The Satanic Alchemy of The Sect
by Thomas LeRoy
We are all aware that alchemy is the ancient art of changing something of seemingly little value (lead) into something precious (gold). But it can also be interpreted psychologically. Alchemists had, over the course of centuries, created a vast amount of symbolic images that directly corresponded to the anatomy of the unconscious which the psychologist Carl Jung had been mapping through his work with thousands of patients. He discovered, much to his amazement, that this ancient art was symbolically describing the journey the individual must take towards embodying one’s own intrinsic wholeness, what he called “the process of individuation.” Jung insisted that the psyche cannot be understood conceptually, but only through images or symbols. He stated that, “The alchemical operations were real, only this reality was not physical but psychological.” He also wrote, “I had very soon seen that analytical psychology [the psychology Jung developed] coincided in a most curious way with alchemy. The experiences of the alchemists, were, in a sense, my experiences, and their world was my world. This was, of course, a momentous discovery. I had stumbled upon the historical counterpart of my psychology of the unconscious.”
In The Sect of the Horned God the journey that the initiate takes as he/she progresses through the Orders can be described as an alchemical process. Each order has its symbolic element: Pan — Earth, Cernunnos — Air, Prometheus — Fire, Dionysus — Water. When the initiate has passed these four lower orders they become an adept, or Cenobite. The Cenobite utilizes the accumulated knowledge acquired in the Orders to bring about the quintessence, or fifth element, Aether. This process is done in the Order of Shiva to reach the degree of the Hyperborean. But If you are not willing to face what is sitting dormant in your subconscious, then the Order of Shiva may not be for you. This is where the Great Work, or the Transmutation, begins. You are the alchemical vessel and the contents of your psyche is the means and object of transformation. This alternative spiritual process cannot be reduced to simple recipes or axioms. It is the multi-level unification of microcosm with macrocosm to bridge the abyss between the ego and the subconscious; a descent into darkness in order to come to a reconciliation with your demon. This phase is the nigredo, or blackening phase of the alchemical process, and it is symbolic of coming to terms with this darker aspects of the Self.
But how does this come about?
First, for this process to work, you as a Satanist should have already come to the realization that you must divorce yourself from herd mentality. When your comfort zone becomes constrictive, like a beast outgrowing its cage, you must move beyond it. Still, only a few brave souls will venture beyond the walls of their self-imposed prison. If you are a member of The Sect, you have already done that. But still, spending a life-time of suppressing yourself, you have become a stranger to yourself. Alienation is felt as a chronic depression, deep inside. For some it is experienced at a greater level than others. Many try to numb it with a variety of means but there is no escape from yourself.
Through alchemical processes in the Order of Shiva you will come face-to-face with the Self, the Shadow Self, deal with its many complexities and learn to integrate it into your life. The world can be terrible, inexplicable and dangerous yet you must never surrender to pessimism by turning your back on it. Instead, learn to “transmute” the world and human life. Thus, you will become the Hyperborean (the Nietszchean “Higher Man/Woman) free from social constructs, attitudes, and restrictive dogmas with a strong will to power and its rational utilization. You will then accept the world in all of its highs and lows, mysteries and ambiguities having pulled yourself up out of ignorant bliss and stagnancy. You will find yourself amongst the doers, not the talkers, the maker and not the takers. You will be drawn to your processes, innovations, dreams and higher ideals. You will be aware and not ignore the arrival of peak experiences. Leave slave morality behind and have no guilt when you see yourself becoming compulsive and proactive.
When you have reached this stage, the game isn’t over, though. There is no “Aha!” moment where henceforth eternal bliss has been bestowed upon you. You must work to stay there. This is the point of individuation where the ego and the collective unconscious are brought into consciousness. It’s a fuller understanding of the Self and your individuality — a totally integrated personality. What you have done is accepted the contents of your unconsciousness, even those things that you would normally shy away from. It is the discovery of the divine in you. It is self-deification, the discovery of the god that you are.
