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To: zazas-l@hollyfeld.org (ZAZAS-L Satanist Elist)
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nocTifer)
Subject: (Z) Christian Magick and Satanism
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 13:35:10 -0800 (PST)

49971101 aa2 Hail Satan!   NULatix

another repost, this entire being a ministration to the Christians seeking
meaning in magick.  the following is a dispensation offering deeper glimpse
into the depth of Satanism transcending mere religious categories and
offering a personal and social mysticism of which has been spoken through 
the ages in divers and dextrous tongues.

blessed beast!

nocTifer
 tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
----------------------------

To: silverchalice@hollyfeld.org
Subject: Christian Magick in a Modern Setting 
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 16:13:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (boboroshi/CoE)

peace be with you, my kin.

VMYL54F@prodigy.com (GUEST PASS):
# Your philosophy of the "good death"sounds suspiously like the 
# Euthanatos philosophy from the Mage traditions of magick.  

from _MAGE: The Ascension_, a role-playing game guideline, I produce for
you a comparison between what appears therein and what I was attempting
to express.  I would like to preface this comparison with the comment
that role-playing games are notoriously poor choices for personal and
esoteric philosophical resource and would instead suggest going to the
organizations and authors who spearhead and promote the more unpopular
and controversial perspectives and messages.  if we are going to assess
a tree's fruit, we have to be sure that the fruit we are considering 
really *did* come from the tree in question.  with this in mind:

$	The Euthanatos are the most ruthless and widely feared Tradition.
$ 	The mages of this bizarre cult have historically had little
$	interest in cooperating with other mages.  They are preoccupied
$	by what they feel to be their sacred duty to the Sleepers --
$	killing those who are ready to die.

by comparison to this description, those of my Satanism are quite opposite.
it is a mistake of perspective and language (I presume the best intentions
are involved) which translates 'assisted suicide' with 'murder' or 
with any sort of violation of a human being.  despite the fact that those 
who accept death and befriend its blessing are consistently portrayed as
maniacal, deranged and violent, in fact this is a projection by those who
have relegated the role of death to the hand of the Adversary rather than
to see it as part of a wild and natural process through which we may come 
to real contentment in the world.

when 'cooperation' begins to mean the contribution to a society which draws
people into smaller and smaller units, degenerates cultural and community
connections that interfere with 'economics of progress and technology', and
generally enslaves all who are not at the top of the economy in the worship
of comfort and luxury, what other option is there but to seek out
alternatives and attempt to find a way to reconcile population density, 
individual alienation, destruction of human wisdom and wilderness with
what is called 'religion'? or 'the sacred'?  

those of the my church and of TOKUS within it start out cooperating, 
but we begin to notice that there is no social memory.  'facts' and dry, 
intellectual arguments, with sprinklings of leftover 'history' for spice,
are to be found, but what passes for modern 'education' is mostly a 
complete *evasion* of critical issues or perspectives from which to 
approach these.  instead such contexts are left to the religious
institution, to parents, who are hopelessly ill-equipped for the task,
or to television and computer communication, which  rarely providing 
any real remediary assistance.

those of my Satanism aren't preoccupied with being the hand of Death.
this is a stupendous overstatement, and though a portion of our goal
is to make death very accessible, indeed bringing to EVERYONE (not
just to the 'Sleepers') death at request in a manner which is deserved 
and dignified, our main objective is the *reduction of human population* 
through voluntary and consensual means, empowering people to do what 
they like in their death as they are able in their lives.

how this relates directly to Christian magick is that placing oneself
at the crossroad between human desire and the will of the helpless
(in today's world the meek are more often those without voice -- such
as nonhuman plants and animals, children and the aged), defending 
their interests as best we are able.  willingness to defend important
esoteric and political issues as martyr is the pattern of social change
upon which the early church was founded, and the complicity with which
Jesus of Nazareth is said to have gone to his death is exemplary no
matter what one's station or role within one's society.  worshipping
the means of his execution (a ruthless and barbaric technique which
should be understood by *all* Christians) is a catacysmic error.  
there are far more effective means of termination than hanging on
trees or crosses and suffocating or dying of exposure.


