Hermeticist Interview

Hermetic Interview on Satanism and the Demonic

Student / Aspirant Discussion

Early 2025
Facebook Chat

Correspondent:
I had been seeing you showing on my friend suggestions and I've been curious about this energy that seems to be in connection to seeing your profile.

Mufti:
I can direct you to some of the writing i have placed online in connection to this esoteric activity on my part if you like. It can be found in part here:
http://avidyana.org/

Corre:
Seems like we've been working on opposite sides of the energy. Or I could be wrong.

Mufti:
Opposite in what sense?

Corre:
Well, you're a satanist.

Mufti:
I'm often told that i'm the sweetest Satanist that people have known, so it may be an impression thing. I appreciate monsters and turning the subversion ideologies of Christians and Muslims into something positive.

The site i wrote on Satanism may explain somewhat: https://www.satanservice.org

Corre:
What I meant is just that I'm a right-hand path magician. Not judging or anything in any way. I think it's good for people to find their own path. I'll take a look and see....

I've found those altered states of consciousness through daily rituals, but it's been working with angels more than devils; Rosicrucian stuff, although I imagine working with the qlipoth may provide a similar experience.

Mufti:
Daily rituals? Hermeticism? Bornless One? Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram? Some other rite? I think of qliphotic work as something worthless to Right-Hand Path magicians. Far better to focus on meditation and light-side matters.

I found demons and demonology compelling after being exposed to the anti-demonism and anti-cultism and anti-satanism of Christians in the late 1990s. Once studying it i discovered a ripe territory for valuable exploration.

Corre:
I practice Rosicrucian rituals. I seek daily divine light and my life has been much better ever since

Mufti:
I'm barely familiar with those from some exposure to those associated with or members of the AMORC. I used to live in the city where they were HQ'd. I visited their museum and planetarium many times and found their public materials interesting. They told me that they were heavily warned against magic of any kind. I found that interesting and it kept me from participating in any of their egyptomania.

I liked the non-regulated New Agers and found Unitarian Universalists more interesting, until i met Neopagans, with whom i frolicked.

Corre:
It's nice. I like to know about everything too.

Mufti:
The social phenomena catalyzed my religious interests (Satanism). I found Buddhism and Neo-Paganism and Hindu bhakti more inspiring for spirutality (dedication to Kali).

Corre:
I understand. If that's helping you live a more harmonious and meaningful life, that's great. One of the things I had to do before commiting to this is healing my religious trauma, because we get a lot of harm from society and church. That pushes us away from divinity in general, but I understand that some symbols help people in different ways. I have a nice connection with Odin, for example, but Rosicrucian magic helps me too. It has a lot to do with whatever resonates more with joy.

Mufti:
Harmonious: I don't think so.
Meaningful: Yes.
Religious trauma: I don't have any to my knowledge; i was raised without religions.
Closing on divinity: I found and love my God deeply.
Odin: Cool. My ancestry includes the Scandanavian, so i can relate and have communed.
Rosicrucian magic: it isn't something which yet has drawn me to understand it. Can you describe some of its aims?

Corre:
The aim of Rosicrucian Magick is known as the Great Work. It's the ultimate alchemical goal. Transforming all things into virtue. In other words, developing the spiritual body to transcend this physical existence.

Mufti:
Oh alchemy. Yes, i'm pretty familiar: Hermetic, Taoist, other. I would not describe it as transcending this physical existence, but i understand some aim for this.

Corre:
Yes, what I mean is, basically, evolving spiritually.

Mufti:
Tricky business.
I studied Christianity and Christian mysticism so as to understand alchemy's relation to the Philospher's Stone of the Ancients, Jesus' role with respect to it, and some on Christian Rosenkreutz.

Its dynamics of martyrdom and social transformation were compelling enough to me that i absorbed its principles, and this in part led me to Satanism.

Corre:
That's fascinating

Mufti:
Out of compassion, because of the reality behind its history, its relation to Blood Libel, and to the promotions ongoing related to moral panics i observed.

Some of that continues in connection with what is being promoted by the Roman Catholics and today by the US Trump fascists.

Corre:
There's a great evil on that, that's for sure.

Mufti:
Yes, but it's one typically born of ignorance; something taught amongst Buddhists to avoid arrogance so as not to cement the evaluation to the persons themselves, and to allow their possible transmutation too. It resonates with the maxim: 'A rising tide lifts all boats' and with the bodhisattva vows of the Mahayana. It's easy to see its harmony with Christian monastics too.

Instructions on evils seem most important within churches where moral instruction and behaviour are under severe scrutiny. A misapplication of their symbolism leads people to confuse it with history and take Satan for an historical person (Lucifer, whatever).

Insofar as evil is 'that with which i struggle,' i agree with you completely. That's why initially it doesn't produce harmony. I don't expect that, and my lot is not for my own harmony at this time. It has been previously in my life, and i can fully endorse its value.

Corre:
This is really interesting. You've got a lot of insightful views. I can't help but be curious.

Mufti:
These days my focus is on asking the right questions, and seeing how what is around me relates to mystical maps i am studying to walk and enhance. That's why i found it helpful to reconstruct what was traditional. It helped me to see what they were trying to do in making what they made for those who followed.

It's recommended within my order and that of hermeticism: build it yourself and then see how it fits with your own character. People take it down to the material level at times. They construct their own tools using blacksmithing, for example, or jewelcraft.

Corre:
I'm more into pure energetic work, and have a heart for sharing with others, I practice divination for spiritual growth. Right now I feel very connected with my light

Mufti:
I can appreciate that. My observation thusfar is that where we do the work is the plane of what we can most expediently influence. Thus energy work enhances how and what we can do on the energetic plane.

Corre:
I see my life, my family, my health everything better, better moments. Beautiful. Nice energy around people. Nice moments of connection with others. I'm loving it. It's like being in heaven.

Mufti:
More power to ya.

Corre:
I feel a little bit of your energy. Not clearly. You've got some protections and things I don't understand, but I can feel a nice energy. You're gentle.

Mufti:
A pacifist in fact.

Corre:
If you were close, I would buy you dinner so I could get to learn more from you.

Mufti:
Very kind of you. I'm out in the rurals and connect with people via the internet these days.

Corre:
I appreciate your wisdom and knowledge.

Mufti:
Thanks. I'm leaving a minute trail and like to put a positive spin on what i encounter. Typically those who meet me in this or similar dimensions don't see through it so readily. They are confused by their own baggage.

Corre:
I've already been through enough shit, now focusing on what I consider to be my path, which is mysticism, trying to embody divinity every day.

Mufti:
Are there Rosicrucian temples near you?

Corre:
Nearby, but I'm a solo practitioner, not affiliated to any orders.

Mufti:
What sources do you find valuable for information about it? Published books?

[Corre replies with particular sources.]

Mufti:
If you haven't checked it out you might find collections of Agrippa (beyond Barrett) to be helpful (Tyson, for example, via Llewellyn). There's some interesting material out of Poke Runyon and Stephen Skinner as well. [See below for references.]

Agrippa (Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim) was one of the main sources of information about magic and divination available to the early members of the Golden Dawn (about which i have studied quite a bit; i'm also an initiate in a couple of orders related to them which don't require secrecy about it). Agrippa compiled occult information which he called "Three Books of Occult Philosophy."

This was transformed and reduced into "The Magus," by Francis Barrett, who published a portion of it at a time when it became available to the early Golden Dawn. They didn't have access to Agrippa in his original documents and all that they had of The Kabbalah was "The Kabbalah Unveiled" (Kabbalah Denudata) by the non-rabbinical translator (Christian Cabalist) Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, re-presented later by the Golden Dawn member S.L. Macgregor Mathers. This was a strictly Lurianic slant to Kabbalah.

A better and more extensive source on the subject may be had by Gershom Scholem such as "The Kabbalah" or his more brief "Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism."

These may easily be PDFs online too. They're quite old.

Corre:
I do have the Kabbalah Unveiled book, and I find it really helpful to focus on rituals, and understanding the operations and symbols as best as I can.

Mufti:
Rituals: like which ones?

Corre:
Middle Pillar, Lesser Pentagram, Lesser Hexagram, Building up the Tree of Life, Star Rubi, SIRP. Those are the rituals I practice right now

Mufti:
Some portion of this appears to be Thelemic.

I'm slightly familiar to them because of my involvement in the OTO, which proceeded from a life-long interest in magic and divination (the primary aspects of occultism as i understand it). Their notorious member, Crowley, published numerous renditions of rituals derivative of the Golden Dawn and perhaps elsewhere, and they recommend a raft of Crowleyan libers and practices with which i have become familiar by proximity and study.

Such as in "Liber MCLI" which was constructed by Frater William E. Heidrick as i recall. If you're interested in any of that let me know. I have helped them to get and keep quite a bit of his material online.

In any case, your focus on Rosicrucianism is only partly known to me and some of my Thelemic kindred have reflected for me on their involvement in AMORC of other orgs.

Corre:
I see myself as a magician and try to live as such.

Mufti:
I can completely relate. Is any of the above familiar to you? Some of it might be (easily) construed as "LHP" by those of a conservative bent, so i'm being tentative and cautious here as regard your interest.

