Adept II°
Part I:
RITUAL
The aim of the Satanic ritual is to draw on the latent psychic, emotional and instinctual forces within the Satanist, to tap levels of his unconscious and relate them to archetypes, and other dimensions of being, forces of energy and entities which interact through the human psyche (most commonly in the form of dreams).
The demon the Satanist evokes is that which was understood by the Classical Greeks, the daimon (pronounced dymown): one's guiding spirit or genius, a source of inspiration and creativity.
In order to summon these archetypes, forms of energy and beings the Satanist must alter his own state of consciousness and wholly identify himself with that which is being evoked. This is the purpose of ceremony and ritual.
The Satanist, unlike the religious dogmatist, is not bound by 'divinely ordained' prescriptions in conducting his rituals. Whatever works for the Satanist is legitimate.
There are however a few basics of Satanic ritual which the Satanist will probably wish to preserve, in Order to identify himself with the Satanic historical tradition: The primary colour used is black; the secondary, red. The inverse pentagram (rep. man's sovereignty above the tyrant-gods) is the principal symbol. Movements are performed 'widdershins' (anti-clockwise) . The Salute used is the Sign of the Cornu (Horns). The altar will normally be draped in black, and adorned with Black candles. The magical weapons rep. the four elements:
Wand (fire), dagger/sword (air), pentacle (earth), chalice (water).
It should be noted that the spilling of blood and ritual sacrifice are NOT the most effective means of releasing energy for ritual utilization. The most effective energy release comes from the Satanist himself, utilizing whatever emotion-releasing methods he desires during the ritual.
Steps in formulating a ritual
Rituals for the fulfillment of a specific desire are highly personal matters, best left to the Black Magician to formulate for himself. However, the following guide in formulating such rituals may be of assistance.
Light altar candles.
Meditate on your desire, and imagine its details.
Evoke Satan tracing [IMAGE:INV. PENTAGRAM] in air to:
South - "Sanctus Satanas!"
East - "Ave Satanas!"
North - "Rege Satanas!"
West - "Dominus Satanas!"
Face image of Satan, or inverse pentagram symbol, raise left arm in Sign of Cornu, declaring:
"Our Father which art in Hell, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Hell.
Give us this day our ecstasy,
Lead us into temptation, and deliver us to evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever!"
Raise chalice to altar, then drink therefrom.
Evoke the daimons and deities relevant to the desire
(e,g. Ishtar and Pan for lust/love; Mammon for wealth; Kali, Shiva, Abaddon for death/destruction).
Have your desire written down on clean, new paper. Read the desire aloud, addressing it to deities evoked.
Burn the paper on altar candle, visualizing its message being hurled throughout the cosmos or at a specific target, in the form of a blazing [IMAGE:INV. PENTAGRAM]
Enact the fulfillment of your desire (e.g. imagining yourself being with the one lusted after; knifing an image of the person whose destruction you will, etc.)
Declare, "So mote it be!" Sign of Cornu. "Hail, Satan!"
Extinguish candles.
- What is the main aim of Satanic ritual magic?
- What is the 'demon' the Satanist really invokes?
- What are the two primary colours used in Satanic ritual?
- What is the symbol of Satanism (name and draw it) and what does it signify?
- Name one infernal god/goddess representing: (a) lust, (b) death.
- Obtain or make your own altar tools, and construct your own altar.
Provide an illustration and full description of altar and tools. - Using the above guideline, formulate and perform a simple ritual.
Provide full description.
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Part II:
MYTHOLOGY
FRIENDS OF MAN: ENEMIES OF GOD
In the Classical and Semitic religions which have been incorporated into Western Civilization since its beginning there is a theme which is quite constant: that the 'Satanic' entities have been those which have stood with Man against a god who is tyrannical.
The tyrant gods represented as one who created Man to satisfy a power-lust, to sadistically do to Man as he so wills, predicated upon keeping his human creation ignorant and fearful.