$	Mages of the Euthanatos feel that humanity has contemptuously
$	spurned the greatest gift the universe has ever deigned to
$	grant -- life.  Instead of using life to an even greater end,
$	humanity, in the opinion of this Tradition, has perverted
$	life by sucking it dry of every possibility.  Humanity is
$	running out of options, so the Euthanatos mages seek to provide
$	more options by returning certain humans to a more fundamental
$	level of existence, spirit form.  With any luck, they retain
$	some memory of their journeys and will hopefully apply this in
$	their next life....

those of my church do not take litmus tests of belief in order to belong,
though we express a support for the expression of views which are found in
church publications.  given this, it is important to note how impossible it 
is to say 'Satanists feel ' or 'those who join the Church of 
Euthanasia seek '.  there is no one underlying credal code or 
description of history which has overwhelming support.

that said, there are some likely commonalities and concerns which can be
brought to light: living organisms appear to behave in similar ways to
one another.  this does not seem to be any different where humans and
their reproductive rates are concerned.  despite escalatingly increased
hardship, childbearing appears to be a runaway danger whose proportions
have not been adequately assessed.  

attitudes towards death and the means of living which may or may not look 
favorably upon this inevitable life event directly integrate into a 
perspective which may or may not take into account industrial, Western 
notions of 'progress' that have historically become detrimental to the 
health and general contentment of human beings in once-rural economies, 
making growing population density a curse where once in farming 
communities it was a boon.

there appears to be a common understanding amongst my church that Satan,
(wilderness little disturbed by human manipulation), is integral to human 
satisfaction in fundamental ways, from the high-tech and exploitative 
attitude of seeing therein a rich and bounteous reservoir of medical and 
scientific genetic diversity to the observation that those who are most 
closely integrated to the land (even farmers who have wiped out the 
indigenous life in the region) have more leisure time, and less frequently 
separate between 'labor' and 'recreation', generally leading to a more 
contented overall life experience.

it is my feeling that this understanding arises with the notion that humans
are indeed 'Sleepers', and that we must begin a wake-up call for the truly 
concerned: those dedicated to a holistic and integrated relationship to all
living beings, rather than merely human recreation and short-term material 
benefit.  

the members of my church are not nihilists, as this MAGE Tradition appears 
to be.  we come to the subject of death with deep sadness and despair at 
what humans are doing to the wild, to Satan, often in the name of religion 
and 'progress', of 'benefit' and 'assistance'.  the road to Doom is paved 
with 'good intentions' and, where humans are concerned, our activities 
demonstrate this continuously, making a torture of the paradise that 
being an integral part of earth could be.  

my church is therefore more firmly allied in support of indigenous peoples 
and utopian communities whose wisdom in the use of technology (sparing)
and whose connection to the wilderness and to community is or has been more
substantial.  where once a gospel of urbanization and civilization was
the clarion for the Christian universalism, breaking down tribal and 
familial road-blocks to the cosmopolitan panacea, today a rather more 
opposite or balancing trend is necessary, and those who can live on the 
crossroads, between old and new cultures, religions, economies, ideas, 
and symbols, are to be the major catalysts toward that revised and mature 
resolution.

our vision is fixed on the living, who need far more attention than do
the dead.  those visions and stories we may have about an afterlife
have never been demonstrated to me, and I prefer to work for a long-term
sanctification of terran life rather than the glorification of human
beings to the detriment of the rest of the biosphere (whom some of us
call 'Mother' and 'Gaia').  this appears to be a popular feeling in my
church, and does not really square with the material quoted above about
attention to 'the spirit world'.  rebirth, reincarnation, and the like 
probably have variable support within the church due to its diversity.


