#occulltism

Satan

In this episode, we interview Tena and Karen about hypnosis, soul trap theory, false light experiences, reincarnation, and the importance of sovereignty, discernment, and inner healing in navigating the afterlife.

I recently found a unique channel which really goes deep into occultism / hidden truth. If you're interested in spirituality at all, check out whatever interests you in this interview with two energy healers who, unlike many, have good logic and reasoning skills so they don't fall for things like spiritual bypassing. This isn't new age, it's old age knowledge coming back up.

Hello everyone! Under my last post, which was about our perception of deities, you left several questions related to working with them. So today I want to explore topics such as: how our goals influence our choice of deities and how we perceive them, how to build a connection with them, and what we can offer in return.

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General Introduction

When I first got into occultism, I thought I had to pick one tradition from the vast array and stick with it. But for me, that turned out to be an impossible task. I decided to practice without deities, working only with the elements and tarot cards, because otherwise, I would have felt this terrible sadness at the thought that, while loving Hindu, Greek, and Slavic gods, and being deeply interested in those I hadn't even explored yet, I would suddenly have to stop at the Goetic demons.

Such a choice would have locked both me and my perception of the world into rigid frameworks. But one of my core goals, which I still pursue through my magical practice, is to see the world in as many different aspects as possible.

It was a major revelation for me to discover that many people take a different approach — working in chaos magic, where you can create your own rules, or follow existing ones if they resonate with your inner world. This is an approach where you don't rely on fixed dogmas, but constantly transform them according to what is relevant to you at any given stage of your life.

There are many different traditions in the world. And the most interesting part is that everyone will tell you that their vision of the world is the only correct one. In reality, we are all talking about the same thing, just approaching it from different angles.

A simple everyday example: cognitive-behavioral therapists are always arguing with psychoanalysts over who gets the spotlight. Each side tries to prove the effectiveness of their own approach to the psyche. To me, this is a completely pointless conflict, because the first group works with the symptom, while the second works with the root. Not everyone wants to adapt to the symptoms, and not everyone wants to dig into the core. That shouldn't diminish one approach or make the other the only effective one.

The same applies to any other situation, and the same applies to our approach to magic.

Our needs change, and it is absolutely natural to try different tools, methods, and traditions for yourself. If today your beliefs resonate with working with Goetic Demons, it doesn’t mean that tomorrow you won’t be interested in working with Greek gods. If today you go to a therapist to adapt to the symptoms of trauma, it doesn’t mean that tomorrow you won’t want to understand its root cause. If today you are getting an education that qualifies you as a psychologist, and you see your fulfillment entirely within the field of science — it doesn’t mean that tomorrow you won’t become curious about how you could express yourself through magic. You name it.

Moreover, many figures in our lives are archetypal. Simply put, an archetype is a collective image. If I were to describe the archetype of a goddess that embodies aggression, destruction, and death, one person would immediately think of the Goddess Kali, another of the Goddess Sekhmet, and another of the Goddess Hel. All of these goddesses are personified differently — each has her own myth. Nevertheless, when we reach out to them, we are reaching out to the same archetype, just from different sides.

There is no problem at all with working with different deities during the same period, especially if you genuinely feel drawn to them. Personally, I see only one issue with this: the scattering of attention. How we direct our attention when building a connection determines how deep and genuine that connection will become.

When I tried to establish a connection with Kali, Krishna, Lilith, Asmodeus, and Loki all at once, it turned out that I couldn’t build a deep connection with any of them. So some simply moved to the background — not because any of them were jealous of my attention, but because they genuinely need to see that we are open to working with them, and that we are ready to invest our resources (primarily our attention) into that process.

As for jealousy: keep in mind that here we are talking about a practice where you create your own traditions and your own rules. If you decide to sit on two chairs at once — staying within a religious paradigm that opposes any form of paganism, while also working with pagan deities — then, of course, the gods from your religious framework won’t be too happy about it.

