The Philosophy of Dark Paganism

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” - Edger Allen Poe, The Raven

As I walked through a Halloween store the other day, I came across a placard with the above quote from Poe’s The Raven. When I saw the placard, I knew I had to buy it for it truly spoke to me. 

Several years ago, I decided to write a book. I can’t say that my dreams were like “no mortal ever dared to dream,” but they were the product of peering into the darkness of the Self. My dream of being published became a reality today with the release of my book The Philosophy of Dark Paganism by Llewellyn Worldwide.

In my book, I explore Dark Paganism as a philosophical worldview. In it, I explore self-knowledge and autonomy as part of creating a meaningful life. To aid the reader, I provide nine principles to aid in individuation and achieving a state of well-being, which the ancients call eudaimonia. 

Of my book, Raven Digitalis, author of A Witch’s Shadow Magick Compendium and Esoteric Empathy, wrote:

“Differing from ‘black’ magick or baneful sorcery, this deeply intelligent and honest book explores darker magickal elements through a lens of Neopaganism. Focused on self-development by way of shadow, the reader is given an opportunity to cohesively improve themselves and search for life’s greater purpose. I have never experienced a book like this. It is packed to the brim with educational references and citations, all of which boil down to a metaphysical perspective. The author’s refreshing approach encompasses solid academic history and philosophy alongside practical theory aimed toward self-empowerment. The shroud of darkness is enchanting...why not take a peek?”

You can purchase my book from Amazon and from Llewellyn.com.

Evil and The Shadow

“Evil is a source of moral intelligence in the sense that we need to learn from our shadow, from our dark side, in order to be good.” - John Bradshaw, American philosopher.

The reality of evil has been very much in the news recently. The little town of Uvalde, Texas, USA, where a gunman slaughtered children and their teachers, will forever be associated with the reality of evil. However, this small, sleepy Texas town wasn’t the first to be impacted by evil, and it won’t be the last.

Dark Paganism honors the Self. And to truly honor oneself requires that we recognize all aspects of the self, both the good and the bad. Both the conscious and the unconscious. This means recognizing the Shadow Self.

The psychologist and philosopher Carl Jung postulated that there exist four universal components of the mind that he called archetypes. He called the four archetypes the persona, the shadow, the anima or animus, and the self.

Each person’s shadow is the product of socialization. From birth, we struggle to meet the expectations of others. In the course of trying, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that our parents and peers find unacceptable are shoved deeper and deeper into our unconscious. These unacceptable attributes settle in the unconscious like silt in a river, forming Jung’s shadow.

Just because the shadow is part of the unconscious doesn’t mean that it does not influence our behavior. On the contrary, the shadow constantly exerts a significant influence on us. We just don’t always know it.  

The key is to recognize the shadow. However, accepting the reality of the shadow doesn’t mean we have to act on it. In fact, by accepting its reality, we can consciously choose what we do and don’t want to act on from its influence.

I’m not saying that the shadow was the cause of the gunman’s murderous rampage in Uvalde, Texas. I doubt we’ll ever know what drove him to such evil acts. I’m saying that we each must strive to understand and accept the reality of our shadows. If we don’t, we risk being controlled by them and hurting ourselves and others.