Book list:

Nature and the Human Soul by Bill Plotkin. The author discusses this same theme of The Great Turning. Argues that people in modern western society are pathologically orientated towards adolescent things, and among our main problems is that few of us mature fully, and few of us can ever be considered elders who guide each other towards a wise way of life. He also argues that we historically have developed equally in both nature and culture, but modern people spend their lives solely in culture, and lack understanding of the natural world.

Future Primal by Louis Herman. The author lays out a big picture view of human history and how the solutions for the future we face can be found in the past among primitive cultures. He links his own personal struggles to the planetary struggles we face, and shows that it is true that the personal and planetary are linked.

The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein. Lays out huamn history, and "how the illusion of a seperate self has led to our modern crisises".

Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. Looks at how primitive economies differed from our own, and how we can come to a different understanding of economics and wealth in our own society.

The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein. Lays out a vision for what the world could be and how we could organize ourselves in a wiser way.

Limited Wants, Unlimited Means an analysis of the economics of hunter-gatherer societies by an actual Economist. Very in depth look at the different foundational beliefs and practices. This is the most scientific and in depth book I've ever come across on this subject.

Eaarth by Bill McKibben. Goes into great detail on the the stark reality of the effects that climate change have already had and will likely have over the next decades and century. Finsihes by making reccommendations for how to make a life on a rough new planet.

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. A look at the deep history of our species. This book presents an understanding about what humans are and where we've come from that I think is hard to get anywhere else, really great work.

Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken. Very similar to the theme of my above post, the author explains how this new movement is much larger than you might think, and could soon become one of the largest cultural movements in all of human history.

Active Hope by Joanna Macy. On "how to deal with the mess we are in without going crazy".

Greening of the Self by Joanna Macy. An exploration into the idea that we are interdependent with the ecology around us.

Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken and others. A look at how we can start a green industrial revolution.

The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones. Lays out the idea that one solution- work on constructing a sustainable infrastructure- can fix our two biggest problems: the ecological crisis, and the rampant poverty and inequality in our society.

Spiritual Ecology: the cry of the Earth by Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, and others. Outlines a spiritual perspective of what is happening to the world, and how we can remedy it, rooted in Buddhist thought.

Changes in the Land by William Cronon. A look at how the ecology of New England has been altered since Europeans first set foot there.

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. This is one of the classics of nature writing by a great naturalist. I include it here because I think it fits, and shows how much of this in not new thinking. Leopold talks about his experiences in nature and from living off the land, and lays out his own 'land ethic' for how best to coexist in nature.

The Evolving Self: a psychology for the third millennium by Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi. Explains the authors view of psychology and how to find meaning in the modern world. Talks about playing an active role in the evolutionary processes of life, and linking that up with your own personal evolution.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimerer. Brings together scientific understanding, indigenous wisdom, and respect for nature and for plants, in a very poetic book.

The Future of Life by E. O. Wilson. Wilson is one of the greatest biologists of our time, and gave us many of the foundational concepts that we use today, such as popularizing the idea of "biodiversity" and the desire to preserve it. Here he talks about the future of life and the challenges we face in preserving the Earths biodiversity.

Half Earth by E.O. Wilson. Here Wilson lays out his strategy for saving the biodiversity of the Earth and preserving it through the hard times it will face in the future, by devoting fully half of the surface of the Earth to wildlife habitats. This book just came out so you might not be able to order a copy yet.

If you know of any other books or media in this sort of genre feel free to post it.

> If I weren’t out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity—because you can hardly mention anything I’m not curious about. -Malcolm X


Most Helpful For Me:

-The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Fiction)


Uplifting Inspiration:

-Life Lines: Holding On (and Letting Go) (Beacon Press)

-The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine ($0.99 ebook)

-The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth ($0.99 ebook; Beacon Press)

-A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power by former Pres. Jimmy Carter

-How Should We Live?: Great Ideas from the Past for Everyday Life

-The Art of InterGroup Peace (Free PDF ebook.)

-Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America (Speaks of the pitfalls of college affirmative action, yet, the lessons apply beyond that as well; Beacon Press.)


Philanthropy/Social Enterprises:

-The Moral Measure of the Economy

-To Uphold the World: A Call for a New Global Ethic from Ancient India (Buddhist-inspired governing/economics; Beacon Press)

-A Force for Good: The Dalai Lama's Vision for Our World

-Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference

-The Power of Partnership: Seven Relationships that Will Change Your Life

-Toxic Charity: How the Church Hurts Those They Help and How to Reverse It

-Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results by the author of Toxic Charity

-Inspired Philanthropy: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan and Leaving a Legacy


Self-Care:

-Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others

-This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live

-Everyday Spiritual Practice: Simple Pathways for Enriching Your Life (Skinner House Books)


Children:

-Critical Lessons: What our Schools Should Teach

-Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs

-Three Key Years: Talk - Read - Play - Sing To Support & Help Every Child in America (Free PDF ebook.)


Nature/Wildlife:

-The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for The Animals We Love by Jane Goodall & Marc Bekoff

-The Souls of Animals by UU Rev. Gary Kowalski

-Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature

God will call us to different churches for various reasons. I would pray though and ask God for wisdom as to if He wills for you to deal with the "rules" that have been added to scripture at this church or find another one.

Sometimes the legalistic rules that are added are not so obvious though at first. My husband and I recently left a church where many would think it was more free and less legalistic than yours. People came wearing basically anything they wanted. Tattoos were more common than not, as even most of the leaders had them. And as for secular music, my husband and I felt like the odd ones out because we have strong convictions about what we listen to and watch even. But there were other "rules." They wanted everyone in the church to be plugged into a small group. This was for discipleship and for the church members to grow in the faith. Sounds great right? The problem that we encountered was that for some with jobs that ended later, the start times were too early to make it on time. Plus, we had a situation where we felt led of the Spirit to go to what they called an "unsanctioned" small group as it was not following the church's plan of how it was being run (top down kind of leadership and accountability structure etc. . . ) But young people were coming, getting saved, being healed. It was amazing! So we went, but it caused us to appear as "rebels."

Then we couldn't sign up for any ministries that the church had (worship team, mentoring, or being any leadership positions, even though my husband and I have done ministry for decades) because we couldn't check the little box that said we were in one of the church's sanctioned small groups. Sigh. This is just one of the situations that felt like there were so many hoops to jump through. Even after we finally were in an "official" and approved group later on, I was kept from being on the worship team due to some unknown reason (I was told I was still rebellious and had "character issues.") I cried over this rejection. I still lament it, as I am posting about it even now, but we eventually had to leave the church because they were not at all free! I couldn't even sing the worship song called "Who you say I am" without crying in that church as the song says, "Who the Son sets free, is free indeed. I'm a child of God, Yes I am... You are for me not against me." I cried out to Jesus and told him that I didn't feel free at all in the church and the leaders were not for me. They were against me (and my husband too.) Within a couple of months, however, we were miraculously led to a different church. I am now the worship pastor, and singing more than I ever have and my husband is the new associate pastor! So God has a way of setting the captives free for sure. But Spiritual abuse can happen anywhere.

I highly recommend a book called "Broken Trust" by F. Remy Diederich (only $2.99 on Kindle- https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Trust-practical-spiritual-Overcoming/dp/1976390850/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=Broken+Trust+F.+Remy&qid=1554863256&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull )

F. Remy Diederich also recommended another free online book the other day that I have loved (not quite finished yet but it is really good and helpful for discerning what makes for a controlling and abusive type church environment. Here is the link: https://faithafterdeception.wordpress.com/2018/07/28/choose-freedom-choose-happiness-introduction/

I'm going to give you 5 steps, but you should read the following book. This will answer a lot of your questions.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B0FSAW4/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Also check out the following YouTube channels.

Masonic Roundtable: https://www.youtube.com/user/MasonicRoundtable

What is a Mason: https://www.youtube.com/user/OneFreemason


>1. Find a legit local lodge. Go to the following link, and find a grand lodge in your state or country. The GL will have the locations of all recognized lodges in the area.

