The Western Gate

Diabolic Gnosticism ~ Mythos and Philosophy
by Christophe Kafyros
Fall Of Man

Fall of Man certainly have a back catalogue that would warrant suspicious eyes from anyone that espies them on your bookshelf. We can’t really say its for the ‘niche market of the “Left Hand Path” or “The Other Side” et al as these have been in vogue, perhaps always has been for many a time, and now, just, perhaps more accessible. It seems each new publication seeks to outdo the previous, each seeking to be the pinnacle of its genre.

Diabolic Gnosticism certainly has the feel about it of being from the emperors dark side, the edition I have (one of 77) gold embossed with the fused symbols of the inverted pentagram, tridents and Swastikas, its yellow cream pages giving it an aged look almost reeking of Saturnine incense. It could be an instant prop in a found book in a cabin where horny kids escape for the weekend to smoke pot, have sex and recall the story of the possessed and demonic who once walked these woods, before those same demonic and possessed come back to slaughter each one of them in various degrees of ingenuity.
At once the verbose threat and drama exuded by the author shouts at us from the opening passages, promising us lust and power, images of vortexes and liberation before drifting, almost as if the author has calmed down, into a study and recall of psychology and philosophy, albeit brief. This is about Satanism but not Satanism as we know it, its about Luciferanism, but not Luiciferanism as we know it… each market then will be righted and this product will be the new ascent, or descent, this is the real deal, the kosher, the oven ready perfection. Am then told this is the revised and updated version…. ? Yes the perfect wasn’t so complete after all, however, surely though, this is the final rebuilding of the perfected temple !
The forwarding note then, honestly and I mean that, is an honest admission that the work is full of hyperbole, bombastic and, harsh trance inducing repetition. Its a fair cop, its a forward few would admit to, so fair play from the author at the outset.

