The Failings of the ONA

Hebdomdary is Inaccessible

Note: Hebdomadry is what the ONA calls its system of esotericism. Synonyms for Hebdomdary include the Dark Tradition, the Sevenfold Way, and the Septenary Way. The ONA's pantheon (group of deities) is called the Nekalah, or the Dark Gods, and includes deities such as Atazoth, Baphomet, Abatu, Sauroctonos, and Budsturga.

Most of the ONA's magickal operations have very specific environmental and material requisites. This results in both members of the movement known as the ONA and those inspired by it to default to take up completely unrelated magickal disciplines and to neglect the Nekalah. When aspects of the ONA's tradition are incorporated into unrelated Occult movements,  the Dark Gods are usually left behind. Among the groups which adhere to the ideology called the 218 Current, which ideology acknowledges direct inspiration by the ONA, only one works with the Nekalah. This is the recently defunct Lilin Society, and they only work with one of them.

Even experienced Niners who work with the Nekalah do so sparingly, as convenient and accessible rituals to them do not appear in the ONA corpus. This has led to me being personally requested by ONA coven leaders to create rites and chants to the entities even after I left the ONA.

Little to no information regarding the Nekalah appears in ONA literature, so if you want to learn about the Dark Gods, my blog and Koetting's books are your best bet. A Niner would argue that the provision of sparse information allows members of the ONA to experience the deities unhampered by preconceptions. In reality, this prompts adherents to the ONA and those influenced by it to delay and/or limit their workings with the Nekalah in favor of workings with unrelated divinities.

One of the ONA's primary subgroups, namely the ABG Lodge, has misidentified the Dark God Abatu with Abaddon (Apollyon/Apollo) on the basis of perceived etymological similarities* and the fact that Abatu and Abaddon are both considered destructive. Compare this mistake to the Temple of THEM's misidentification of Noctulius with Nyktelios (Dionysus), which led to me unknowingly working with Dionysus instead of the Dark God.

*No evidence was presented for the etymological relationship of Abatu and Abbaton. This conclusion was based solely on surface analysis presented as conclusive when it should have been tentative, as speculative etymology is usually deemed inconclusive pending evidence (through epigraphy, for example).

In contrast, my identification of the Dark God Sauroctonos with Abaddon/Apollo is based on etymology, numerology, Isopsephy, Gematria, mythology, Occult demonology, Paganism, letter correspondences, planetary correspondences, and more.

ABG Lodge's misidentification of Abatu with Abbaton erroneously legitimizes the use of magick which the ONA expresses contempt for and both impedes the understanding of Sauroctonos and blurs the lines between Abatu and Vindex.

Hebdomadry's inherent inaccessibility severely hampers the Niner's relationship with the Nekalah. In order to fully understand an entity such as Sauroctonos, the witch must supplicate its various aspects: Sauroctonos (Olympian-Warrior Aspect), Apollo (Olympian-Magickal Aspect), Lyceus (Olympian-Lycanthropic Aspect), and Abaddon (Infernal-Demonic Aspect). The Niner is restricted to one, limiting the benefit which he can attain from Apollo and restricting Apollo's interactions with him.

The best way to get to know an entity is a three-step process:
One: Verify with your guiding spirits that you should work with the entity to ensure that you are neither putting yourself at risk nor wasting your time. Certain deities (like Budsturga) have a disconcerting presence that should be prepared for, and
Two: Evoke the entity devoid of prior knowledge of it so that you may attain direct gnosis** of it unhampered by preconceptions. Preconceptions really can not only inhibit the channeling of individual insights into the deity, but often contraindicate/disincentivize the pursuit of them entirely.
Three: Research the entity in as much depth as possible. Not only will you need the insights of others to form a full picture of the entity both by supplementing as well as contextualizing your personal experience and gnosis, but taking the time to study the spirit strongly attunes you to it and strengthens your workings with it as well as your ability to perceive and communicate with it.

