Tuesday, 1 September 2026

Authors On Their Writing: Primis Nati on Satanism

Continuing my interview series Authors On Their Own Writing, I chatted to Primis Nati about her new book, which is on her experience of Satanism as a spiritual path.

Q: Out of all that you've written, which is your favourite published work?

A: I'm most proud of my latest book, The Satanic Self. The subtitle is A Guide to Metaphysical Empowerment.

Q: What’s it about?

A: At its heart, The Satanic Self is about self-empowerment, but it also presents Satanism as a genuine spiritual path rather than simply an atheistic social movement or, on the other extreme, a belief in Satan as a literal external deity.

I describe it as something of a third way. The spiritual dimension is real, but divinity is not something outside of us to which we submit. The divine is encountered through the Self. Ultimately, the distinction between the inner Self and the divine begins to disappear.

The book also explores Satanism as a continuation of older pagan and esoteric traditions. Christianity absorbed and demonized many aspects of the pagan world, and over time those older gods, symbols, instincts, and ideas became folded into the Christian image of Satan. So part of the book is about recovering what lies beneath that image.

Q: Why is it your favourite?

A: Because it is probably the clearest expression of my own spiritual path.

It brings together ideas I had been exploring for most of my life and turns them into something I believe can offer genuine empowerment to other people. It's an esoteric path, and I don't expect everyone to understand it or agree with it. In some ways, it is deliberately written for the relatively small number of people who recognize something of themselves in it.

For those people, though, I think it can be transformative. It says that the object of the spiritual journey is not submission, self-erasure, or escape from the Self, but the discovery, cultivation, and ultimately the assertion of the Self.

Q: Tell me a bit more about yourself and anything else you’ve written.

A: I've been on some form of spiritual journey for most of my life. I began as a Christian, later practiced Buddhism, explored paganism and esotericism, and over time began developing the ideas that eventually became The Satanic Self.

I've also written a book dealing much more directly with society and political philosophy. Some of those ideas appear briefly in The Satanic Self, particularly where individual sovereignty and social structures intersect, but the other work develops them much further.

One of the things my spiritual journey taught me is that realization and worldly existence do not have to be enemies. There is an old Zen saying: "After enlightenment, wash the dishes." I think that's true. But it would be equally true to say, "After enlightenment, conquer the world."

Those are both choices.

Spiritual realization does not require retreat from life. It can just as easily become the foundation from which someone acts, creates, achieves, builds, loves, and succeeds.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I'm currently working on a continuation of The Satanic Self that is much more personal.

It traces the spiritual journey that eventually produced the philosophy in the first book, beginning particularly with my youth and my years within Christianity. I want to explore why I left, what I discovered through Buddhism and paganism, and how each of those stages contributed to the development of The Satanic Self.

It's partly memoir, partly spiritual criticism, and partly a roadmap for people who may find themselves asking some of the same questions I did.

Primis Nati's website is thesatanicself.com

You can view The Satanic Self on Amazon.  

(Please note: I earn commission from some links)

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