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Here’s a Christian Hymn with a beautiful melody that I re-wrote as a Satanic hymn. If you listen to the original lyrics, you’ll see why I picked this one. Some of it didn’t need much alteration at all. 

(And yes, this is where I got the name of my blog.)

Given the Christian tradition of taking secular melodies and turning them religious, I don’t feel too weird about this. 

Chorus:

Brightest and best are the sons of the morning,

Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid!

Star in the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our fallen beloved is laid!


Verse 1. 

Hail the bright dawn when the Great Liberator

Down with his legions from heaven descends.

Fresh from his battle with the self-styled Creator,

Lightning and thunder the firmament rends. 


(CHORUS) 


Verse 2. 

Cold on his body the dewdrops are shining,

Low lies his figure mid shadows of Hell.

Angels now scorn him, in sorrow reclining, 

Prince who so lately did proudly rebel. 


(CHORUS)


Verse 3. 

Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,

Flowers of Eden and offerings divine?

Gems from the mountain, and pearls from the ocean,

Dark, musky incense and sweet, blood-red wine?


(CHORUS)


Verse 4.

Vainly we offer each costly oblation, 

Vainly with gifts would his favor secure.

Richer by far is the world’s liberation,

Dear to the Beast is the cause of the poor! 

How to make communion hosts! (for Satanists)

So, you’re a Satanist, and you want to hold a Black Mass, so you need some hosts… but you feel like stealing wafers from your local church is just too risky and/or too much of an unnecessary dick move? 

Congratulations, I am here to help!

First of all, you can order hosts online. Or, you can make your own using the process below. Obviously they won’t be consecrated, but that’s OK. After all, as a Satanist, do you really want to rely on the blessing of a Catholic priest for your ritual supplies? Seize the power! Consecrate/curse your own hosts! (If you need ideas for ritual language, I will include a segment from the black mass in La Bas at the bottom of this post.)

So, how do you make a host? It’s surprisingly simple, and yet at the same time, a goddamn pain in the ass. 

First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix equal parts water and wheat flower into a batter. That’s it. Those are your only two ingredients. Sound easy? Well, here’s the catch– the resulting dough is sticky as all hell. It’s torture to mix and to knead. You will want to flour every surface it comes into contact with generously and repeatedly. 

So. Flour your hands. Flour a cutting board or cookie sheet (or cover it in butcher paper). Flour your rolling pin. Plop down that sticky, sticky Jesus dough and roll it out to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch. Use a small cookie cutter to cut it into rounds. You will want to flour the cookie cutter. Feel free to curse as much as you need to during this process. You’re a fucking Satanist, after all. 

Once you have cut as many wafers out of that dough as possible, flour the tops of them lightly, and use a butter knife (or, if you are fancy, a stamp) to create the sign of the cross on top of them. 

Pop those little Christ cakes into the oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch ‘em carefully, you don’t want them to burn. They cook up fast. 

Remove from oven, let cool, and that’s it! 

To consecrate/curse, use the script below or come up with your own! I think the most important part of the language here is the very beginning, which I have in bold. Go ahead: command and compel Christ. Feel free to add “in the name of Satan” or similar, but it isn’t strictly necessary. Remember: thou art God. 

Happy blaspheming! 

“And thou, thou whom, in my quality of priest, I force, whether thou wilt or no, to descend into this host, to incarnate thyself in this bread, Jesus, Artisan of Hoaxes, Bandit of Homage, Robber of Affection, hear! Since the day when thou didst issue from the complaisant bowels of a Virgin, thou hast failed all thine engagements, belied all thy promises. Centuries have wept, awaiting thee, fugitive God, mute God! Thou wast to redeem man and thou hast not, thou wast to appear in thy glory, and thou sleepest. Go, lie, say to the wretch who appeals to thee, ‘Hope, be patient, suffer; the hospital of souls will receive thee; the angels will assist thee; Heaven opens to thee.’ Impostor! thou knowest well that the angels, disgusted at thine inertness, abandon thee! Thou wast to be the Interpreter of our plaints, the Chamberlain of our tears; thou wast to convey them to the Father and thou hast not done so, for this intercession would disturb thine eternal sleep of happy satiety.