Your Personal Demonic Sigil
by Thomas LeRoy
For a member of The Sect of the Horned God to enter the highest order, the Order of Shiva, one must have a personal demonic sigil, not taken from the Halls of Antiquities (not borrowed from the Goetia) but one entirely unique to the individual.
The adept’s personal sigil is fundamentally a visual construct, an artistic rendition of what lies in one’s own personal Hell — a glyph removed from the walls of Hades itself. Because of this, Its principle is found not in the external form, which is unique to each individual, but in the light of the individual’s Black Flame.
Symbolic systems are valid for human development to the degree that they point to a way of creative living. It is an unconscious synchronizing of the ego with the eternal collective unconscious. But a simple design, or arrangement of designs, does not a sigil make. Unless a personal, integrative principle is applied, an arrangement — even one of mathematical perfection — is void and without life. The source comes from the adept (Sect member) that opens up and reveals his/hers innermost details to the creator of the sigil. This is why it is important that the word, that one unique word, is the sum of the adept’s personal demon (daimon).
“Is there an entity from the depths of your subconscious that visits you in your dreams or visions? And what one word best describes this being?”
These are the questions asked of the adept when first entering the Sigil Project. Many are confused, finding these questions difficult to answer, but after the adept has let down his/her guard, the identity of the “demon” is revealed. Many have, during a sleepless night, or a feverish dream, encountered the demon. It may reveal itself as a nightmarish figure, or a disembodied voice. Some have heard this voice, or have seen this entity so plainly and so often they feel they have been inspired from the “outside”. But, in truth, it has arisen from inside, deep down. This is almost identical to what the ancient Greeks called the “daimon.” But in the case of the dark adept, one is not in touch with a wise being directing them with inspired counsel, but instead with the personified aspect of the Jungian shadow. And the relationship with this “anti-self” is capricious and unpredictable, but most find the experience cathartic.
Finding and the facing your anti-self, your shadow, is not a task for the weak of spirit, and most of the time it is so well camouflaged it can take a profound effort to discover it. We are naturally repelled by what appears to us as our personal negative aspects. But when we’ve acknowledged the demon’s existence within ourselves, and accept it’s qualities, we must listen well, for it has much to say as it unveils the diabolical secrets of Hell itself.
The Left-Hand Path to Hell
by Thomas LeRoy
The concept of Hell has been a part of history for at least 4,000 years. Many different cultures had some form of Hell, the Mesopotamian being one of the earliest. It was a nether region filled with demons where the ancient Gods consigned evildoers to suffer endless torment. The later Christian interpretation of Hell was built upon Hebrew ideas, which in time became, like in the case of the Mesopotamian tradition, a place of punishment for the wicked. But in the Old Testament, there’s only one word which indicated anything close to Hell, and that is sheol. It appears originally to have been the Hebrews’ version of the Sumerian and Babylonian Irkalla, or Netherworld, also referred to more poetically as “the House of Dust and Darkness.” Strangely, early Christians did not write extensively on Hell and appear not to have taken it as literally as many do today. But when documented, Hell was pictured as an inferno, a place of flames and cruel heat, where Satan lived and sinners suffered as demons boiled them in kettles or stabbed them with pitchforks, punishments tailored to fit specific sins.