Know some lodges could be fake, and this is why this is step 1. By going through the UGLE or their recognized lodges, you pretty much know it's a mainstream lodge. Note there is a slight difference between Prince Hall and Freemason.

http://www.ugle.org.uk/about/foreign-grand-lodges


>2 . Contact your local lodge, and let them know you are thinking about joining them.

NOTE: each lodge may do things slightly differently, and there could be a different atmosphere about them. So before you get a petition, you may want to "shop around". Basically you could ask to visit the lodge, see what events are going on, or whatever. That away you can get a feel of the people.


When you do visit, please feel free to ask them your questions. There is no point in wasting your time if it isn't for you, but by asking questions they will know you aren't wasting their time.

>3 . Get your petition and fill it out. Note there is an initiation fee, and membership does cost. The amount differs depending on the area, but normally it's kinda low.

Note most places will require you to know a mason for a set amount of time (6 months or so). This is again why it's important for you to start asking about events and getting to know some masons.

Note depending on the area will depend if there will be a background check. We just want to make sure you aren't a nut job, or someone going to drag our name in the mud.

>4 . If things go well, you will get an interview. This interview is kinda like a relaxed job interview. It is a chance for you to ask questions, and what not. But you should be very up front about any criminal background.

>5 . You will be OK or rejected. If you are OK then you will be giving a time to show up and what not. You may want to ask what type of clothes to wear. Some lodges dress up in casual business, and others dress up in tuxedos.

Someone may forget to tell you this, so I will tell you this right now. You will be changing into some clothes (nothing revealing or anything). So make sure you wear some clean underwear (the outfit is meant to allow you to jump in and out of it. Depending on the lodge is depending on how exactly it looks. But I ran into a problem where no one told me, and I spent most of the night holding up my pants when I was going through my first degree.)


(I heard of some older members in some places will reject you, and require you to apply 3 times. I think this mentality is going away, but I wanted to note that so you know there might still be a chance if you get rejected.)


__

Things to note. Getting in the door can be a long process. It normally takes 3 months to just bring you in the door after you give them back your petition. But in some cases, it could take longer or shorter.



There is only 3 degrees, and most lodges won't allow you to sit in a regular meeting until you hit the 3rd degree. Each degree builds on the last, and it's meant to be more like a play. You won't be told what happens within it before hand, because each person gets something differently from the degrees.


Depending on the lodge and area, you will most likely need to return a catechism (basically a repeat of what exactly happens). If so, you should be given a coach to help you learn it. For the most part, everyone cares more if you know the meaning behind what you're saying. If possible, try to meet daily to semi daily. This massively speeds up the process.

Your first is most likely going to be the hardest simply because it's new. Expect it to take anywhere from a month to several months (2 or 3). I've personally seen it where some have taken over 6 months for a single degree.


If you are below a 3rd degree, it's highly recommended that you bring someone from your home lodge with you if you visit another (I recommend doing that in general to see how things are done. I also recommend you to pick yourself up a mason passport (it isn't a real passport. It's just something that keeps track of what lodges you been to and when.))

Lastly, note a first degree can only sit in a first degree meeting, 2 can sit in 1 and 2, 3rd can sit in all of them. Even if you have to visit another lodge to do this, you may want to watch someone else going through the degrees to see what you been through. If you have to return a catechism, then this should help you out a bit.

My recommendation is that you read and try to understand what the Baha'i Faith is and actually teaches. Just because you disagree does not make them hypocrits. Perhaps they see and understand aspects of the Bible you are missing due to the dogmas long taught but not necessarily consistent with the teachings of the earliest Christian community. Not all Baha'is are perfect but Baha'is are often quite well versed in other religions and have sound theological and factual bases for their beliefs.

First, there are some tremendous miracle stories in the Baha'i Faith. The Bab's execution was witnessed by perhaps 10,000 persons in Tabriz in 1850 and accompanied with multiple "miracles". But those are proofs only to those that witnessed them and the Baha'i Faith teaches that miracles are not reliable evidence or proofs. Turn the story on its head, what proof do you have really that Christ was resurrected after three days? The Gospels were not written until decades after the event. The number of witnesses was extremely small.

