An introduction to Samaelism

Abstract

Our blog is born as a divulgative tool useful not only for our members, but even for all those people who are interested in understanding Samaelism at its full potential.

Therein, you will be able to find in-depths analysis of theoretical subjects such as theology, philosophy, metaphysics, and another topic that are relevant to fully understand our system of thought and believes.

What is Samaelism?

As you can read in the suited section of our website, our Order has been founded as an initiatic Institution, whose believes are quite different from all the other LHP or RHP religions or philosophies. It is our opinion, in fact, that the classical distinction between this two systems of thinking at the metaphysical is not only useless, but even detrimental for the spiritual development of a being. That's why we have developed our system of believes in a way that can point at an holistic view of the religious phenomenon and not only as a nomic or antinomic system. Therefore, even though we still have a strong esoteric and initiatic component in our practice, we do not think that the antinomic practice typical of the LHP philosophies and practices alone can be useful to obtain an holistic spiritual development.

It is to be said, however, that we do not completely share the RHP attitude neither, in subjects like discrimination, psychological or physical humiliation of the devotees, theoretical or practical segregation of certain human groups (women, ethnicities and so on).

In addition to this, we also start our speculation from the evidence that the Universe is made up of contraries and polarities, without which the perfect balance that allows life, as we experience it, wouldn't even be possible.

This is not, for sure, something that we invented or have introduced in the philosophical debate. The Ancient philosophers, such as Heraclitus [1] or Empedocles, looked at the conflicting polarities as the fundamental elements from which everything can come into existence.

For these reasons, our approach can be categorized as "gray". We do not share the antinomic behavior of rebellion, liberation of the self and exaggeration of sexual and personal attitudes, often reflected in a grotesque and gothic aesthetic, but at the same time we do not share, with the monotheistic traditions, the attitude to believe that God is theoretically linked to the idea of Summum Bonum or, worse, to the ideas of destiny, sacrifice, renounces, annihilation of the self.

In order to understand Samaelism, it is essential to understand the philosophy of the contraries. Indeed, the German philosopher F. Nietzsche wonderfully described this idea [2] with its speculation on the Apollonian and the Dyonisian.

Before him, the already mentioned Greek philosophers Heraclitus and Empedocles, talked about contraries in a marvelous and mind-opening way.

The Philosophy of the Contraries

As said above, Samaelism has imported in its system of believes, the greek idea that the universe is characterized by the presence of contraries. Specifically, placing ourselves within Heraclitus' philosophy, we can see that change has a nature of inevitability: «potamoisi toisi autoisi embainousin» [3] which can be translated as: «You cannot step twice into the same rivers; for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.». The fragment is a marvelous example of Heraclitus' thick and mysterious style. Specifically, we can see that the meaning of the fragment changes, depending on which locution we connect the expression «toisi autoisi». If we connect it with the emabainousin, which is the dative plural participle of the verb embaino, the translation could be: «for the same people who step within rivers, different waters are flowing.» But if, on the contrary, we connect the aforementioned expression with the word potamoisi (the rivers), the meaning is that: «for those who step in the same rivers, different waters are flowing.» This second possibility is, maybe, more interesting that the first one.

In fact, it expresses the idea that the rivers are rivers because of the fact that their waters are flowing.

It is change, therefore, that constitutes the ontological essence of things. [4]

This idea was, once again, developed within another fragment of the same author that introduces Polemos as the element responsible for the change itself.

«War is the father of all and the king of all; and some he has made gods and some men, some bond and some free.» [5] or again: «We must know that war is common to all and strife is justice, and that all things come into being and pass away (?) through strife.» [6]

As we can see from this fragments, apart from the mysterious language which has been already highlighted above, Polemos must be considered as that element, within creation, that allows the flowing of things, the eternal and inevitable change that characterized everything that exist. In the Heraclitean thought, Polemos is also common to gods themselves, as underlined in the following locution: « [...] some he as made gods and some men.». There is nothing within the whole universe that, in Heraclitus' opinion, is released by the action of Polemos.

But if Polemos acts on what is contrary, which are these contraries?

Heraclitus does not answer in a univocal sense to this question. Therefore, if we want to understand more on this topic, we should approach another greek author that has contributed to the development of our system of believes: Empedocles.

Within his speculation, Empedocles identified the existence of two principles that were responsible for the aggregation and disintegration of all things [n.a. Empedocles talked about the ryzhomata]: Neikos and Philia. [7]

Neikos was, in this vision, the principle of disintegration, the universal motion with a centrifuge action, while Philia was responsible for all the attraction and therefore acted with a centripetal force. The actions of these two principles, which can be of course described as opposed but yet complementary, were based on the idea of balance. Balance, within the Empedocle's Universe, is the key to understand the action of Neikos and Philia. Without balance, and therefore if the action of one of these contraries would prevail on the action of the other one, we would have a universe rather corresponding to one single point [n.a. The Sphere] rather so disintegrated that would correspond to the Nothingness.

