It’s a kinda magic ... P
erdita Carnivean and Warlock Marquis HK offer an insight into the world of Satanic magic.
Carnivean: In LaVeyean Satanism there are two types of magic—High Magic and Low Magic. In the context of LaVey’s writings ‘High Magic’ refers to ‘Ritual Magic’ and ‘Low Magic’ to ‘situationmanipulation magic’. Ritual magic is performed in a similar way with which many contemporary magical practitioners would be familiar: there is a general circle format, an evocative setting, deities are asked to assist, tools are used and the practitioner needs to concentrate and be specific about their goal. The point is—unlike a lot of other types of modern magic—to actually achieve a result, not to just revel within a magic ritual, that being enough of a result for many people. In addition, the LaVeyean High Magic system has only three types of ritual: rituals for Compassion, for Lust, and for Destruction. In each of these rituals, the practitioner needs to get fully involved emotionally with the purpose of the ritual. For example, in a recent Lust ritual, I needed to become physically lustful—LaVey says that if you can’t achieve an orgasm over the person you are lustful toward within a ritual designed to attract that person, then you don’t deserve to have them! So what one is meant to do in these sorts of rituals is to evoke as best as possible the real-world scenario of the desired result and become immersed within that—essentially fantasy— world as if it is real. So this is the method I follow when I do LaVey-style High Magic. If I want to attract someone sexually, I need to be actually desirous of them, otherwise I need to analyse whether I should be doing a Compassion ritual instead, for example. It depends on what I want the person for. LaVey liked to pare back human needs into simple categories—desire, hunger, anger. He believed that humans are simply clever animals, which we are—and so when you take on his type of system, you have to do a lot of analysis of yourself and of the situations you find yourself in, and then try and work out what kind of ritual approach is the best one, or if ritual actually is the correct approach to a problem or situation. I need to stress that a lot of LaVeyean Satanists do not do a lot of ritual, certainly not a lot of group ritual because effective ritual needs intense concentration and that’s not easy to achieve in a group, unless you are very close. As for the Low Magic, which really is the type 26
of magic I like best these days, and in my opinion, is actually more difficult than the more formal ritual magic—which is just a case of following procedure. LaVey’s Low Magic also involves a three-fold category, the witch or warlock (yes, LaVeyean male witches are called warlocks) need to assess themselves first because they are their own tool in this type of magic. You need to assess your effect on other people—because this is really about interacting with other people and getting them to conform to your will—you need to be well-informed about your appearance, your sound, your smell—the subtle and not-so-subtle animal cues that people give to each other all day without thinking about it. LaVey believes there are three general categories that people fit into: Sex, Sentiment, and Wonder. What this means is that people will view you and classify you (semi or subconsciously) in one or a combination of these categories. You need to work out which category you fit into and then take it from there. It’s about becoming a ‘package deal’ and people thinking they have you all worked out, when they actually don’t. LaVey believes that there are predictable responses different types of people have to the Sex, Sentiment, and Wonder categories, and you need to assess yourself in regards to those categories and assess your quarry and how their type is known to react to those qualities. Basically it is about acting. For example, I seem to come across as a mixture of sex and wonder, I don’t think I project any sentiment. Depending on who I am dealing with and what I want from them I may have to modify my ‘normal’ projection to one that they will be responsive to. For example, an arrogant, macho he-man would be more receptive to a coy ingénue who appears to think everything he says or does is ‘really amazing’; a submissive male would be more likely to shiver with delight if I were to come across as very stern, dominating, and no-nonsense—neither of those are the ‘real me’, it’s a case of me assessing a quarry and then putting on an act. Is it magic? Well Aleister Crowley defined magic as the art and science of causing change in accordance with your will—he never specified a particular way to achieve this change, just that you do achieve it. In my opinion, while LaVey’s Low Magic system is not a ritual procedure, it is still ‘magic’.
BLACK A u s t r a l i a n D a r k C u l t u r e M a g a z i n e
Marquis HK: When we perform rituals, we’re releasing emotive energies, which in turn tap into a hidden force in nature (Satan), which then projects our desires and causes changes in the real world in accordance with our will when unleashed in the ritual chamber. The more focused we are and intense our emotions, the more likely we are to hit our targets—often with devastating results. I’ve performed blessings and compassion rituals for those in need who are close to me and destruction rituals and curses on enemies and those who have wronged or irritated me. When you unleash the pent up emotion out of your system and you no longer care, that’s when the magical consequence manifests itself. Sceptics may argue that it is mere coincidence, however if all these ‘coincidences’ keep occurring upon unleashing a blast of infernal fury, does that not constitute a successful working whichever way you look at it? You’ve still achieved your objective, so go figure. I recently performed a powerful rite on Winter Solstice called The Rite of Ragnarok. The Rite of Ragnarok involves summoning the Norse gods Loki and Fenris to overthrow Odin, to destroy an old order that has become moribund and counter productive to make way for a new order of pleasure and prosperity. This can be applied on a personal basis to put an end to a chapter in your life that has been holding you back in one way or another to make way for a new era of excitement and success, which may come in the form of new projects, business opportunities or whatever the case may be. It is a powerful rite performed to the beat of marching military drums and thunder and lightning. The celebrants march into the chamber in single file where they stand in total darkness for five minutes before commencing the rite. n