According to Carl Gustav Jung, Hell represents, among every culture, the disturbing aspect of the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is universal. Every human being has been endowed with this psychic archetype-layer since his/her birth. One can not acquire this strata by education or other conscious effort because it is innate; for deep in our subconscious the same symbols speak to similar meanings across different cultures and unrelated time periods. The collective unconscious, this universal library of human knowledge, is the very transcendental wisdom that guides us. Jung stated that all religious experiences must be linked with the experience of the archetypes of the collective unconscious. Thus, all gods and demons, and even their locations such as Hell, are part of a psychic experience of the path that leads one to the realization of our psychic wholeness. In Jungian psychology, Hell would then be the place where the “shadow” resides. ‘‘The shadow,’’ wrote Jung, is ‘‘. . . that hidden, repressed, for the most part inferior and guilt-laden personality whose ultimate ramifications reach back into the realm of our animal ancestors and so comprise the whole historical aspect of the unconscious’’. The shadow was originally Jung’s poetic way of conveying the prominent role played by the unconscious in both psychopathology and the ongoing problem of evil. Also concerned with that pathological mental state known as ‘‘demonic possession”, Jung’s psychological construct of the shadow corresponds to, yet differs, from the idea of the Devil or Satan in theology. Born a parson’s son, Jung was inundated in the Protestant faith, he also studied the meaning behind Catholic iconography, and researched the great religious traditions from around the world. But, being a physician and psychiatrist, he used the more rational and less esoteric terms like ‘‘the shadow’’ and ‘‘the unconscious’’ instead of the traditional religious language of god, devil, or demons.
Just above the level of the collective Hell lies the personal Hell. This Hell is a place of personal demons that feed the shadow in the lower realm. And from time to time most of us feel a need to roam in this Hell. We all feel guilt, so we feel a need for torment, thus, we feel a need for Hell. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche described guilt as a disease that humanity caught when it formed its first social communities. But even though we live in artificial constructs we call nation states, under repressive executive authorities we call governments, our primitive instincts have never faded away. Instead, we turned our instincts for cruelty inwards upon ourselves because social laws prohibit violence. Because we internalize these instincts, we grow sick of existence. Nietzsche refers to this sentiment as the worst and most insidious illness ever to afflict human-kind. An illness from which we have not yet recovered.
So, as for us on the left-hand path, what are we to do? The collective hell is there whether we like it our not, but how should we confront this personal Hell of our own making? First, we must acknowledge that it is very real. Next, we must free up our minds and enter our personal Hell on our own accord, without that masochistic justification for torment created by guilt. We have to deny guilt and the Christian slave morality that permeates our society. In truth, we should have let guilt and slave morality go when we first set foot upon the Path. While in Hell, though, we must confront the dark entities that dwell in that abyss. We must stare them down, and in some cases, embrace them. But we should never turn our backs on them. Also, in the fires of Hell burns the source of our Black Flame, that spark of individualistic self-awareness. It was in our personal Hell that we first saw its glow, and from Hell we must lift it up and initiate it into our lives.
In the end we should never let our personal Hell curse our existence. It should be a means of empowerment for the Black Flame is fueled by Hell’s torments; and never forget that it is the Black Flame that lights our Path.
Understanding the Eastern Left-Hand Path Traditions
by Thomas LeRoy
Self-deification is not a proclamation, it is a process. One does not announce to the world that they are a god and henceforth reign supreme over all existence. Self-deification is something you strive to obtain, to reach, and once you have entered that state, you must work to remain there. You are then in a relationship with the deified self, and like any relationship you must work at it. A single slip-up and you can be cast out, back upon the Path, to try once more to re-enter. This is why it is important to have an arsenal of knowledge while proceeding down the Left-Hand Path. Some of you stepped upon the Path for the first time when you picked up The Satanic Bible. But The Satanic Bible was only your introduction. It was a mirror that you saw your reflection in. It was not the conclusion.
Reaching out, searching, learning about other modes of transport to help you down the Path is important. And understanding Eastern LHP philosophy is one way.
In the ancient Hindu traditions the Left-Hand Path, or the vamachara, was originally associated with the female aspect and the heterodox way. To put it simply, it is about reversing the natural spiritual flow. Eventually in the 19th century the Left and Right-Hand Paths were introduced into Western occultism by Theosophy founder Helena Blavatsky when she used them as terms to differentiate between white and black magick. To reach self-deification through the vamachara, or by any other practices, you must have a deep understanding of the Self. Atman, one of the most basic concepts in Hinduism, is the universal Self, identical with the eternal core of the personality. Atman is you, for in the early Vedas (holy Hindu writings) it occurred mostly as a pronoun meaning “oneself”. So atman is that which is then “deified” at the end of the LHP. Brahman, on the other hand, is the Absolute. Brahman underlies the workings of the universe, and atman is part of the universal Brahman. Brahman, in Vedic philosophy, is the “World Soul” and is regarded as being the “Three-in-One God” known as the Trimurti. This consists of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer, all manifestations, or personifications, of Brahman.