$	Few other Traditions take so active a hand in the lives of
$	individual people, for most mages are more concerned with
$	sweeping changes affecting entire cultures.  The granting
$	of the Good Death, as those of the Euthanatos call it, is
$	the Tradition's way of achieving the same end.

while this may work for role-playing games, the world beyond them is
incredibly more complex than this.  as you can probably see by the
text above and could learn yourself from CoE publications (see them
at http://www.paranoia.com/coe or http://www.hollyfeld.org/coe ), we 
are primarily concerned with these changes affecting entire cultures,
and yet are not restricting our concern merely to human interests
(as anthropocentrism is not much more than narcissus), but are looking
at a larger picture within which human life may flourish and thrive
instead of subsist and barely survive radically divided class warfare.  

our support of assisted suicide is not some panacea which we feel 
will achieve a glorious Solution without foundation.  it is part
of a broadly-based set of values which empowers individuals to do
what we want with our bodies inclusive of termininating our lives 
in a manner of our choosing, places a needed emphasis on reduction 
of human population, reframes death as a necessary and sacred event 
to be welcomed and embraced in service to the whole, and most
importantly identifies nature, wild nature, as the basis from which
our bounty begins, however that nature is described as supported in 
turn (by some deity, a nearby star, by Hir children and parasites etc.).

rather than an ego-serving cult or a special interest group, we are
instead attempting to see beyond our pocketbooks, our comfort and
even our species to understand the consequences of the actions that
are being taken around the globe in pursuit of wealth and exploita-
tion.  there are many elements of this awakened attitude in Christian
scripture, such as the dictum "You cannot serve both God and money."
(Matt 6:24) or "Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will
be merciful to them!" (Matt 5:7), and my own feeling is that one can
only come to understand the meek, the truly poor (of any species!)
and destitute by living around them.  this, then, should be a prime
requisite for Christian spirituality and magick and as it is strongly 
suggested in Matthew 19:21:

	Jesus said to [a rich young man]: "If you want to be perfect,
	go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and
	you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.

this signals very distinctly the type of life which the Christian 
mage is to live -- one which does not dwell on possessions, though
she may make use of them, one which is aware of the needs and the 
character of the poor and helpless (of all species), and one who 
provides a voice for these (as did the Lorax, see the book by Dr. Seuss!)
as they are oppressed by those of ignorant and greedy persuasions.

those who, like Mother Teresa, minister important assistance to poor
humans are doing the *cleanup* work for the short-sightedness rampant
on the planet today, and we will need more and more such individuals
as the human condition follows in the wake of the condition of life
for nonhuman species we are creating.  how we treat Satan is how we
treat our children and ourselves.  


$	Because of the Tradition's interest in redemption and
$	extended life, the mages of the Euthanatos are extremely
$	interested in vampirism and pursue information about the
$	Kindred [that is, vampires] with a passion.

I haven't noticed any vampire-fetishes within my church, and the
predominant emphasis appears to be on IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF
LIFE'S END AND MAKING THIS MORE ACCESSIBLE, not extending or 
redeeming humans from anything other than the ignorance of our species.


$	_Philosophy_: ... One night, the sun won't rise, the wind 
$	won't blow, and we'll discover the real truth of it all: 
$	there is no Truth, and everything we have made will crumble
$	into dust.

this type of nihilism is popular amongst some of the noirphilic 
cultures of despair as may be found in Punk, Industrial and
Gothic music scenes and some artistic and political movements,
but I have more often seen that the philosophy behind my Satanism
and the greater movement of my church is founded on a profound
OPTIMISM, that which has faith that human beings can make the
leap to species awareness, come to grips with the shambles we are
making of our lives, and rectify our problems before it is too late
not just for the many beings and species who will be spared from
our rapacious consumption and waste, but for future generations
who will have to live in and with the serious errors we're making.

the mage brings a new vision, a fresh and breathtaking shift, 
applying the principles of the old ways (in this case human-centered)
and applying them to new and expanded (indeed truly universal) 
contexts.  it is this which marks the benevolence of the Jainist
'ahimsa' and the Wiccan Rede.  it is this which should form the
basis of the Thelemic Agape and the Christian Love of God.

