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)

Previous related posts

https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/07/authors-on-their-own-writing-green.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/07/authors-on-their-own-writing-lisa.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/07/authors-on-their-writing-feminist-witch.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/07/authors-on-their-own-writing-katie-ness.html

My Witchy Events: Poppets, Scrying & Candles

Here are details of the witchy events I'm involved with from now until the end of October. Tomorrow, Tuesday September 1st, I'll be at Romford Pagan Moot to talk about poppets and magical dolls, then in October I'm teaching an online divination course and an in-person candle magic workshop. 

September

Poppets and Magical Dolls at Romford Moot
On Tuesday 1 September  I will be talking about Poppets and Magical Dolls at Romford Moot. This monthly Pagan gathering meets at The Golden Lion, 2 High Street, Romford. it starts at  7.30pm. Entry is just £4, pay at the event. You can find out more about the moot here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064489640955

October

Scrying Online via the College of Psychic Studies 
On Wednesday 7 and 14 October; I'm running a two-part online evening class on Scrying: Divination Using Crystals, Mirrors, Water and Fire via the College of Psychic Studies. Each class starts at 7pm. Tickets are £90, with discount for members. Find out more here: https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/workshops/psychic-training/scrying-with-crystals-mirrors-more/?

Candle Magic in London
On Sunday 18 October I'm teaching a candle magic workshop based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic. The venue is Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. It starts at 1pm and tickets are £25 per person. To find out more and reserve a place visit: https://www.treadwells-london.com/.

About me

I'm Lucya Starza and as well as writing A Bad Witch's Blog I'm the author of books in the Pagan Portals series on Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, Scrying, and Rounding the Wheel of the Year. My Gothic novel Erosion is also published by Moon Books.

You can buy my books at Treadwell's Bookshop, via Amazon, at the College of Psychic Studies in London and at other bookshops as well as at my author page at publisher Moon Books. Please note I earn commission from advertisers for some links.

Art: Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam at the RA

I went to see Richard Dadd exhibition that's currently on at the Royal Academy of Arts. The Victorian artist is best known for his fairy scenes drawn from Shakespearean subjects, but he also depicted pagan subjects and believed ancient mythology was still relevant.

Recognised early for his skill at rendering detail, Dadd was invited in 1842 on an ambitious tour across the Eastern Mediterranean that would shape the course of his life and work. The experience had a profound influence on his artistic imagination, but the itinerary was rushed and Dadd began experiencing delusions. On his return to England, he killed his father, believing his true father to be the Egyptian God Osiris, and fled to France where he was apprehended. He spent the remaining four decades of his life in hospitals – first at Clermont north of Paris, then at Bethlem in Lambeth and finally at Broadmoor in Berkshire. During this time, he continued to work from memory, imagination and earlier sketches.

What I found particularly interesting was that Dadd could be said to have held pagan beliefs beyond his delusions about his father. For example, one of the pictures in the exhibition, Esculapius Discovered by Shepherds on the Mountain (pictured), was done as a nativity scene, but instead of showing the birth of Jesus, shows that of the Greek God of medicine Aesculapius, which was also attended by shepherds according to legends. Information next to the painting reads:

"Dadd was convinced that nothing of importance had changed since the times of the great ancient  civilisations, the remains of which he had encountered on his travels. He saw all human history as cycling back to these founding cultures."

In his early life, after studying at the Royal Academy, Dadd made his name by exhibiting his fairy paintings, which reveal his mastery of elaborate detail and evocation of the uncanny. He continued to work while at Bethlem and Broadmoor Hospitals. At Bethlem, he returned to the Shakespearean fairy subjects of his youth, and produced some of his most celebrated works, including Contradiction. Oberon and Titania, 1854-58, and The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, 1855-64. 

Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam is on until 25 October at the Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD Tickets are £15. https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

Photos: Richard Dadd, Contradiction. Oberon and Titania, 1854-58. Oil on canvas, 61 x 75.5 cm. Private Collection. Photo © David Parmiter; Richard Dadd, Esculapius Discovered by Shepherds on the Mountain (1851); Richard Dadd, The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, 1855-64. Oil on canvas, 54 x 39.4 cm. Tate: Presented by Siegfried Sassoon in memory of his friend and fellow officer Julian Dadd, a great-nephew of the artist, and of his two brothers who gave their lives in the First World War 1963. Photo: Tate

Craft: A Bound Scrap Journal of Pictures & Poetry

I made this tiny scrapbook from scratch and in it I handwrote poems and collaged pictures. Crafting something completely by hand was such a relaxing change from sitting at a computer. I did it because it was recommended as a mindful art project, but I loved it so much I'll be making more.