**Gnosis here means "knowledge of a spiritual nature and source."

This process, which is how I approached the Goetia and the Qliphoth, should be explained within the ONA corpus, and in-depth analyses of the Nekalah should appear in the corpus alongside it. While some Niners will doubtlessly peruse the explanations given for the Nekalah before pursuing individual experience, the benefits of my suggestion would outweigh the detriments. The ONA corpus, as it is presented, adventitiously derails attempts to ascertain the Dark Gods' identities, occasionally leading to Niners working with the wrong entities entirely and/or severely misunderstanding both the Nekalah and Hebdomdary itself. It also restricts the Nekalah themselves by both causing those influenced by the ONA to disregard most or all of them and lowering the qualities of the relationships which the Nekalah have with Niners. Niners seek the aid of outside divinities instead of Dark Gods perfectly suited to their needs, thereby aiding the propagation of other magickal systems at the direct expense of the propagation of Hebdomadry. When outside magickal traditions inevitably draw influence from the ONA, they usually do so without bringing new disciples to the Dark Gods.

Atazoth is Stolen

The ONA book Temple of Satan exhibits an in-depth familiarity with the Typhonian Trilogies of Kenneth Grant in the chapter which introduces the allegorical character Ezra Pead. The unofficial DM timeline states that Myatt was involved with a magickal group inspired by Crowley (who taught Grant), and ABG Lodge has dropped hints regarding the rumors that Myatt was in the OTO (started by Crowley, later led by Grant).

The relation of Azathoth to azoth appears in the first book of the Typhonian Trilogies, and Myatt's attribution of Atazoth/Azathoth to the sphere of the sun also originates in Kenneth Grant's writings.

Grant writes that Azathoth is "the supreme reflex of Da'ath as AZA." Here, Aza has a dual meaning, first as A-Z-A (Alpha-Omega-Alpha), and second as Aza, the Gnostic concept of the source of evil and alien energies. The first meaning is the origin of the ONA's concept of Atazoth being the agent of aeonic progression, and the second is the origin of the concept that Atazoth provides the influx of azoth into the Cosmos. The identification of Azathoth as a reflex of Da'ath is the source of the ONA's identification of Atazoth as part of the void.

Aza, being "the mother of demons" according to Grant, is the origin of another one of the Dark Gods: Azanigin, who is described in Naos as "the mother of demons who lie waiting in the earth." Azanigin and Aktlal Maka are among the two given aspects of the beneficent aspect of Mother Earth (whereas Yusra is the wrathful aspect of Mother Earth). Since Azanigin is the nurturing aspect of the Divine Feminine, it is likely that the attribution of her to the sphere of Saturn originates with Aleister Crowley's attribution of Babalon to the sphere of Saturn. Since Crowley identifies Babalon as a personification of Binah (the Saturnian nurturing aspect of the divine feminine), Babalon is thus equivalent to Azanigin as Azanigin is delineated by the ONA.

Update: Azanigin and Aktlal Maka are identical in ONA literature in their theological signification as the beneficent/nurturing aspect of Mother Earth. Magickally speaking, the names are used completely differently, so they are (approached as) separate aspects of Gaia (beneficent Mother Earth). When you read the tarot card description given for Mactoron, you find a pellucid hint that Aktlal Maka is an emanation of Mactoron. Mactoron is presented as a precursor to Aktlal Maka and thus Mother Earth, and it is pellucid that Mactoron may be called Mother Saturn. My point about Babalon and Azanigin requires correction (although I was on the right track). Babalon is Mactoron, and Azanigin/Aktlal Maka is an emanation of them.

The ONA's pathetic attempts to hide these realities, even from their own members, exemplifies a massive failing of character. It also displays a lack of respect held by David Myatt for the members of the ONA and elucidates his desire to keep them ignorant.

(New) The ONA's Underlying Philosophy Was Stolen

The Typhonian Tradition claims roots in the ancient nature cults dedicated to Goddess veneration, which Goddess was a symbol of the Earth's fertility and Nature itself. This cult venerated the spiritual aptitude of women and dates back to the worship of the Mother of Satan Set, Ta-Urt. The tradition's namesake, Typhon, was the son of Mother Earth, which the Typhonian Tradition refers to by the name Gaia, and was closely related to the baleful aspects of nature.

It was Gerald Massey who selected the name 'Typhonian Tradition.' Massey claims that the Typhonian Tradition is derived from the cult of Sevekh. "According to him, Sevekh's name signified the sevenfold."* Typhon/Set, identifiable with Satan (in their minds, not mien), is viewed as a progression from Tiamat, who "personifies the dark, primal aspects of Nature."

