How to be a religious Gnostic Satanist?

[nevermore218]

This seems like the question of a complete neophyte, but I think it's one worth asking.

One thing that has bothered me for a time is one gets loads of instructions from various Satanic groups regarding magic, ritual and the like... but very few seem to focus on the how.

What can those of us do that truthfully want to feel something from their faith must do in order to actually, well, feel something? Most of my practices end up making me feel hollow. Unfulfilled. Almost like I'm doing something wrong.

Perhaps a more poetic way of saying it is, I'm searching for a flame that I fear may have smoldered out already, and I'm looking for a way to re-ignite it?

How do SoA members practice their religion daily? What can I do to be more of a religious individual?

I realize the open-ended nature of this question, and I apologize if it's asking too much.

Regards,

[Nefastos]

No, I think that is a very good question, and something that people should be asking more.

I try to give some personal thoughts upon the subject.

I
Work for the beneficence of your ideal. In the brotherhood it is easy, because there's always plenty to be done; but one can of course work alone, too. The masters within & without will notice this & reward such a karma-yogi with spiritual insight.

II
Pray for Truth, as Solomon did. There is no end to what we can achieve by climbing the stairs higher & higher. Every new blazing jewel of wisdom will lighten for us new corridors to explore. So never think that you know enough already about the world. After many decades & many lives filled with study we are yet only students, pupils, eager to know more. For to know more of occult life is to live more, to exist more truly. Gradually the blindness ceases.

III
Do not despise anything, but rather seek ways to exploit it. Things that at first have appeared to me most distasteful, low & stupid have later given me the most satisfaction, when my mind have opened to understand how exactly to use those currents. Trying to cut something completely out of oneself ends in drying of one's vital force, because it can't circulate anymore. But it's imperative that no forcing is used, but the harnessing of those strange energies are based on some new insight. Be ready to do stupid or ridiculous things occasionally.

IV
Paradoxically from that follows that we should not despise negative feelings neither, and so it's permissible to despise & hate after all. But those feelings should not lead us to dead ends of despair, that easily happens if we do not grasp the idea how to use them as tools and not as our masters. It's always possible to channel these negative energies in a positive way, if we are careful.

V
Follow those ideals & idols you feel drawn to, but never cease to purify them even more as long as there is any resistance in your mind while adoring a certain form. If your heart whispers there's still something little bit wrong in your idol or ideal, there most certainly is, even if most of it is superb.

VI
Build an altar. Step by step, year after year, make it more & more beautiful by adding icons & instruments of the art. Pray or meditate before this personal shrine.

VII
Seek personal places of power. Walk to places that mean good things to you, let them open up your mind's locks. Be at ease. Even when you can't see the spirits in places (genius loci), your subconscious mind interacts with them, & they open new meanings to you.

VIII
When you are not doing work but relaxing, avoid people who do not share the true flame & spirit. Much talk with mundane people exhausts you & their dull auras obscure your inner senses. Rather try to work for they benefit from afar, if possible. But if your work so demands, do not hesitate to get involved with people: subconsciously they receive something from you, and that's a mutual benefit.

IX
Do not seek to become a great magician or a master. Seek to become an apprentice magician or a student worthy of master's attention. In modern Left Hand Path (or actually any magic) studies people often try to run before they can walk, and try to pass as masters when they are not even true neophytes. That is not true pride of oneself, but instead blind & stupid hubris that obstructs real growth.

X
Never lie.

XI
If you feel the flame wavering, demand more from yourself. Understand that you can attain anything, if you're ready to go through many obstacles to reach it. All doubts are the work of guardian demons of secret things, of which names an occultist can learn & thus conquer them. All new insights are added power, and all insights are first subconscious. Therefore never be discouraged: feeling of despair is a feeling telling us that we could attain a greater state of being. It's already a promise of its fulfilment, but we must be patient in work. Pekka Ervast said that the initiate is the one who can make promises to God: it means that even if some work demands a thousand or ten thousand years, an initiate can promise to do such work. If our eyes are in the star of inspiration, it is meaningless how long the journey takes.

XII
As a Satanist remember to try to find inspiration in things that profane people fear. When you must confront some thing that seems unpleasant, take it as a quick training method given to you by the master. Only if your heart tells you you're not ready, then do not force yourself, but rather give up - knowing you can return later, perhaps in next life, when you're better equipped. But if you feel you could extract something good from a strange situation, take that inspiration. Do not mourn death just because it's common for mundane people who do not know better. Use tantric approach carefully, mindfully.

XIII
Never kill out your sexual impulse, but rather purify it from gross that harms yourself & other people. The erotic flame is the first stage of kundalini fire, and easy to harness when the soul part is purified.

XIV
If you feel you need special couragement, favour or change of direction, do not hesitate to use the help of goetic spirits in ceremonial magic. But always be respectful to those spirits that you call for help, & respectful for the sacredness of such work at whole. Plan carefully, go through several stages of preparation, find a meaningful method of fasting before operation. Later, take note how the spirits have helped you, & be grateful to them and to the master.

XV
Do not boast. It's useful that people think you are little less than you are, instead of other way around.

