"The Master in the Mirror: Se Salvatio Viae Sinistrae" by Jimi Grigori

 

    For centuries, the word "salvation" has been wielded as a shackle. In the cathedrals of the Right-Hand Path—be they Christian, Islamic, or the ascetic traditions of the East—salvation is presented as a rescue mission. The narrative is always the same: you are born broken, inherently flawed, or "sinful," and only by bowing to an external architect can you be "saved" from your own nature. To the Satanist, this is not salvation; it is a psychological heist. It is the theft of the individual’s sovereignty in exchange for a comfort blanket made of delusions. Satanic Salvation is the antithesis of this spiritual panhandling. It is not an act of divine intervention, but the deliberate, often cold-blooded (yet well informed) rejection of external authority in favor of absolute spiritual sovereignty. We do not look to the clouds for a savior; we look in the mirror. This is the path of auto-redemption or "Salvatio Per Seipsum Via Sinistra"—the process of becoming whole by one's own hand.

The Myth of the External Savior

    The traditional religions of the world are built upon the "White Light" lie—the idea that the human ego is a barrier to the divine and that our natural instincts are "demons" to be exorcised. They attempt to "kill" the Jungian Shadow and "starve" the ego, creating a fractured psyche that is easy to manipulate (like a good lamb of God). When a man kneels to ask for forgiveness, he is practicing spiritual suicide. He is handing the keys to his life—nay his very mind—to a phantom. The Satanist recognizes that there has never been a god to save him, nor a devil to tempt him. There is only the Self (including that of others) in an indifferent universe. We do not seek to be forgiven because we recognize that we have done nothing wrong by being creatures of nature. We refuse the victim mentality that is the hallmark of the piously weak and frightened. In the Right-Hand Path, if things go well, "God" is praised; if things go poorly, the individual is blamed or told it is a "test." This is a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose scam. Auto-redemption begins when you realize that you are the sole author of your "heaven" and your "hell"... and only YOU can place judgement.

The Mechanics of "Salvatio Per Seipsum" 

and Reclaiming the Shadow

    The core of our "salvation" is the integration of the Shadow. While the "righteous" spend their lives suppressing their lust, their anger, and their pride, the Satanist understands that these are the very engines of vital existence and creativity. To suppress them is to create a pressure cooker of neurosis. The Biological Imperative: we are animals. We are complex, predatory, social, and carnal animals of NATURE. By accepting our biological imperatives rather than repressing them, we "save ourselves" from the internal war that plagues the "holy" man. The man who denies his nature is a house divided against itself. The Satanist is a monolithic entity striving for complete humanimality.

    By bringing our "sin"—our jealousies, our grievances, our desires and our ambitions—to the altar using ritualize symbolic "witchcraft", we strip them of their power to haunt us. A flaw that is owned can be managed, channeled, controlled and utilized. A flaw that is denied and suppressed becomes a "master," lurking in the subconscious and driving the individual toward self-destruction, almost always by compulsion and impulsivity.

Ritual as the Laboratory of the Psyche 

    Satanic ritual is often misunderstood by the uninitiated as a "worship" of a literal entity. In reality, the ritual chamber is a laboratory of the psyche by using artistic expressions in a total controlled environment that is void of morality. It releases the energies, symbolically, to an avatar that represents all the gods that are rejected and thrown into Hell by the Right-Hand Path. It is this mechanism through which we maintain our spiritual sovereignty as well as engage in active imagination in an insipid world that constantly demands the monotony of conformity. 

 "The worship of any deity or

deities—under any guise whatsoever—is repulsive to the Black Magician, who considers all protestations of faith or trust in a supernatural protectorate to be humiliating demonstrations of cowardice and emotional insecurity."

-Michael A Aquino-

Intellectual Decompression

    Society is a grindstone. It demands "mandatory niceness," "political correctness," and the suppression of our true desires. This creates a "layer of soot" on the glass of the Self. Ritual is our pressure valve.

1. Lust: Instead of becoming a sex-obsessed pervert through repression, the Satanist ritualizes their desires, finds healthy outlets, and moves on with a clear head. 
2. Destruction: Instead of harboring resentment that turns into physical ulcers or random outbursts, the Satanists vent their "poison" in the ritual chamber against those who have wronged them. 
3. Compassion: We reserve our love for those who deserve it, rather than diluting it through the "universal love" commanded by those who want to use us. 

    This process allows for intellectual decompression by objectively entering into a subjective state. When we leave the ritual chamber, we do so with "cold precision." We have vented the psychic residue, allowing us to dominate the objective world without being controlled by unspent emotions or arbitrary guilt. We indulge so that we do not become obsessed.

"The “intellectual decompression chamber” of the Satanic temple might be considered a training school for temporary ignorance, as are ALL religious services! The difference is that the Satanist KNOWS he is practicing a form of contrived ignorance in order to expand his will, whereas another religionist doesn’t—or if he does know, he practices that form of self‐deceit which forbids such recognition"

-Anton LaVey-

The Ego: The Shield of Sovereignty

    In many spiritual circles, "Ego" is a four-letter word. They speak of "Ego Death" as the ultimate enlightenment. To a Satanist, "Ego Death" is the ultimate surrender. 

    The Ego is the "skin" of the Self. It is the boundary that separates the "I" from the "They." Without a strong Ego, the individual is merely a "leaf in the wind," tossed about by the opinions, demands, and whims of the collective. 

    Our Shadow serves as the Ego’s most potent protector. It gives us the strength to say "No." It gives us the fire to demand restitution for insults. It ensures that we remain masters of our own dominion. To "save" oneself is to fortify the Ego until it is an impenetrable fortress. 

"There is no heaven of glory bright, and no hell where sinners roast. Here and now is our day of torment! Here and now is our day of joy! Here and now is our opportunity! Choose ye this day, this hour, for no redeemer liveth! Say unto thine own heart, “I am mine own redeemer.”

Book of Satan IV:II-III

Accountability and the End of Victimhood 

    The most terrifying aspect of Satanic Salvation—and the reason so few truly achieve it—is Total Responsibility. 

    When you stop believing in a god who forgives and a devil who tempts, you are left with the cold, hard reality of your own actions. There is no one to blame for your failures, and no one to share the credit for your successes. You and only you pass judgement on your life. YOU are your own redeemer.

    This is the transition from a "victim mentality" to Self-Godhood.

• Answering to Nature: We recognize that the only "higher powers" are the laws of physics and the consequences of our own choices. 
• The Power of Ownership: By owning our lives entirely, we gain the power to change it. If I am the cause of my misery, I am also the solution. This is true Salvatio Per Seipsum (auto-redemption).

The Black Flame of Individuality 

    Ultimately, our spiritual sovereignty is defined by the Black Flame. This is the spark of individual consciousness—the "I Am"—that refuses to be extinguished by the cold winds of conformity. 

    To the world, we may appear "evil" because we refuse to be "good" by the standards of a sick society. But we choose to be effective by the standards of our own will. Satanism holds the autonomous will of the individual as its highest value, equal only to that of self preservation. By integrating the Shadow and protecting the Ego, The Self becomes "whole." We turn our anger into fuel, our pride into a cornerstone for achievement, and our desires into the roadmap of our lives. 

    Satanic Salvation is the realization that you are the highest embodiment of your life. It is the refusal to bow. It is the "Amen" of oneself. Life is not a gift given by a deity or a man of god; it is a prize won through the courage to be exactly who you are, without apology, a self-aware creature of nature.