In Greek mythology Zeus is the tyrant god who forbade cultural ascent of Man. Prometheus was he who aligned himself with Man, the culture-hero who gave Man the gifts of fire, knowledge of astronomy, writing, domestication of animals, seacraft, medicine, metallurgy, all those arts of culture which elevated Man from cave-dwelling ignorance unto the heights of Civilization. (Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus, 5th C. BC).
Here the archetypes of god as tyrant and 'Satan' as culture hero are evident.
In the Judaeo-christian mythos there is a similar scenario: that of Jehovah, the Hebrew Zeus, demanding that Man be kept in ignorance and servility, and that of Satan, the Hebrew Prometheus, offering the gift of knowledge to Man, in defiance of the tyrant god.
This legend itself is partly based on the Babylonian creation epic, which mentions the chaos dragon Tiamat sending a 'serpent' to Man to impart wisdom, for which both Man and serpent are cursed by the gods who begrudged Man wisdom.
There is an additional mythos only hinted at in Genesis. This is the allusion to the sons of god mating with the daughters of Man, by which were sired children who became the heroes of old. For this 'crime' Jehovah sent forth The Deluge. Although the myth is obviously of earth-shattering dimensions nothing of it is further explained in the judaeo-christian Bible as it has come down to us. The details must be had from the apocryphal Book of Enoch.
Here we are told that the sons of god, an angelic order described as 'Watchers', desired carnal existence and children by the daughters of Man, but such was not for angels, according to the dictates of Jehovah.
These Watchers rebelled and descended to earth. They took wives, and taught the arts of civilization, Promethean-style: botany, metallurgy, writing, astronomy, astrology, the use of paint, dyes, cosmetics, and weapons. This of course enraged god.
Man and Watchers were cursed for this knowledge. The sons of the Watchers were slain, and the Watchers were, again Promethean-style, bound. Jehovah resolved to purge the earth with The Deluge, save the servile Noah, "then shall all the children of the earth be righteous, and all nations shall pay me divine honours, and bless me and all shall adore me," the holy megalomaniac is quoted as stating.
"A commandment had gone forth from the Lord against those who dwell on the earth, that they may be destroyed; for they know every secret of the angels, every oppressive and secret power of the Satans... they have discovered secrets..."
But Noah was chosen by god because he was "pure and good, free from the reproach of discovering secrets" (i.e. he was pig-ignorant).
Such Ages-old myths are a reflection of the Gift of Satan, a distant memory which remanifests, albeit obscurely, in the legends and religions of Man. The central theme can be deduced easily enough, however, by those free from contrived ideas of 'good and evil': that it is the Satanic beings (as literally the 'adversaries' of god) who stand with man against godly tyranny. It is interestring to note (considering Enoch states that the spirits of the dead sons of the Watchers became "demons") that the ancient Greeks should have had an intuitive recongition of the significance of such 'demons' (or daimons) as their guiding geniuses, the inspirers of the arts of culture which became the glory of their Civilization.
- What archetypes can 'god' and ‘satan' be said to portray in various religious myths?
- Why can Prometheus be said to portray a 'Satanic' archetype?
- Why did the 'Wathchers' rebel against Jehovah?
- What arts did the 'Watchers' teach man, according to "The Book or Enoch"?
- Why did Jehovah destroy the earth because of the arts which the 'Watchers' had given man?
- Why was Noah singled out by Jehovah to be saved from the "Deluge"?
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Part III:
PHYSIS: FIRST STEPS TOWARDS "SELF-OVERCOMING"
"Are you the victor, the self-conqueror, the ruler of your senses, the lord of your virtues? thus I ask you?"
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Forumulate a programme of physical health and fitness, including giving up any habits which are physically or psychologically weakening or controlling you (e.g. drugs, tobacco, excessive alcohol).
- Provide details, including an honest assessment of how well you feel you will progress, difficulties encountered, etc.
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Part IV:
PATHWORKINGS
Pathworkings are not simply a leisurely diversion into fantasy. A Working activates the unconscious and puts it into communication with the archetypes of the collective unconscious.
Just as psychiatrists use word-association and ink-blot tests to uncover unconscious areas of their patients, psyches, so the Adept uses Pathworkings to cap not only his own unconscious but to put it in contact with universal images and wisdom, accumulated over thousands of years of man's evolution.