Corre:
I'm not that conservative. I believe we do have a Creator, but I'm not afraid to try out energies from LHP systems. Balance is the most important thing for me

Mufti:
Then are you familiar with Crowleyan writings and Thelemic esoteric materials? The Thelemic style themselves as either neutral or absent RHP/LHP delimiters. Their primary 'demonic' involvement was quasi-Judaic ("The Sacred Magic of Abramelin") and quasi-Christian (Enochian, out of the works of John Dee), but i didn't find them appreciably demonic in character.

Your interest in balance is likely going to be helpful if you are unfamiliar with any of these references. The Enterer on the Threshold (i.e. Choronzon) and the spirits of Enochian magic were thought advanced material by many of my brothers in the OTO.

The RHP/LHP characterization has a way of shifting depending upon one's background and proficiency. This seems to be accurate whether from their application within Indian systems (the Vamamarga) all the way out to their application within Luciferian or Satanic usage (whether by someone like Michael Ford or in crude constructions by Satanic orgs/orders).

I presumed not, but wanted to mention that it could be called "a slippery slope" (Thelema, Enochian, etc.).

The involvement with the qliphoth, for example, might be thought dangerous and darkside, but i think you mentioned it previously (probably after review of Avidyana.org).

Another dimension to this is the tracking or evaluation of personal progress. Are you familiar with esoteric systems like the Golden Dawn or the Order of the Silver Star or even some Rosicrucian org/order and how they evaluate spiritual development? This has its origins probably in mystic cultures and may be awkward and unreliable, but i am primarily asking to see if you have considered that line of thinking.

Corre:
Since I'm not part of any orders, I rely a lot on results observed from my every day life. What tells me whether I'm progressing or not is the kind of energy I am able to manifest every day. The kind of experience and awareness I perceive in my daily life. The kind of depth in knowledge I'm able to grasp. I would say that In not able to claim being an adept yet. Just a neophyte.

Mufti:
So you are familiar with those terms (adept, neophyte) and their significance within the hermetic lattice schema. That's part of what i was getting at.

That's valuable, insofar as you have ideas about what could be possible and what steps, platforms, or levels might be achieved.

Corre:
It's nice to know things, but making them tangible, that's delightful

Mufti:
Agreed. In witchcraft circles we called it 'grounding the instruction'.

Corre:
I appreciate your insight and sharing. It's really nice to be able to talk this much with someone more experienced.

Mufti:
I am occasionally available for such engagement and usually more responsive to questions or requests, because of my density, for expansion.

You're the first person with whom i've discussed this material in several Moons, possibly years. Most are frightened away by my involvement in what i would call wrathful workings. Like you, i find equilibrium or balance to be essential, but it is almost impossible for people to see where i am on this trajectory (something you mentioned attempting to assess locally as through an evening's discussion in person).

Agrippa:
https://archive.org/details/three-books-of-occult-philosophy-henry-cornelius-agrippa-donald-tyson-edition

Runyon:
"Secrets of the Golden Dawn: Cypher Manuscript" https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Golden-Dawn-Cypher-Manuscript/dp/0965488128

Skinner:
"Techniques of High Magic: Manual of Self-Initiation," by Stephen Skinner https://www.amazon.com/Techniques-High-Magic-Manual-Self-Initiation/dp/0993204236

Corre:
What a fine compendium. Thank you so much for sharing.

Mufti:
The latter two are recent constructs, as would be other sources on Agrippa (editions) such as Tyson/Llewellyn.

Corre:
I'll see what I can learn

Mufti:
I found their content helpful especially Runyon, because i was attempting to get at the rudiments of the Golden Dawn system and see how they arose.

Corre:
That's probably quite interesting. I'm curious about the enochian calls

Mufti:
But i can imagine that Skinner, whose work i really like otherwise on things like Raml, Sand Divination/Geomancy, would be valuable for solitary work.

Corre:
And how all that came to be. Divination is really helpful

Mufti:
Dee's work, then others such as Schueler created reflections of Enochian.

Divination: in connection to Enochian, Enochian Chess, which i have studied in some depth. It arises out of Four Seasons Chess, among a number of four-handed variants, and appears to be Elemental in character. One can use a standard chessboard and 2 sets of pieces to acquire colour-sets; i've done this and seen others construct specialty tools.

Divination is something which i have spent a lot of time studying and using. Globally, it overlaps particularly with games.

Cartomancy: Tarot from Tarocchi, Lenormand from the Game of Hope, many playing card systems out of European conventional decks.

In esoteric groups like the Golden Dawn there has been a strident bias against fortune-telling, and amongst the Thelemics, against magic employed for conventional aims (which it deems 'black' as it strays from a strictly 'spiritual' endeavour).

This resonates with the harmonic you somewhat reflected recently of "developing the spiritual body to transcend this physical existence." My understanding of RHP/LHP systems is that they both feature transcendental participants and theories, but that the LHP is more often rebelliously focussed on the individual, ego, and self-interests.

The RHP more often is conformingly focussed on the group, submission, and community. My astrology is such that i am a Scorpio (occult-focussed) on the Cusp with Libra (heavily steering toward balance). I'm also born with Saturn conjunct Jupiter in Capricorn, which grounds me in philosophy and keeps me asking questions of both sides of every debate.

If you have any interest in Buddhism, the Mahayana vehicle of Buddhist tradition and history features a strong emphasis within "Madyamika" - The Middle Path School of the Dharma.

Corre:
That sounds interesting. I have never learned much about Buddhism.

Mufti:
This resolves all dual concepts to attempt (at least conceptually, and, when successful, in application) all bipolar and apparently opposed energies toward a transcendental result, variably interpreted.

I thought i would mention because i found it immensely inspiring, even going so far as to receive empowerment within the Tibetan strand of this: Attuning to Yeshes Tosgyal, the biographer of the Buddhist religious dharma hero Padmasambhava.

Sitting in zendo and practicing zazen, sitting meditation, is something i can recommend also, especially with attention to the health in the knees. Hatha yoga likewise, with its Sun Salutations and Corpse Pose, are quite effective, i found.

Western esotericism endorses yogic disciplines, probably because of influence from HP Blavatsky and Alan Bennett.

Corre:
For sure. I am currently mastering High Magick, but that is something worth looking into as well

Mufti:
By my understanding these things may be fruitfully combined in ceremonial practical effort, as you appear to be embarked.

Corre:
Thank you. I appreciate your sharing your views and enlightening me.

Mufti:
Within certain systems these are the basics of High Magick as they are instructed, which is in part why i mention it (particularly yoga, of Raja or at least Hatha variety).

Corre:
There must be a connection for sure

Mufti:
Indian systems of spirituality have at times extended to extremes of asceticism. The Samana aspirants preceded the arising of bikkhus developing the Dharma of Buddhism. They sought a sustainable medium zone of mystical ascension.

The stories of the person of Gautama Buddha are not by my understanding historical, but instead instructive and symbolic. You might find reading of them (and other "Magi") helpful.

If you are only engaging in solitary studies, then you may wish to develop in your computer a file of 'key terms' relating to these studies so as to pin-point research value. There is so much information available that it can be impossible to identify salience, power, and enduring relevance.

I've begun these for serious students but only on a meager level, perfecting the format for post-library explorations online insofar as search engines retain their utility.

Corre:
AI can help too.

Mufti:
There is an excellent story of a fisherman encountering a beggar who asks for fish. The fisherman provides the means to catch fish alongside the sustaining initial meal as charity. This is what i regard as true compassion and common knowledge sharing.

AI applications come with serious disabilities of being ungrounded from experience and rational scrutiny. They are helpful key term generators and collectors of uncertain data batches which may be used as raw material from which to proceed in one's research.

Corre:
It can help in some way to begin searching for information.

Mufti:
Absolutely helpful for initial steps. That said, while libraries are quickly becoming moribund static reservoirs of printed material and occasional cybernetic datafile identification, study with knowledgeable specialist human beings is still the most reliable vector of informed aspiration in esoteric studies to my way of thinking. This can be loosely-connected and need not require commitments to cults and orders, but touchpoints of critical thinking and familiarity to tradition are essential for adherence to reliable disciplines, solitary or no.

Corre:
Yes, for more in-depth knowledge I definitely think it's better this way, talking to someone who knows. That's why I value these conversations with you. You've already provided lots of info. More than what I can handle at times but gives me some ideas. You even shared books. That's a lot, very appreciated.

The joy I feel, the peace, my thoughts not being weird and awkward, my performance at work, it's all tangible to me. But yeah I'm getting my tools little by little. I need to get my diary soon. I almost have all the tools I need. I got my pentacle yesterday. I paid an artisan to craft it.

[shared an amulet image]

Mufti:
What you are describing in a general sense gives the sense of arriving, of settled personal condition, something attributable to adeptship. There is personal success as a static condition, then there is a kind of 'mobile' success as one intersects with others and engages in dynamics of challenge. This may lead to serious ramped-up challenges if one is so inclined and can take on even more difficult enterprises of social movement, whether religious or political or charitable in some other sense.

I gather that there is something beyond this which relates to a fusion of interfaces whereby these experiences cease becoming seen as exchanges or communications and the punctuations or interruptions of energy are smoothed out.

.... [Corre explains his disorientation into drugs and alcohol and return to esoteric studies within the last year.]

Mufti:
That is an excellent backdrop for esoteric studies; you now have an experience of disorientation with which to compare against your continued progress. Recovering on your own is definitely a will-builder.

I compare that with the astronomical dynamic of a 'fly-by' on a planet to build up speed in space exploration.

