Satanism: The Dark Alternative
One question may change everything for you
(This article is adapted from the author’s 2018 lecture of the same name.)
I am grateful to my hosts tonight because I can assure you there are places and venues that did not want to host a talk called Satanism: The Dark Alternative. I also had people who urged me to change the title, to soften it. And my response was no, because I want to be blunt about what we’re exploring — which is historical, spiritual, and philosophical Satanism as a practical path.
I must be clear that when I use the term Satanism I’m not using it as a metaphor for the shadow or for something indirect. I’m speaking about the veneration and worship, ethically and spiritually, of the figure historically known as Satan or Lucifer. This figure appears in many myths throughout the Western and Eastern world under different names. But we in the West often use the Hebrew-derived name Satan, or adversary, or the Latin-derived term Lucifer, or light bringer. I must add that I do not make a distinction between those two entities, Satan and Lucifer. I’m aware that some people do, and I have friends in certain magical and esoteric orders to whom it’s important to use the term Lucifer, which they see as a more productive framing. I respect that entirely, but I don’t find it a philosophical necessity. I don’t…