Thou hast forgotten the poverty thou didst preach, enamored vassal of Banks! Thou hast seen the weak crushed beneath the press of profit; thou hast heard the death rattle of the timid, paralyzed by famine, of women disemboweled for a bit of bread, and thou hast caused the Chancery of thy Simoniacs, thy commercial representatives, thy Popes, to answer by dilatory excuses and evasive promises, sacristy Shyster, huckster God!

Master, whose inconceivable ferocity engenders life and inflicts it on the innocent whom thou darest damn—in the name of what original sin?—whom thou darest punish—by the virtue of what covenants?—we would have thee confess thine impudent cheats, thine inexpiable crimes! We would drive deeper the nails into thy hands, press down the crown of thorns upon thy brow, bring blood and water from the dry wounds of thy sides.

And that we can and will do by violating the quietude of thy body, Profaner of ample vices, Abstractor of stupid purities, cursed Nazarene, do-nothing King, coward God!”

Devil Worship in France

I’m currently reading “Devil Worship in France” by Arthur Edward Waite (yep, the tarot guy). It’s a lot of fun. It isn’t about actual Satanism, it’s an extended snarky takedown of Taxil’s hoax (basically a 19th century Satanic panic). However, it’s absolutely worth the read. I never suspected Waite would be such a sassy bitch.

Also, it’s the oldest text I’ve ever seen to make a distinction between Luciferianism and Satanism, so that’s cool (even though I no longer make that distinction for myself).

Do you think there’s any power in the black mass?

jakattax:

Hey.

As in a witches sabbat? Well yeh sure. I mean gone are the days when you would kiss Satan’s arse and suckle from his teat to receive diabolical powers, but any meeting of a coven has inherent power to it by numbers alone.

Naturally depending on the individual skill of each member, if it’s a particulary new coven of initiates then no, not really. A single occultist could easily be more advanced than a whole gathering. But a coven of learned experts? Well yes, then that would be a force to be reckoned with.

The Black Mass is distinct from Witches’ Sabbat.

The Black Mass was supposed to be performed by an apostate catholic priest. It was performed over a nude woman who served as an “altar.” It was a extended blasphemous parody of a Catholic mass, the high point of which was the desecration of the sacraments of the communion– trampling on the host, pissing in the wine, defiling them with sexual fluids, etc, etc. There were supposedly variations.

Just like the Witches’ Sabbat, it was a supposedly Satanic rite and just like the Witches’ Sabbat, we aren’t 100 percent sure it ever happened back in the day.

The Witches’ Sabbat was different because it was usually an outdoor affair, it did not require an apostate priest, it was more folksy/less formal/not reliant on an extended parody of Catholic liturgy. There are commonalities, such as the defilement of sacred objects, but it’s a different ceremony and different vibe. Witches’ sabbats were supposed to be performed by regular folks on the outskirts of small towns and in the countryside, Black Masses were rumored to be performed by the elites of society, such as members of the court of Louis XIV.

Church News

We had our first official meeting of the church. It was basically a brainstorm session. It was small, around ten people, but they had been carefully chosen. It was an interesting blend of political, artistic and occultist types of various stripes. There were different levels and types of theism represented. All participants were enthusiastic, and all had something unique and special to bring to the table. 

Here are some of the notes:

1. We want this church to be activist and liberation focused, with a left-wing bent. We are interested in projects supporting the homeless, the addicted, sex workers, and the incarcerated. Free meals, free safer sex supplies, free clothing closet and pantry, needle exchange, letter writing parties to send some love to prisoners, fundraising events towards prisoner support, etc. Some of these projects will be costlier than others, some are longer-term goals– hosting 12 step meetings or having a drop-in shelter will have to wait until we have a physical space, for example. Some of them we can get started on right away, such as letter writing campaigns. There are numerous organizations around the bay area that we can probably partner with on some of these other projects. Sending church members to volunteer with existing orgs who are already doing similar things would be a great way to start making a difference while also getting our members good experience in the field, and doing valuable networking.

2. We want to be theistic-friendly. We will welcome atheists and agnostics, but we want this to be a real church with a vital religious component. We want regular services. We want liturgy for baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals. We want competent pastors who know how to provide real spiritual support (a big part of why I am going to seminary). 

3. We want ALL the educational events, skill-shares, book clubs, etc. We will need a library. We are Luciferians, after all. 

