This is an unlocked episode of House of Heretics. My cohost Timothy and I discuss the brutal murder of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police in Memphis, Tennessee.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: The Murder of Tyre Nichols”
Last week’s article The Nontheistic Experience of God provoked some good discussion within my community about meditation, spiritual experiences, and the use of the word “god”.
Continue reading “Religious Language For Nonbelievers”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by journalist Helen Lewis to discuss her new BBC series The New Gurus. We discuss the rise of advice-giving gurus online, whether social justice is a new religion, her confrontational interview with Jordan Peterson, how online cancelation radicalizes people, and much more.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Online Gurus and New Religious Movements | Helen Lewis”
For as long as I’ve been a nontheist and someone who does not believe in the supernatural, I’ve been hesitant to retire the word “God” from my vocabulary.
Continue reading “The Nontheistic Experience of God”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by Minister of Satan and empowered Buddhist teacher Elder Mahakala to talk about his journey through addiction, the power of meditation, and finding a healthy, balanced Satanism.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Addiction, Meditation, and Healthy Satanism | Elder Mahakala”
A central theme of my personal Satanic practice is the reconciliation of opposites. In the symbol of the Baphomet, we see the marriage of binaries: angelic and demonic, male and female, light and dark, up and down. My practice is an integration of seemingly irreconcilable conflicts. I wrote an article a couple of years ago listing several primary dichotomies of my Satanism, which you can read here.
As I’ve grown in my religious Satanism, another Satanic dichotomy has emerged: indulgence vs. self-mastery.
Continue reading “The Satanic Dichotomy of Indulgence Vs. Mastery”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by June Everett to discuss The Satanic Temple’s After School Satan Club.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: After School Satan Club | June Everett”
Last week’s article “Mysticism Is Like Sex” argued that self-transcendent experiences are comparable to sex in that they are both hardwired into the human body. They don’t necessarily need to be attached to religious beliefs to be enjoyed and experienced.
As I explored in the article, my fascination with altered states of consciousness started when I was young. I was raised in a Charismatic Christian family that regularly spoke in tongues, and this revealed to me that interesting states of mind were always just around the corner. This provoked a lot of feedback from my audience on my discord server, and a number of people shared their own experiences with speaking in tongues.
Continue reading “Mysticism, Kink, and the Terror of Transcendence”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, Lucien Greaves joins me to reflect on the upcoming ten-year anniversary of The Satanic Temple. We also discuss the After School Satan Club, standing up to theocracy, the importance of conversation and depolarization, and much more.
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Ten Years of The Satanic Temple | Lucien Greaves”
Mysticism is like sex. Let me explain.
I don’t believe in god or gods. I have no belief in an afterlife or supernatural beings. I’m not saying that they don’t exist. I’m open to being wrong. I just have an absence of belief in them. I’m what could be described as a “soft atheist”.
And yet, I also have a lifelong fascination with altered states of consciousness and the experience and practice of mystical self-transcendence. This fascination started when I was a child growing up in a charismatic family.
Continue reading “Mysticism Is Like Sex”
Stephen Bradford Long 