The Typhonian Tradition complains that the deities of their veneration were demonized in accordance with the "patriarchal structures imposed by the solar current."

*All quotes in this section come from Glimpses of the Left Hand Path

The ONA's Overt Misanthropy Cripples the Movement

By "Overt Misanthropy" I am referring to the stringent standards required of Niners as well as the declaration that most humans are suitable for human sacrifice.

Pronouncing the average reader as worthy of death may appear to serve a dual purpose in the mind of adherents to the ONA. First, deterring most readers can help sustain ideological purity. Moreover, it prevents the causal practitioner from adopting the ONA's tradition and making the tradition look weak to outsiders by its association with causal (and thus incompetent) practitioners.***

***One common criticism of the TotBL and the rest of the 218 Current is that most of their adherents are incompetent.

Unfortunately, an individual who really looks into the personage of the ONA will find that the purposes I described are really not served at all. The condemnation of the public at large has brought about the accumulation of unstable, dysfunctional, and mentally ill misanthropes under the banner of the ONA. These persons have, through their in-fighting and neuroses, given the ONA an unprecedented reputation for incompetence.

Worse, the ONA corpus does nothing to address the ongoing mental illnesses, depressions, and personality flaws of the unstable practitioners which it directly, albeit accidentally, accumulates. Instead, the ONA thrusts them into tumultuous situations and physical danger, prompting in-fighting and mental breakdowns. The well-being and character of the Niner is thus destroyed instead of enhanced, creating members who deter the personally healthy people whom unstable Niners need in their lives from enlisting in the movement known as the ONA. Social integration (i.e. involvement in social circles) is the most effective deterrent of suicide, and the ONA corpus directly contraindicates it by labeling modern humanity as worthless. The influence of the ONA's misanthropy caustically wears away at the Niner's respect for his fellow man, damaging what relationships she does have.

Moreover, while the stringent standards of the ONA have delayed Hebdomadry's integration into mainstream Occultism, it has not prevented it entirely. Adherents to the 218 Current such as the Lilin Society, the Temple of the Black Light, and the Misantropisk Lucifer Orden have incorporated magickal formulae (chants) into their own magickal operations, finally disseminating the ONA's teachings amongst the Satanic and black magickal communities in their entirety.

The Baphomet Codex by Ego Diabolus includes the 21 Satanic Points within its pages and The Path to Satan includes a magickal chant from Codex Saerus (aka The Black Book of Satan). E.A. Koetting, an apostate from the Order of the Nine Angles, recommends the support of four of the Nekalah (Dark Gods) in his books Evoking Eternity and Works of Darkness. A writer by the name of Steven W. Minish penned an insightful article regarding and a powerful and eclectic ritual invoking Azathoth which analyzes and incorporates Atazoth as a name and word of power. His article, The Illumination ov Azathoth, appears in the fifth edition of Chaosphere Magazine.

Moreover, by making Hebdomadry inaccessible, the ONA corpus has, in actuality, destroyed its ideological purity by prompting adherents to practice external magickal systems.

Encouraging Arrogance Stymies Personal Development

One of the most consistent and unique traits exhibited amongst Niners is a solipsistic sense of self-regard. This sense of arrogance incites an instinctual belittling of other persons, cultures, ideas, and magickal traditions to an extent at which the trait seems as if it could properly be properly listed in the high-functioning regions of the autistic spectrum. The arrogance which these Niners exhibit appears to render them unable to legitimately consider an opposing idea and their self-awareness is severely inhibited.

While Niners often are deeply intelligent and well-read, their arrogance prevents them from properly analyzing an opposing argument and consistently stymies reading comprehension. They often instinctually grasp for straws in order to justify their belittling and dismissal of an opposing tradition as soon as whatever previous assumptions they made are corrected.

They are often led to exhibit consistent patterns of unprompted verbal assault, interrupting others, and intruding in conversations in which they are not included (often to engage in one of the prior two behaviors). This further erodes their level of social integration and weakens interpersonal relationships. Even when their more considerate brothers in arms are willing to humor their behavior, said brothers will dismay as these behaviors weaken their own interpersonal relationships with unrelated persons. The ONA's group cohesion is also detrimented by these behaviors, and when one Niner engages in this nature of conduct, others join in like a game. I have completely broken off contact with the majority of the Niners I had intended to retain online correspondence and physical friendship with on account of these behaviors.