I leave off here from the RPG contrast and move back to the original post.


# ...how does good death interact with your concept of magic 
# especially in so far as Christianity.   

much of the response to this may be found above, though I would
mention something of the direct relationship to magick in practice.

I identify Christianity as a very pure current of martyrdom, and by
this I intend to mean a very specific thing: the demonstration of
the Truth of the divine through dedicated action, service to the
weak, and communication of wisdom as we come to know it, even should
this lead to our persecution and destruction at the hands of our
adversaries.

insofar as magick is a technology I would suggest its sparing use,
and this for great deeds having widespread effects where possible.
where it comes to good death is in empowering of individuals to
engage their own rituals for self-termination, placing themselves
on crosses if they want or need to, symbolizing the new and awakened
consciousness of a biosphere which is only beginning to come to grips 
with the heinous and degrading humiliations humans are forcing Her to 
suffer.

wishing to deities is insufficient to achieve success by my measure.  
the time for that is long past and we (especially those in the massively
consumerist US where I live) would do best to begin putting more
specific and long-term esoteric principles into firm application,
seeing how each of our actions influences the whole, taking directed
and intentional steps to steer and direct these actions so as to lead
to the fruits of the health and well-being not only of ourselves but
of our kindred ("The right thing to do is to keep from... doing 
anything... that will make your brother fall."  -- Rom 14:21) in all
species and climes.

the development of the urban center and the division of the commons
brings a new context within which 'spirituality' must be revised.
the Christian mages fostering the right relation to what we may see
as the Creation must become aware of the relationships between these
various (often competing) interests, re-orient hirself to the land and
people, class and culture, and begin to participate in the construction
of alternatives that will serve more holistic values, compassionate
and sustainable aims.

this will NECESSARILY play out in lifestyle: how one dresses, eats,
generally consumes, uses technology, relates to other human beings,
dwells within a locale, the role one plays in community, and a host
of other small things which add up to a supportable and rational
human living tradition.  from these the rites and symbols, the
philosophy and cosmology will naturally develop as reflections of
culture just as the present Christian rites evolved out of 
agricultural mystery traditions (from seasonal vegetative gods).

the 'good death' necessarily is an element in the lifestyle that is
integrated to the new setting and new times.  where once we may have
'planted' our dead in the ground in honor of the seed of the crop
we harvested, now we see the horrible repercussions of burial as the
population of the human species continues to double and redouble in
shorter and shorter periods with no end in sight, no visible means
of future support, and rapidly dwindling land upon which to secure
the agriculture which our ancestors once benefitted.  

we must change our attitudes at their deepest roots, from one in which 
we fear death and/or attempt to produce and conserve (human) life at 
any cost, to one in which death is not only a viable option for the 
free individual to choose but a gratifying and integrated process 
which attends to the needs of those of ALL species who who survive us.


# The Christian concept of 
# death of the old "man" and putting on of God, to become not only a 
# newly made Christian so to speak but perhaps through the initition 
# you have been discussing newly made Christian Mage.  Just wanted to 
# throw that out there. Not necessarily death in the literal sense. 

'death of the old ways' (repentance) and shifting to dwell in the Heart 
of the divine (re-orientation) are necessary parts of Christian 
experience (being Born Again).  what I would call the assumption of the 
mantle of the Christian Magus necessarily involves at this time a step 
AWAY from institutions, especially those which are continuing to espouse 
methodologies and values outdated and detrimental to the biosphere and, 
ultimately, to our own species.