Shiva, with his wild, unpredictable and destructive nature, is perhaps the ideal personification of the eternal core of the personality, or atman. His violent essence is often conveyed through the use of metaphorical images which are designed to resonate with the subconscious. However, Shiva’s destructive persona is not to be feared. The fury of Shiva’s fire only burns away the walls of ignorance. The atman is indestructible; thus, Shiva’s fire represents the awakening of the Self to its true nature and its god-like status. Because of Shiva’s association with the Self, some Shaivists have rebelled against the standards of the orthodox Hindu community. Believing that Shiva is the Self, they can make their own rules; and since all things, good or bad, are an aspect of the Absolute, nothing is taboo. Thus, they carry out bizarre sacrificial and sexual rituals, eat meat (sometimes human), and use mind-altering intoxicants while chanting “Shivoham!” — “I am Shiva!” They believe these activities to be short-cuts to self-deification. But they are not trying to become one with Shiva. Instead they long to deify the atman to become Shiva. A god!
You practitioners of the Western Left-Hand Path traditions may not have much interest in Eastern Philosophy. It may seem odd and confusing because in the Vedic traditions they attempt to say with words that which can not be said with words. It is metaphorical, it is poetry, and it is meant to be experienced, not critically analysed nor blindly believed. But still it is important that one is aware that there are other deities besides Satan and Lucifer that speak to our inherent nature. And Shiva speaks loudly. If you but only listen.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead and the Left-Hand Path
by Thomas LeRoy
“The Bardo Thodol is in the highest degree psychological in its outlook”. — Carl Jung
Recited at the bedside of the dearly departed, the Tibetan Book of the Dead is an ancient guide for the soul as it transcends distinct phases (or bardos) between death and rebirth. Though composed for the dead, the Bardo Thodol, as it was originally called, also has lessons for the living. Tibetans believe that it can potentially offer enlightenment to anyone who hears its words, which is why many use it as a tool to come into contact with one’s own essential nature.
The Bardo Thodol, which means “liberation through understanding”, was composed in the 8th century by Buddhist prophet Padmasambhava, and was eventually published as The Tibetan Book of the Dead in 1927 by Oxford University Press. The American anthropologist and writer Walter Evans-Wentz coined the title because of the parallels he found with the writings in The Egyptian Book of the Dead. With the multiple instructions derived from the book, we can see how it has had a direct influence on the minds of the living. Its ultimate goal is to provide a means by which the practitioner can cultivate an unwavering recognition of the nature of wrathful deities, or demons, within his or her own mind, bringing about a liberating transformation of character and a “rebirth” of personality. These after-death states of consciousness are said to consist of various Tibetan gods and demons. The deities appear to be “real” within the after-death experience, but the text instructs the disembodied consciousness to regard them as merely dream-like visions, reflections of its own inner-self. The gods and demons are therefore viewed as metaphors, expressive of the disembodied consciousness of basic psychic tendencies. Thus, The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a psychological document that characterizes basic personality traits and presents the principles of those traits in a symbolic, yet realistic, manner.
On the left-hand path, that personal path of self-overcoming, one must face one’s own demons while delving into the depths of the subconscious. The individual must realize, though, as in the case of the disembodied consciousness of the Tibetan dead, that the demons are phantoms, metaphorical manifestations created in the personal unconscious. Though personal, these demons may share attributes with archetypes in the collective unconscious, thus seeming familiar to all.
Even when the initiate upon the Path misconstrues the meaning of the word “adversary”, thinking it gives them the right to be a contemptible prick, what one should truly be adversarial to are those “demons” that block your path, that bar you from reaching that stage of spiritual/psychological “rebirth”. But not all demons are deleterious. This is what separates the right-hand path from the left. On the LHP we utilize the demonic when it leads to personal exaltation, while on the RHP all that is deemed “dark” is shunned.
