The Witching Hour Interview

 Recently I was honored to be a guest on Eron Mazza’s podcast, The Witching Hour.

 Check it out by following the link below.

H.P. Lovecraft Birthday

“The world is indeed comic, but the joke is on mankind.” ― H. P. Lovecraft

Note: Lovecraft’s racism is well known. Although his views moderated later in life, he maintained both until death. 

I must emphasize that I find Lovecraft’s racism disgusting and vulgar. This post is not supportive of his views, but it is a brief exploration of the long-lasting influence of his work on various occult practices and philosophies.    

H.P. Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island, to an affluent family. Howard was a sickly child, physically and emotionally, and regularly missed school. In 1893, his father was institutionalized due to syphilis and died in 1898. After his grandfather’s death, the family’s wealth dissipated. His mother was later institutionalized in 1919. 

Lovecraft’s literary career began in 1913 when he wrote essays for the United Amateur Press Association. From then on, he wrote speculative fiction and was published in several pulp magazines. While living in New York City in 1924, he married Sonia Greene. Greene and the literary circle of friends introduced Lovecraft to Weird Tales, which became his primary publisher. 

In 1926, he returned to Providence and wrote some of his most famous stories. His works during this time included The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and The Shadow Out of Time. 

H.P. Lovecraft died on March 15, 1937, at age 46 from intestinal cancer.

While Lovecraft’s impact on American horror is well known, little is discussed about his influence on contemporary occultism and philosophy. 

In 1972, Michael Aquino, PhD.D., developed the Ceremony of the Nine Angles. Initially published in The Satanic Rituals, The ritual incorporates Lovecraft’s entities, such as Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth. When Aquino left the Church of Satan and formed the Temple of Set, he incorporated the Ceremony into the rituals of his new organization. To learn more about the Ceremony of the Nine Angles, I highly recommend Toby Chappell’s excellent book Infernal Geometry and the Left-Hand Path.

While most think of the Cthulhu Mythos when they think of Lovecraft, he also developed a philosophy known as Cosmicism. Wikipedia provides an excellent definition of Cosmicism: “The literary philosophy developed by the American writer H P Lovecraft, stating that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as God, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence.”

In many ways, Cosmicism anticipated the work of Sartre and Camus. Neither Sartre nor Camus would develop their philosophies of Existentialism and Absurdism until well after Lovecraft developed Cosmicism. The similarities of the three philosophies speak highly to the influence of the zeitgeists of the times we live in.

The Source of Magick

Today, we have a pop quiz. Don’t worry; it’s multiple guess.

Question: What is the source of magick? Choose one from the following options.

A.    Spirits, such as gods, demons, angels, ancestors, etc.
B.    Energy
C.    Placebo
D.    Yet undiscovered natural laws of nature
E.    An interconnected, conscious universe interacting with your divine will
F.    It’s a mystery
G.   All of the above

Answer: G. All of the above.

The reality is that all six options play a role to varying degrees in the function of magick.

There was a tendency to boil everything down to one simple answer during modernity. A hallmark of modernity was the belief that everything could be simplified. “This phenomenon is nothing but (insert simple answer here).” Scholars today are moving away from the simplistic answers that were so popular in modernity. In this postmodern (some say post-postmodern or metamodern) world, scholars today see complexity in nearly everything. When asked to explain something, many scholars now say, “It’s a combination of factors,” before going into a complex answer with caveats that there’s much that we don’t understand. Many scholars admit that the more we learn, the more we realize how little we know.

This metamodern preference for complexity and acknowledgment of our limitations is healthier than the hubris of modernity. It recognizes both the tremendous power of the sciences while recognizing that there’s so much we don’t know.

More and more occultists are going to a complex understanding of magick. We shouldn’t be surprised about this. We’re embedded in this era, so our thoughts tend to match it. Therefore, occult thought usually follows the zeitgeist of the times.

This metamodern complexity is better than the simplistic modernity for the magick user. One advantage is that it allows us to be flexible and pragmatic. Some rituals are more effective if we emphasize spirit work, while others should emphasize energy. Another benefit is humility as the opposite of hubris. Hubris is a form of exaggerated and excessive pride. And while pride is healthy, so is recognition of one’s limitations.     

So, don’t get caught up in simple answers, especially regarding occult matters. Life is messy and complicated. Embrace the complexity.