Additionally, I want to point out that not all goals and not all work are necessarily compatible. To give an example from my own experience: if you go into work with Kali to learn how to manage your anger, while you are asking Krishna for pure love and harmonious relationships — your “love request” may well take a back seat. Simply because it is more of a priority to first learn how to handle the energies of anger, rather than build a family and then try to practice controlling your aggression within it. It’s a matter of how different energies interact: don’t try to work with everyone at once. Consider whether the energies of the deities you’re drawn to contradict each other, or whether they might actually complement one another well.

On beginning work with a deity: choosing a deity, our goals, and offerings

If you find yourself asking “How do I choose a deity to work with?” — there are usually several aspects you can start from:

- Your personal interest: you feel drawn to someone so strongly that the information you’ve found in myths, books, and others’ experiences no longer feels like enough. You want to ask the deity questions directly.

- Based on your needs and the deity’s functions. Of course, this is not the most ethical approach. It feels more like market relations: like looking for a beneficial deal, rather than genuine connection. In my previous post, I already mentioned that perceiving a deity solely through their function limits your ability to truly know both the deity and the full spectrum they might reveal to you: if a god governs life, it doesn’t mean he is unfamiliar with death; if a goddess rules over lunar aspects, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how to warm like the sun. Nevertheless, many people find their deity precisely this way: for example, someone wants to get rich, so they turn to Lakshmi or Mammon. Whether this kind of relationship works for them — that’s something only they can tell you.

- Sometimes the gods choose us themselves. You can tell that someone is calling out to you through synchronicities: at one point, information about Lilith started coming at me from literally every direction. And when I asked her for a sign — whether she really wanted to connect, or if I was just making it all up — a couple of days later, an owl settled in my garden. That bird is very closely associated with Lilith.

In one of the comments, there was a point about how important it is for a person to find deities who see and accept both the “good” and “bad” aspects of who they are. Realizing our own wholeness is very important. However, the division into good and bad is purely a social construct created by us to regulate society. What is considered good and bad varies from society to society, and from person to person. What I consider good in myself will inevitably annoy someone else. So it’s not worth mixing the perception of ourselves through the lenses of psychology and sociology with the lens of the soul’s nature and divinity.

Any deity can help us feel into that state where good merges with bad, feminine with masculine, life with death, and then show us how these energies separate, and how only through that separation can we come to know one through the other. As mentioned earlier: if a god governs life, it doesn't mean they are unfamiliar with death.

Therefore, in a model of relationship where you are no longer a slave and the deity is no longer your master and parent, no one is going to punish you for your sins or praise your virtues.

On the aspect of how exactly we choose a deity:

I understand that not everyone’s life purpose is centered around studying their Self. Not everyone’s goal is to work with people or pass on knowledge. For some, happiness might be more than fulfilled by realizing the most grounded desires: a good job and a romantic relationship. And it’s absolutely normal that everyone has different goals. What’s more, it often happens that some goals can harmonize very well with others — by which I mean you don’t necessarily have to give up earthly comforts and pleasures if you feel drawn toward the divine.

But it’s important to understand that the nature of your relationship with a deity depends on your goals. So ultimately, it all comes down to the question: “Why am I personally turning to the gods?”

If it’s only for material gain — be prepared to engage in market‑like dynamics, and to find yourself in situations where you’ll need to work to achieve that material benefit.

If you’re looking for something deeper — like understanding your Self — then be prepared to let go of any ideas of a servile position toward the deity, and stop seeing them as a parental figure. Be ready for the deity to start creating situations around you where, in order to find out who you are, you’ll have to seriously stand your ground: express your anger, love openly and without shame, and leave spaces where people try to label you or change you, even if they are your closest people.

It’s important to understand what you yourself can offer to a deity. Any exchange should be mutual. In my own experience: the gods help me in my self‑inquiry, so I write posts exploring their archetypes or carry their ideas into the world.