The Tibetan Book for the Dead is a psychological document that characterizes basic personality styles and presents the principles of those personalities in a symbolic and condensed manner. Like the demons and dark deities in the Book, those encountered on the left-hand path are also statements of the psyche, and are therefore psychological. A mind that fails to overcome these weaknesses (demons), however, will be destroyed by them. Liberation is still possible, though, simply by recognizing these beings for what they are. Yet the act is also more difficult now because terror forces the mind to flee rather than to examine its experiences, thus not allowing one to progress, or transcend. And transcending your personal “bardos” should be the objective of all upon the Path.
Satan and the Virgin Mary: Long Lost Lovers
by Thomas LeRoy
From the first glimmers of the primordial dawn, the Mother Goddess has had numerous interpretations and faces. Many early societies had a “mother-like godform” that honored the sacred feminine. A mother goddess is a personification of the Earth, the mother of all living things, of fertility and the birth of humanity as a whole. Besides the natural representations, Jungian interpretation equates the archetypal Mother Goddess with the feminine aspect within us all, and also with the greater unconscious, that “deepest ground of the psyche”.
The list of names of the Goddess are endless, and the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, is but one of them. Now, it goes without saying that the Christian mind may find this truth difficult to grasp, but the evidence for this is indisputable. For example, an obscure Early Christian heretical movement, Collyridianism, worshipped the Virgin Mary as a goddess. She was looked upon and worshipped as the supreme being, the Great Mother Goddess. And, as it turns out, “The Virgin” is a mythical character based on older goddesses who were themselves astrotheological personifications of celestial and earthly bodies and principles, the “Queen of Heaven”, prevalent in the ancient world. The old Teutonic goddess Hertha (the Earth) was a Virgin, but was impregnated by the heavenly Spirit (the Sky); and her image with a child in her arms was to be seen in the sacred groves of Germany. The Scandinavian Frigga, in much the same way, being caught in the embraces of Odin, the All-father, conceived and bore a son, the blessed Balder, healer and savior of mankind. Quetzalcoatl, the (crucified) savior of the Aztecs, was the son of Chimalman, the Virgin Queen of Heaven. Even the Chinese had a mother-goddess and virgin with child in her arms; and the ancient Etruscans also. There is the image of Isis nursing her Divine Son, Horus. And like the Christian Mary and Egyptian Isis, the Canaanite goddess Astarte was the “Virgin”. Thus this symbolism of the Goddess and her child has done a good job of expressing the relationship between consciousness and its divine matrix (the collective unconscious) as one of organic unity.
As most might be aware, it was common from the beginnings of Christiandom to adopt older heathen gods and turn them into saints . . . or devils. Castor and Pollux became St. Cosmo and St. Damien; Dionysus still holds his place as St. Denis of Paris. And the Horned God? It’s no stretch to guess who he became. But the relationship between the Neo-Pagan Horned God and the Christian Devil, or Satan, is a bit more complex than one might think. The modern Horned God is a composite of many pre-Christian deities, mostly the Greek Pan and the Celtic Cernunnos. But it was also influenced by Margaret Murray’s interpretation of medieval Christian devil imagery. In this sense, the Horned God is a modern “paganization” of the Devil, with his various animal characteristics representing the beastly nature of humankind; essentially a sacralization of our sexual nature. Thus, because of this exaltation of the beast within, the modern Christian equates the Pagan Horned God with Satan.
And who was, or is, the Horned God’s love-interest? The Goddess.