Second, most Baha'is revere the Bible but we recognize that certain passages are more likely authentic and others are of questionable authenticity or accuracy.

You might be surprised to learn that some of the early Western Baha'is were Christian ministers, like George Townshend. There are Baha'is currently that teach the Bible in religious studies courses in Universities. The Baha'i Faith also has an extensive literature on the Bible, including the prophesies fulfilled by Baha'u'llah (See, for example, Thief in the Night by William Sears at https://bahai-library.com/pdf/s/sears_thief_night.pdf is an old classic; more recent books include: https://www.amazon.com/He-Cometh-Clouds-Gary-Matthews/dp/0853984085; https://www.amazon.com/Shall-Come-Again-Bible-Prophecies-ebook/dp/B01BYT5QOK ; and https://www.amazon.ca/Lord-Lords-Hushidar-Motlagh/dp/0937661171 ). Many Baha'is, like me, in North America became Baha'is precisely due to the ability of the Baha'i Writings and Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha to address our Christian beliefs. [I will add as replies some summaries of the passages and evidence for Baha'u'llah. ]

Some Answered Questions by 'Abdu'l-Baha (which is free online for download at https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions/ ) has some excellent discussion chapters on some important Christian and Bible topics.

I became a Baha'i because it confirmed my Christian beliefs and i could rationally understand the Baha'i Faith. I had a near-death experience at age 12 (1973) when I was told Christ had returned, His religion would be in the Holy Land, and I would find this religion later in my life. I remained a devout Christian for six years but searched for this new religion until I randomly came upon a book called Baha'u'llah and the New Era around age 18 (1979). I studied extensively day and night for three months before becoming a Baha'i.

Exactly so. You have hit it on the head, all the way around.

Just as when you're super-absorbed in a video game, you "lose consciousness" a bit of your true surroundings and greater life (the room, sofa, family, friends, nature, etc), so is our mind/soul (not sure about where the exact distinction lies) so preoccupied with the business of "living" that it's not focusing on its greater whereabouts. When the game is up, it reawakens to its surroundings in the fantastic and far, far greater spiritual realm. And the degree to which the soul thrived and grew in spirituality, kindness, courage, etc while living determines how well-formed a soul it is now, after bodily death.

On this point, 'Abdu'l-Baha also explained the state of the soul as being much like a baby in the womb: being formed for a greater life. The degree of the perfections, nourishment, and development that the infant receives while in the womb greatly determines its future abilities in the larger world, once it is born. So it is with our souls: our experience here and our actions are forming and nourishing it, or harming and failing to nourish it.

If this is true reality, you can see that it's quite an urgent matter that people learn to live well and with goodness. God's Manifestations sending us the teachings of religion are an intervention to ensure not only our individual and collective happiness here, but most importantly to help the souls develop well, and to stem a tide of deformed and undeveloped souls on the "other side". Ain't no light business. And so that's why Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, the Bab, Baha'u'llah, et al agreed to live lives of suffering or martyrdom while patiently trying to educate humanity and bring them this good guidance. It was a great Hero's Mission. :)

Here are more links to Baha'i texts on the nature of the soul. Everything I've linked you to are bits from the authentic sacred Writings, so they're "core/original text", not an individual's explanation. There are really neat books that look deeper at the nature and journey of the soul via compilation of Source Text: of the ones currently in print I like The Journey of the Soul: Life, Death, and Immortality, here in its older edition and here in its re-release.

comment content: Ditto for the Hidden Words. One of the best books to get a brief, yet potent idea of the profound spiritual truths that underlie not only the Bahá'í Faith, but all of the divine religions. Gleanings is the next level up IMO; it's a collection of longer passages that dive much deeper into Bahá'u'lláh's Writings. As well, I find 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Paris Talks give a good introduction to a variety of key Bahá'í principles.