the way many Christian esotericists through the ages have described
Christ points the way to see the role of the Magus in the world, as:

	a glorious Being belonging to the great spiritual
	hierarchy that guides the spiritual evolution of
	humanity,....  ...who was finally put to death
	for blasphemy, for teaching the inherent Divinity
	of Himself and all men.  He came to give a new 
	impulse of spiritual life to the world; to re-
	issue the inner teachings affecting spiritual 
	life; to mark out again the narrow ancient way;
	to proclaim the existence of the 'Kingdom of
	Heaven,' of the Initiation which admits to that
	knowledge of God which is eternal life; and to 
	admit a few to that Kingdom who should be able
	to teach others.  
	----------------------------------------------
	_Esoteric Christianity_, by Annie Besant,
	  Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing 
	  House, 1970; p. 96.
	______________________________________________

or when Gray speaks of the 'White' Mass and Divine Kingship:

	Like all Life-types, humanity developed several
	distinct strains, the best and highest of which
	became known as the 'King's sons', 'Children of
	the Gods', etc.   These individuals both male
	and female became selectively evolved into the
	most advanced species of Life on earth.  Their
	qualities were transmissible not solely by
	physical reproduction, but by their line of the
	'Blood Royal' possible [sic] to inherit 
	spiritually by an Inner contact which would be
	a sexual one if it occurred in material terms.
	This 'Blood Royal' is otherwise known as the
	Sang Real, or Holy Grail.  Those who 'achieve
	the Grail' are thus those who have come to
	partake of the 'Holy Blood', or otherwise
	become included in the most direct Line of 
	Light relative to our Divine Initiating Impulse.

	To maintain this linkage and renew the purity
	of our 'Blood Royal', the ancient custom of the
	Divine Kings continued contacts through the
	centuries.  These Kings were willing victims,
	acting on behalf of their people, offering
	themselves and their blood as a focus for
	Eternal Energies, which, at the cost of their
	physical bodies and earthly personalities, used
	their Spiritual components as projection points
	for reproducing the Divine Image among humanity
	again.  Technically the Divine Kings really did
	'die for the sins of their people', since, had
	the Image not been obscured and distorted by
	human fallibilities, there would have been no 
	occasion for the King's service.  No vengeful
	Deity or any such monstrosity demanded their
	sacrifice as a punishment for human sins and
	offences.  They were strictly volunteers in a 
	Cause they believed in implicitly, namely 
	keeping at least their own sections of humanity
	in touch with the most Ancient Ancestry of all,
	in order to carry that Line to its Rightful
	Destiny....

	...The Grail Legends tell the tale truly enough
	in allegory, and the Symbols of the Cup and
	Lance with a drop-by-drop blood contact should
	be too obvious to need explanation.

	Such is the story behind the 'White' Mass.  The
	officiants do not offer any lives but their own,
	freely and willingly, as a means of making Inner
	contact with Divinity in accordance with True Will.
	---------------------------------------------------
	_Inner Traditions of Magic_, by Willam G. Gray,
	  Samuel Weiser Books Inc., 1984; pp. 250-1.
	___________________________________________________

while the modern Christian mage must necessarily depart from
the half-visions and errors of those who came before, she is
part of an old and innovative shamanic recovery of wisdom
which has been lost to a well-intentioned calcification in
social religious tradition that rarely now ministers to the truly
needy, plans for, or indeed prevents growing travesty through
actions taken with a long-term vision in mind.  today's Christian
church has forgotten to look out to the branches of Her tree.
instead She continues blind and heedless toward an unintentional
and ultimately doomed future while passing countless curses onto
the third and fourth generation.  yea, unto the third and fourth 
generation.

I will see this change and my energies dedicated to that effort.
I hope that as many as I am able to reach repent of our sinful
ways and enter into the Kingdom of the Lord through service to
Satan, the Silent and Dark Source from whose bosom we have come.

blessed beast!
________________________________________________________________________
nocTifer: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com  ---  http://www.abyss.com/tokus
TOKUS-COE Office: 408/2-666-SLUG --- Mother Church (CoE) coe@netcom.com

EOF
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