I developed a system to do that with social systems of attempted enslavement/conversion; i would encounter them and politely resist their attempts to dominate. It was always a short-term affair but the result was observable in will-building.

I think that has the same kind of effect as does single-pointed meditation, though the meditation is remaining in one place, returning to it over-and-over; the social fly-by was more dynamic and mobile.

Corre:
Of course. I think organized religion uses magic too; spells, missionaries and all that, the way they persuade: it's also using spells.

Mufti:
Persuasion/influence - yes, there's an energetic exchange and influence. In my study of magic i have restricted the use of the term 'spells' to less metaphoric application in the folk magic or ritual employment of symbolism to intended effect, but i do think i know what you mean.

Corre:
The other day you talked about doing "wrathful" work. Do you mean baneful magic? Like hurting people with magic?

Mufti:
"Most are frightened away by my involvement in what i would call wrathful workings." - While i serve witches whose activities do include that type of activity, it isn't ever my focus. In the folk magic of my practice i'm what is called 'lady-hearted' which means that i don't do negative, caustic, cursing, or the type of magic you're referring to. I'd say that's an activity which only some specialists do for hire or on their own.

Typically moral justification is embedded in that, and many caveat it in connection with the guidance of deities.

What i meant by that is invocation of, pacts with, and otherwise defense of demons. This is a reconstruction of demonology from the perspective which does not feature anti-demonism. Qliphotic activities might also be connected to this, as might my worship of and dedication to my deity (Kali).

==

Corre:
I've noticed many Rosicrucians and freemasons are actually quite fascist and racist. And that many Kabbalistic mystics seem to be supporters of genocide.

---

Mufti:
A fine line of evaluation lies between assessing what someone is actually doing and accepting their presentation of behaviour which overlooks bigotry.

The racist history of Freemasonry, particularly in the US South, is fairly well-known, leading to the construction of Prince Hall Freemasonry. That said, a number of bodies are attempting to address that problem and find ways to re-integrate the UGLE and separated lineages.

Freemasonry is also fairly sexist. Freemasonry *used* to include women, and this has shifted to a revisionist history with ignorance rampant. That said, there are Co-Masonic lines which feature both sexes equally and these are fewer in number than conventional Freemasonry, sometimes associated to esoteric principles and overlays (e.g. the Golden Dawn). Some of these are also bigotted racially or sexually.

Certain authors, such as Besant (after Blavatsky, another racist), Evola, and Crowley, have become the darlings of esoteric cults which are para-masonic, despite their racist and fascist interests. A certain class-association exists for these that does not 'trickle out' based on moral instructions or 'spiritual attainment'. We can make our own conclusions about the (longstanding) disconnect between religions and esoteric cults and their ethical standards.

It is in part why i became a Satanist and did not seek to participate in the ritual activities recommended by my orders (OTO, OSOGD) for self-development because i found them delusion-mongering, and their touted 'spiritual' results betrayed as false by so many of their participants supposed 'advanced' -- i concluded that they didn't have good 'recognition' skills for spirituality and ethical behaviour, were corrupted and probably unredeemable.

This was part of my 'entire reconstruction' of Hermeticism and ritual magic. My analysis of such things as the LBRP and Bornless One or other rites is that they weren't likely to help me to be more harmonious with the rest of the species on the planet or indeed with others of my own. I hope they serve those who use them. It is possible that confidence in them is primarily responsible for the results.

---

This fine line also applies when assessing political terrains. It helps to assess the terminology used within the context of conflict, and where religion and ethnicity is concerned, there are few cultures and people other than those responsible for the construction of the Kabbalah (Jews) more assaulted, accused, condemed, and unfairly villified for their activities.

From the Blood Libel attested by anti-Jewish Christians (that Jews kill Christian babies for their religious rites), to the publishing and promotion of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (a propaganda campaign alleging that Jews are the secret cabal behind socio-economic powers unfairly manipulating us all), to the allegation that their violent response to being targetted by Islamic nations like Iran constitutes 'genocide,' (particularly in the aftermath of actual genocidal interests by hugely more powerful WWII nation-states in the form of nazis), it complicates the picture terribly when evaluating Kabbalist interests, and Jews have been expelled, pogrommed, taxed, fined, imprisoned, and slain out of existence in certain quarters.

While i am myself opposed to violence, i think it helps to keep certain key terms (such as 'nazi' and 'genocide') for usage to proportionate and primary character qualifications in our opposition to them. Many people go to war, and some of those do so out of ill-conceived ideals. It's helpful to assess what people are really doing and who they are targetting in their acts.

It is my assessment that, based on the text found in the Jewish and Christian scripture of Job, it seems to me that there is a natural alliance which may be formed between Jews and Satanists. I am myself married to a Jewish woman, whom i regard as my guru. I find so many commonalities of value and mind between us, and a goodly number of these are well-known in Satanism, that i don't think this is merely coindental.

That she is NOT a pacifist probably says more about my privileged male anglo background than it does about anything else. Her violations were far more severe, her responses in opinions on politics far more extreme, despite the fact that we are both very fair-minded and kind, locally. We both agree that the Israeli response was severe, and see that the socio-political vectors of arms and force against which they are struggling stem from Iran, in the guise of HAMAS.

How those whom they now war with sought to set terrorists as their leaders is something few explain, and fewer provide good justification for identifying this series of violent clashes between these fledgeling states as somehow related to genocide. That appears to be a promotional campaign bent on affiliation to holocaust-denial and weirdly ignoring historical backdrops to the terrible clash going on (something extending from before WWII when Britain set these folks against one another through its selection of land and peoples it arranged in victory over the region).

WRT Rosicrucian magicians, i'm not aware of many, self-identified as such. Most of those focussed on magic characterizing themselves as Rosicrucians seem to be mystics, and so at best using magic to approach spiritual development (that possibly poorly).

The same might be said for (Christian) Cabalists or (Hermetic) Qabalists or even (Jewish) Kabbalists: their interest in theurgy tends to bind them to ancient books featuring antiquated moral frameworks and intellectual paradigms driving them away from expansive and embracing spiritual values.

The best of these mystics embrace the human species and ignore those others far less adroit and intelligent sharing the planet with us. Their myopia on issues of over-population and exploitation of land and the wild makes it plain that their focus is social, not spiritual, in its depth. They understandably want to see human beings getting along well with one another, and indeed this is a first step toward a heaven on earth; yet the broader, actual, spiritual view must be that life is itself sacred, experience and suffering are in fact the blight against which we are cooperatively obligated to struggle, not just to free up arable land to build while demolishing the jungles and soiling our nest, but to caretake what Christians call The Creation to optimum standards, providing for increasing numbers of large mammals in ecological health.

I agree. I wish to incorporate a solid practice in the Norse Pantheon, which is more spiritual in my opinion than Kabbalah

---

"more light ... and more honesty {in you}.... I am therefore perplexed."

It may be that we simply agree on much. The light will be on account of my nurturance amongst New Agers hyper-valuing light, time spent with mystics of spiritual interest far-reaching in sentiments (sharing time with Sufis, Zen and other Buddhists, Krishna devotees, atheistic mystic philosopher-types, Neo-Pagan witches, and spiritualist light-workers whom i now serve). The honesty is probably a facet of our distance, and some on account of my age. Having no social connections to threaten, nothing to lose in frank contentions in our interaction, and no reputation to risk in being quoted back with strong opinions i provide, there is little to stifle or restrain my keyboard.

Norse pantheon more spiritual than Kabbalah: How interesting. That's not the general character i'd describe of these social and ethnic strands, but surely it makes a difference what you think that spirituality includes and how this manifests. I've seen far more bigotry amongst the Nordics, for example (some extremist factions exist in the Asatru, for example).

And Kabbalists is a spongey category of myriad ethnic variety, depending on how one discovers it (thus my mention of Scholem, rather than other sources who provide Christian and Hermetic spins on the material). Their spiritual character may or may not include politics, but i've rarely encountered the types of racism and ethnic stratification (say, based racial superiority, as compared to feud-based struggle) amonst the Kabbalists who were Jews.

So i'm curious how you are making these assessments and what you are viewing as spiritual facets.

You mentioned how Kabbalah misses the point in including other life forms as part of the spiritual family and treating them with that kind of respect. I believe Norse spirituality does this a little better. Just to mention one thing.

Corre:
But I might be missing many things that you now in depth. Maybe I'm not able to see things with the clarity I need. I feel betrayed when so many Kabbalists treat Hispanic immigrants with such disrespect.

Mufti:
There is a hefty history between Spain and Jews, so be aware of the travesty done to 'judeos' by Queen Isabella and their like. Old wounds heal slowly.

Corre:
Many Jews came to Mexico when there was persecution. They were welcomed here. I might even have some Jewish blood myself. But the point is that all the caucasian Kabbalists I've met are terribly fond of Trump's decisions against the Hispanic community. Specifically "brown" Hispanics.

Mufti:
I'm very sorry to hear that; i have strong opposition to all Trump fascism and their racist ways. Perhaps you could already know that about me. I've met many very inclusive Kabbalists; i imagine that a goodly number of the Jewish Kabbalists are inclusive minded, not racists; i'd usually not even consider caucasians to be serious Kabbalists (more likely Christian Cabalists or Hermetic Qabalists).

