9sense Episode 02 August, LXI A.S.

On this 02 August, LXI A.S. 9sense podcast episode, Adam will discuss The Power of the Individual vs. The Trap of the Herd, Why Trump Continues to Fail, and Indulgent Escapism Steals Sovereignty. Join LIVE in YouTube chat and share your thoughts! 

Time Stamps:

• 0:00 Intro
• 11:53 1. The Devil’s Advocate – The Power of the Individual vs. The Trap of the Herd
• 26:41 2. Infernal Informant – Why Trump Continues to Fail
• 47:24 3. Creature Feature – Indulgent Escapism Steals Sovereignty
• 1:05:23 Outro

About 9sense

9sense is a live weekly Satanic podcast hosted by Adam, a Satanist in the Church of Satan, exploring Satanism, current events, and modern culture through a sharp third-side perspective. Founded in 2011 (XLVI A.S.), the show breaks down Satanic philosophy in real-world practice, cultural trends, media, and controversial topics with intelligence, humor, and unapologetic honesty. Now in its 15th year, 9sense streams live every Sunday night, offering long-form discussion for viewers who want independent thought, critical analysis, and authentic Satanic commentary—without dogma, censorship, or compromise.

About the Church of Satan

The Church of Satan, founded in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey, is the first openly established Satanic religion in history. It is an atheistic, rational philosophy that uses Satan as a symbol of individualism, personal sovereignty, pride, and the unapologetic acceptance of humanity’s carnal nature. Rejecting superstition, external gods, and imposed guilt, the Church of Satan emphasizes self-responsibility, reason, and the pursuit of one’s own interests in the real world. Far from myths of evil or chaos, Satanism is about living authentically, embracing pleasure without shame, and standing against hypocrisy, herd mentality, and authoritarian belief systems.

Show Notes

Intro

Welcome to 9sense. 9sense is a Satanic perspective of our modern world. My name is Adam and it’s great to have you. It’s August 2nd and I’ve got a hell-of-a show for you this week!

• Birthdays
• Heat, yard, garden
• Parents visiting

Discussion

1. The Devil’s Advocate

The Power of the Individual vs. The Trap of the Herd

The Power, Aesthetics, and Creativity of the Individual

• True creativity and compelling aesthetics stem from an individual acting on their authentic drives rather than repressing them to fit social norms. When someone embraces their personal desires, unique style, and personal power, they achieve an unmatched intensity and originality.
• Spiritual and social systems often force people to split themselves into “acceptable” and “unacceptable” parts. The individual thrives when they integrate these parts—carnal, intellectual, and aesthetic—becoming their own ultimate authority and “redeemer” rather than seeking approval from a higher power or group.
• True appreciation for others relies on personal selection. Loving or respecting everyone indiscriminately dilutes character judgment; genuine support, aesthetic expression, and deep connections are far more meaningful when chosen on an individual basis.

How Group Dynamics and the “Herd” Destroy Individual Potential

• Behavioral Shifts in Groups (Deindividuation & Conformity):
  • When individuals join a tight-knit crowd or movement, their self-awareness drops, leading to deindividuation. People often engage in actions or adopt dogmas as a group that they would reject on a personal level.
  • Groups often demand compliance and ritualized conformity while labeling it unity or “emancipation”. True freedom is inherently individual, whereas group dynamics frequently substitute original thought with regimented behavior and performative virtue.
  • Collectives frequently preach noble ideals (such as universal love, selflessness, or moral purity) while quietly enabling hypocrisy, judgment, and the suppression of natural instincts.

The Negatives of Online “Herd” Culture & Social Isolation

• Psychological & Emotional Strain:
  • Modern online communities and digital herds often operate on emotional manipulation—making individuals feel constantly obligated, guilty, or drained of their vital energy to sustain group approval.
  • Online groups incentivize performative behavior over genuine, lived experience. The pressure to project a sanitized or ideal image leads to frustration, anxiety, and a disconnect from personal realities.
• Behavioral Traps:
  • Online echo chambers turn personal preferences into compulsive habits driven by fear of missing out or social exclusion, stripping away the individual’s agency and power of choice.
  • Digital spaces magnify the worst aspects of herd behavior. Individuals easily swap rational thought for group anger, targeting outsiders to feel a false sense of collective righteousness.