The gods care about you creating something yourself, whether it’s paintings, clothing, books — anything you’re capable of, as long as it resonates with their ideas. Even volunteering works well: I’ve heard of people working with Hecate who volunteer at support centers for queer people, because one of Hecate’s aspects is the protection of minorities. In my case, analyzing the myth of Apollo through a psychoanalytic lens resonates with his aspects of rationality and philosophy.

More on the nature of offerings and their historical aspect:

When we go into work with deities, we seek to receive what we consider important to ourselves, so, for an equal exchange of energies, we need to give something that is important to us. For our ancestors, survival, preserving the harvest, and protecting their offspring were paramount. Today, human values have shifted: what matters to us now is our personal development, and connection with other individuals like ourselves.

This is why, when the gods helped our ancestors survive, our ancestors gave the best part of their harvest, the youngest goats from their herds, and men underwent circumcision — offering part of their dignity and a symbol of their fertility. With our current goals, such offerings are no longer relevant.

Perhaps if you yourself are involved in animal husbandry, and your goal is to sustain yourself and your family through that work, then the youngest goat would certainly be important both to you and to the deity who helps you in that goal. But if your goal is self‑understanding and exploring your own potential, then the best offering would be something that helps others around you to better understand themselves.

Always ask the deity what they would like to receive as an offering, and clearly state what you are able to offer. If you ask a deity for personal fulfillment, and your only offering is a piece of meat on the altar — just put yourself in their shoes. We too would find it insulting to hear: “You do all the work for me, spend your time and energy on me, and in return, I’ll give you a piece of bread.” That's not serious.

If you want to work that way, putting in the bare minimum — don't expect them to meet you halfway (on the contrary, they might just take what they need to balance things out. I'm not trying to scare anyone, but if you don't want something important taken from you without your knowledge, don't ask for mountains of gold in exchange for a glass of alcohol).

If you still have a question “How do I start working with a deity?” — then the simplest tool to begin with is prayer. In prayer, we honor the deity, ask for their help, and at the end, we say what we personally can offer them. It’s important that the words come from you sincerely. Of course, you can find pre‑written prayers, but I don’t think they will resonate with you fully because we are all different. It’s better to say it in your own words than to say it perfectly. This is one of those moments where sincerity matters more than “correctness.”

On altars:

Whether to create one or not is entirely up to you. But historically, altars have become a separate space for practitioners, a place where thoughts about daily worries fade into the background, and attention shifts entirely to the deity.

Of course, we can receive signals from the gods in dreams, through sudden “insights”, or even communicate with them through tarot cards. So an altar is not the only way to connect. At the same time, an altar creates an atmosphere that works in two directions:

- You send a signal to your own mind that you have a sacred working space where everyday concerns have no place. Essentially, it becomes easier for your brain to anchor into the right state when you can clearly see an image of your deity, rather than just knowing they “exist somewhere out there”.

- You send a signal to the deity that you are serious about the connection, that you are deeply invested in it. An altar shows your sincerity, and that doesn’t go unnoticed by the deity.

Do your part of the “agreement” and observe how your reality shifts. Not everyone can hear or see a deity clearly at first, but the gods do make themselves known — as mentioned earlier — through our dreams, through passing thoughts, through sensations in the body, and especially through synchronicities. Synchronicities are their most common way of interacting with us.

The more you know, the easier it will be to recognize them. To use the same example with Lilith: if I hadn’t known that owls are associated with her, I would have missed that sign entirely.

Study whatever information is available to you, ask the deities questions, and ask the space for signs. The answers may come in the most unexpected ways, and there is no need to be discouraged if you can’t clearly hear the voice of a deity just yet. Contact is something that can only be developed over time. It’s not a matter of “some people are born with the ability to hear the voices of gods, and others aren’t.” If you dedicate enough attention to deepening your understanding, with each new attempt it will become easier to recognize the form in which the deity is responding to you.

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Thank you for your questions and for taking the time to read this post! I would be very interested to hear your thoughts, your experiences, or perhaps any new questions you might have.