The Horned God and the Goddess, the “Divine Lovers”, represent the ontological polarity between the opposites of male and female common to many mythological traditions: Shiva and Shakti, Pan and Diana, Cernunnos and Brigit, etc. They are metaphorical representations of the Jungian Anima and Animus (the anima, the archetypal feminine symbolism within a man’s unconscious, while the animus is the personification of masculine psychological tendencies within a woman). This symbolism, though, is not found in the Abrahamic traditions. In most cases within this mythological structure the female aspect is vilified while the masculine is exalted. But this is not so in the case of the Goddess and the Horned God. The Goddess has been reinterpreted in a syncretic form into the Virgin, the most revered of all women, while the Horned God has become Satan. And why did they give the Horned God the name of the supreme bad guy in their mythos? Because they hate what He represents. He represents power, lust, carnality, death and knowledge. He is the free-thinking individualist ready to live life on His own terms. As stated before, He is our animal side, that aspect that keeps us tied down to the natural world. He is the antithesis of all that the Christians see as holy. And for their dogma to survive and for there to be calm within the flock, those traits of the human character have to be subdued. But the old time Christians weren’t stupid. They knew that the Horned God was a large part of what a human being is. So by telling the populace that who they are at their core is evil, and you need to kiss the ass of Jesus to be freed of that evil, they created an outstanding system of control. Thus in Christian society came a separation of these long lost lovers (Horned God/Goddess) within the psyche. But no good Christian would ever dream of a union between Satan and the Virgin. This being so, this stark division of archetypes has led to a psychological separation from the anima within the Christian man, and the animus within the Christian women. And by not bringing Satan and the Virgin Mary together, the Christian is an incomplete being.
A symbolic union of Gods and Goddess in the subconscious is important for the health of the psyche. This union of opposites is even evident in the image of that androgynous beast called Baphomet. But don’t worry, connecting with one’s inner male or female element has nothing to do with sexuality. It has everything, though, to do with creating a balance on the scales of passive (female) and aggressive (male) energies within us, which is essential for the development of self-awareness and personal understanding. These are important components of involution (as opposed to evolution) towards reaching the “Higher-Self”.
Rituals
Contributed by Chris
Sect of the Horned God Member
Many people have rituals. Some are getting up and having coffee before they drive to work. When they miss that ritual it seems that the whole day is nothing but chaos. A lot of Satanists have grown up in homes with religious ceremonies occurring every week. What is the phenomenon of ritual that many Satanists engage in, considering many Satanists identify as Atheistic? What are they using ritual for if they are skeptical of external agencies? Well not all ritual alludes to the notion that external agencies exist. There still remains an essence of mystery to the existence of a Principle or Force in Nature. While this force may not be supernatural it could exist between dimensions of time and space, or be a very natural phenomenon that is at this time trans-rational. It’s a possibility, but not a certainty. Arthur C. Clarke, the author of Childhood’s End, declared that: “Magic is just a science we don’t understand yet.”
Ritual is a systematic methodology to working out a willed intent and working, both inside and (or) outside the ritual chamber, to ensure it’s coming into being. From a pragmatic standpoint magic is a way for a determined Satanist, or Chaos Magician, to focus on the quality aspirations of their life and develop an active blueprint by which these goals are achieved. This tends to run concurrent to a social realm where when goals become too hard or too challenging we give up on the greatness and settle for second best. For the Satanist this attitude is unacceptable. Ambition and a strong sense of self confidence are the recipe for what would be termed a successful working.
A Satanist may have faith in him or herself that a ritual will work out for their best interest. This is different from a Christian ritual where the faith is removed from the self and externalized into a god form who will find a solution to the problem for them. For some Satanists, like the author, the bottom line is that the magic worked, their respective symbol systems are on a whole different, intellectual level. The magic worked across the board, however, the dogmatic Christian will have trouble explaining why the magic worked when only his religion is correct in principle. Thus the need for demons and devils as this is the buffer system for explaining to the dogmatic why the magic works despite the difference in the symbol systems.
For some Satanists magic may take an even more practical step in that ceremony and ritual are no longer necessary for them to effect a change in their environment. In their day to day life their willed intentions are embedded in their motives. They have a talent for shaping their plans from moment to moment. They are vigilantly studying the patterns in life and shaping them to bring the outcomes that will yield them immense benefit. This is a step toward magical mastery. Ritual becomes a nomenclature for the simple causes of bringing about beneficial change for the individual Satanist.
