Path: kudonet.com!kudo20!tyagi From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nocTifer) Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc Subject: Understanding, Religion and Beastliness Date: 11 Apr 1997 00:07:17 -0700 Organization: KudoNet On-Line Services Lines: 126 Sender: tyagi@bjt.net Message-ID: Reply-To: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nocTifer) NNTP-Posting-Host: kudo20.kudonet.com Xref: kudonet.com alt.magick.tyagi:8934 alt.satanism:50019 alt.pagan:164385 talk.religion.misc:231556 [Orig-To: private email] 49970108 AA1 Hail Satan! Hail Yahweh! all text by nocTifer: #> I am a self-proclaimed Satanist. I dispute the notion that Satanism must #> be based on books, though I may study them in profusion to keep myself #> and others from being abused by literati elitism. usually I tend to think #> of Satanism as more passionate, more emotional than intellectual, though #> I do really understand and support any approach to the Satanic path. the only way I currently understand 'spirit possession' is as the occlusion of surface consciousness by an intrabodily or extrabodily consciousness field. I don't believe in the whole 'spirit/matter' paradigm (far too dualistic for me). self-study within a database is fine if the material about which one wishes to learn may be written down in books. one of the great things I've heard from some Witches is their laughter at people who read books in order to discover what Witchcraft is all about. they had no idea what value it might have, since they felt that it was comparable to looking at other people's dung in order to find out about oneself. :> re: inherited Satanism I have heard some Satanists who felt this way. Tani Jantsang may be one of them. I tend to see Satanism as operating along Jungian lines, as 'Shadow-work', often within the medium of politics or religion, but not necessarily so. I don't think that Satanicness is 'ordained'. I think it arises naturally from within people in response to circumstances, often of stress and oppression, but also within fields of blandness and conformity. I think of Satanism as much too individualistic to be regulated or ordained by some elite. in fact I'd say that ordination *kills* Satanism. while I do indeed practice my Satanism within forums such as this, it is not predominantly a means of communicating what Satanism *is*. that is, the ACTIVITY of Satanism is, for me, an emotional one, and yet attempting to communicate what that is like or includes can be done in a very academic and 'Spock-like' manner. adversarialism (satanism) and Shadow-work do likely lead to emotional revelation, but learning about them does not require that we do them. I'd suggest that learning *about* them is only a brief headstart in their accomplishment. I *do* think that Satanism can be accomplished in intellectual fashion, and sometimes it is exactly this intellectual focus which drives the emotional interaction (maximizing each). Michael Aquino has exemplified this to me in various Usenet and postal missives which he has been kind enough to send my way. his specificity and ascerbic wit at times left me dazzled and jubilant. certain other features of his personality gave me over to avoiding his text, however. re: characteristics maximized in Neopaganism: individualism, novelty, iconoclasm, genius, artistry, rebellion, blasphemy, controversy and self-determination (forget the occasional context of anarchy for the moment). most religions of which I am aware, in their bulk, tend to emphasize conformity, tradition, iconography or aniconism, repetition, recital, community, compassion, pacifism and shepherding. that is, they are at total variance from the commonalities of Neopaganism (which I do not class as any sort of 'organized religion') and Satanism (much of which I deem to be part of Neopaganism, especially where it reaches beyond atheism). the virtues of Neopaganism which I think are maximized in Satanism are sometimes occuring within "a context of anarchy". I would not say that many people within the Neopagan culture can 'thrive' in anarchy, at least not yet. we're not mature enough to be able to do that. many Neopagans seem to desire a hierarchical, clerical structure which will provide for them a familiar religious feel. I DO think that the above-mentioned virtues, however, are more often emphasized in anarchic environments, and by this I am speaking of the *religious* environment, not the external political one. that is, I don't think any of us are yet ready for political anarchy. I do think that we are on the verge of being ready for religious anarchy. a number of us are exploring this presently. re: "blessed beast!" this is a pun. the phrase 'blessed be' is prominent in Wiccan circles and may have been derived from some Hermetic or Christian source for all I know (much of Wiccan form and content has been). I acquired this phraseology from the previous Caliph of my Order (Frater Superior of the (Caliphate) OTO, Hymenaeus Alpha), whose debauchery and political acumen are still legendary among is membership (the former quality perhaps secondary to that of Crowley, but I am unsure). I've been using it with the intention of a veritable social cementation in discovery of commonalities between Neopagan and Satanic communities in that to the former it implies wild animals and to the latter the Shadow and wild nature (Satan, in my parlance). it is a response to the call "Hail Satan" (I just realized this and will promote this meme from hereone, thanks!), which I take as 'heal wild nature!' and describes a certain attitude toward that 'savage beast' which does not merely 'fend it off and civilize it' but finds some way to accept and live with it amiably, not only in the world of economics and 'natural resources', but also in ourselves. blessed beast! tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com nocTifer -- see http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/nagasiva.html and call: 408/2-666-SLUG!!! ---- (emailed replies may be posted) ---- CC public replies to author ---- * * * Asphalta Cementia Metallica Polymera Coyote La Cucaracha Humana * * *