Just by the video title, you can already see how dumb this is. And although they makes some really solid points and do have good arguments, it's still really offensive. I am not, by any means, a pagan or a witch but I have dug into the subject because of the book I am writing. Although I am a fiction author, I still value a respectful and realistic depiction. The thing is most witches and modern pagans (at least most of them) do not believe in actual Gods being all powerful and all knowing. They believe in entities called Egregores. Those beings are believed to be a manifestation of mass worship. All religions and or myths where made up by someone at some point, which makes the Egregore hypothesis pretty solid. Mythologies are meant to be taken as social rules or stories with complex morals. For instance, Hades did not take Persephone from Demeter against her will, the story is about death taking a child from her mother forever. The stories where not literal. Now, to get back to modern Paganism, it's important to know thay they don't worship the gods themselve, but the concept of what they are. Some people might call this "new age nonesense," but the idea was introduced in old folk witchcraft books from over 200 years ago. Again, I am not a pagan, but instead of pointing an accusatory finger at someone and call them cringe, ask yourself: "Do they believe the same way I do?" And even if they know nothing, even if they are cringe, even if they are unknowing teenagers, where's the harm in that?

Please do not spread hate towards this creator.

Take care,

Hello everyone! In this post, I touch upon such topics as: entering occultism with a patriarchal worldview, limited perceptions of deities, the dynamics of the relationship between practitioner and deity, and my personal experience working with deities. My thoughts were quite chaotic, but I did my best to structure them adequately! My thoughts and experience may differ from yours — perhaps even significantly, especially if the culture you grew up in differs from mine — but that is absolutely normal. With this post, I have no intention of changing your beliefs, but rather, I invite you to a discussion.

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In our lives, we are used to seeking support outside ourselves. For a very long time, we have been building a system that would guide us, that would tell us what is right and what is wrong. We constantly seek confirmation for our beliefs, we limit ourselves to a fixed framework, and place our hopes in this system, believing it will provide guarantees for tomorrow, that it will keep us from making wrong steps.

When we enter unfamiliar territory, it is difficult for us to endure uncertainty, to remain alone with this void, still filled with nothing. This is one of the ways we perceive our reality.

I think that if you are reading this post, you are either already in the process of studying occultism — perhaps actively practicing something — or you are just beginning your acquaintance with it. In either case, I hope you are familiar with this conflict that constantly arises when Christian teachings clash with any other current: a beginner occultist may have spent a long time in an environment based on this particular religious direction; later, they learn about the existence of the “Left‑Hand Path,” choose a deity to work with — whether it be a Goetic demon or a god from Indian mythology — and the person is swept away into opposition. “Your god doesn’t give as much freedom as mine gave me!” This rebellion very, very often echoes in my mind ever since, having been raised in a strict Christian family, I suddenly learned about the existence of Satanism and black magic. And, judging solely from the situations I have observed, such rebellion is a very common thing. What does it tell us?

When we live within a particular system for a long time, when it becomes the very foundation of our existence — stepping into new, unknown territory, we inevitably project our existing model of perception onto that emptiness. In this particular case, that model of perception is strictly patriarchal: the mindset in which “I am always beneath authority; it knows better how to run my life.” Therefore, it does not matter where we go — the Goetic demons, ancient Greek mythology, black magic, Buddhism, wherever you like — if we perceive the deity as someone who always stands above us, then it makes no difference whether you worship Yahweh or Satan. With that mindset, it doesn’t matter which deity you turn to — you’ll reproduce the same relationship every time.

And this is not a matter of respect, which we supposedly show to the deity by taking the position of a slave — it is a matter of submission, of perceiving the deity as a parent from whom we cannot separate. I will not judge whether this is good or bad. It is simply part of the path. But by defining the deity solely through such an aspect, we deprive ourselves of the entire other spectrum that it might reveal to us.