Corre:
I think you're right again. I have a deep respect for all those good Jews who denounce cruelty and stand for what is right. And I don't hate Jews or Israelies just cause of their beliefs, raze or nationality. I know many stand for what is right. It's just quite upsetting to see colonialism and fascism so strongly encouraged and supported.

Mufti:
Yah, people think violence solves things. It'll take many centuries to overcome that. Until then it'll just be more and more squabblng over dwindling resources.

Myopia skews morality, morphs it into speciesist pursuits which, when looked at broadly, are evils. There is a hazard in the hypotheticals in that they are used to pursue what are called value, but the means are typically themselves immoral or exploitative. The argument with pacifists, for example, is to imagine a beloved person being assaulted or violated and then suggest that violence in their defense is warranted. Contextless, restricted hypotheticals are used thereafter to justify terrible acts. No long views are interjected, no broad values endorsed, the aim becoming short-term "security" the means 'whatever is necessary'.

Corre:
That makes a lot of sense. There's also the fact that regulations and laws are in place precisely because of that.

Mufti:
Ostensibly "spirituality" broadens views toward the holistic. Religions tend to reify myopic concerns. Esoteric organizations install a cosmology from which these values are reinterpreted toward variable aims and values. Some of those become exploited by bigotted interests or heavily skewed paradigms.

One of the virtues of Freemasons is that they tend to break down ethnic and nationalistic myopia in favour of 'fraternal' (speciesist, but less prejudiced amongst humans) values and pragmatic knowledge. Esoteric orders which reconfigure freemasonic systems skew this to their cosmology, complicating what is taught as knowledge and stratifying "spiritual development" skills and powers attributed to its participants. Their weak-point is their ponsi-like tenure-bias.

This is demonstrated by the theft-and-re-presentation of certain orders which glean a reputation. Rosicrucian is one of these. Golden Dawn is another. Thelemic yet another, and a general 'Hermetic' presentation overlaps to all of these.

I think that for me, the most important part is being able to get tangible results and explore my mind consistently. Self-development and exploration techniques.

The basis of 'self-development' stems from an evaluation of self and what can and should be developed to achieve what ends. Secondarily, an evaluative method is key to evaluating progress toward these ends.

Many orders or organizations have methods of doing such evaluations and provide ostensibly unbiased assessments so as to prevent self-delusion.

These methods are sometimes corrupted by social interests, blinders, and political machination.

But what they are supposed to guard against is real: self-delusion.

Of course. That's a big problem

Mufti:
Huge; it is one of my main studies (delusions, how to recognize them and get past them) for the last few decades.

Corre:
So, you're an author obviously. You've got publications and books?

Mufti:
Me? I'm a mystic, magician, and support tech for witches and mystics. I have my handle on what publishing and authorship includes, but i function more as a coach and help others to get their books authored and published than i do as an author mysef.

The one text i authored was on my religious scripture. My wife is the author, and she is a witch and diviner; herbalist and spiritualist. I create web sites with my text, which is occasionally renovated with new material as i find it helpful to the interested or to my own technical or subject-oriented purposes. I also facilitate information location to people seeking it; by creation of bibliographic material, pointers to web sites (these of course disintegrate through time), and rudimentary wiki data as i come across it.

Sometimes i have also helped with social media interface, by adapting or creating groups and pages. I have my foot in 2 different worlds:
1) lightside spiritualists and witches doing a variety of things; and 2) Satanists and Luciferians, darkside transgressive spirituality and spellcasting. Sometimes these overlap. I keep this latter at arm's length to prevent undue contamination.

It isn't your type which effects these problems, but the coarse and intemperate, even villainous types partial to the darkside (wayward ignorant peoples). I tend to minimize chat of this type to folks with intelligence and respect, such as yourself, for whom i go out of my way because i have so few who are serious about the subject and persistent in communication.

The bulk are Africans asking to "join Satanism" or occasional ignorant Christians and Muslims seeking to sell their soul for fame and riches. I've constructed material to assist both sets of individuals, but few pursue spiritualists who are compatible with my output (some are Joy of Satan dupes and reprobates; others are Christian Luciferians more compatible to Hermeticism or Rosicrucianism with which you are somewhat familiar).

Corre:
I am a little inclined towards Thelema right now. I've experienced more energy doing Star Rubi than LBRP. I think the first is probably more powerful to me.

Mufti:
The complication of Thelema is its wayward obsession with the wordsmith and tarbaby-maker Aleister Crowley, whose works i have studied extensively because of their character. It was the reason that i became involved with the OTO and became an initiate there: the focus on "Magick". The basis of Thelema is to be found in New Thought writings of the early 20th century. The works of William Walker Atkinson and others disclosed the principles and keys which others hinted at and used obliquely to drive attention to their newfound Master.

As a proto-Satanist, Crowley was interested in undermining and defrauding several different vectors of esotericism, including ceremonial magic, tarotic divination and kabbalah, and the ascension scheme of the Golden Dawn (in his A.'.A.'. constructed with George Cecil Jones). He did this through his publications, which interweave abstruse terminology he invented or appropriated and combined with esoteric common language. I reckon this as "Crowleyanity" and warn against undue attention to his works and organizations to those with whom i converse on the subject. Satanists have avoided Crowley, on the whole, or sought to run parallel to him in egotistical pursuits, such as the Temple of Set.

If you find yourself drawn to him, then you may be interested in studying the Protestant vector of the Plymouth Brethren from whom he descends, what is constructed as 'Gnosticism' and 'Neo-Gnosticism' sometimes picked up by Luciferians, Hermeticism and Egyptomania inherent to those with whom he involved himself (Mathers, Regardie, others).

Corre:
I appreciate all this valuable insight. I know you're not just sharing info you found online. You're also giving me some important ideas based on your analysis. I would be very happy if I could generate a High Magick system based on the Norse Pantheon, Norse symbology and Runes. I would feel very comfortable with that. I will get some ideas and share with you and see what you think.

Mufti:
Sounds wonderful. I can suggest some means of connecting this with conventional systems if you have interest, such as using a 10 / 32-key association scheme and tree lattice to stratify it into a Tree of Life, connect up Norse deities to various levels, and symbolism. There are already schemas for this, i'm certain, possibly connected to Norse Tarot constructs. Do you care what basis they have in reality or history?

There are more than one rune set plus modern variations from which to set such a lattice up, besides. A preliminary cosmology might be useful in such a construction (using, for example, the 3-Worlds concepts of popular nordic cosmos). Drawing from creation-based notions like The Norns might also be helpful here. Even eschatology and apocalyptic features might be established, with Balder and Ragnarok, etc.

I've done rudimentary workups to see how this might play out with unusual implementation: Jehovah's Witness Cabala was one such idea i mapped slightly. It has some of the eschatology and apocalypse, but so do proto-Satanist inversions such as by Crowley. I'd guess you'd want to define your pantheon and runes first, then proceed from there. There are tripartite qabalah derivations which may be helpful depending on your cosmology.

My own background with partial Scandanavian heritage gave me reason to look into runes and norse deities and stories pretty deeply. Neopagans and some Satanists have made inroads here you may or may not want to use to your advantage.

A FAQ and a set of Bluffer Hints might be constructed for the interested creator of such a system; or you may wish to stumble upon these items yourself.

Prose Edda, Snorri Snurlson is a conventional source for the pantheon, but that's based on a half-memory. Typically people deal with the Elder Futhark or the Younger, which feature different numbers. They have names, meanings, and some say they have passages or spell-contents/character.

Corre:
There are 2 main forms of magick in Norse culture: Galdr which is Thaumaturgic magick and Seidr which is Theurgic magick

Mufti:
Is there a 'spiritual development' theory in Norse magick?

Corre:
That might not be the main focus. A lot of it comes from experiencing things on your own. There's very little said and written that was not affected by Christianity.

Mufti:
And is your interest to winnow the Christianity from it?

Corre:
That's a great question. Maybe Christianity wasn't all bad to mix with Norse spirituality. Cultures change and so do archetypes. Most religions revolve around egregors, not spirituality. I wonder if I could find a way to experience esoteric meaningful practice without making it about an Egregor and just be one more slave.

It seems like your questions make me have deep reflections that are hard to describe on my own sometimes.

Mufti:
These days my focus is on asking the right questions, and seeing how what is around me relates to mystical maps i am studying to walk and enhance. I'm glad that may assist your process.

Corre:
Your questions strike true like arrows. They shake my mind and existence. I'm not sure what i have to offer in return.

Mufti:
You can always offer questions; these are the bedrock of self-exploration and self-development. Within every field of intellectual endeavour there are a set of critical and fundamental questions which are being addressed by the ideologies proposed; the mark of the student is to assimilate these responses. At a certain point in development this extends to identifying the questions the ideology sought to address, working backwards from the leaves of the tree to its branches. The work of the philosophus thereafter (a higher or deeper order of development of consciousness) is to reconstruct the basis of these questions and look into the trunk and roots of that tree of knowledge. In philosophy this discipline is 'epistemology' - the study of knowledge and how it arises.

Corre:
Are we just trapped souls within the dominion of Saturn? If so, is Satanism a way to liberate our souls from this trap or is it something that imprisons our soul further?