2. Infernal Informant

Why Trump Continues to Fail: Lesser Magic in Negotiation

• Trump cancels Iran strikes subject to deal being made ‘rapidly’
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjwx74qgld2o
  • Donald Trump says he has cancelled strikes against Iran, provided a deal is struck “rapidly” with the country.
  • In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he had been asked by Iran and other countries in the Middle East to “hold off” on any attack as the “perimeters” of a deal had been agreed.
  • Trump’s comments came after reports that the US and Israel may have been planning new, intense strikes on Iran.
  • It is not the first time that Trump has issued apocalyptic warnings, only to subsequently insist that diplomacy was being given a chance.
  • Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency denied that Tehran had asked the US to hold off on further military action, saying Trump’s claims were “nothing but a new lie”.
  • Iran’s acting Defence Minister Majid Ibn al-Reza said Tehran viewed every threat from its adversaries as “real and credible” even if it formed part of psychological warfare.
  • “We will neither be caught off guard nor remain passive,” he added.
  • The raised tones followed reports in the US media that the US and Israel were planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran.
  • The plan came up during Trump’s cabinet meeting on Friday, sources told CBS News, the BBC’s News partner in the US.
  • The US government had also urged Americans across the Middle East to be alert and ready to leave “should there be escalation” in the region.
  • In his post on Saturday, Trump said the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II”.
  • He said cancelling the attack would be “for the future benefit of the world and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran”.
  • Back on 7 April, the US president warned that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran refused to engage in peace talks. He threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure and power plants, a move that many said would be a war crime.
  • That threat did result in historic face-to-face talks in Pakistan, led by Vice President JD Vance.
  • For supporters of the president, it was vindication. Bellicose threats – often referred to as the “Madman Theory” – resulted in talks with the Iranians.
  • The issue with that view, however, is that those talks ended without a deal. There were simply too many competing red lines that could not be reconciled, even with the threat of civilisation erasure.
  • During the Friday meeting, CBS News reported Trump was heard saying while reporters were still in the room: “We’ll be hitting them [Iranians] very hard. At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.'”
  • A day later, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had a call with Trump, aimed at reducing regional tensions, the kingdom’s official SPA press agency reported.
  • “His Royal Highness emphasised the necessity of prioritising dialogue to reduce tensions and the importance of exerting all possible efforts to achieve a truce that paves the way for diplomatic solutions.”
  • The US’s Gulf Allies hold concerns that, while the American mainland is out of reach of Iranian missiles, countries like Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates are not – with their critical infrastructure such as water desalination plans being prime targets.
  • Washington and Tehran have engaged in escalating strikes and counter-strikes since a ceasefire in April aimed at pausing the war fell apart in June.
  • The US has blockaded Iranian ports and bombed Iranian sites, while Iran has fired missiles and drones at US assets in countries across the Middle East and targeted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil shipping.
  • There have been significant fluctuations in oil prices since then.
  • It is not only international pressure that the US president faces. According to the Pew research centre, around 60% of Americans disapprove of the war with Iran, contributing to Trump’s falling popularity.
  • Any escalation would almost certainly result in an increase in oil prices, further squeezing US consumers.
  • With crucial US midterm elections looming, the president will know his international decisions could have serious domestic consequences for his administration.

Failures in Negotiation and Communication

A skilled negotiator and communicator moves with pragmatic calculus, understanding that sustainable power relies on strategy rather than mere bravado. When evaluated against classical negotiation and communication frameworks, several structural vulnerabilities emerge:

• A failed negotiator treats every interaction as a zero-sum, single-transaction battle. By prioritizing immediate, short-term “wins” or dominance over durable, multi-lateral alliances, the negotiator burns leverage that will be needed later. Once counter-parties realize commitments are contingent solely on fleeting whims, trust collapses, rendering future contract enforcement fragile and costly.
• Effective communication balances leverage with unpredictable subtlety. Relying perpetually on maximum leverage, public threats, or economic coercion (e.g., erratic tariff waves or constant ultimatums) makes one’s playbook entirely predictable. Opponents learn to wait out the initial blast, call the bluff, or form quiet coalitions to bypass the negotiator entirely.
• A master communicator speaks to persuade the uncommitted or to pacify adversaries. When communication is restricted almost exclusively to feeding a core base or satisfying personal ego, it ceases to be persuasive communication—it becomes an insular feedback loop. This alienates essential swing blocks, domestic institutions, and international partners needed to execute complex policy.
• True negotiation identifies overlapping interests to secure concessions. Failing to understand what the opposing party actually needs—or relying solely on punitive measures—invites spiteful resistance, retaliatory trade measures, and non-compliance.

Failures in Lesser Magic: Lack of Perspective and Self-Awareness

Lesser Magic (or situational magic) is defined as the art of manipulation through applied psychology, wile, guile, and precise personal presentation to alter situations in accordance with one’s will. It relies on three primary emotional levers: Sex, Sentiment, and Wonder.

To be an effective practitioner of Lesser Magic, absolute self-awareness, objective perspective, and uncompromising realism are mandatory. From this philosophical standpoint, a leader fails as a lesser magician due to key fundamental flaws:

Ignorance of the “Balance Factor”

LaVey emphasized the Balance Factor—the necessity of aligning one’s magical/manipulative aims with realistic, objective conditions. A poor magician confuses their own grandiose internal fantasies with external reality. When a leader falls for their own propaganda, they lose the critical detachment required to accurately assess their actual position, strengths, and weaknesses.

