciate pleasure and beauty.

I try to think outside the box which, for me, means critically analyzing what people say to me, including what I believe in or hold to be ‘true’.

I try to separate myself from my ideas, so that I do not declare: ‘I am this idea’.

I try to live by the Five Expressions of Satanism:

Be yourself

Love yourself

Express yourself

Defend yourself

Enjoy yourself

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APPENDIX

SHADOWS Shadows reachFrom Satan’s Kingdom –They are the ghostly guardiansOf his realm. And yet they are createdBy the thoughtsOf the young girl’s ‘fragile, eggshell mind’*. She must confront her fears,Overcome conditioning –The lies about Lord SatanTold down through all the years!

*Jim Morrison, American prayer, 1970

Hidden God

Lord Satan is a hidden or occult deity, ‘feared by the majority, revered by the few’.

This god is real and not a symbol. But this god is mysterious, an unknown quantity.

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Lord Satan represents the ‘unknown-rejected’; most people fear the unknown.

For others, however, not only have they no fear of Satan (the unknown), but they have faith that, once they have passed the Ninth Gate, they will fully comprehend and understand Lord Satan, rendering God ‘known-accepted’.

Until then, these Pilgrims of the Ninth Gate accept his mysterious nature; this hidden deity is their supreme object of devotion.

THE QUALITIES OF A PILGRIM

a) By maintaining Silence, you can guard against those who would disrupt your journey;

b) Acceptance that the way through is not easy and that it is full of twists and turns, and that you have to find your way through the maze; to explore an unknown country without the aid of a map, with just your intuition as compass;

c) You need some raw courage to journey into the unknown-rejected; every pioneer travels alone;

d) Stand up to those who would persecute you, for what is bodily pain or insult compared to love’s sustaining power?

e) The key to winning the greatest game is thinking on your feet; flowing, flaring, following, freezing (waiting); there are rules to every game, yet they determine successful outcomes;

f) Hold back not one drop of your creativity and commitment – these exist to be used, speculate to accumulate; unto the last dreg is the chalice of Self emptied; in pouring out, one is also consuming its contents;

g) Let there be laughter along the way, for humour unites the tragedy and the irony of life and makes you release on anxiety, reducing all to zero (the comedy of life). We may yet be victims of our own success; eggs must always be broken to make an omelette; one person’s loss is another’s gain;

h) The key may be found along the way, as if it [original MS read ‘I’) were in pieces and, in finding the pieces of the key, we can unite the parts of the key;

i) This is the very key that opens the Ninth Gate – we may realise that the

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answer is in our sight all the time, but we do not have the eyes to see it.

RITE OF THE NINE GATES

PRIEST: In the Name of Lord Satan, to Whom we are dedicated, I open this ritual chamber. Let all who have genuine business here, gather and attend!

CONGREGATION: We are duly gathered in the Name of Lord Satan, to Whom we are devoted.

P: Now let us celebrate the Mystery of the Ninth Gate, and our love for the Lord! For to journey as Pilgrims unto and beyond the Ninth Gate is to demonstrate great love for Lord Satan because the journey is undertaken in His Sacred Name.

Con: Thus we journey unto and beyond the Ninth Gate to Lord Satan’s Kingdom of Shadows.

P: Let us make our journey as a fellowship of Pilgrims, with the fire of devotion burning fiercely in our hearts, seeking revelation, desirous to know and to understand the hidden nature of the Lord.

Con: So let us travel as individuals and as a body of Pilgrims.

P: Let us now remember the nine gates through which we must pass:

ALL: We travel in silence, for our intention is not to be divulged to the profane;

By a long and circuitous route, for we explore the labyrinth of our minds, knowing that change is part of consciousness;

Bearing the arrows of misfortune: we accept that to go beyond the boundaries of conditioning is to risk all;

Fearing neither noose nor fire: for aeons, seekers after Truth have been persecuted;

To play the greatest game and win: life is the greatest game,

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and life is the execution of Will;

Forgoing no expense: this journey must needs some sacrifice, and sacrifice means ‘to make holy’;

To laugh at the vicissitudes of life: what care we for troubles? – we are wild with no regrets;

To gain at last the key; and that key is to be found along the way – it is the Way;

That opens the Ninth Gate: whereby we may fully attain the knowledge and understanding of the Lord of the Ninth Gate, who is Lord Satan, our Beloved.

P: But along the way, it is meet that Pilgrims should tarry awhile in safe haven and find comfort and fellowship in each other, be it ever so temporary and fleeting

Con: We shall tarry so awhile, we shall celebrate our Quest here and now!

P: We love the Lord our God – we open our hearts to Him and pray:

ALL: [SECRET AFFIRMATIONS OF THE NINTH GATE. Page 30.]

P: It is well, let us now feast and find true company in each other, for we are Pilgrims of the Ninth Gate. We give thanks for Thy existence O Lord. Soon we shall know and understand Thee, through persistence unto the end.

Con: Unto the End!

P: Let us feast in the Name of Lord Satan!

Con: In the Name of Lord Satan, Hail all Pilgrims of the Ninth Gate!

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Secret Affirmations of the Ninth Gate

'Satanism is a religion of Self,

Therefore ...

I will let go of fear,of all ambition,of attachment to the senses and their objects;of creativity;of duty;of 'I, me and mine':of letting go (so I can be in the world, but not of it);

of the activated spine;of this illuminated world;

I will love the lord in the here and now;

I will daily contemplate that I am already there,beyond the Ninth Portal;

I never left there ... not for an instant!

I shall vibrate the word:

L A

[This is pronounced 'lay-e'. Stress 'l'; 'a' and then 'e' at end.]

(which means 'not'; 'not this, but that -That which lies beyond the final gate)'

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