Diabolic Gnosis, means knowledge of the devil, and as the author states, this means to thoroughly believe in and worship the devil.
What is the devil? the antithesis of order and balance? in essence the primordial chaos from which the manifest sprung. All well and good as we can elaborate that as being alike the artist who seeks to formulate their own work, their own style as opposed to the current fashionable and accepted works. Those then, who would dance the tune of possibilities rather than restriction.
As for worshipping a deity, who, itself is the hallmark of that which will not worship, it seems odd. Perhaps that’s the way. To know, as in gnosis, is literally to be ‘as’. Knowledge of God is one thing, Gnosis of God is to be as, or in veiled terms – as of the wisdom of God, or in this case the Devil. Either way inherent in this we are devoid of our own self, and exist as that pure Wisdom, Gnosis. In this respect there is, seemingly and can be no difference between God and the Devil. Except, The God requires the Manna and the worship of all minds separate from it, thus existing as Knowledge and Known, Whereas the Devil, seeks neither to be loved, nor love, in effect, as the Abyss.
There is a list of 13 ‘ideas’ concerning Diabolic Gnosticism, followed by a list of 7 ‘Philosophy of Diabolic Gnosticism, followed by other lists regarding, The Devil, The Black Sun and so on. Lists seem to be the thing, bullet points and slogans. Each of them, and indeed all of them could entail a lengthy discourse, argument, study, and in that respect it is an exercise to study, understand and either object to or allow the rhetoric to continue. If one accepts that under free will and from the point of non-self gnosis/wisdom all that is being offered here apparently is to challenge, well therefore by it’s example, everything written here is to be challenged. J’Accuse.
There are so many points raised in each and every subtext, Chapter and verse that a full review would feel as though I am disagreeing with everything in the book and therefore not recommending it. Some of the best books are those that disturb, prick the mind and values, question everything and if the nature of reading we question it, then it serves the purpose. But who are we serving? And this is not one of those books.
At times the, yes, hyperbole and the bombastic ‘slag’ are apparent, but we’ve been prewarned of that. Then we get some half smirking and ‘eyebrow raising of a sarcastic nature’ when the author writes Verily, I say unto ye,…. and am not really concerned what follows. If emulation is the sincerest form of flattery must an author adopt the hellfire and brimstone rantings of the “Judeo-Christian” faith that the author tells us to condemn and hate, perhaps this style of writing is deliberate sarcasm itself, mimicking and parodying, but there’s no comedy turn that lets us believe so, there is no light hearted prodding and a catchphrase finale to warm us to this skit. Verily.
There is always contradiction in these books, those of the left hand (of course the author would condemn such a label and pigeon hole), we are told to exist without belief, aye, faith ! that obnoxious jam-tomorrow donkey carrot, there is no belief… only Knowledge, well actually, evolving knowledge, well actually deriving from chaos… yes, there is nothing that exists.
Oh, but worship the existent ‘Devil’. What is the Devil but a figment of faith, belief? what is the philosophy of everything but a belief conjecture to us knowing of it until we assimilate it by means of wisdom, which entails non-self. And that is how we read these texts, a myriad of ideas and forms that would coagulate into a sense, but not much makes sense.
At the end of the day despite the threshold that this is all about liberation, the self becoming from unbecoming, , somewhere, surely there will be rites to perform, rituals to study and sigils to remember… of course there will. Semen, blood will be spilled, and barbaric names of pretence will be uttered, candles lit in the darkness… (one wonders what Solomon would have done with the aid of the electric light bulb). It is drama, its regalia, it is Comicon and dungeons and dragons and I make no apologies for saying that for some it will lead to a transgressive and self-illuminating state. A transformation born just as the actor plays the maniac and becomes insane. The mind whipped into submission, relents, and becomes the desire of the host, the host becomes ‘that which it thinks it is’ because the mind no longer objects, ego replaced by illusion.
Yes, wherever and whenever these books are produced we are tubthumped into submission by anarchic calls to arms, the charge of blasphemy reversed to the holders of power, and no sooner has our soul been given the fire of rebellion than there will be, rituals, and sigils and nomenclature, there will be definition and order and if the whole system became so big, a multitude of followers and then, what of the author of this ‘new religion’ !!… Hail! praise be oh…. master…..well we can guess where we’ll be heading. In every system and promise there will always be classwork, in every liberation there is revision and examination and progression and what was promised from the realm of chaos, possibilities and freedom we embark on that conveyour belt of repetition.
It would be better without rituals and the well worn path of intricate sigils but then we are left with the soapbox anger of a soul desperate for attention, a system seeking direction.
I don’t want to recite amateur prose and empty poetry, nor recite pretentious and peacock calls to the shadows. Am I allowed to object in this system, to naysay, to be free to refuse.
At the end of the maelstrom, its a read whilst listening to distant drone music, preferably in the gloomiest weather, preferably in the middle of nowhere, perhaps an old log cabin where once a gnarled sorcerer who studied the book of Diabolical Gnosticism reigned supreme and returns to feed on the adulation of its new disciples. (Yes, I know I’ve already made this analogy, but let’s keep repeating until the image becomes manifest)

Yet pray tell, verily, hast thou,I, marked thee not well? Reading!… remember that? enjoying, yes I enjoyed it, i’ll admit that, but perhaps for the wrong reasons, engaging in a way that makes you wonder why you’re actually bothering. It is a lovely looking book, well for the discerning gothic tastebuds.
Am never put off by the pretence or the ‘power’ of the author or the cult or sect or tribe they’re delivering from, (I’ve been to Millwall’s old ground wearing West Ham, I’m not frightened of much these days), so the talks of Black Sun, Swastika, Runes and all the usual hate combined with talks of pure blood, there is very little to wedge between this ideology and those whom, ironically, they hate who also declare themselves, the master race, the chosen ones, the select few, in fact it is the antithesis of chaos and permutations that the author wants us to embrace, instead we are channelled deeper and yet narrower, select, refined and engineered.
My problem is that I do not have the time to address all the points made in the book, it would warrant a commentary larger than the book itself, and there are many, and each one worthy of depth and introspection born of my own understanding.

No, I refuse to prostrate myself before the Devil, aye, as she taught me well, “lower yourself before no man, and be not in the shadow of shame.”
Though of course, the idea of the devil being some amorphous and yet also distinct entity is both questioned, and thus we are left with an ambiguity we began with but now with a deity deserving of non-worship. But, we are told to worship, but also and more importantly, I refuse.