XVI
Make sure your life is coherent. If you find you must do or think something that is not in line with your usual behaviour, be ready to open up the latter. Never think there are things in your life that are not occult: every thing has its use for spiritual & magical development, and must be beheld in such light. Otherwise we'll sleep & drift into those mundane things.

XVII
If you feel your flame is dying, actively demand it to rise again. Do whatever it takes to feel the cosmic Meaning again. Read the most profound books. Go for a long walk under the stars. Cry, writhe, pray, do whatever it takes to rekindle that flame that's your bond to the Master. The thread is the one of flame, it is the kundalini fire that will lighten up your spine when it grows stronger. Every one who can yearn for it, can achieve it, for yearning is a promise of success. So said Iamblichus; to be able to pray god is already a proof of link to god.

XVIII
If you have a prayer work you have established for yourself and felt good about it, do not give it up when it starts to feel unnecessary or tiresome. Go through these necessary stages with patience, and when the spiral once again turns, you have achieved greater unity with the object of your adoration. Only change such work at its summit.

XIX
If you have a tendency of self-indulgence, wrestle with it. Do not let yourself drift into pampering of lower self with worldly things. But if you have no such tendency, or when you have conquered it, never let yourself drift to the opposite direction either: do not let ascetism, fast, exercise &c. to get hold of your spirit. As a Satanist, you can see through these things & leave them as distractions just as you can leave the excesses in the opposite direction. What we seek is a condition where we do not have to think of our lower self - body, lower psychology - at all. But ascetics & physical yogis think of it all the time, as much as the debauchees or even more.

XX
Seek true love. If you love something, that thing is like a window to divinity for you. True love never narrows down, it always opens soul wider. If in your love you sense something that irritates, makes jealous, suffocates spiritual feelings or hinders spiritual practices, then that part must be purified. All things can be loved, seemingly they are loved in different way. But all these loves will kindle the kundalini fire when they are followed in a pure way. Love of nature, love of work, love of magic, love of a woman, love of a brother, love of book, love of a treasure, love of a fetish, love of an idea, love of a city, love of a piece of art - these are passions that kindle the inner fire when followed. But never let your love become a source of distress for another being, for that means the love was not love after all.

XXI
When you feel content, happy or uplifted, see that too as potential danger. Do not get worried, but remember: such a feeling is no excuse to stop your occult work. When you have more energy, demand more from yourself. And when you feel low, allow yourself a break; that too is part of the work, to regain energy. And when you have rested, start afresh.

XXII
Try to see the possibility for meaningful attainment at every moment. Feel excited when going to sleep, when waking up to new day, when doing tiresome chores. All these can be taken as magical practices, working upon world's macrocosmic inertia to build up your individual strength - empowerment & illumination that will lead to true initations. Every moment is a moment under the eye of the Master. And that is the eye that beholds with understanding & couragement, not condemning. Sub specie aeternitatis it sees all as meaningful & educational, & so should we.

[Jiva]

Interesting list. Since the tarot is firmly in my mind at the moment due to the recent group practice, do these 22 points correspond to the tarot cycle or is it coincidence?

I'm perhaps a lousy person to answer this question as I don't consider myself religious although I think we are aiming for similar things. Many of the points Nefastos described above relate to how one conducts oneself in the world. I read one of the prayers in Fosforos or a religious/mythological text that corresponds with the principle of the day most mornings. However, I see these as an exercise to centre the day, to focus properly, to prevent me from aimlessly throwing myself into things and to avoid distractions. I think this is the real challenge: anyone can pray, not everyone can live. A personal example is to try and avoid boredom, as this has been the source of depression, anger and egotistical thoughts for as long as I can remember.

Aside from this I meditate occasionally, although this isn't regimented, just when I feel like it. As I'm lucky enough to live in a rural area I feel I gain something from walking and biking around the countryside.

[Nefastos]

However, I see these as an exercise to centre the day, to focus properly, to prevent me from aimlessly throwing myself into things and to avoid distractions. I think this is the real challenge: anyone can pray, not everyone can live. A personal example is to try and avoid boredom, as this has been the source of depression, anger and egotistical thoughts for as long as I can remember.

Indeed! To centre, to focus - I too think these are the most important thing to an occultist. Where religious person uses prayer, more scientific minded person uses study; both of these help to channel one's mind in disciplined way.

I'd suggest that if one takes some training method seriously but can't see some point(s) of it as meaningful or beneficial for oneself, he should add another method of his own for every one omitted from the original training; and they should be equally - no less, no more - demanding.

do these 22 points correspond to the tarot cycle or is it coincidence?

The correspondences might be: The Chariot, The High Priestess, The Moon, The Devil, The Star, The Sun, The World, The Hermit, The Magician, Justice, The Emperor, Death, The Lovers, Strength, The Tower, Judgment, The Hanged Man, Temperance, The Empress, The Fool, The Hierophant.

EDIT: A minor correction to correspondences.

[nevermore218]

I'm quite simply floored by your response, Nefastos. I'm currently recovering from a terrible sinus infection, but I will respond in depth later today.

Thank you very much for the length and sheer depth you put into your response, though. This says so much about your fervor, and the dedication you have to this sort of work.