I am speaking, in this segment, specifically about experienced Niners. I have observed these traits consistently and exclusively in my interactions with Niners. While many do not exhibit these behaviors at all, the ONA is the only group who exhibits them consistently.

The Abandonment of Numerical Correspondences

Among the ONA's goals for the obliteration of mainstream Western Occultism is the desire to do away with numerical correspondences, including numerology, Isopsephy, and Gematria in particular because it is Jewish in origin. Unforunately, the universe exists in patterns, such that even the ONA's anti-Gematria system consistently exhibits correspondences which can be deduced via Gematria. In this segment, we will be analyzing a couple central concepts in the O9A's esotericism via Gematria.

Various original O9A texts outline the rules to be followed for a traditional O9A grotto (subgroup). These texts, with Falcifer: Lord of Darkness being among them, require that the grotto practice a willing human sacrifice once every seventeen years. Ergo, let's analyze the number 17 via Gematria and see if its correspondences can be used to connect some central O9A concepts.

There are 17 squares in a swastika. According to O9A tradition, the swastika is the symbol of the current Aeon. Since the regular practice of human sacrifice, necessarily of willing male initiates, serves to bring about the coming Aeon, and the swastika is something of a turning wheel, this makes sense. The swastika has been interpreted as a wheel of four scythes/sickles in the past, and Falcifer (the ONA's primary source for Aeonic progression) literally translates to "Sickle-Bearer." But, we have departed from the topic of Hebrew numerical correspondences.

According to Gematria and the Tanakh, the Hebrew word "Zabach," meaning "Sacrifice," has a numerical value of seventeen as well.

According to Liber Sitra Ahra, the number seventeen symbolizes a lightning bolt. The O9A has publicly cited The Lightning and the Sun as one of the texts which influences their Cliology.  This book focuses on Esoteric Hitlerism, claiming that Hitler served to pave the way for the incarnate harbinger of the coming Aeon. The author describes Hitler's character through the metaphor of him being comprised of "too much sun" and "not enough lightning" and goes on to say that the coming Avenger will be defined by the qualities symbolized by lightning.

The number 17 is the numerical value of the Hebrew name for Capricorn, a constellation which is comprised of 17 stars. The second of these stars, Beta Capricorni, is Dabih, the lucky star of the slaughterer, which is one of the stars that the ONA's Blood Mistress and Mother of Human Sacrifice is attributed to.

Dabih is an eclipsing binary and is listed as the second star in Capricorn. Another star which is relevant to the ONA is Beta Perseus-- Algol, another eclipsing binary. Both of these stars have an astrological influence which is related to Saturn. The mode of chant which the ONA attributes to Saturn is the Second Mode. The ONA claims that there are star gates  specifically near both Dabih and Algol as well as Saturn.

The ONA describes a connexion between the causal and the acausal, such as a star gate, as a construct of Nine Angles. There are nine squares in the magickal square of Saturn. Saturn is often connected to Satan in modern Occult literature.

Undermining Aleister Crowley

In addition to refusing to acknowledge the influence of Crowley (and his pupil, Grant), ONA literature seeks to deliberately undermine Crowley's status as a Magus and the Harbinger of a New (at the time) Aeon by stating that Crowley's "so-called" aeonic influence did not influence the West at large. Anyone who has studied Crowley's achievements and influence even in cursory review knows that this is a lie.

Among the ONA's end goals are the obliteration of mainstream Western Occultism. The ONA's castigation of Thelema and other such systems serves to prevent Myatt's disciples from benefiting from the very spiritual teachings which were instrumental in Myatt's development. Furthermore, the ONA struggles against the existence of the religions whose groundbreaking magickal discoveries gave birth to the ONA itself, as we will prove in an upcoming segment. If the ONA is determined both to oppose the status quo and foster the magickal development of humankind, it should be struggling against anti-magickal religions and the institutionalization and medication of spiritually gifted persons.

By encouraging Niners to disrespect other black magickians, they prevent the Niners from working magickally alongside practitioners of rival traditions, thus strengthening the rituals performed by Niners and propagating Hebdomadry. Those Niners who do work with other black magickians often manipulate and detriment them.

-V.K. Jehannum