Regarding introductory books about the Bahá'í Faith, as opposed to Scripture: A few commonly recommended books are A Short History of the Bahá'í Faith by Peter Smith, A Short Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith by Moojan Momen, and The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion by Douglas Martin and William Hatcher. Smith also published a newer, updated book, An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith.

subreddit: bahai

submission title: Recommended book in Amazon?

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A man I looked up to was a Satanist.

A decade later, I was thinking about how in Christian mythology Lucifer was essentially Prometheus, and in the same way that fire literally and figuratively enlightened Mankind, Old Nick gave us the gift of knowledge.

I did some cursory research about Lucifer, and the guy seemed right up my alley. I'd always enjoyed his portrayal in various forms of fiction(my absolute favorite being Job: A Comedy of Justice; if you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it. Let me know what you think!), so I picked up a copy of The Satanic Bible. I read it, and re-read it, then picked up a few more books.

The absolute best Satanic book, by the way, is Peter H. Gilmore's The Satanic Scriptures.

I love that Satanism actually is for everyone, except perhaps the most ascetic, devout monks! Do you care about your worldly existence more than some nebulous post-life existence? Well then. Hail Satan!

The most common way that I "use" it is... well, you know how in old cartoons, characters would get a little devil on one shoulder telling them to do something naughty, and a little angel on the other shoulder telling them to be righteous? Well, I just have that little devil on one shoulder telling me how best to be the person I want to be. Turns out I don't need an angel.

My number one piece of advice, though, is very easy to remember:

You have to have a sense of humor to be a Satanist.

No excuses, no exceptions.

EDIT

/u/k0np as promised

History

[Compasses and the Cross](Compasses and the Cross https://www.amazon.com/dp/0853182981/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zD2XBbRYDSW6A)

For the money this is the best introductory text on the actual and legendary history of Masonic Templary from it's origins France through its manifestations in the chivalric degrees of the 18th century, the Strict Observance, the Rectified Rite, Royal Order of Scotland, St. James Place, and the various iterations in America before and including the GEKT.

Freemasonry and Templarism

Pierre Moillere's essay is a near perfect exploration of the Masonic Templary and a wonderful companion to Dafoe's book above.

Ritual

Grand Encampment Rituals
Good or bad, master one's on work - then move on to advanced topics.

Reprints of the Old Rituals

Includes the oldest forms of Webb Work and the Higgins KT Rituals as well as old French Workings.

Chivalry

What is Manly Honor

Brother Brett McKay's 7 part treatise on honor in the America.

Hermeticism v. Illuminism

There is nothing wrong with Hermeticism. I invite you to consider that KT better aligns with illuminism, vis-a-vis warrior monks, versus warrior magicians.

To put it crudely - D&D - KT are paladins (dual classed fighter-clerics) not war mages (dual classes fighter-wizards).

The spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola

The historical and spiritual foundation of the the modern tradition of Christian Illuminism.

[Meditations on the Tarot](Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism https://www.amazon.com/dp/1585421618/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8c3XBbQWQ3NC3)

If I had to pick between this book and the Bible, I'd pick this book.

Activities

Historical European Martial Arts. Someone near by, even the SCA, most have some demos or classes

Heraldry. Our MW Brother, the Lord Lyon, has a wonderful presentation on the topic. Talk to /u/cookslc

Christian Mysticism. Odd as it may sound, there are ecumenical Orders of Monasticism who may be willing to talk about incorporating spiritual exercises in the life of laymen.

Ditto for the Hidden Words. One of the best books to get a brief, yet potent idea of the profound spiritual truths that underlie not only the Bahá'í Faith, but all of the divine religions. Gleanings is the next level up IMO; it's a collection of longer passages that dive much deeper into Bahá'u'lláh's Writings. As well, I find 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Paris Talks give a good introduction to a variety of key Bahá'í principles.

Regarding introductory books about the Bahá'í Faith, as opposed to Scripture: A few commonly recommended books are A Short History of the Bahá'í Faith by Peter Smith, A Short Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith by Moojan Momen, and The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion by Douglas Martin and William Hatcher. Smith also published a newer, updated book, An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith.

