In this episode of Sacred Tension, I speak with pagan, author, and libertarian anarchist Logan Albright about his book Conform Or Be Cast Out. We discuss the literal demonization of outsiders, how to interact with political and ideological outsiders, and much more. Find his work at loganalbright.com
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Conform Or Be Cast Out with Logan Albright”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, Minister of Satan Shiva Honey returns to discuss death and dying within a Satanic context. We discuss grief in the age of Covid, forgiveness, the deaths of abusers, the role of psychedelics in ritual, and much more. Support Shiva Honey’s project on death and dying here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-devil-s-death#/
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Rituals For Death and Dying with Shiva Honey”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, free speech lawyer Adam Goldstein returns to discuss the culture war over Critical Race Theory. Learn more about Adam Goldstein and FIRE here: https://www.thefire.org/
Continue reading “Sacred Tension: Banning Critical Race Theory is a Bad Idea with Adam Goldstein of FIRE”
I’ve spent the past few months writing a series on reading challenging books, all of which you can find listed at the end of this post. In my fervor to make the point, I’ve come to realize that something essential was under-emphasized in my previous posts.
Continue reading “Everyone Needs a Safe Word”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I speak with Satanic sociologist Zee Kay about the little-known history of the Werewolf Trials and what they tell us about human nature.
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As my platform has grown over the years, I hit “publish” on every article and podcast with mounting terror, because I never know which one will destroy my life for a week, month, or year. I never know which one will be wildly misunderstood or misinterpreted and result in a trashing campaign. Admittedly, I could avoid all subjects of interest and just write long articles about my cats, but that would defeat the purpose of writing. Confronted with that choice, I’d rather give up writing and go raise chickens. So, I try to cover topics that matter to me and to ensure that nothing offensive or vague has slipped into the piece. But the unfortunate fact is that I can never predict how a bad faith person might choose to interpret my work.
Continue reading “The Internet is Anti-human”
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I speak with scholar and author Helen Pluckrose about her book Cynical Theories. We discuss where she believes modern social justice went wrong, whether technology is the primary explanation for online dysfunction, the limiting of LGBT identities, and much more. Find her organization Counterweight here: https://counterweightsupport.com/
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I’ve gotten some interesting criticisms of my recent series of blog posts on the importance of reading challenging and problematic literature. The most common is along these lines: “you can get information that is just as good from non-problematic sources, so why not just do that?”
Continue reading “Books Aren’t Search Engines”
Every so often, my brain decides to take me on a trip to hell. Life is fine and everything is going smoothly when, without warning, a rupture happens deep beneath the surface of my psyche, and I plummet into the abyss. The trigger can be anything: a stressful day at work, or unexpected news, or an overwhelming work load. The collapse is swift and astonishing.
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Everyone’s Satanism is different. For some, Satanism will be a religion of hedonism and reclaiming physical pleasure from the clutches of repressive religion. For others, it will be based in centering outsiders or embracing outsider status. All of these are valid expressions of Satanism, and I share many of them myself.
As I’ve contemplated my Satanic path, I’ve come to realize that my own Satanism is one of mastery. In the myth, Satan rejects the tyranny of God and sets out on a path of self-deification. In my view, the icon of Satan as the eternal rebel, the triumphant iconoclast, and the unbowed will is the ultimate symbol of mastery.
Continue reading “A Satanism of Mastery”
Stephen Bradford Long 