Abyzou
Abyzou is a female, child-killing demon of Hebrew mythology whose name means “abyss”. In the Testament of Solomon, Abyzou is described as having a “greenish gleaming face with wild, serpent-like hair”and with darkness sometimes hiding her lower body. Claimed to be responsible for miscarriages and infant mortality, Abyzou does not sleep and so wanders the world hunting for women about to give birth. Upon finding them, she then strangles the newly born child. It is told that Azybou is infertile herself, and as such performs these killings out of jealousy and envy of those able to bare offspring.
Abyzou can be controlled via the magic of Solomon, though. Using charms, St. Sisinnious, St. Michael, and the archangel Raphael (her main adversary) are petitioned for protection from the demon. If a pregnant woman were to write the name of Abyzou upon a scrap of papyrus prior to giving birth, Abyzou will flee from their sight, leaving the child unharmed.
Like many demons of her type, Abyzou also likely causes infertility. In the Testament of Solomon, Abyzou takes credit for causing all manners of problematic conditions such as eye, ear and throat problems, as well as causing insanity.
The Dark Aspects of Existence
by Thomas LeRoy
We know, in the deeper recesses of our minds, that each morning when we awaken we are one day closer to death, a death that will be, more likely than not, painful. But before that final curtain drops, we will endure heartache, loss, pain and suffering; a suffering that will sometimes seem insurmountable. And for many of us, if we are so lucky, the last thing we hear over the beep of a heart-monitor will be the lamentations of our loved ones.
Life is a bitch and then you die!
But what can we learn from this stark realization? Of facing our fears? Of facing death? What riches can we extract from these very dark aspects of existence?
“To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities — I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not — that one endures.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche
No matter how hard it may seem, the dark aspects of existence should not be seen as problematic. Instead, what’s really problematic is one’s attitude toward them. We must have optimism in the face of fear and suffering, for true psychological health involves affirming Life’s darker side.
“Aghora is not indulgence, it is the forcible transformation of Darkness into Light, of the opacity of the limited individual personality into the luminescence of the Absolute. Renunciation disappears once you arrive at the Absolute because then nothing remains to renounce. An Aghori goes so deeply into Darkness, into all things undreamable to ordinary mortals, that he comes out into Light.”
–Dr. Robert Svoboda
Aghora (which literally means “the Non-Fearful”), is a 1000-year old heterodox Hindu philosophy that follows an unconventional, radical path to spiritual fulfillment. Shiva the Destroyer, the embodiment of death, is their god and spiritual teacher, while the cremation grounds is their home. They believe that Shiva induced the best and worst of the world and nothing is profane, everything is sacred. They eliminate thoughts of duality between pure and impure, good and bad; denying perfection of anything would be like disrespecting the sacredness of life in its full manifestation. Hence, what other Hindu sects regard as unacceptable or taboo, these practitioners of the left-hand path embrace; they embrace the darker aspects of existence to help lead them to a higher level of consciousness. In the darkness they find gems of tranquil beauty. But how can we, too, find these jewels if we can see nothing in the inky depths of the dark?
By utilizing the Black Flame!
We, on the left-hand path, have a tool. It is a rare thing, this pilot-light of the soul/psyche. Not everyone has it, and only a few who do, know how to use it. It must be used to ignite a greater light, your personal fire! But for those on the right-hand path, they have received their light from another source, not from the personal. They have dipped their torches in a communal fire and use that flame to hurry through the darkness instead of studying it, learning from it.
The truth is the darker aspects of existence should be welcomed by those seeking spiritual fulfillment, for it is then, and only then, that true self-overcoming can be reached. So much more can be learned from pain than comfort. The most fulfilling human projects are inseparable from at least some degree of torment. In the end, we must stare into the abyss and find peace in its depths before we can truly laugh in the face of Death.