Every time one of these pictures is posted I have to recommend the book Aku Aku by Thor Heyerdahl. It's an amazing and true story/history of the people and culture on Easter Island, how they likely got there originally and how they made these fantastic statues. Ties in with his book Kon Tiki about how Pacific Islanders likely migrated. Good stuff, and an easy, great read for the curious.

I thought it might be helpful to provide links:

Several people have mentioned books by Adib Taherzadeh, here is a link to a kindle version which is available if you subscribe to Kindle unlimited.

Volume 2.

Volume 3.

There is a volume 4 to that series but for whatever reason it is not available on Kindle.

H.M. Balyuzi also has a great biography.


For another cheaper option, there is a great and easy to read biography by a woman named Druzelle Cedequist that is only $5 on kindle.

So Mimi has responded back:

"Hi Todd,

Happy to answer your questions. My book is called Passionate Journeys: Why Successful Women Joined a Cult.

While there were individual devotees in Eugene between 1981 and 1984, there was no group presence. However, Sheela and KD Mayor of Rajneeshpuram) spoke in Eugene in an event sponsored by the ACLU in 1982. In the Willamette Valley, they had a much larger presence in Salem and of course Portland.

When the group dispersed, very few individuals settled in Eugene, although some passed through on their way to other destinations. Over the decades, there have been some Osho (Rajneesh’s new name) meditation sessions near the university.

Thanks for your questions and you are welcome to share my responses."


I /u/mrtoddw have included the link on Amazon for the book: https://www.amazon.com/Passionate-Journeys-Successful-Women-Joined/dp/0472088440

I personally don't think any sort of cognitive approach can get you closer to awakening other than learning about better ways to meditate. They're just two totally different ways of perceiving the world. That said, though, you should definitely check out Fritjof Capra's Tao of Physics. It's about how science and eastern mysticism (mostly Buddhism) are converging on the same truths. Excellent read.

As someone who routinely uses both Egyptian and Java, I can say categorically -- I like Egyptian a lot better. :)

If you're just writing games, you don't necessarily need the most current research -- anything in the last few decades is fine for your purposes. Unfortunately, there's a tremendous amount of material being printed still that goes back to the 19th century in Dover reprints that needs to be avoided at all costs. Also, remember that you're talking about almost three millennia of religious belief -- the differences between Old Kingdom and Roman period are far far greater than the differences between Upper and Lower Egypt.

In any event, here's a modern translation of the Book of the Dead (not Budge!):

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Egyptian-Book-Raymond-Faulkner/dp/0760773092/

The BotD isn't the greatest intro to the theogeny you may be looking for, but it's well known.

These are both current, but I don't know them:

http://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Mythology-Goddesses-Traditions-Ancient/dp/0195170245

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Gods-Goddesses-Ancient-Egypt/dp/0500051208

Avoid anything not written by an actual academic in the field -- there's way too much 'Egyptology' that's actually modern spirituality misusing ancient texts, and as noted, lots of reprints of Budge and Petrie that are now way out of date.

Last thoughts: If you're looking for thematic ideas for a game, there may be some good mythology childrens books that will hit the points and iconography you want (but will lack some of the more anatomically correct aspects of Egyptian divinity), and if you can, go through a real book store rather than Amazon :) If you're near Boston, Schoenhof's may have some of these.

• Works of Don Webb
  
  
• Works of Michael Aquino
  
  
• Lords of the Left Hand Path by Stephen Flowers
  
  
• Stairway to Heaven Chapter 1 and The Dark Lord by Peter Levenda.
  
  
  
• Fire and Ice by Stephen Flowers
  
  
• The Invention of Satanism

I highly suggest you read this book as it is quite enjoyable. That said, it is not really, as mentioned below, accurate.