To start with I watched several videos on how to make a "junk journal". That's the search term to find tutorials, although I prefer the word "scrapbook" because that's what I've always called them in the past. 

There are lots of videos on YouTube and they're easy to follow, so I won't go into too many details here, but first you bind a little book out of scraps of paper that might otherwise go in the recycling. You need firm card for the cover and thinner paper for inside pages. Things you can use include:

• Used envelopes
• Paper bags
• Brown packaging paper
• Clean boxes that contained food
• Old writing paper, especially if it has that yellow, aged look
• Pages from out-of-date magazines, calenders and booklets 
• Even pages from old books if they are really no use for anyone to read any more (yeah, I know, even that seems wrong)

Cut the cover card to the size you want, then cut or tear the thinner paper to fit inside that. Fold the cover in half, then fold the pages in half and stack them inside the cover. 

Clip the edges to hold them firm then stitch the journal along the fold from the centre to the spine using string or thick embroidery thread. You need a thick needle, which you push right through the very centre of the folded line, then push through near the top of the fold, bring the needle right down to near the bottom of the fold, then back again through the first hole, in the middle, then tie it tight.

That's basically book binding for beginners, although you can trim your pages more if you like.

What to put inside

Once you have your scrapbook, you can start to fill it with whatever you like. Many people use their's for collages of pictures, but I wanted a physical copy of the poems I've shared on my blog over the years. You can see some pages from it in the photos on this post. 

For the collages I mainly upcycled old witchy diaries and calendars that I've been keeping because the artwork was too lovely to throw away. This felt like a lovely way to make more use of them. I also snipped pictures from magazines, event flyers, and greeting cards. I just tore or cut out images I liked, arranged them on a page, then glued them in place.

Make your own spellbook

I enjoyed this project so much that I'll definitely do it again. I also thought that a journal bound by hand from scrap paper would be lovely to use as a personal book of shadows or grimoire of spells. It was always traditional to write these by hand, but making the book itself by hand feels even more perfect as a craft for the wise. 

You could also enchant it for wish magic using this spell: https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/06/spells-enchanting-book-for-wish-magic.html

Other previous related posts
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/07/upcycling-crafts-pretty-paper-hand-fan.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/03/upcycling-crafts-paper-flowers-from.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/04/craft-slow-stitch-scraps-and-scents-egg.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/01/rounding-year-time-to-start-new-journal.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/08/janes-book-of-shadows-edie-librarian.html

Book Review: Of Toads & Hares - Witches & Wisewomen

I was very lucky to see an early copy of Of Toads and Hares: The Witches and Wisewomen of England, published by The History Press. It's a superb collection of English folktales concerning witches, meticulously researched by Ben Stimpson as part of his ‘Wise Ones Series’ of books. 

Of Toads and Hares follows on from Of Doves and Ravens which focused on Wales. The book is an enchanting read, which can be dipped into for pleasure or study. I thoroughly recommended it to anyone interested in folklore and historic depictions of women and witchcraft.

Witches, according to a plethora of folktales, were shape-changers. An old and probably ugly woman with magical powers would take the form of a hare, cat or sometimes a toad to spy on neighbours. A man hunted or otherwise injured the animal, and the witch’s powers were outed when she was seen to have an identical wound. Her fate was determined by the same man or an angry mob because, of course, witches were usually depicted as malefic. They stole or curdled the milk, played tricks on people, sometimes caused illness or even death. 

These were scary tales to entertain and thrill, and this collection accurately represents that – warts and all. Yet Of Toads and Hares also offers some positive accounts of wise women from the past. All of these stories can still entertain today and I really enjoyed discovering some rare examples from all over the country. I hope at least some modern readers would, perhaps, also wish they could tap into the old magic and shape-change into a hare.

You can view Of Hares and Toads on Amazon. It is officially released on September 10, 2026, but can be pre-ordered.

Please note I earn commission from some links 

Previous related posts
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/10/pagan-eye-welsh-folk-magic-launch-soiree.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/03/magical-mad-march-hares.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/08/author-interview-irish-writer-geraldine.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/07/review-hecate-goddess-of-magick.html