A beginner occultist may crave acquiring someone else's knowledge. It is absolutely normal to ask about the experience of someone who has been in this field for a long time. But there is a huge trap here: someone else’s experience does not always mean the only true version: for us, as outsiders, it may not resonate at all with us, with our inner goal, or with the true desires of our soul. By accepting someone else’s experience on faith, we appropriate it for ourselves, filling our clean space with other people’s views on life. There is a high risk of losing sight of the fact that “I am operating only with borrowed knowledge, using only ready‑made tools; I have no personal experience or lived engagement with these tools”, and this is not growth or development, even if you practice constantly. Of course, at the beginning of our path and as we grow, we need some reference points, but it is important not to lose your own voice under all this pile of information.

By “haven’t lived engagement with the tool”, I mean the situation where a person searches for “correct” rituals, “correct” prayers, and “correct” offerings, instead of creating their own ritual, praying in their own words, or directly asking the deity what offerings they personally prefer.

We fill our emptiness with an already existing myth. We interpret the functions of a deity through myth, and, closing the circle, we try to interpret the myth based on the deity's function. If someone is interested in love magic, they might turn to Asmodeus, because for many years now, an image has been built around him that Asmodeus is a demon who breaks up couples by forcing one person to feel romantic attraction toward someone other than their partner. Can he teach love magic based on such an interpretation? Certainly. But this will develop neither you nor him, because the work will be done exclusively through the prism of a myth already shaped by others — a myth that will not allow you to see the entire archetype.

Gods, demons, deities — they are interested in working with an emphasis on development, on unfolding your Self and individuality. This develops them as well, for the gods come to know us through our experience, and it matters to them that we do not get stuck in a single paradigm, but explore their archetypes from different angles, diving as deep as possible.

Personally, in my practice, no one was interested in simply teaching me practical knowledge in exchange for a bottle of wine as an offering. Not ironically, I am referring to Asmodeus because his energies are very present in my life, even though I have no interest in love magic and I don't study it on principle. As for offerings: with all the deities I have ever interacted with, I state upfront that they should not expect alcohol or food from me, because I myself see no sincerity in such offerings.

Asmodeus came into my life when I wasn't even close to being familiar with the Goetic demons. Back then, I started reading about his mythology, learning about others’ experiences, and in our relationship, I took the position of a “child” — that is, once again, I considered him higher and stronger than myself. I simply told him about my life, and he just listened. Then I began asking him for help in some difficult life situations where I couldn't cope psychologically, and I started asking him for growth.

I made him an offering in the form of a drawing, but while drawing it, I felt very obligated. It was an offering made out of a sense of duty, simply because I was asking for something. There was no help from him, and he didn't accept the drawing. This situation made me so angry that I wrote a poem about him, expressing how much I hated our parent‑child dynamic.

His reaction genuinely surprised me. It was something like “THERE! SEE? That — that's great!!!” He showed me how sincerely I can express my feelings. He taught me to see where I was trying to please, to earn approval and attention, instead of standing in the position of an adult and entering into genuine contact.

It was a transfer of a habitual pattern of relating to the divine: one in which a person takes on a servile position. And if a person has a genuine desire for growth, the deities will start putting them in situations where they have to remember their own inner compass and their own will.

As you may notice, this story has no direct correlation with the main myth whatsoever. Just as Kali carefully taught me to heal the body by releasing stagnant energy from it; just as Lilith taught me to let go of the past and turn even the most negative and painful experiences into a resource and a blessing; or when the strict and rational Apollo literally placed me before a life‑defining choice: where the first option, despite being supported by the most logical and rational arguments, would have made me unhappy, while the second option, the most spontaneous and illogical one, resonated with my soul and my entire being, deeply inspiring me and giving my life meaning.

And contrary to stereotypes, my offerings were not expressed in alcohol or placing the most delicious fruits on their altars, but in respect for the knowledge they taught me, in applying that knowledge and sharing it. Even this post is an offering, because for me it is the most sincere way to express my love and respect for them. This does not diminish any other form of offering. It is simply that the deities do not need you to sacrifice a rooster or a goat in their name when what they are far more interested in is deepening people's understanding of their own nature.

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