The Satanic Self grows from an independent philosophical and spiritual worldview. For readers who wish to explore its wider intellectual setting, this collection brings together historical scholarship, ancient texts, and philosophical works connected with themes throughout the site.
These readings offer evidence, context, and ideas for further exploration. Their inclusion reflects those connections; the authors bring their own perspectives and need not share the philosophy of The Satanic Self.
Historical study
Traces the development of Satan in early Jewish and Christian traditions and examines how religious communities portrayed their opponents as agents of evil. Relevant to the site’s exploration of demonization, religious authority, and the changing meaning of the adversary.
Historical study · Oxford University Press
Explores the use of Satan and Lucifer as symbols of resistance to religious and patriarchal authority. Offers historical context for reclaiming a condemned figure as an image of liberation, independence, and self-determination.
Historical study · Yale University Press
Examines pagan survival, Christian persecution, conversion, and the absorption of older practices into Christian life. Provides substantial historical material for exploring the suppression and persistence of pagan religious traditions.
Historical study · Cambridge University Press
Investigates how magic, Hermetic philosophy, and other esoteric currents became excluded from accepted accounts of Western knowledge. Connects with the site’s interest in recovering traditions dismissed by religious and intellectual authorities.
Ancient texts with scholarly introduction and commentary · Cambridge University Press
A scholarly translation of central Hermetic writings on divine Mind, the cosmos, and humanity’s spiritual nature. A rich companion to the site’s reflections on self-knowledge, awakening, and participation in divine reality.
Read an older English translation online: Poimandres, translated by G. R. S. Mead.
Ancient philosophical text · Cambridge University Press
Explores the One, Intellect, Soul, and the relationship between unity and multiplicity. Provides philosophical material for thinking about the source of existence and the inward movement of self-knowledge.
Historical and theological study · Cambridge University Press
Examines divine embodiment and the possibility of a deity’s presence in multiple bodies in ancient Near Eastern and biblical traditions. Relevant to questions of divine manifestation, fluid selfhood, and the relationship between the sacred and the material world.
Philosophical work · Broadview Press edition
Questions the origins and authority of moral values, examining guilt, resentment, conscience, and ascetic ideals. A philosophical companion to the site’s arguments about inherited morality, self-affirmation, and the forces that shape our judgments.
Historical study
Explores how early interpretations of Genesis shaped ideas about sexuality, freedom, and human nature. Offers historical context for the site’s discussions of desire, original sin, and the religious meaning assigned to the body.