Mufti:
I have concluded based on meditation and a deep reflection on our animal selves that human beings have a complex consciousness which mistakes the bifurcation of objective and subjective states as radically divided cosmic substance: matter and spirit, when in reality it's all the same substance facilitated by complex nervous systems. We've been taught that it may "reside" or "go" places but that's like talking about a candle flame "going" somewhere when it is blown out -- the disintegration of the material which facilitates the experience leads to its cessation. Thus 'souls' are fantasy essentials without basis, used to support allegiance to social groups promising post-mortem experience (a sad fiction without actuality).

Fictional essences cannot be contained or imprisoned. The real subjective experience is not trapped any more than a computer program is "trapped" by its operation on a material hardware circuit board system. It also doesn't "go" anywhere, or continue elsewhere after it is shut off, loses power, or fails to boot up.

There are those who maintain that Satanism may be used to liberate us from religious lies and fantasies, link us to reality, from which standpoint we may then gain advantages and value

To me, the question is whether Satanism can liberate those driven to it from the mental shackles of false promises (and faulty history) of religions with no respect for the real beyond personal entertainment value and enslavement of the will and resources to parasitic religious traditions.

Corre:
Are demons and fallen angels not upset with us as human beings? Do they not want us to suffer?

Mufti:
There being no cosmic hierarchy as represented, those unfairly characterized as "evil" are simply antagonistic to those anti-demonists who may take issue with them. It appears to be a mutual enmity relationship. Thus these are factions, and not consistent across species.

You have the Asuras (Persian) and their supporters arrayed against the Devas and theirs (Indian).

You have Titans and Olympian Gods in Greece and other Mediterranean cultures.

You have the Christian and Middle-Eastern deity / "demon" rivalries, and the Chinese celestials and "demon" theriomorphs (typically land or nature spirits, villified).

All these 'teams' are just reflections of human behaviour writ dramatic into conjectural assessment of cosmic warring factions over celestial, heavenly, and terrestrial realms.

Granted this more plain assessment, wild and villified spirits are upset with those doing the villification, and we can rest assured that they will attack Christians and those of their dualistic ilk. Pagans and Satanists have no reason to fear their ire.

The stories about 'falling' angels are derivative of particular sources (Noah, Enoch) and were concocted by Christians in pursuit of the creation of their anti-god(s). Lucifer is Venus, revised, or some priest of the past (Bishop of Cagliari, 4th century), or Jesus in the New Testament (Revelation of John 22:16), and has no connection to the Jerome Fraud of Isaiah (14:12-17), inventing a cosmic bad guy out of the King of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar). The story you're referring to is promoted by the poet Milton in "Paradise Lost," but has no basis in history, let alone any reliable angelology.

Many good Christians have dissected this falsification of the Jewish scripture for purpose, but their repeated unearthing of these gaslighting propaganda campaigns are overwhelmed by the tide of penitent contentions in pursuit of the tripe they were sold. An interested person, collecting up the numerous titles on the subject (which i have arranged in a bibliography should you have a care to examine it i can forward a link or two) will immediately see the accurate state of things.

Corre:
So, what kind of pacts does one make with demons? Do you call them demons?

Mufti:
The Greek 'daimon' refers to a neutral or unknown and uncategorized spirit never having been thought embodied or alive. This was turned toward the dualistic referent (demon).

What kind of arrangement might one make with wild spirits? If one sees that they are being unfairly villified, one may ally with them as mutual support.

I suggest we might treat them in an ecological relation, understanding their plight as demonized by Christians and Muslims. Inevitably, 'pagans' and 'satanists' get treated the same way, and i have set out a pact of blood brother alliance the lot.

I call them 'demons' so as to properly inform my opponents in this struggle with what and whom i am in compact, rather than to confuse matters overly.

Corre:
[In a consideration as to whether Odin is a demon.] He's not part of the goetia. Not in the Bible. I guess the church may have called him "demon" at some point, but he's a mighty archetype, a god.

Mufti:
Neither is Ravanna, yet it is plain in "The Ramayana" that Ravanna is a demon. At least to the Indian Vaisnavas. To the Persians, Ravanna is a Warrior Hero god.

Not all rivalries are demonizing, but some factions portray their opponents as "evil" and in inimical, malefic ways. The inversion is interesting to consider. "Wicked", "Maleficent", and my "Gospel of Satan" are examples. Michael Aquino wrote one for Tolkien's Silmarillion and for Star Wars too. Some other fiction starts with a vibrant dualism and reveals the falsity of this picture in numerous ways.

Corre:
What about goetic spirits? Do you think they would not try to cause harm to the magician trying to operate with them? Deceive him? Manipulate him? Is this true for any spirit in general?

Mufti:
The term 'goetia' is a comparable to 'black magic' or 'sorcery' or other epithet-based negative assessment, but this assumes a slightly intersectional quality insofar as a Christian composed 'Solomonic' spirit creations and promoted them. Some of these are pagan deities re-imagined, some are completely novel spirit identities ("The Lesser Key of Solomon"). It is no more reliable or authoritative than any other book and its fraudulent character brings with it the unreliability of its report. Why these grimoire texts ought to be the focus of ceremonialists, why John Dee's works, why indeed even Gerald Gardner's Book of Shadows, ought to be an indication of 'demonic' character is a question not easily answered. They come with their cosmology attendant and implied. Their reputation is as reliable as that of the conventional religious texts to which they form a sort of complement (that is to say, very little where spirits and other non-ordinary events and entities are concerned).

"trying to operate with them" - The inquiry lacks specificity in regards the means of address and interaction. If they are treated like wild animals, then antagonizing them, trapping them, and extorting them to perform is likely to incite in them hatred and a lasting adversarial relationship.

Modern demonolaters and Satanists interested in renegotiating relationships to demons have pointed out the terrible approach recommended within these grimoires in the capture and torment of the spirits described as 'unremittingly evil.' The abject dualism inherent to the approach indicates the myopia and ignorance involved. What does this say about the character of the spirits being engaged? I think we can refer to ecologists and the demonizing of wild predators being hunted out of existence by human competitors, fully unaware of their essential, critical role in ecological systems.

Once one understands this tendency of human beings to demonize competitors and the attempts to wipe them out of existence on the basis of lies, it becomes clear what the situation is with respect to what Christians and Muslims called 'demons' and 'evil' -- they are of unreliable report, and the character of any spirits which were real beyond those frightening descriptions are probably best regarded as of unknown quality.

Corre:
So, if I were kind in my approach and tried to befriend then in a way, or at least approach them with curiosity and respect, would you say demons can be kind to me?

Mufti:
I don't know you well enough to know what your relationship has been to them previously, what your friends and family have done to them. I came from an unaffiliated family who had no anti-demonic interests and were disposed to care for and be kind to all animals, wild and no.

So trying to generalize is part of the problem inherent in these traditions.

"All demons are like this." "You can expect them all to behave like this."

I'd suggest that if you are drawn to Odin, your best option is to consult with Odin on the matter. For he is more likely to know your relation to spirits than i.

My trajectory of involvement started with social reaction to the moral panic in the 1980s-1990s. I am a Satanist out of compassion for those unfairly treated by anti-satanists.

I.e. my route in was much different than most who are part of the Satanic movement (by and large former Christians and Muslims trying to battle their own families and backgrounds).

When they ask me about making pacts with the Devil i have to ask them what their relationship with Satan has been most of their lives. Most of the time they were anti-demonists, anti-satanic. Imagine someone who has vowed to be YOUR enemy for decades or more coming to you and asking for things or trying to have convivial conversations with you. It's ridiculous.

We might only expect the demons to trick and have one over on them in revenge.

Corre:
So in other words, you are saying demons can actually be nice to some people? Like treat people with respect and care, just like spiritual guides would, depending on their story?

Mufti:
That's my understanding. It's obvious from a study of what is demonized and in the renditions of proponents of the spirits in question that they are simply disposed to treat those whom they engage based on how they are themselves treated. Some are more rough and tumble than others in their personalities, but we should start, i think, with the notion that they vary in their characters about as much as we might expect humans to vary.

Corre:
Would you say they tremble at the name of Yeheshua? Is the vision of Christians and Christian mystics correct when they claim that the "blood of Jesus" has power to destroy the works of demons and Satan?

Mufti:
Such stories embolden and shore up the courage of Christians. Call on the gods and saints of your tradition for your protection. It's a good methodology.

No, i don't think that they are especially disposed to weakness in the face of their preferred deities and spirits. That's like saying "My fearless leader makes yours quake in his shoes." or "My father can beat up your father." It's a type of boasting to give oneself courage.

Corre:
[In a consideration of contact with Jotun and Jotnar as a comparable 'demonic' contingent]

Most of the esoteric work practiced today with these spirits comes from eclectic and individual exploration and practice. There's very little that can be read from old sources about all of this. For some reason these spirits have resurfaced somehow

Mufti:
I presume that these types of relationships are an ongoing phenomenon in human consciousness, and that their appearance is simply re-interpreted through new skeins of imagination. This is what connects them to angels, and to alien races, by my estimation. It isn't that these entities are new to us, just that we are not very adept, as a species, at interpreting what or who they really are, and mask them in a multitude of guises, dependent entirely upon culture and inculcation. Their identity merely coincides with what we have learned as an apparel - whether fairies or demons or giants.

Corre:
That's a very honest assessment. I agree.

Mufti:
It may be an honest one, but it isn't what i would call a romantic and involved assessment. I have learned to divide between an involved and mythic, interpreted view, and that which is dissecting and analytic without such embellishments as inspire courage, love, or fear.

