Ritual experiment

The following ritual is one I came up with tonight (12 June 2007), after reading Diane Vera’s pages on Theistic Satanic ritual (see A recommended standard ritual format). It follows the form of Islamic prayers, remodelled with Satanic language. I have spent the last few months studying and practicing Islam, but find Islam as-is unsatisfactory for a host of reasons that belong in a separate post. The ritual forms of Islamic worship, however, I find highly appealing. They comprise both worship and meditation. To reformulate those prayers in a Satanic context not only combines what I like of Islam with what I like of Satanism, but also constitutes a deliberate act of blasphemy against the rigid orthodoxy of Islam as a rejection of those rules I see as unappealing and anti-human.

Preparation:
- Altar composed
- Wudu (Islamic ablution)
- Listened to some Bach organ music to set the mood (Toccata and Fugue in D-minor, and Passacaglia and Fugue in C-minor).
- Prayer rug laid out (facing altar in the West, which happens to be directly opposite qibla [i.e., the direction of Mecca])
- Incense and candles lit

Satanic Salat
(Salat is the Islamic unit of prayer. It is copied here, substituting the name Al-Shaitan for Allah. I believe they are essentially interchangeable and say more about the one speaking the name than the one referred to by it. The only other change is that instead of asking for forgiveness for sins, I reject the concept of sin.)

Takbir: الشيطان اكبر
(“Satan is Most Great”)

Invocation to Satan
(Inspired by Diane Vera’s Invocation to Satan and by Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Qur’an.)

بسم الشيطان الرشيد البديع
(“In the Name of Satan, the Great Teacher, the Innovator”)

Praise be to Satan,
King of Hell,
The Master, the Innovator,
Lord of the Earth;

I worship You, and I pray to You:

Guide me to the path of Enlightenment,
The path of those whom You invite to become as gods,
And who do not blindly submit.

الشيطان اكبر

Ruku (bowing): سبحان بي العظيم
(“Glory to my Lord, the Magnificent”) (3 times)

الشيطان اكبر

Standing: سمع لشيطان لمن حمده. ربنا و لك لحمد
(“Satan listens to those who praise Him. My Lord, all [my] praises are for You.”)

الشيطان اكبر

Sujoud (prostrating): سبحان ربي الاعل
(“Glory to my Lord, the Most High”) (3 times)

الشيطان اكبر

Kneeling: “I reject sin. I reject sin.”

الشيطان اكبر

Sujoud (prostrating): سبحان ربي الاعل
(“Glory to my Lord, the Most High”) (3 times)

الشيطان اكبر

[This is the end of the salat.]

Greetings to the Legions of Hell
(As in Diane Vera’s model)

Repeat the Satanic Salat.

I then sat on the prayer rug, facing the altar, and meditated, attempting to focus on the Legions of Hell (Serpent, Iblis, Lucifer, and Belial). I have very clear mental images and conceptions of Lucifer and Belial; the Serpent/Leviathan and Iblis are less clear at this stage. It seemed I could almost feel the four of them around me, and the overarching presence of Satan, and the darkness of the Pit/Underworld. Through my closed eyelids, the flickering of the candles around me invoked the Fires of Hell, which felt peaceful.

When I became distracted, I closed my meditation and the ritual with the formula: الله الشيطان لعليم
(“God [who is] Satan Knows All”)
and الشيطان اكبر

I listened to some slightly more mellow, lighter Bach organ music (G-minor Fugue), then extinguished the candles and turned on the lights, and listened to some Aqua to bring myself back to the mundane (and absurd) world.

—

Some thoughts on the experiment.

I found the use of music very effective, especially such sublime music as J. S. Bach’s elegant organ fugues. It’s a bit cliché, but they seem to evoke a Satanic atmosphere.

The blending of Islamic prayers with Satanic references felt a bit strange, though part of that is the fact that the ritual formulas are easier to say with the word “Allah” than with “al-Shaitan”. I was also at first very conscious of the fact that I was doing things “wrong”, particularly facing away from Mecca. But it didn’t actually feel wrong to me; it’s just that I was aware that I was breaking the rules of Islam. Allah and Satan are, to me, the same entity, just wearing different faces and names when interacting with different types of people.