Magick

“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” ― Roald Dahl, author

Dark Paganism, as the name implies, is part of the larger Contemporary Pagan movement. And magick plays a vital role in the lives of most Pagans.  

Magick is a profound and sacred spiritual practice with deep, ancient roots. The world’s earliest writings of Mesopotamia contain spells used by sorcerers and everyday people. Magick continues to impact all aspects of our lives.

What is magick? The most common definition one will find was given by Aleister Crowley, who defined it as “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will.” However, many practitioners, myself included, are moving away from this. The definition I use is “probability influence.” Magick increases or decreases the odds of an occurrence.  

We can see magick as an influence on probability in money spells. The odds of finding an American dollar randomly lying on the sidewalk of a major city in the US is greater than finding a roll of $100 bills. Therefore, a money spell may increase your cash flow, but it’s not likely to make you rich because it takes less influence to simply increase cash flow. 

Interestingly, I’ve found that the most profound benefit of practicing magick isn’t the changes it makes to my mundane life. Sure, it helps me with my finances and family. Magick opens doors and gives me opportunities I might not have had without it. However, the most significant benefit of magick is its effect on me as a person.  

I am a better person because of magick. It has helped me grow and become more confident. Because of this confidence, I can do more without magick now than I could before I started practicing.

The benefit of personal growth is a major reason magick is an integral part of Dark Paganism.

Autonomy: Various

This is the last of a series on autonomy.

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government." - Thomas Jefferson

In this last post on autonomy, I want to briefly cover two hot-button issues. 

Masks

Ever since the pandemic’s start, the government’s power to mandate the wearing of masks has been the subject of debate. While most people see no controversy in the government mandating masks, there was a noisy minority who balked at this. Leaving aside the misinformation about masks, some insisted that the government didn’t have the right to mandate masks. 

Masks were not some form of puritanical dress code or sharia law. Masks have been proven to reduce the spread of disease, specifically Covid-19. Mask mandates are saving the lives of others and preventing the national hospital system from being overwhelmed.

Therefore, since wearing masks reduces the chances of harm to others, either directly or through the impact on services, the government has the right to override the autonomy of someone and require individuals to wear masks.

Gun Rights

According to the website sandyhookpromise.org "Each day 12 children die from gun violence in America." This doesn’t include the mass shootings like what occurred in Uvalde, Texas, in May of this year. These examples show a simple fact, firearms’ sole purpose is to kill. Indeed, there are sporting events with firearms, but that’s secondary to their primary purpose.

Because firearms are by nature designed to cause severe harm, an individual’s autonomy to own one can be restricted by the government.   

Conclusion to This Series

Dark Paganism teaches us that autonomy is the default nature of humans. Therefore, restrictions on our autonomy can only be justified when there is a risk of harm to another. In most cases, such as gender identity, sexual preferences, and reproductive rights, the individual’s autonomy cannot be regulated because there is no harm. However, in cases where there is harm to others, such as the spread of disease and weapons, a person’s autonomy isn’t absolute and can be regulated.

Autonomy: Reproductive Rights

 This is the third in a series concerning autonomy.

“The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court Justice

On June 24th, 2022, in a shocking decision, the US Supreme Court reversed Roe v Wade, which had protected a woman’s right to an abortion for nearly half a century. This threw the power back to the States to decide the legality of abortion.

In Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court focused on the Due Process Clause found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The Due Process Clause prohibits arbitrary deprivation of “life, liberty, or property” by the government except as authorized by law. The Supreme Court determined that the Due Process Clause provides a fundamental “right to privacy,” which protects a pregnant woman’s right to an abortion.

For the purposes of this blog post, I’m looking not at privacy but at another consideration in this debate, autonomy.

 

I’ve mentioned several times that the only time the State has the right to restrict autonomy is when there’s harm or its potential. The argument by anti-abortion groups is that the fetus is a human and entitled to the human right to protection from harm.

Let me mention what’s not for consideration in this post, the view that “life begins at conception.” This view is based on the idea that a soul enters the body at conception. This is a purely religious belief and therefore is irrelevant when discussing government laws and regulations.

