Globusz^® Publishing 

During the 13th century a secret religious society known as the Luciferans was discovered operating in Germany. The Luciferans believed that Lucifer had been wrongly cast out of heaven but that one day he and his worshippers would resume their rightful place in heaven. During the investigation that ensued, the Roman church also discovered an initiation ritual which some of the Luciferians confessed to under the threat of death. According to their confessions the new initiate was required to kiss the behind of a toad, after which he was approached by 'a man with black eyes who was pale, emaciated and icy cold.' ⁽²⁾ The man, most likely representing the devil himself, was kissed by the initiate who then instantaneously lost his Catholic faith. After this a feast was held and 'a large black cat appeared, emerging from a statue which was always present.' ⁽³⁾ Again the members present would kiss the cats behind and then the ritual was concluded with an orgy.

Some of the more sensationalist accounts of Satanic Initiations have added to the early Satanic tradition mentioned above as also including the ritual slaughter of a virgin, usually female, or of a baby or young child and the drinking of a concoction of urine, sperm and/or vaginal fluid and blood whilst the participants blasphemed against God and Jesus Christ. From a moral perspective there is little, or often, no attempt to apologise for such cases from any Satanic quarter. Here one comes across the Satanic morality, or amorality where what is traditionally accepted by society is not by Satanism. It is by going against the accepted norm that the Satanist finds the freedom within, by going to extremes of emotion, thought and action the Satanist can find a balance between them, one that is based, not on rhetoric, but on both personal experience and premeditated action. So whilst society has attempted to imbue its members with moral constraints which are often portrayed as being permanent and absolute, Satanists see themselves as tending towards a more honest approach, developed from conscious experience, where morality is considered as being both temporal and relative. It is obvious from this perspective that Satanic morality is both offensive and dangerous and here then lies another barrier for the Satanic Initiate, for he or she must face and question his or her own morality.

The concept of initiation originates in a non-Satanic religious source where initiation is held to be a symbolic transition from one stage to another. The differences occur in the use of symbolism and of dieties. Thus in some examples of a Satanic initiation the neophyte may undergo a ritual coupling with a Temple Priest or Priestess. This coupling is a symbolic union of Satan and his bride Baphomet. Thus if the neophyte is female, then a Priest, representing Satan will couple with her, or if the neophyte is male a Priestess, representing Baphomet, will couple with him. The obvious exception is if the neophyte is gay and then he or she must seek out a relevant Sapphic or Uranian Temple. The individual to be initiated may also undergo tests - both during and previous to the initiation ritual - and may be subjected to both humiliation and pain. Humiliation may take the form of being stripped naked and bound before the Temple into which the neophyte is seeking initiation. The symbology here is of a stripping of personality, wherein the individual is no longer protected by his or her personality as symbolised by his or her clothing and is instead bared to all devoid of any societal position or power that he or she may have. Adding to this feeling of nakedness, which is enhanced by the unfamiliarity of the Temple and its members, the neophyte may also be subjected to a ritual scourging representative of the neophytes worthlessness, uncleanliness and weakness.

The necessary prequisite to undergo such a Satanic initiation begins simply with the feeling 'that there is more to life than the normal round of work and pleasure.' ⁽⁴⁾ It is from this perspective that the individual may seek and join a Satanic Temple or Tradition, yet this will usually only occur if the individual is to some extent free from the manipulations of society and its adherent morality as mentioned earlier. Once the ritual initiation has been completed there then begins a process of psychological change. To a large extent this change is simply a development of conscious awareness of one's actions, thoughts and feelings. The individual, having successfully passed through the first stage of initiation, as symbolised by the initiation ritual, must then undergo such further development and it is this development that is reflective of a true initiation, not simply Satanic but of any religious, occult or mystical path. It is therefore unfortunate that great emphasis is placed upon the external form of initiation together with the exaggerated interpretations of blasphemy, sacrifice and sexual depravity whilst little emphasis is placed upon an understanding of the internal form of initiation.

This internal initiation has also been likened to the process of rebirth. Yet this rebirth is an internal one, which is not simply reduceable to a change of mind but also involves the development of the astral body and, dependant upon which tradition the initiate belongs to, later on of the mental and divine bodies. With some ritual initiations, if they are powerful enough, the astral body of the neophyte may become so strong that the individual will have a spontaneous out of body experience. Yet in order for the astral body ⁽⁵⁾ to be fully developed a long process of inner work must begin and this may take the form of self study. Here the premise Know Thyself is of the utmost importance where the initiate studies his or her reactions to all his or her experiences. Thus he/she will slowly become aware of patterns of thought or emotion that he/she follows during a specific event, or events. This conscious awareness establishes that the individual usually reacts in a set way to set occurrences. By being aware of this the individual is then advised to cease reacting and thereby begin to control his or her psychological processes.

Whilst this method is most notably advanced by the Society of Dark Lily, there are a number of Satanic groups that also promote the idea of conscious awareness, which is eventually followed by conscious control of one's actions. Another interesting concept that is connected to the role of the initiate is that the individual, once initiation is complete has become a part of a larger timeless tradition. This concept is mainly found in Traditional Satanic groups such as the Order of Nine Angles. Initiation, whilst essentially being individual, that is, focusing upon the individuality of the new initiate which will therefore determine specific events that he or she may undergo, means that the individual will, by virtue of his or her initiation, add to the larger Sinister Tradition of which he/she is now a member. Examples of this role are found in the development of new ways to manifest the sinister energy of the Tradition. Art, music, philosophy, politics and literature are all examples of this creative expression that the new initiate is eventually expected to develop further, a development that should essentially imbue within the creation the energy of the Dark Gods themselves.