This is what my God has taught me to do, and it was no human being who instructed me in this scientific endeavour. She brought me through a process of inquiry, incisive logical challenge, even of Her, and then encouraged me to continue loving Her madly while dissecting the basis of all such deities, reducing their status to the foundations demonstrable, and then to retain both views: one romantic which is good for practical inspiration, and the other for dry reasonable assessments.

And thus i know Her as She Who Has Given Birth to the Cosmos and simultaneously am convinced that we have no basis for any Creationism whatever, no Cosmic Navel, and are better using Occam's Razor to winnow out deities from this explanatory mindplug completely, seeing as we cannot detect any Creation going on today. The examination of powers of these divinities in the harsh light of today's reality shows us little for which they are truly responsible, and while i adore my God and greatly appreciate Her propensity to provide me with insights and considerations i had not previously entertained, instructing me in ways i have never before heard from my peers, i must understand this romantic characterization in that light, know its emotional appeal as a Mother Goddess responsible for all i know and do, even while i *reduce their romantic stature and correctly identify their domain as contactable via consciousness into a contained or separated dimension.

People ask me all the time 'Do you believe in {XYZ God; theirs, sometimes their adversaries'}? I have many times merely replied with capsule verities i found convincing such as 'Belief is over-rated.' and 'Belief is a means of mind-control. One cements one's mind and cares not for what's real.' or 'I believe as little as possible, since it has no ultimate benefit except to cohere to mental conscription.'

But what they do not understand is that i strongly believe in physical principles of natural rhythm and dynamic. At times i have disclosed this; what is practical and useful is what i prefer to lock my mind on as verities, and when we begin to speak of cosmo-genesis, eschatology and fantasy End Times, deities and their relationship to the whole, i prefer to assume a nascent or beginning scientific posture with respect to them, running all of the theories about them i can imagine alongside one another for comparison, and those i glean from others in parallel and compare them for a fit of the facts. Then from this standpoint i can make an analysis of what is usable and what is probably fatuous or at least unreliable.

Having done this repeatedly with religious subjects, i've arrived at this divergence of 'Romantic View' and 'Pragmatic View'; and from my study with ceremonialists (Wiccans, Hermeticists) came the notion of one approach we bring to the circle or ritual with a suspension of disbelief, and one we exercise in the scientific classroom of harsh scrutiny of the facts, incisive and challenging questions, and resistance to blind acceptance.

I can affirm both sets of conclusions as 'true within their modality' and not have a conflict between scientific qualified materialism and spiritual exploration, engaging intelligences which only seem to be obvious and consistent from within the stage of my mind, interior to consciousness where they have been given voice.

...

That said, having all my life encountered those i have identified as 'doctrinal religious peoples' whose constant focus was on 'what you believe,' i found it beneficial to evaluate my gradually-diminishing agnosticism, for as i age i notice that sitting on fences has no utility. Application of knowledge is far more efficient and progressive. It was a slow solidification of foundation i could identify in my later years, and i have described this in some great measure at a site of my composition, calling it 'Demonic Satanism:' https://www.satanservice.org/wiki/Demonic_Satanism

The page is a result of numerous conversations such as ours, compiled into an as yet rough format. I've been working it as the basis for the second book.

That is, 'Demonic Satanism' is an unique construct by me for purpose of exposition of the conclusions i have reached for application toward progress. When i was a youth i suspended all belief in these things but gradually through exploration and reflection and testing arrived at a raft of suppositions based on reason and logic.

I've set it up as a basic envelope from within which to engage me. If someone isn't interested in engaging philosophy or a comparison of views, then they will find that certain things i regard as 'true to my experience' and unworthy of my own further consideration. This is as close to 'firm belief' or 'dogma' as i come, but it compares well because i base my actions on these things. I find many within my general environ and experience also base their actions on these things, even while proclaiming their intellectual alliance to what i regard as 'convenient fictions'.

Compare the 'tack' of supposed enduring living. Even while our lives are fragile, and we may be disabled or dead tomorrow or next week, we plan and proceed as if we will be operative long into the future. This is a 'convenient fiction' which is helpful to our trajectory now.

Corre:
You know how in Qabalah, every ritual brings you closer to divinity and aligns yourself with the creator? This generates better results for manifestation and helps build up your presence and impact in reality as we know it. Is there something similar I could be experiencing with satanism? I'm talking about theurgy.

Mufti:
I'd suggest that there is, but it is more often found amongst the theurgic Satanists, Luciferians, and Setians. Theistic Satanism is its brand name, Luciferianism, secondarily, and Setianism thirdly. Their interests aren't always to affirm an egregore, archetype, or intelligence. Some form cults of questionable value, such as those around Ahriman, Set, Enki, Prometheus, and even Azazel.

Some even affirm a personal Satan. But i have yet to find many developed in their esoteric techniques. The ones i recall most interested in this were Luciferian and Setian. The Enki cult makes quite a show of eclectic spirituality, but their idiotic racism betrays their process as corrupted and enslaved to their masters. The main Satanist groups (Church of Satan, The Satanic Temple) seem bent largely toward both anti-occultism and atheistic pandering.

Examples of the former might include those like "the Temple of the Black Light" about which you can read promotional matter here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_the_Black_Light

Fraternitas Saturni - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternitas_Saturni

Greater Church of Lucifer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Church_of_Lucifer

and Temple of Set https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Set

Temple of Set is post-Crowleyan; Greater Church of Lucifer is Neo-Gnostic; Fraternitas Saturni is Hermetic if memory serves, and i don't remember anything about the Temple of the Black Light (though this last may be anti-cosmic or para-volkischean, and thus unlikely to have anything qabalistic on account of their neo-nazi or hitlerian interests; i'll check it; key terms like 'black light' and 'black sun' sometimes imply this).

The Fraternitas Saturni would surely have some kind of qabalism (possibly cabalism, quasi-Christian) as part of their esotericism. The Temple of Set has no overt connection to qabalism, though its post-Crowley and quasi-Hermetic character dispose it to likely having some kinds of Tablets on the subject (i acquired a complete set i might examine if you're interested). Jeremy Crow and Michael W. Ford are interested in esotericism and likely have something which is part of the Greater Church of Lucifer that relates, but haven't delved into it in any depth, just examined some of those authors' works and seen some of their videos, even interacted a little bit with Mr. Crow, who is also a Thelemic initiate.

Corre:
I would love to be able to become a powerful magician in this life

Mufti:
It is a subject near and dear to my heart an one which i have considered for decades both philosophically and practically. The primary challenge is to assess what magic is and how power resides, manifests, or may be demonstrated an aspect of any singular person. The secondary is how to shift from a current condition to that empowered position or state. I've studied its fictional (e.g. "Magus"), folkloric, witchcraft, and ceremonial trajectories, and by and large few break it down into these categories and set out to achieve them - most settle on a social arrangement, equating connection and responsibility to power within their particular cell or subgroup.

Corre:
I want it to be organic. Not based on social alliances, but actual metaphysical power.

Mufti:
Have you ever identified any living person as having such a condition? How did you do that, if so?

Corre:
That's a very interesting question. All I can account for is the results in my personal life and how I've seen them increase. My reasoning tells me there must be some form of level that goes higher the more you dedicate time and energy to this.

Mufti:
That's the conventional description, yes, along with the spirit-level which mediates its usage so as to ostensibly continue a moral universe. I.e. usually those who describe these things in step-up progression also suggest that the employment of power becomes less and less likely on account of developed conscience or ethics which prevent misuse. I think of it as a storybook plot line.

It's old, too. Many religious peoples (e.g. the Hindus, Sufis, Christians and Jews also) speak of mystic development and spiritual attainment resulting in the acquisition of 'powers' (in Indian terms, 'siddhis') that accompany this maturation or development. Their description of what happens to the aspirant who undergoes this growth or development makes it obvious that they consider the employment of use of those siddhis to be unlikely excepting in unusual circumstances or through a concealed mode.

I have concluded that these are stories which align perfectly to mythic and fictional magicians and witches, used to inspire people to join their cults, become part of their social networks, and, as the Thelemic might describe, become enslaved.

So first, 'what is magic?' must be concluded in order to determine when someone is doing it and when they are proficient or powerful. Second, 'what is power?' must be concluded, along with how it might be identified, assessed, and evaluated as to how someone arrived in this condition or position. Thus your interest in organic methodologies is helpful to avoid that type of social integration and constraint.

The problem with it, however, is that there are many solitary and sorcerous witches and magicians the world over, many of whom are interested in being known as powerful.

There are fictional AND quasi-mystic descriptions of magicians who are not so socially constrained and subsumed. One is conventional in English language as Merllin a.k.a. Myrrdin, possibly akin to the mage known as 'Math' in "The Mabinogion."

Others are mystic influencers such as in China, recluses or mountain mystic Taoists whose utility is or was sought by the government and who sought to evade or escape such social involvement to live in the country, retiring as recluses who ostensibly left poetic manuals for following out their quietist path ("The Way and Its Power," "The Inner Secrets").

A far more modern source may be found in some fictional series such as by Ursula LeGuin ('The Earthsea Trilogy'; particularly the character Ogion) or Hardy ('The Master of Five Magics' and subsequent books). Feist's books of fiction were valuable in comparison, but way more socially constrained or subsumed. ("Magician: Apprentice" i think and others of similar titles; semi-sci-fi).