Origin Myths
by The Sect of the Horned God
The Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008 allows educators to teach the ancient Hebrew creation myth in tax-payer funded public schools. The Sect of the Horned God, a left-hand path educational foundation, would like to aid the state of Louisiana in furthering the teaching of mythology. If the Hebrew myth can be taught, then why not some of the many others from around the world?
We have done our research and have found some of these creation myths and present them here, thus aiding in the educational development of the children of Louisiana.
Here are just a few.
AZTEC
In the beginning was the Void. Here the dual god, Ometecuhtli/Omecihuatl, created itself. This god was good and bad, chaos and order, male and female. Being male and female, it was able to have children. It had four, which came to represent the four directions of north, south, east and west. These four gods began to create. They created water, and other gods, and the sea monster Cipactli.
Cipactli was to become the source of the Cosmos.
BABYLONIAN
Apsu was the god of fresh water and thus male fertility. Tiamat, wife of Apsu, was the goddess of the sea and thus chaos and threat. The union of these two entities gave birth to the younger gods.Ea, Enki, and the younger gods, killed Apsu and fought against Tiamat futilely until from among them emerged the champion Marduk, who killed Tiamat.
Marduk consulted with the god Ea (the God of Wisdom) and decided to create human beings from the remains of the gods that instigated the war against Tiamat.
CELTIC
In this myth, in the beginning there was no time, no gods and no people but where the sea met the land a white mare made of sea-foam was born called Eiocha.
Eventually she gave birth to the god Cernunnos, and together they then created more gods.But when the gods and goddesses were grown up, Eiocha left the land to return to her life as a sea-mare and became known as Tethra, Goddess of the Deep.
The gods and goddesses then created a man, a woman and the animals from bark from the oak tree that grew on the land.
CHINESE
Before the world came into being there existed only the Cosmic Egg. From the Egg was born P’an Ku, the primordial man.He then began to fashion the material of Chaos.Each day P’an Ku grew ten feet, using his own body as a pillar to force Heaven and Earth apart.When the separation was complete and they had settled in their places, P’an Ku died.
His breath became the wind and clouds, his eyes became the sun and moon.
GREEK
In the beginning there was only chaos. Then Love was born bringing a start of order. From Love came Light and Day. Once there was Light and Day, Gaea, the earth appeared. Gaea alone gave birth to Uranus, the heavens. Uranus became Gaea’s mate covering her on all sides.
And from their line came the Titans, the Gods and eventually humanity.
HINDU
The Hindu creation myth says that before this time began, there was no heaven, no earth and no space between. But asleep within its endless coils of a giant cobra lay the Lord Vishnu. From Vishnu’s navel grew a magnificent lotus flower.
In the middle of the blossom sat Vishnu’s servant, Brahma. He awaited the Lord’s command.Vishnu spoke to his servant: “It is time to begin.”
Brahma split the lotus flower into three. He stretched one part into the heavens. He made another part into the earth. With the third part of the flower he created the skies.
The earth was bare. Brahma set to work. The world was soon bristling with life and the air was filled with the sound of Brahma’s creation.
NORSE
Odin and his brothers, Vili and Vé, create Middle-Earth (the world of humans) from the body of a giant named Ymir. They create the world from his body, using the different body parts to make different things:From his flesh and some of his bones, they make the land and rocky mountains.They use his blood to make the sea and other bodies of water.From the maggots growing in the dead body of Ymir, Odin and his brothers create the race of the dwarves.
Odin and his brothers create other races: the light-elves, who live far above the earth in Alfheim; sprites and spirits, who populate the forest groves and streams; and the animals of both land and sea.
ZULU
In classical, pre-colonial Zulu myth, Unkulunkulu brought human beings and cattle from an area of reeds. He created everything, from land and water to man and the animals. He is considered the first man as well as the parent of all people.
He taught the Zulu how to hunt, how to make fire, and how to grow food.
And these are only a few.
The Orders of The Sect of the Horned God