1. (a) Either buy a Tarot deck of a type which particularly appeals to you, and choose three of the Trumps;
OR
(b) Choose three runes (see appendix) and draw each on three pieces of card or paper, about 3" x 2"; e.g.:
[IMAGE:RUNES]
Do not undertake more than one Pathworking per day.
- Sit or lie comfortably.
- Clear your mind.
- Gaze at the Trump/rune for several minutes.
- Close your eyes and visualize the details of the Trump/rune on a large door.
- Visualize yourself opening the door and walking through it.
- Observe the landscape and surroundings, ask questions of those you meet, ask for a 'guide' to take you through if you wish
- Do not force the images; let them arise from your 'imagination' (unconscious) spontaneously.
- When you have seen all you wish, return through the door, back to normal consciousness, declaring, "it is done."
- Write a detailed report of all you have seen and heard.
- Consider what the symbols, images, etc. might represent, and whether they have any special meaning to you personally.
- Look up the meaning of the Trump/rune and compare it to your own notes.
- Provide a full report of all three Pathworkings.
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Part V:
SELF-ACTUALIZATION
The Satanist Adept seeks to recognize his 'True Self' and fulfill it. This is his unique destiny - his Quest for the Grail of Selfhood -finding who he truly is, and not the persona that he plays according to the demands of social convention, relatives, religion, etc.
The humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow formulated a "Hierarchy of Needs". The needs of one level must be at least partially fulfilled before the next level becomes an important factor in one's life.
For e.g. when food and safety (at the first level) are hard to obtain, then these primitive survival needs will dominate one's life, to the exclusion of higher motives. When the primal needs are met with ease, the individual will be able to spend time and energy on higher levels. The highest level in Maslow's hierarchy is self-actualization.
Maslow tested his theory on college students (US equivalent to NZ's universities) and found the self-actualizers to be the healthiest 1% of the population, showing no signs of maladjustment, and using their talents and abilities effectively.
Maslow's advice on how to self-actualize includes: experience life with full absorption and concentration, try new experiences rather than being bound by secure and safe ways, listen to your own experiences rather than being tied to traditional values or 'majority opinion', avoid pretense, prepare to be unpopular if your views aren't those of the herd, assume individual responsibility, work hard at whatever you decide to do, identify your defence mechanisms and have the courage to give them up.
"Defence mechanisms" are your psychological protection from reality, but they are also a hindrance to the discovery of your "True Self". They include:
(a) Denial: the individual doesn't allow unacceptable ideas about himself to be recognized and confronted.
(b) Projection: the individual shields himself from his own undesirable traits by attributing them in exaggerated form to others.
(c) Rationalization: Justifying an act by assigning an acceptable reason for it which was really done for other personally less acceptable reasons.
"Ideal Self" & "Real Self"
Carl Rogers theory of Self states that how one perceives one's Self influences how you View the world and behave in it.
The "Real Self" is the person you are now. The "Ideal Self" is the idealized person you’d like to he. The greater the distance between the two in reality, the greater the maladjustment, discontent, etc. is likely to be.
- What is your conception of your "Ideal Self" (the person you’d like to be)?
- How do you view your "Real Self"?
- List the interferences in the way of achieving the "Ideal self.
- What do you think you can do to overcome these interferences?
- To what extent are such interferences products of your own deficiencies; what ones are the result of the influence of others?
- What do you consider to be your major goal or life's purpose?
- What factors are preventing you from reaching your goal/purpose, and who or what is responsible?
- Consider ways in which you can overcome these obstacles, and self-actualize.
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Part VI
Write an essay of approx. 500 words on why you chose to become a Satanist, and how you expect it to affect your life.
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Part VII
Please provide a resume of any qualifications, skills, interests, hobbies, collections which you feel may benefit our Orrder. (E.g. artistic abilities, qualifications in specialized areas of research, collections of occult books/equipment, etc.).
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APPENDIX
The Runes: The Mystical alphabet of the Norse, Germanic and Saxon peoples.
[IMAGE: RUNE CHART]