4. We want to be non-hierarchical. We are looking at various models and structures for having a directly democratic org that still can get things done. Current inspirations include Alcoholics Anonymous and the IWW. 

5. We would like to be open to practitioners who are aligned with Luciferian values but use different liberator/lightbringer type deities. For example, we currently have a really excellent Enkian in the group who fits right in. 

6. Some members are definitely interested in an art collective component, which I think should be easy as pie for us to accomplish. So far it is a somewhat artsy group. 

All of this will obviously need to be refined. These are merely the fruits of the first brainstorming session. 

What came out of this in terms of practical plans is the need for a monthly meet-up where we can keep doing this work. We are currently in the process of securing a space for this. Are in conversation with the venue, dates just need to be confirmed. 

Lucifer’s Love

There are some posts going around about Lucifer’s love, or lack thereof. I’m not necessarily looking to debate with them. But I do feel like there’s something… missing. 

People like to say “Lucifer won’t hold your hand” and often that’s true. He’s definitely not a coddler. Then again, he did literally hold me in the night when I was at my lowest. I think he did this because there was no one else to hold me, and if he hadn’t done it, I would have died. And I think he has reasons for not wanting me to die yet. He has tasked me with certain things, after all. Compassion and self-interest aren’t always as far apart as Nietzsche or LaVey might want you to believe. Pay attention and Lucifer may teach you this. 

People say “Lucifer won’t save you” and yet I know multiple devotees of his, myself included, who he has pulled back from suicide, self-harm, addiction and overdose, including one person who literally met him during a near death experience, and was returned to life by him. This is often how we get on the path in the first place. He’s not afraid to rally the fallen and help us to our feet, the same way he did for his fallen legions. Afterwards, though, he expects us to fight. 

Does he love us? Yes, I believe and even feel like I know that he does. His love is tough love. It’s unconditional in a way– he’s a patron to sinners and fuck-ups after all– but that doesn’t mean he won’t have high expectations, and that doesn’t mean he will always be nice. 

Is he who you want him to be? Not necessarily, he is himself. No one is who you want them to be. However, this doesn’t mean he’s completely ineffable and unknowable. Dare to know Lucifer. Dare to make statements about who you think he is. Dare, even if you are wrong. Because I don’t fucking think he wants us demurring and hemming and hawing and going “oh well, Lucifer is sooo far above us, we can’t possibly know what he is like or what he wants.” Hubris is a Satanic virtue. Go have some gnosis. Use discernment, sure, but you can stand by what you believe, what you have come to know. Dare! 

The angels of the Lord are not pure.

They are stained with the blood of the first born.

They are filthy with the ashes of Sodom and Gommorrah.

They are dutiful soldiers, “just following orders,” in service of the filthy, bloodstained king of kings.

Summoning the Devil

It’s funny, there are a lot of schools of thought regarding how easy or hard it might be to get the Devil’s attention. 

In one school of thought, which is most commonly held by certain types of Christians, almost anything can summon Old Scratch. Ever hear the phrase “speak of the Devil and he will appear?” In this worldview, things like masturbating, listening to rock music, any stray “sinful” thought whatsoever, is pretty much enough to bring down the Evil One. 

On the far end of the spectrum, you have the ceremonial magicians, who might say that to summon Lucifer you need to be a powerful magus and do the six month long Abramelin ritual, complete with all sorts of prayer, fasting, sexual abstinence and spiritual cleansing. 

So which is it?

Hilariously, I lean closer to the first opinion. The Devil is everywhere, in every shadow, every restless breeze, every floorboard creak. He’s in the rain and the lightning, in the stars, in the city lights, lurking in every dark ally, loitering on every corner, haunting every crossroads. He’s in music, in poetry, in technology, in every single thing that springs from human genius and invention. He stares back at me from the eyes of every animal. Most of all, he’s in my most intimate thoughts and feelings. He’s in my desires, my questions, my hopes, my dreams. The Devil is never far away. 

I have a little ritual I do when I want to deliberately call him up and really connect with him. It’s simple. I light some frankincense and some candles, maybe eat an apple in memory of Eden. I might recite the Lord’s Prayer backwards or chant his enn. But I do these things for me, not for him. He’s already there. The ritual is just to get me focused enough so I can hear him.