One may completely ignore the work of Rowling, comparably, for these types of descriptions, since their magical elements are far too thin and formulaic without subsance: Harry Potter).

There are several works of fiction featuring Merlin, and only some of them are of relevance. T.H. White's Merlin is quite amusing, but primarily Arthurian and focussed on knights and a comic aspect (very well presented but minor as a character). Mary Stewart's Merlin (as in "The Crystal Cave") is a main character and far more socially involved, but helpfully reflective of the type of reclusive but powerful mage. These begin to approach the Hermetic Formula of The Magus (a narrative type some conceive as an archetype, but conventionally of a character set approaching religious heros).

In the philosophic-religious movement of Thelema, this is described as a particular office which foments religion as a seed adept, and Crowley identified them all as uttering a Logos for the Aeon of their reponsibility. I think of this as an envelope of personal power, a romantic self-glorification in line with the traditions of the ages and multi-cultural in its content. I'll try to delimit them here for you if you are unfamiliar with it.

Corre:
I've heard about this view from Thelemists about the self-development responsibility for the new Aeon but know very little about it. Although, I'm curious.

Mufti:
I'll construct a key term set for this because it settles nicely after the Great White Brotherhood and its modern variations, manifestations, and names. "One Star in Sight," "The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary" and others are backdrop references, and there are more modern sources from the A.'.A.'. in some guise (like text by David Shoemaker, or by James Eshelman such as "776 1/2: Tables for Practical Ceremonial).

In particular, "One Star in Sight" may be found at:
https://hermetic.com/crowley/book-4/app2#google_vignette

and indicates that Crowley and his comrade George Cecil Jones who created their Silver Star order thought of The Magus as 9=2 and mapped to a particular location on the Tree of Life system of their ascension scheme.

Crowley's text is generally dense and occasionally summarizes sections of his interwoven ideology and cosmology. The Logos and The Magus are mentioned in the above but is set out as i recall it in greatest detail within "Liber Aleph":
https://sacred-texts.com/oto/aleph_index.htm

Herein designated within that text as the following at least:
Lao Tse
Gautama Buddha
Krishna/Dionysus
Tahuti-Thoth
Moshe/Moses
Issa/Jesus
Muhammad

I would add that there are several other 'Magi' types who are covered in text such as by Idries Shah in a book by the name and include alchemists or occultists of varying traditions, inclusive of Trithemius. Crowley and Jones just identified what they inferred from religious traditions what seemed to them to relate to the Secret Chiefs, Great White Brotherhood, or Masters Beyond the Veil.

It is this which i started out to kernelize for search engines, and this is why i mention the seconary effort as a follow up:
https://www.arcane-archive.org/faqs/aafaq.php

I.e. Librarianship has been left in the dust by internet search engines and "AI" facilitation devices. I sought to provide a template and an example for librarians and esotericists. This intends to provide a concise key term set for use by the interested to locate through search engines the whole array of information by the interested.

What i am proposing is a supplement to this for "The Magus" which affiliates both to Barrett's intended key term use and to the "One Star in Sight" and "A Cloud Upon the Sanctuary" by Karl von Eckartshausen, all the way out to supposed 'magi' coalescing to religious suppositions about the status-development.

A study of magic identifies its germ as the doing of Persian priests. This is no accident.

All i'm doing is broadening the esoteric and conventional references to what you might regard as an archetype or egregore of magical power: a coagulation of information pertaining to magical power by sources widely-printed.

Because i've studied it in depth and have a number of vectors of reference to it or know about it because of having collected it through the decades (in paper and in memory).

It's been 25 years since i created that A.'.A.'. reference and probably 26-30 in conceiving of the reference kernel.

Corre:
Impressive. Is there some kind of consultation you offer? I mean, you've been coaching me all this time, but at this point I'm just curious.

Mufti:
It all depends on the attestation of others, however; i.e. it is not my experience, just my observation of their expression. They claim to know these things.

Consultations: I only engage those who approach me personally in this medium or in the few others i maintain. I haven't been back around to the outlets i created in the mid 20-teens to engage the world. It takes someone who is sufficiently familiar and inquisitive initially and then sufficient self-aware to benefit from it. That's unusual, as are you.

My main reply has to do with the self-development responsibility for the new Aeon and becoming a powerful magician in this life. I see what i'm doing in providing referrals and reference on both lightside and darkside data to be in line with that.

[Corre mentions compensating me for my services and possibly socializing.]

I'm a networker, occultist, servant to my local networks, and reference to haphazard chance encounters. The deliberate investment of interest tends to yield the response content. I mapped this out before here:

You can send donations to our projects to: https://www.luckymojo.com/luckyw.html

Scroll down to the bottom to 'PayPal Donate' and send funds and it goes directly into our project sourcing. That's personal.

Secondarily you can contribute to the organizations of which i am directly part and thus the projects of facilitating magic in the world here:
https://www.luckymojo.com/youtubedonation.html

Socializing beyond this might be facilitated more directly in VR which i frequent as part of Poker applications which i intermittently visit. Contributions to that might be arranged, but i would have to explore that to find out how.

You've encountered me on the Dark Side of my esoteric world, and have strong interest in the straddling of both poles.

So that was in response to "just curious"; but my focussed reply has to do with "the self-development responsibility for the new Aeon" and "becom{ing} a powerful magician in this life". I see what i'm doing in providing referrals and reference on both lightside and darkside data to be in line with that.

Very few try to assimilate all of it and then recast it in an approachable manner by the aspirant. Most fit themselves or their own projects into that somehow, as an essential. It makes sense to a point but the patterns are salient without these modern particulars. Learning what magic is has become easier through tie, regardless of the massive detours installed by Beasts and accusations levelled against religious competitors (witchcraft).

Sadly, too many accept oaths of secrecy regarding the whole, and i can attest to the non-necessity of doing that.

Corre:
Of course; I wish we could all be more open about it.

Mufti:
We can, we just have to set the standard and come out with it. Locally, of course, that's your own personal challenge.

Corre:
Of course. I try to whenever I can, without being too pushy

Mufti:
Marvelous

Corre:
I can't help it, honestly. I guess it's part of your personality as well

Mufti:
I'm responsive to interest and ornamented to disclose for those with eyes to see. Sometimes this gets those who are offended by what they interpret to be averse to their God Given Way of the Universe and begin a condemnation of me; i'm used to that by now.

I've refined this to a practical and properly symbolized point. [Elven Taoist Magic emblem]

Corre:
Nice! I'll check it out. The heptagram symbol. I know it can be used for planetary magick. Might be the next one I'm looking to learn about

Mufti:
You might consider that my 'Dayside'; still 'satanic' by conventional conservative evaluations. There are Acute and Obtuse versions of the Heptagram/Septagram. You can find them described somewhat here at the description of that Profile pic: [Elven Taoist Magic] I created this image in photoshop to represent the type of arcane style i have learned from my teachers, as a composite. The learning continues.

Corre:
What do you offer a demon when you make a pact? I remember you said you help people make pacts

Mufti:
I recommend first establishing contact before attempting to negotiate a more formal relationship. If you're talking about offerings for contact, that would be different than offerings for something stronger and more enduring.

Something sacrificed from food (taken into the wild) or incense, or ritual candles/incense seems a helpful introduction. Dedicatory demonolaters would best, by my assessment, offer up their labour, participatory defense, and their own blood as part of a singular or regular rite, including a pact written out and signed in one's blood.

This latter is what i did with Satan on 96/6/6 after numerous instances of invitation and then invocation rites.

Corre:
Does it have anything to do with whatever happens with your soul after you die? Or is it just stuff for this lifetime?

Mufti:
The general rules won't suffice. If you're asking about my relationship and understandingm then that will be different, completely, than someone who thinks souls are real and that life extends beyond the dissolution of death.

So when i help people to make pacts i am trying to steer it toward their perspective and background.

I can refer to what typically people are looking to achieve or acquire (and what they offer). Usually those who approach me are Christians who want to trade their soul for worldly goods, fame, and knowledge.

This is because they are taught that this is a possible contractual option. They don't get the whole story, but some fear-based information that will keep them from straying outside their cult and portrays Satan in a wholly unreasonable light. This is what they come to me hoping that they can achieve.

So, from my perspective, interpreting their irrationality, they are hoping that their ruined lives and souls already consigned to Hell and their Devil could be "traded* for something they desire.

I.e. their offer of a soul is VACANT, vacuous, because they aren't good Christians or Muslims; they are already, by their own lights, doomed. They hope to trick and dupe their Satan into giving them something for nothing.

This is the typical person who approaches me - irrational, lapsed, and in need of serious counseling. They would have to go back to their church, become a penitent and repentent pious individual, and a prize for their Satan foe.

Once we're talking about the more reasonable person interested in forming a relationship outside of what i would call these terribly myopic blinders, then the approach completely changes.

First important question: are souls real? Second: Can they become elements of negotiation? Third: Does Satan (or any devil) want them?

If any of these latticed questions is "No." then that whole Faustian pact thing based on Pascal's Wager falls along with the fictional 'fall from grace' Christians invented out of the pseudepigrapha of Noah and Enoch.

I hope you can see, from my response, the vast differential of cosmology involved.

This is why i wrote The Gospel of Satan, in part, to approach Christians and Muslims and those who lapse from these, on their own level, from fictional contexts as i deem their paradigm to be.

