This month A Satanist Reads the Bible turns to the thematically-appropriate subject matter of magic, which will be the subject of this episode and the subsequent two.
The Satanic Struggle of Perfectionism
To me, this chapter of the Passion narrative, considering all the actors present, does indeed present a broad portrait of humanity: cruelty, vindictiveness, our capacity to suffer and to endure suffering, and our divine and human natures present together.
Satanism and Perfectionism
Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay This essay is also available as a podcast on anchor.fm and other platforms, and as a video on YouTube. In the last episode, I examined the moral philosophy of perfectionism as formulated by the philosopher Thomas Hurka. I recommend listening to that episode before this one, as this essay is a continuation…
The Ethics of Perfectionism
This episode opens a three-episode series, following the structure of my last three episodes, in which I will be exploring moral philosophy from my Satanic perspective. In this particular episode, I’ll be surveying moral philosophy in general and taking a look in particular at the philosophy of perfectionism. On the 16th, I’ll be exploring perfectionism more in depth, especially in terms of its relationship to Satanic religion, and then the 26th will be a more poetic expedition into the subject matter.
Theologia ex Luce et Tenebra
The theopoetics of Satan the Accuser, with opening and closing invocations performed on the oud.
We need not reach into the primordial to apprehend bereshit, the continuous beginning which opens from the first chapter of Genesis. We need only wait for the dusk to see that which God has divided between.
Entering the Circle: Towards a Satanic Theology
Ever since I transitioned this project from being primarily a blog to being primarily a podcast, I’ve been using the tagline, “Exploring the Bible, Christianity, and other religions and sacred texts through the lens of Satanism in order to reinvent religion for myself.” Aside from some of the early creative and constructive work, I’ve mostly emphasized the exploration part of that tagline, but this episode and the next will be focusing more on the invention aspect. My intention here is to construct a sketch of a Satanic theology, and to that end, I’ll be discussing what theology means, both in general and in relation to the specific source I’ll be drawing from; discussing some of the potential qualities that a Satanic theology would have; and offering some preliminary results. A proper and complete Satanic theology would be better suited to something the length of a book, and perhaps that’s a book that I’ll write one day, but given the space available to me here, I’ll have to confine myself to a more limited collection of ideas. I’ll also be introducing the approach I’ll be taking next episode, which will likewise be a theology, but a very different one and much more experimental in character.
Foundations of Satanism: William James and Satanic Pantheism
This episode begins a three-episode series that will explore the foundations of Satanic religion, as I understand it. Each episode will concentrate on a different aspect of Satanism and will be written in a different style. This one will be somewhat like my typical essays, especially those that focus most closely on Satanism and philosophy of religion, and here I’ll be exploring the religious philosophy of one of my most significant influences, the American philosopher William James.
Abdication of the Will
Matters of personal will, independence, and autonomy are central to Satanic thought. The central principle of Satanism is opposition, and, in my interpretation, opposition to hegemony, which often entails opposition to presumed authority.
A Satanist’s Guide to Rational Argumentation
What I’m going to say next, I say without an ounce of hyperbole: rational argumentation is the most important of all human skills, because rational argumentation forms the basis not only for critical thinking, which is of paramount importance, but for affecting the world and shaping it to one’s ends.
The Dialectic of American Identity
What does it mean that I went to war for a country where this kind of person—a fellow American citizen and one among those whose rights I literally swore to defend with my life—does not feel safe? Does not feel free?