In our opinion, these two speculations can perfectly fit with one another: in Samaelism, in fact, Polemos is the force of eternal change, which is obtained, likewise, by the balance among the force of Neikos and the force of Philia. [8]

The Samaelite thought

Now that we have all the elements to understand the samaelite thought upon this topic, we must deepen our analysis a little bit more.

Samaelism, which want to be a rational and highly philosophical religion, must, for the reasons explained above, embrace the totality of Creation and not only the nomos or the anti-nomos. In short, we cannot consider only the aggregative part or only the disintegrated part of our existence and in the same way, we do not find logical enough the LHP theories that tend to overturn the figure of the monotheistic God YHWH with the hypothetical figure of the antinomic God represented by the reversed tetragrammaton HWHY [this topic will be deepened in a following article].

Our perception is that it is not possible to consider the plurality of divine elements, without consider them as part of an ontological scale in which one is superior to the others. Therefore, the idea itself of an anti-nomic philosophy that, by its own definition, recognizes a nomos to which one must oppose with their spiritual practice is simply nonsense. The only case in which is perfectly logical to assume an antinomic behavior is when one does not consider Satan or any other antinomic deity as the primordial and principle entity of a certain pantheon. Antinomy is only possible if there is a nomos to which we must oppose. [9]

Paradoxically, among all the satanic currents the ones that are nearer to this idea of antinomy, opposition, fight, struggle and true darkness are the ones that are logically admissible and coherent with their system of believes. Even though we do not share with them their vocation to darkness and opposition to the monotheisms, we must admit that those are the types of LHP philosophies that can easily have a logical and deep conversation with us.

All the others sweetened versions of LHP philosophies, where Satan is seen as a loving and caring father of all things, always ready to help and to guide are nothing more that degradations and abjections of any logic and rationality behind the LHP itself [10].

As said above, Samaelism is in the middle of these perception, since it does not completely share neither the LHP view neither the RHP religious thought. We think that any useful tool, whether rational or spiritual, in order to obtain a better understanding of God and of mankind must be used without any dogma or restriction, as long as it is logically liked to the system of believes of a certain religion.

That's why Samaelism is a practice that has within itself both prayer and contemplation, liturgy and meditation: all the spiritual practices together can produce a better and holistic development of the human essence.

What is the purpose of Samaelism?

Samaelism is not a religion that promises redemption or salvation. Samaelism is a rational religion, which may appear as an oxymoron, but is not at all. We do not believe that by practicing Samaelism we will obtain any kind of salvation or the access to an hypothetical after-life. Samaelism is a practice that is useful within the hic et nunc. Being a samaelite means to train yourself to two different level: the spiritual one and the rational one. Samaelism understand that it is perfectly impossible for rationality o understand God [11] and therefore uses this tool only in the academic life or speculation. But during the personal relationship with God, one must practice the silentium. The so called apophatic method [12] allows the samaelites to focus their relationship with God not on the assumptions that one can make about Him, bur on the contrary on the perceptions that a serious and deep spiritual practice implies. The purpose of Samaelism is therefore to be useful not to God, but to mankind. It is an invitation to rationality but, yet, also to silence and contemplation.

Here you will not find any promise of paradise neither any condemn to hell, here you will find the man: a man that is a contradiction, that is complicated, that is made of opposition and fights but that is also able to create art, technology, theology and philosophy.

Long story short, Samaelism is a religion of men.

Footnotes:

[1]cfr. M. Bonazzi, History of Ancient Philosophy vol. 1, Carocci, Roma 2016, pp.105sgg.

[2]cfr. F. Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (1872), any edition

[3]cfr. M. Bonazzi, History of Ancient Philosophy vol. 1, Carocci, Roma 2016, pp. 109-110

[4] ibid. p. 111

[5] ibid. p. 111

[7] M. Bonazzi, R. L. Cardullo, G. Casertano, E. Spinelli, F. Trabattoni, Ancient Philosophy, Cortina Edizioni, Milano 2005, p. 42

[8] ibid. p.43

[9] cfr. Ordo Adamantis Atri, Exalogy of the Serpent vol. I, Amazon 2020

[10] cfr. Ordo Adamantis Atri, Exalogy of the Serpent vol. II, Amazon 2021

[11] cfr. Ordo Adamantis Atri, Treatise of samaelite doctrine, Amazon 2022, pp. 227sgg.