Frater Tenebris - The Philosophy of Dark Paganism: Wisdom & Magick to Cultivate the Self

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About the Author

Frater Tenebris is a public speaker, blogger, philosopher, and practitioner of Dark Paganism. Hes a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) and the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America. He lives in a quiet neighborhood in a Texas suburb with his wife and two dogs.

Copyright Information

vi The Philosophy of Dark Paganism: Wisdom & Magick to Cultivate the Self 2022 by Frater Tenebris.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2022

E-book ISBN: 9780738772653

Book design by Christine Ha

Cover design by Shannon McKuhen

Interior art (pages ) by the Llewellyn Art Department

Tarot card illustrations (pages ) are based on those contained in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite, published by William Rider & Son Ltd., London 1911.

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tenebris, Frater, author. | Storm, Marysa, editor.

Title: The philosophy of dark paganism : wisdom & magick to cultivate the

self / Frater Tenebris.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Worldwide,

Ltd, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: Discover a

life-changing spiritual paradigm that honors the divine Self and strives

to elevate it to a higher state of beingProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022024111 (print) | LCCN 2022024112 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738772608 | ISBN 9780738772653 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Spiritual life--Miscellanea. | SelfReligious

aspectsMiscellanea. | Paganism. | Light and darknessMiscellanea. |

Magic.

Classification: LCC BF1999 .T366 2022 (print) | LCC BF1999 (ebook) | DDC

133.9dc23/eng/20220729

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022024111

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022024112

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

vii

This book is dedicated to my father,

who would take me to the library every weekend and taught me a love of learning and living virtuously.

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Contents

by John J. Coughlin

Dwelling in the Dark

Chapter Understanding Paganism

Chapter Dark Pagan Primer

Chapter Principles of Dark Paganism

The Dark Shall Be Light

Chapter Principle 1: Self-Knowledge

Chapter Principle 2: Self-Acceptance

Chapter Principle 3: Autonomy

Chapter Principle 4: Magick

Chapter Principle 5: Corpospirituality

Chapter Principle 6: Environmental Mastery

Chapter Principle 7: Purpose in Life

Chapter Principle 8: Positive Relations

Chapter Principle 9: Magnum Opus

Dark Enough

Chapter Dark Paganism and the Left-Hand Path

Chapter Dark Pagan Traditions

Chapter Dark Gods and Other Spirits

Chapter Spirituality and the Dark Allure

Chapter A Dark Ocean

Chapter Applied Dark Paganism

: Famous Magicians of History

xi Foreword

B ack in the late 90s, when I was struggling to find my own spiritual balance in Paganism, I had no idea I was about to start something that would take on a life of its own. At the time I felt very much alone and out of place. There seemed to be a phobia toward anything that hinted of darkness or (gasp) the dreaded Left Hand Path. In hindsight, I am sure the satanic panic of the 80s and early 90s set the stage for very defensive Pagans battling with that stigma and led to a bit of overcompensation, to say the least! But as a young man just coming into his own spiritually, I felt all the more isolated and confused. Somewhere I seemed to have taken a bit of a detour. Was I still a Pagan? Did it even matter? In my youth I was still so fixated on labels and conditioned from my Christian upbringing to think I had to follow something official. But if I had questioned the faith I was raised in, why could I not question the faith I was drawn to?

It was from this confusion that I began to write small essays, purely for myself to better organize and articulate my thoughts. Those essays eventually took the form of chapters, and thus Out of the Shadows came into being. When the book was released, I was expecting the worst. I envisioned angry emails, bad reviews, and generally becoming an outcast in the local Pagan community. But that was not what happened. Suddenly I began to get emails and written letters of thanks. I had put into words something that others lurking in the shadows of Paganism had been feeling. As it turned out, none of us were as alone as we had believed.

As I began to tour and speak at various gatherings (not an easy task for an introvert like myself), I had the opportunity to meet these kindred spirits. xii What intrigued me was how diverse we could be when it came to details of belief and practice, and yet we were still able to relate on a deeper level. Dark Paganism is very much more a mindset than a specific path or tradition, and I was always careful not to share the details of my personal practices in fear of influencing how others would express themselves.

That was a long time ago (like before iPhone long time ago), and thanks to the internet, Paganism has become extremely diverse and Dark Pagans abound in various forms and names. Others have since shared their perspectives on the subjectsome I feel aligned to, and some that make me cringe, and both have their place. Each perspective offers the reader an opportunity to explore how it applies to THEM. After all, I did not write Out of the Shadows to tell readers what to do. I threw out a lot of ideas to see how it landed and to encourage others to explore for themselves.

Over the years many have written to me asking for advice on how to get started in Dark Paganism, and I am sure most found my response a bit unexpected. I had no dark spells (whatever those are) to share or mysterious rites and practices to offer. Instead, I suggested a few books I personally found useful (such as the works of Jung and Ouspensky) and said the best thing they could do is learn critical thinking skills and embrace a consistent meditation practice. Independent thinking and self-reflection, to me, are the greatest skills for anyone who walks a dark path. I dare say they are essential for any practitioner of magic. Are you walking your path, or buying into someone elses approach? Are you changing the world to conform to your will, or are you conforming to the will of others? Why do you do what you do and believe what you believe?