Blunt-Force “Wonder” Without Nuance

Lesser Magic requires tailoring presentation to command attention (the “Command to Look”) by projecting specific archetypes that hypnotize the target. While a leader may project the image of Wonder (awe, authority, or intimidation) to his devoted followers, using the exact same aggressive archetype across every interaction—whether dealing with allies, courts, or seasoned diplomats—is amateurish. A master magician adjusts their mask to suit the target; a clumsy magician wears one heavy mask and expects the world to bend to it.

Vulnerability to “Psychic Vampirism” and Flattery

The core of Satanic philosophy is fierce intellectual independence and self-mastery. An operator lacking self-awareness becomes easily manipulated by foreign actors or advisors who offer cheap, unearned flattery. By chasing external ego-validation, the leader unwittingly becomes the target of other people’s Lesser Magic, sacrificing strategic advantages just to hear praise.

Failure to Observe and Analyze Others

Effective manipulation requires keen observation—understanding the somatotype, psychological triggers, and underlying motives of the mark. A leader consumed by narcissism is perpetually focused on themselves, rendering them blind to what others are actually thinking or plotting. Without true perspective, they misread counter-parties, blunder into obvious traps, and mistake compliance for genuine submissive awe.

Summary: A leader who lacks self-awareness cannot be a true master of Lesser Magic. Instead of wielding psychological manipulation as a surgical tool, they rely on blunt coercion and base-level performance. This lack of objective perspective ultimately dooms both their formal negotiations and their informal attempts at social enchantment.

3. Creature Feature

Indulgent Escapism Steals Sovereignty

• Euphoria
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphoria_(American_TV_series)
  • psychological drama series created and written by Sam Levinson for HBO. 
  • Based on the Israeli miniseries of the same name created by Ron Leshem, 
  • the series stars Zendaya as drug-addicted teenager Rue Bennett, who also serves as an unreliable narrator. 
  • Ran from  June 16, 2019 –May 31, 2026
  • Running time 49–93 minutes
  • No. of seasons 3
  • No. of episodes 26

The Philosophical Frame: Indulgence vs. Compulsion

• In The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey defines a clear line between indulgence and compulsion. Indulgence requires agency, self-awareness, and free choice—it is the conscious enjoyment of physical or emotional gratification while maintaining self-mastery. Compulsion, by contrast, implies a lack of choice; it occurs when a habit or substance takes control of the individual.
• Satanism advocates for the gratification of natural human desires, but stresses that the individual must remain in command of their pleasures rather than being mastered by them.

Rue’s Journey: From Seeking Indulgence to Falling into Compulsion

• Rue Bennett initially turns to drugs as a form of relief, escape, and sensory heightening—seeking comfort after the trauma of her father’s death. In the early stages, substance use feels like a personal choice to alter her state of consciousness.
• As her addiction deepens, Euphoria vividly depicts the shift from voluntary indulgence to severe compulsion. Rue loses the ability to choose whether or when she uses; her physical dependency and mental obsession dictate her every move. She becomes driven by need rather than desire, illustrating LaVey’s point that unaddressed internal frustration turns pleasure into a trap.

Erosion of Self-Sovereignty and Personal Power

• A core premise of Satanic thought is self-sovereignty—the individual acts as their own highest authority and master.
• In Season 2, Rue’s desperation leads her to lie, steal from her family, endanger her sister, and place herself in severe danger with drug traffickers (e.g., Laurie). From a Satanic perspective, compulsive drug abuse strips away Rue’s autonomy, reducing her from a sovereign agent to a slave to a chemical compound.

Vital Existence vs. Chemical Escapism

• The second Satanic Statement holds that “Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!” Rue uses narcotics primarily to numb emotional pain and detach from reality.
• Euphoria stylizes Rue’s drug trips with dreamlike cinematography, mirroring “spiritual pipe dreams” or artificial states of peace. However, the show repeatedly snaps back to the harsh, raw fallout of withdrawal, overdose, and damaged relationships, reinforcing that attempting to escape earthly reality through compulsive addiction destroys one’s capacity to truly experience “vital existence”.

Summary: Euphoria serves as a stark case study in the danger of confusing indulgence with compulsion. While Satanic philosophy champions carnal enjoyment and the pursuit of pleasure, Rue’s story demonstrates that when an individual loses control over a substance, pleasure ceases to be an indulgence and becomes a destructive compulsion that destroys personal power, health, and freedom.

Outro

That’s gonna do it for this episode of 9sense, I hope you enjoyed it. You can view every episode of my Satanic series on this YouTube channel. 

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If you would like to learn more about Satanism or the Church of Satan, visit churchofsatan.com, and until next week, Hail Satan!