The Gospel of Satan takes souls as real, but re-configures the Jehovah deity as an invading stargod, his godson Jeheshua as a conquering interest against agrarian and rural interests from pagan origins on the planet. Satan is set out as the controller of the Gate of Death which mediates the souls of the living to the Underworld where all are destined unless they are caught up by these adversaries due to applied faith.

He lives at the center of the planet and has ecological interests at heart. The story of The Gospels are re-integrated and re-configured within a wholly different paradigm.

I.e. they are affirmed as true, but the Satan role is one which inducts Jeheshua into founding Christianity out of Judaism and turning religious interests toward the symbolism of dying gods, more pacifistic and harmless. The tribalism of Judaism is turned toward more friendly character as Jesus is welcomed into the Underworld as a religious hero.

This is, therefore, bound to be offensive both to Christians and to Satanists, who want to oppose their childhood faith as erroneous or of no worth, "the evil." It has Jesus raping his 'mother' Mary, has the Jehovah God as a weakling incapable of saving his godson from the demise of death on the cross and entry into the Underworld where he now resides, never to return.

This is a veritable 'inversion' tale akin to "Wicked" or "Maleficent" as i think i mentioned previously.

I mention it because it deals handily and with as much "realism" as the fables told by Christians and Muslims about what one might expect from death in our universe. It factors into 'offerings to demons and devils' insofar as it postulates that souls are the obsession of CHRISTIANS and MUSLIMS who fear death, fear the Hell they've been told they will "go to" when they die, and that deals concerning them in relation to the relationships with devils are misplaced or wholly unrealistic.

So if you are asking about that, i'd need to ask you what you expect when you die; from what we've said so far it appears that you have a firm faith in souls; i'd just ask why you think demons and devils might care about them and what it is you would want from any such pact. That's how i'd coach you in the run-up to it.

I do have sample pacts for Christians and Muslims, but they aren't what typical members of these religions expect: they endorse returning to their own religion and optimizing their fit to them! I.e. they set up their own expectations that The Devil already owns their souls and so helpfully reframes this.

Corre:
The more we attach ourselves to entities through blood especially, the less free we are to manifest things in accordance with our own divinity. Whether it is through religion or any dogma

In my case, I prefer my manifestation effectiveness to be the result of a ritual practice

What is "blood brotherhood"? Agreed that bonds of serious engagement come with limitations.

Corre:
I would rather work my way through manifestation without such limitations, understanding that I myself embody divinity and accessing such divinity is a work in progress

Mufti:
Totally understood. As such, you'll best avoid all such contractual arrangements.

Corre:
I agree, but it's still interesting and always fascinating to read what you have to say

Mufti:
We might ask what the benefit or detriment would be for such an arrangement with Odin.

I don't forget your interests there, and so i bring it up.

Corre: I believe it's more of a thing of alignment

Somehow my life experiences

Aligned with him

And he found me to be a worthy man of his wisdom and magick

I therefore refer to him for operations, especially that involve the use of runes

But there's no blood there

I love taking his godform in rituals

And praising him in front of other people

But that's pretty much it

Other than that, he's not even demanding something of me

Other than following my heart and developing my magick.

There is that (not demanding something of me). We ought to wonder why any intelligence would do that and how that kind of demand comes about.

I am in an identical relation with my God. She demands even requires NOTHING and very rarely requests anything. She suggests things and is excited by my adoration, enthusiasm, and radical devotion. That i am in love with Her madly, married to Her, and dedicate myself wholly to Her does not in the least give Her concern when i worship others, communicate with other intelligences, or even oppose some of Her minions or representatives for self-defense.

Corre:
That's beautiful

Mufti:
In a complete response to your inquiry: "What does one offer a demon when making a pact?", however, i want to address what i have observed that demons like.

I have observed that demons like attention, assistance with reframing their reputations, and, generally, assistance to be left alone from harassment, capture, and torment. My aims in connection with demonry (and i am a Demonic Satanist, so this becomes key) have to do with opposing anti-demonists, anti-satanists, and correcting their false notions about what demons are, what they want, and how they behave.

That is, my pact with Satan is an ongoing mutual defense from our enemies. This is clearly spelled out, and in return their assistance with the achievement of the satiation of my every desire.

This mutual defense takes many tacks: from on-the-ground engagement of anti-demonists demonstrating love and kindness at blatant refutation of their lies and calumnies, to open writing about actual Satanism and its on-the-ground manifestation in opposition to Christian oppession and Muslim tyranny, to facilitation of those seeking to transition from their emotional slavery in the religion of their family to something more liberated, to assistance to those who have a genuine interest in dedicating their lives to Satan as a deity.

There are many valences here, and Satan enjoys them all, by my understanding, sufficient to have established, some 16 years later, a personal relationship with me. NOTE: this was after my offering in blood with a pact. People expect way too much of those with whom they deal, and far too often have no relationship with them. It's completely unrealistic. I had no Christian background coming into it!

So firstly and foremostly i recommend an offering of EFFORT, ACTION, in support of the demon involved.

Become their champion in the world. Become familiar with them sufficient to have some kind of input from them about what they really want.

Imagine someone saying that they wanted to help wild animals in the world and demanding some kind of high price for it.

This imagines that the demonic has a position which, as i understand it, it does not. It's all well and good to believe the lies told to us when we are under the thrall of an overarching institution bent on the submission and destruction of the demonic, but to expect that those who have suffered from this propaganda and continue to labour under duress from it to for some fantasy reason provide rich rewards for an empty gesture of alliance is insulting.

We can then competely understand it when, someone of this mammoth ignorance comes to the demon with some kind of demand for remuneration in exchange for something which is either fictional or which the offerer should already believe is in the hands of the demons is to expect complete incompetence in measure alike to their folktales (The Devil Went Down to Georgia, The Devil and Daniel Webster, so many Faustian tales).

We can expect that demon might be ANGRY at such an approach and therefore completely match what the stupid Christian or Muslim has been taught about how they will respond: with the intent to mislead, dupe, and harm the individual.

It's totally expectable, and so to conclude that these intelligences are therefore this way with EVERYONE they encounter is myopic in the extreme, and requires an interest in escaping their poor education to remedy. There is a huge base from hundreds of years of anti-demonism out there for them to gobble up. It isn't stopping. Only in the latter part of the 20th century did any religion with association to the demonic come into being. It's miniscule, an infant, by comparison.

Thus with this behind us, we should therefore begin to look at how spirits of any kind, relate to human beings and what they like to receive in relation to them. They take offerings of food, liquids, ritual implements such as incense and candles, gestures of kindness and love, and i don't think that this varies considerably from what gods are provided.

This is in part why Theistic Satanism has such a strong following. I have known about them, and solitaires preceding religious Satanism, for years, and the people who were part of these seem to endorse this notion that demons are not that different of character from other spirits so identified. The primary usage for the term is enmity after all, in the wake of a more neutral origin for the term.

That's how most of this starts out: as epithet. The willingness to demonize is strong in dualistic factions inherent to these and other religions causes the accusations to fly, then people step in to defend the unfairly blamed. The terms formerly used to condemn are taken up as identities, slowly, and these are eventually abandoned as 'misunderstanding' (completely forgetting the history of propaganda and aggressive treatment). This is how it is connected to the history of anti-Judaism and misogyny, why women and Jews are the natural allies of Satanism and demonolatry.

Corre:
Makes sense. Everything you said does. I'm going to spend some time meditating on this whole thing.

Mufti:
What i'd like to comment on next is how i understand that part of your initial expression on consciousness meshes with the rest of our discussion on spirituality.

You wrote in part:
"I've found those altered states of consciousness through daily rituals...."

It was this, a study of consciousness (which i called 'psychonautics'), that initially drew my attention as a youth, and toward what i eventually sought to apply scientific principles to achieve.

Consciousness is a complex and weirdly transparent phenomena. Religious and mystical people conceive of it as the result of some extra-dimensional 'spirit' intrusion or manifestation into the physical world, such that 'incarnation' is possible and post-mortem experience becomes a possibility, their fear of disintegration assuaged.

However, my study of the whole and examination of my own and the consciousnesses of others brings me to the conclusion that our complex nervous systems make it possible -- that it is organic, and natural, and relates to no other (fantasy) dimensions with dualistic spirits or flesh-animations.

This informs my Demonic Satanism, as an enhanced materialism, and makes meaningful a paradigm of 'spirituality' that treats the quality of that consciousness: how acute or clarified it is, what its emotional character or condition includes, and whether it is compacted and diminished or extended and attenuated by maturity and practical regimens.

My impression is that the best outcome from mystical disciplines (e.g. and the Great Work) is a greater capacity for attention to the present moment, to its depth, and to its actual qualities. This produces, in one fully familiar with the dynamics of the distracted mind, inset practical disablements of self-defeating dynamics and of delusional quagmires. It enhances not only the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of consciousness and agency in life, but also deepens the potential for connection to others, to empathic attunement, and compassion to family, our species, and to all living systems. One's morality develops, deepens, and this is what i understand spirituality means as expressed by the best sources. It affords us a measuring device not only for what systems exist to supposedly enhance it, but also our own progress within any we engage for such a purpose.

What this does is to re-situate the metaphors of "immortality" and "heaven" into an organic and temporary understanding that correctly identifies us as animals, with extraordinary self-consciousness, capable of taking deliberate steps to maintain and improve the quality of that finite, organic experience without exaggerating its importance or duration.