My greetings to the forum

[Mask of the Devil]

Thanks for admitting me here.

I'm from Veneto ( northern Italy ), 1986, male, caucasian.
Satanist ( occult / philosophical satanism ), moral nihilisit, dabbling occultist and part-time philosopher.
My interests includes also martial arts, a bit of philology, weight lifting, roleplay games and pugs.

I consider that a nice occasion to train both my english and debate skills.
By the way, I'll surely make some grammar or spelling mistakes, feel free to correct me.

I wish you a nice day.

( if you want you can shorten my nick in MD )

[Divine Insight]

Welcome to the forums MD. <---- sounds like a medical doctor.

I too am a "dabbing occultist", but as you well know that's a very large umbrella term.

I don't personally recognize any entities named "Satan" in my occult practices. But I do recognize and acknowledge the "Horned God" associated with many Pagan practices. I tend to focus on Cernunnos as a God deity. As you may be aware, many non-Pagan people will view even Cernunnos as the "Christian Satan" or devil.

I'm not sure where Satanists come up with the name of "Satan", but it seems to be a reaction to Christianity to me. (just saying).

In any case, I view Cernunnos as a very loving and peaceful God, not demonic at all.

I typically choose artwork similar to the following to depict Cernunnos:



Although, a the traditional Pagan image would portary him as having the head of a stag like so:



Or more "Demonic-like" as follows, notice the hind of glowing red eyes in this artwork:



I tend to view the Horned God as a more natural expression of nature.

In any case, I just thought I'd share some of my "occultist" views. They aren't likely to be compatible with Satanism though. Especially if Satan is viewed as a "Devil". There are no demons in my occult paradigm. But there obviously can exist entities who are not nice. After all, we even see that in mortal humans.

[Mask of the Devil]

I'm not sure where Satanists come up with the name of "Satan", but it seems to be a reaction to Christianity to me. (just saying).

Most of times, it is.
Admitted. ^^

Beautiful artworks of Cernunnos. A celtic god... celts, my ancestors.

[Divine Insight]

I'm not sure where Satanists come up with the name of "Satan", but it seems to be a reaction to Christianity to me. (just saying).

Most of times, it is.
Admitted. ^^

Beautiful artworks of Cernunnos. A celtic god... celts, my ancestors.

My heritage also points to having potential Celtic ancestors. Ironically, I've actually had dreams and shamanic journeys associated with visions compatible with Celtic ancestry. So I felt drawn to it naturally. Only with deeper thought did I begin to realize from my own family history that my genetics came from that general area as well.

In any case, my attraction to these Pagan ideas and traditions stem solely from my identification with them, and in no way represent a "rebellion" against Christianity. Although some may think that since I was born and raised as a Christian. By my rejection of Christianity had nothing to do with any dislike of it, or rebellion against it. I simply rejected it because after closer inspection I felt that it was absolutely absurd.

Christians then point to the Celtic beliefs and traditions I now embrace as being "even more absurd", but actually they aren't absurd at all. That can all depend upon how a person views them.

For example, I don't believe that any actual deity named Cernunnos actually walks around in the forest.

It's entirely a symbolic tradition that attempts to place a personal face on nature. Of course, I'm sure that the original Celts no doubt believe in this deity as being an actual personified deity. But I view it more as an extension of the "higher self". This is why I tend to portray Cernunnos in a light that I would myself be if I were Cernunnos.

~~~~~

I don't mean to be rambling on in your welcome thread, but since you started the thread I may as well make use of the typing space.

When it comes to spiritual paradigms I have embraced the principle that we should follow what calls to us naturally. Therefore my spiritual paradigm is basically my own creation. The fact that I employ symbolism that has also been used by ancient cultures only reflects the fact that there is no sense in reinventing the wheel from scratch with every new generation. They has some pretty good spiritual ideas and many of them are actually quite well-crafted in terms of actually being quite useful, even from a secular psychological perspective.

So I embrace the idea of a God and a Goddess, and I use many of the ancient Pagan symbols, deities, and traditions because they work very well. But I don't hesitate to also openly confess that I use them in a way that feels right for me. So even though my spiritual ideas could be said to have roots in Paganism, or "the occult", they have also been extremely tailored by me to become my own personal Paradigm. Therefore it's hard to actually put a label on it since it's basically my own "Creation" just using some "Old Parts" assembled in a unique way.

Many people also view my paradigm as being "Polytheistic". This is because when I describe it they see that it contains many different Gods and Goddesses. However, what they don't understand is that all of these symbolic personas actually represent a single underlying universe mind. And in that sense it's actually as monotheistic as can be. Not that it matters, but I'm just saying. Most people don't understand how something that appears on the surface to be polytheistic can actually be quite monotheistic.

Anyway, thanks for giving me the opportunity to ramble on a bit about my own "Pagan Occultism".

[Mask of the Devil]

Sciamanism and, sometimes, paganism embraced a more respectful view of nature and mother earth than successive monotheistic traditions. In my opinion, at least.

Obviously I agree about the necessity of following the self, and instinct, in the search for your own spiritual path.

Anyway, thanks for giving me the opportunity to ramble on a bit about my own "Pagan Occultism".

You're welcome. As Kasumoto ( The Last Samurai ) would say:

[otseng]

[Replying to post 1 by Mask of the Devil]

Welcome to the forum.

[Haven]

Benvenuto!

[OnceConvinced]

Welcome! Great to see you livening up a few old threads.