Author: Stephen Bradford Long

Stephen Bradford Long is a writer, yoga teacher, and Satanist living and working in North Carolina. His work focuses on religion, sexuality, culture, and other subjects that strike his fancy.

Sunday Curiosities: The Exorcist Effect, a Satanic Cross, and the Disturbing Movie Iceberg

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

Sunday Curiosities is the weekly series in which I share interesting, controversial, or thought provoking things that caught my attention from around the web. Do you have any suggested content for this series? Do you have any creative work you’d like me to check out? Please email me.

Twitter Destroyed a Young Trans Writer

A young trans writer named Isabel Fall wrote a brilliant short story titled “I Sexually Identify as An Attack Helicopter.” The internet responded badly. Emily VanDerWerff of Vox explored the story. Special thanks to reader Azura for the submission.

Continue reading “Sunday Curiosities: The Exorcist Effect, a Satanic Cross, and the Disturbing Movie Iceberg” →

Jordan Peterson on The Utility of Horror

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 2 Comments

I’ve spent a good portion of my online career bashing Jordan Peterson. I’ve often found him clownish and, at times, downright dangerous.

His new book Beyond Order, however, surprised me. The Peterson that emerged from its pages was a far more complicated and interesting figure than I had previously given him credit for. He lives with brutal addiction and depression, and yet doles out advice on how to lead a good life. He’s weird, eccentric, verbose, and surprisingly progressive and conservative at different turns. I found parts of his book genuinely helpful, and other parts frustrating and overly esoteric. None of this is to say that I’m a fan or that I agree with him on everything. It’s simply to say that I found his most recent book worth engaging.

Continue reading “Jordan Peterson on The Utility of Horror” →

Sacred Tension: Getting Sober with Satan feat. Ministers Joe Dee and Jon Eldritch

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I speak with Ministers of Satan Joe Dee and Jon Eldritch about the new Satanic Temple campaign Sober Faction. We discuss recovery culture, theistic and nontheistic recovery programs, the 7 rituals of Sober Faction, and more. 

Find Sober Faction here.

Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Getting Sober with Satan feat. Ministers Joe Dee and Jon Eldritch” →

There is Only Consciousness: On Minority Experience and Universal Humanity

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 2 Comments

Several months ago, I had a meditation experience the likes of which I’d never had before. The instructor advised me to take note of the feeling of being a subject looking at an object. He then said, “look for the one who is looking. Turn awareness upon itself, and look for the subject who is perceiving the object.”

Continue reading “There is Only Consciousness: On Minority Experience and Universal Humanity” →

Sunday Curiosities: The Obscenity of Twitter Activism and the Catastrophe of Losing the Classics

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 2 Comments

Sunday Curiosities is the weekly series in which I share interesting, controversial, or thought provoking things that caught my attention from around the web. Do you have any suggested content for this series? Do you have a blog you’d like me to check out? Please email me.

It is Obscene

Renowned Ethiopian feminist author Chimamanda Adichie unleashed her fury on twitter activism in an essay titled “It is Obscene”:

Continue reading “Sunday Curiosities: The Obscenity of Twitter Activism and the Catastrophe of Losing the Classics” →

Sacred Tension: Music, Ritual, and Liberation From Superstition with Lucien Greaves

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I speak once again with Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson of The Satanic Temple. We discuss his new album Satanic Planet, creativity during COVID, Lil Nas X, writing music for Satanic ritual, and more. 

Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Music, Ritual, and Liberation From Superstition with Lucien Greaves” →

Guest Post: Daily Tenet-Tarot Ritual

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

René Grigori is one of many volunteer leaders who helped form the Southern California Congregation of The Satanic Temple(TST) in 2019. At the beginning of 2020 René became the congregation’s Media Liaison and began hosting a weekly Friday Night TST Hangout. In May 2021 René was ordained a Minister of The Satanic Temple. 

Interested in writing a guest post for the blog? Please contact me.

This ritual was inspired by the Temple Service sermon on Internal and External Satanism by Stephen Bradford Long and the ensuing discussion. Meditation/contemplation were provided as examples of internal expressions of Satanism while embodying/living the tenets were provided as examples of external expressions. The resulting ritual is a fusion of the internal and external where contemplation of the various situations that arise in the Tarot deepens our understanding of the Tenets and helps us better apply the Tenets to the various situations in our daily lives.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Daily Tenet-Tarot Ritual” →

Sacred Tension: UFO Disclosure with Mick West

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

In this episode, I speak with the gentleman skeptic Mick West about UFO disclosure. We discuss the press coverage of UFOs, the weird inner workings of the Pentagon uUFO program, and whether there is good evidence to support the claim that we are in the presence of mysterious, unearthly technology.

Mick West is a video game programmer turned skeptic and debunker. He is a podcaster, youtuber, the author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole, and the founder of metabunk.org

Continue reading “Sacred Tension: UFO Disclosure with Mick West” →

Sacred Tension: Intersectional Demonology with S. Jonathon O’Donnell

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ 1 Comment

In this episode I speak with religious scholar and intersectional demonologist S. Jonathon O’Donnell. We discuss their new book Passing Orders: Demonology and Sovereignty in American Spiritual Warfare, which is an examination of how American Evangelical beliefs about spiritual warfare intersect with transphobia, racism, and homophobia. Buy the book here.

Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Intersectional Demonology with S. Jonathon O’Donnell” →

In Defense of Reading Controversial Books

~ Stephen Bradford Long ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been making noise on social media lately about how I deliberately read problematic books. By problematic, I mean that they are deemed, justly or unjustly, toxic or bad by people I usually agree with. I’ve noticed some palpable discomfort when I bring up the topic, so I thought I would take some time to explore why I think reading problematic literature is helpful. 

Continue reading “In Defense of Reading Controversial Books” →