I recommend you follow up reading Born in Blood with reading Compasses and the Cross.

http://www.amazon.com/Compasses-Cross-Stephen-Dafoe/dp/0853182981

Definitely his scholarly articles. As for his translations, I'm not sure. I should try comparing a couple spells sometime. I can't do it now because I am away from home, where I have the Dover reprint of Budge, and maybe two copies of Faulkner. (One is a black hardcover from Barnes and Noble, the other is the giant one that also contains a reproducton of the Papyrus of Ani.

One nice thing about Budge is that, at least in the Dover reprint, there's a section with the hieroglyphs line-by-line, with a word-by-word translation, and his weird transliteration under that. I'm not sure how accurate Budge's hieroglyphic transcriptions were, but I wish Faulkner had transcriptions.

I also wish the Faulkner translation came in more portable sizes like Budge does.

Years ago, I saw a post in an egyptology forum somewhere that one should take one's Budge books, and put them in the closet for four years. During which time, one should learn and study as much as they can about Egyptology, getting themselves thoroughly grounded. Then, after that time, take the Budge books out of the closet. With that knowledge, the person should be able to notice where Budge goes wrong, where a newbie wouldn't.

I'm not sure how accurate that advice is, but it makes some sense to me, because I've experienced noticing where somebody goes wrong in some field of knowledge that I have learned about, that I wouldn't have noticed before.

Another issue with Budge, and probably the old-timey sources more generally, is a bias towards Christianity, trying to see Egyptian religion as some sort of proto-Christianity, rather than looking at Egyptian religion on its own terms.

Here is another Kemetic's take on it. I've been meaning to post this in a self-post on this subreddit as a "Not Bad Religion" post. Not sure if I should.

Please read the sticky in this sub. Otherwise, many of the answers to the questions you're asking here can be found in books, so I'm going to recommend some:

1. The Satanic Bible. If you're interested in Satanism, this is one of the best places to start. You'll probably find a lot of the answers you're seeking within its pages. It's a short read, might take you a day tops to get through it.
   
   
2. The Invention of Satanism. This is an excellent academic text. It has no agenda outside of providing history on Satanism itself as a religion. It covers early origins of Satanism (aka devil worship), the romantic Satanists such as Milton and Blake, the beginnings of the Church of Satan and LaVey's origins, the Temple of Set, all the way on up to modern day with The Satanic Temple.
   
   
3. Lords of the Left Hand Path This would be considered more advanced reading, as it delves into a general Left Hand Path philosophy rather than focusing just on Satanism. It's a dense book, but will go a long way to filling in the 'sacrifice, magic, evil' part of your post.

Have you ever read "The Cult at the End of the World"? Because if not I strongly suggest it. Nothing is like Aum Shinrikyo was in the late 80s/mid-90s.

I mean, yeah, they're a cult, but Aum was truly operating on another level.

/u/quintessentialaf have you by chance read this? It reminded me of your podcast name. It's interesting for someone who may have just started to question religion.

Found it, but a link would have been awfully convenient.
http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Own-Religion-Instructions/dp/1938875028/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1367700028&sr=8-1
Looks interesting.

I read Underground, but I also read The Cult at the End of the World. Kaplan and Marshall tell the story of Aum Shinrikyo. Murakami reflects on the Japanese mindset through interviews with members of the cult.

The Cult at the End of the World is the craziest and most entertaining non-fiction book I've read. It focuses on the leader and the people trying to bring him down. It's thrilling, it's horrifying, and it's a damn good read.

>^(~)^(Chaos)^(.)

Entropy: Jeremy Rifkin

The Tao of Physics: Fritjof Capra

These two help with a bit of a framework to ford the physicl/metaphysical gulf.

According to the 2016 book "The Invention of Satanism", Satanism is the only "new religion" that is more male than female. In fact the large majority of Satanists are said, by the same book, to be young males.

I can't speak to the racial makeup of the Satanist demographic but I do have my own pet theories.

https://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Scriptures-Peter-H-Gilmore/dp/0976403595

Emerging Global Religion (updated 2002): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1931847061/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_RETNBbX7NFPXC

Thief in the Night (1961): https://www.amazon.com/dp/085398008X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_HGTNBbZY55X8F