One claim by anti-abortion activists is that a fetus is living and human. Yes, a fetus is made of living material, and yes, it’s genetically human. However, that doesn’t make it a person with rights. Just because a zygote, the one-celled product of the union of sperm and egg, has 46 chromosomes and is made of human tissue doesn’t make it a person. Nor does the zygote’s potential to become an autonomous person make it one. You have 46 chromosomes in each skin cell, which is living human material. Theoretically, this skin cell could be used to clone a human, but that doesn’t make a skin cell a person. 

In the last few years, anti-abortion activists have used what appears to be a heartbeat at six weeks to claim that a fetus is a person with rights at that time. There are two problems with the heartbeat law.

First, a heartbeat isn’t possible at six weeks gestation because there are no heart valves to create one. What’s being detected is the electric activity within the embryo. The ultrasound generates the illusion of a heartbeat from that electrical activity. 

Second, heart cells will automatically respond in each other’s presence. Scientists found that heart cells will beat in unison in a lab dish. But that doesn’t make that clump of cells in the lab a person.

I will grant that an argument could be made that at 24 weeks, a fetus may be considered a person because, at that point, it may be able to survive outside the mother. One might say that it has become autonomous. This is why in Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court determined that abortions during the third trimester could be limited. 

It should be noted that third-trimester abortions are rare and only occur when the mother’s health is in danger. 

Bottom-line conclusion: because there is no harm to another, the government does not have the right to restrict a woman’s choice of abortion, except for the third trimester.

Autonomy: LGBTQA+ Issues

 This post is the second part on the topic of autonomy.

“Gender is between your ears and not between your legs.” - Chaz Bono

Before diving in, I must clarify how autonomy relates to Dark Paganism. Dark Paganism’s focus is on honoring and cultivating the Self. Since autonomy is a characteristic of the Self, it’s vital that we understand autonomy and what supports or restricts it.

 Gender Identity and Transgender Rights

We all know the nursery rhyme. Little boys are made of snips, snails, and puppy-dog tails, while little girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything nice. The root of this nursery rhyme is the mistaken belief that gender is binary, with male and female being the only options. This binary view is based on the assumption that gender is determined by anatomy. It holds that male genitalia equates to the male gender while female genitalia equates to the female gender.      

Reality is much more complex. It’s now understood that each person has a gender identity based on how they feel and who they know themself to be. Sometimes the gender identity matches their anatomy, but not always. Gender identities include the classic male and female (‘cis-gender’) along with transgender, gender-neutral, non-binary, agender, pangender, genderqueer, two-spirit, third gender, and all, none, or a combination of these.

Sexual Orientation

We shouldn’t confuse sexual orientation with gender identity. While gender identity is about how someone knows themselves or how they feel, sexual orientation is about who you’re attracted to and to whom you want to have a relationship. Sexual orientations include gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, demisexual, pansexual, and asexual.

Similar to the mistake that gender is binary, a mistaken belief is that sexual orientation is binary. In this error, it’s thought that men are naturally attracted to women, and women are naturally attracted to men. Anything else is thought to be aberrant and unnatural. A more progressive belief holds that a person is either gay or straight. However, this is still erroneous, for it’s still binary thinking. It’s now understood that sexual orientation is a spectrum, not a binary state.

The Question: Is There Harm? 

The critical issue here is whether there is harm to others if someone identifies and expresses themselves as other than cisgender or as something other than heterosexual. 

The answer is simple. No, there is no harm.

Critics try to generate controversy and claims of harm where none exists. Usually, these arguments are wrapped in religious language (“God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”) while others manufacture non-existent victims. Critics claim that allowing children to know about transgender issues and different sexual orientations somehow causes them harm. Or that women are somehow harmed by trans-inclusive language. And allowing people to use public restrooms based on identity rather than birth certificate somehow poses a danger of predators, they claim.

However, under close examination, all of these claims of harm fall apart. The religious argument is irrelevant, of course, in the modern secular society. Plus, this knowledge does not harm children. Nor or women’s rights harmed by trans-inclusive language. And transgender using public restrooms based on identity threatens no one.

Is there harm to the individual if the State restricts the expression of gender identity or sexual preference? There’s a lot of evidence that those individuals are harmed. Violence against the LGBTQA+ community is substantially higher than against the cisgender/straight. Workplace discrimination is much higher, as well. And suicide rates among transgender youth are at a shocking rate.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no harm to society by allowing the LGBTQA+ members of society to live their lives as they deem fit. However, there is significant harm done to the individuals when the State tries to regulate and restrict in these cases.