I chose Atheism, Hinduism and Other (Norse/Anglo Saxon Mythology). I don't see Atheism as incompatible with any of the esoteric systems of the religions mentioned above, or even in some of the exoteric systems e.g. Samkhya Hinduism. However I have to disagree with Wyrmfang that Atheism is a religion, although there are certainly many people who treat it as an absolute and omniscient authority.
An atheistic book that I'm often reminded of whenever I'm studying psychological occult philosophy is Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene which basically theorises why humanity evolved the behavioural and moral qualities we have today. Additionally, general Lamarcian theories of evolution have recently been reconsidered in Darwinian models. I often think of this in conjunction with some recent psychological and occult authors noting a supposed general change in the mentality of humanity over the centuries, but particularly during the Enlightenment. These two issues cycle through my head quite regularly.
Hinduism and Norse Mythology are selected simply because:
I have more of an affinity with Norse mythology due to reading sagas as a child and having a relatively recent Scandinavian heritage.
After I discovered Indo-European linguistics and mythology were a thing when I was in my early teens I realised Hinduism presented the most developed of a largely extinct group, mythologically speaking. It is also the religion that, in my opinion, is the most tolerant of Left Hand Path ideologies.
'Oh Krishna, restless and overpowering, this mind is overwhelmingly strong; I think we might as easily gain control over the wind as over this.'
If I weren't a Satanist, I'd probably consider myself a Christian: I see these two world-views as opposites only in a limited sense. When trying to define them in relation to each other (assuming that we're talking about esoteric Christianity), I concluded that at the heart of Christianity there's humility, and at the heart of Satanism, pride. These, in turn, are interdependent: one cannot be truly proud of oneself without having some right kind of humility, and vice versa. This can be seen very clearly in the figure of Christ, who was both a loving and caring teacher and a fire-spirited revolutionary.
So Satanism and Christianity are, in my opinion, two sides of the same Western spirituality: I see them not so much in contrast with each other as with eastern religions. In Buddhism, for example, suffering is treated as something one has to get rid of, whereas in both Christianity and Satanism the central myths are about suffering that is seen as an active power, a sacrifice for life to go on. In a sense, suffering is worshipped. And this feels very much more warm, living and humane than the pursuit of enlightenment. When reading Buddhist literature about how to end all suffering, I sometimes feel like some scientist was telling me that I don't really suffer, because it's all just chemistry in my brain. Well thank you very much, that helped!
Of course I know very little about Buddhism, and am here referring to its popularized forms. I also agree completely with Buddhist philosophy, but it can't be helped that I feel the way I do, and one of course chooses a religion with ones heart.
Hinduism I like because it shares the philosophy of Buddhism and enlivens it with a rich mythology. If it really came to officially belonging to some religious group, I think that in practice I would rather belong to Hinduism than to any church, because I've never heard of a church that would be as tolerant as Hinduism in general is. Shaivism also interests me a lot, as it is probably the closest Eastern equivalent to Satanism. I have to devote some time to studying this subject in the future.
And finally: Atheism, firstly because I agree with Wyrmfang about it being a religion that elevates mans love and will, and secondly because it is an anti-religion, an arrogant, impatient and destructive Modern ideology that tears everything to shreds so that new life can arise from the ruins.
Cancer wrote:If I weren't a Satanist, I'd probably consider myself a Christian: I see these two world-views as opposites only in a limited sense. When trying to define them in relation to each other (assuming that we're talking about esoteric Christianity), I concluded that at the heart of Christianity there's humility, and at the heart of Satanism, pride. These, in turn, are interdependent: one cannot be truly proud of oneself without having some right kind of humility, and vice versa. This can be seen very clearly in the figure of Christ, who was both a loving and caring teacher and a fire-spirited revolutionary.
Very well put, I heartily agree here.
Although I don't see Satanism as a form of Christianity or just anti-Christianity as some people do, Christianity was the thing that made me Satanist. In a cultural context with a more pantheistic ideas I think I hadn't embraced Satanism, but Christianity pretty much made it a question of absolute choice with its idea that "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth" (Luke 11:23). Christian dualism as a psychological (not theological) schism is so deep in our culture that only people who can dismiss it as something not interesting simply do not see where our shared cultural psychology comes from & where it is bound, i.e. two thousand years of Christian theology that can't be made undone. It's in our upbringing, our culture, our subconscious, everywhere.
Just like you said, the problem of pride & humility (or, even more often: shame that is humility in its unripe state, a form of bad pride). In the West, that is the central problem of the conflict between the Ego & its surroundings - or "family". For are they not "FREEDOM" and "FAMILY" that form the central sacred thesis in, for example, all the American films we have been fed since our childhood? Because that's the dharma of the Occident, to find the subtle equilibrium of those two, to become as free individuals who are still supporting, not disintegrating the whole. In old Christianity, the problem is in its embryonic - but just because of that, very clear & essential - form. In our secular culture, the same problem is still there every bit as strong, although apparently sublimated (in Freudian, not occult sense). The goal, it seems, is still a distant one though...
Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
