Empathy is a natural human faculty. Empathy is a faculty that allows for insight, knowledge, experience in relation to other human beings, other terrestrial life forms, Nature and the Cosmos beyond the planet that is currently our home. In fact, as explained in "The Satanic Path", Nature is considered here - in Traditional Satanism and GSB - as a type of Being. That is, Nature is something alive that has the property of existence; that changes and that causes or determines changes in living beings, those species of living beings that are part of Nature itself. That is, Nature is the animating force that imbues living beings here on Earth with the property of life and that causes or determines changes in these living beings.

The knowledge that empathy gives is that of acausality, of ourselves as nexion and of the non-linear connections that bind all living beings by virtue of the fact that these beings are alive. In fact, empathy provides a wordless (esoteric) understanding - a perception - of the nature of living beings and this perception pays homage to that perception of phenomena that occurs through observations and experiments that form the basis of scientific knowledge. Therefore, empathy - when cultivated, developed and utilized - can extend the limited knowledge and understanding of Reality that we can gain through science.

The cultivation of empathy is considered an essential stage for any Satanist who wishes to explore Black Magic as it is considered a fundamental esoteric skill for the practices of the Left Hand Path. Therefore, when consciously cultivated and developed through esoteric means, empathy is a Dark Art and this ability, this faculty, utilized by a Satanist is and has been described in various ways, using terms such as esoteric empathy, dark empathy or sinister empathy. The rudiments of this ability, of this particular esoteric Dark Art, can be learned through experiential and passive forms of ritual, designed precisely for this purpose.

Mastery of this Dark Art involves deep experience of Dark Sorcery and allows a Satanist to qualify as a Black Priest or Magus. However, further development of this skill, this faculty, although extremely difficult, is possible. It is this further and advanced development, and therefore the use of the faculty of empathy, that not only distinguishes the Magus, but also gives him a profound knowledge of the true nature of Reality and therefore the beginning of wisdom.

Sinister empathy, is therefore essentially sensitivity and awareness of acausal energies and how these acausal energies are present in living beings, in Nature and/or present in the causal through some acausal being, or directly as "pure" acausal energy (i.e., acausal energy seeking to find some causal form in which to inhabit). To understand in common language - causal: demonic presence and possession within a person, or in a place perceived as "haunted", or an ephemeral or passing evil presence, looking for a body (alive or inanimate) to infest, for example also a "cursed" object. Left empathy, therefore, means sensitivity and ability to perceive at a sensorial, esoteric level, such "pure" and free energies (for example coming from the black mirror) or penetrated into a person, place or object, which is "possessed" or "haunted" by them.

The following techniques are used to develop acausal empathy:

• The Rite of the Adept. This rite is the primary and most effective means of developing acausal empathy and enables the aspiring Adept, given its rigor, simplicity and isolation, to attune to the acausal essence beyond causal forms. The ritual involves living for a period of not less than three months in a simple and hermitic manner, in an isolated place devoid of human habitation and human contact. This develops the faculty of acausal empathy and acquires the most important esoteric ability: being able, using this faculty, to open nexions for the acausal. The rite lasts half an alchemical season (from the spring equinox to the summer solstice in northern climates), which is the absolute minimum amount of causal time required to enable the aspiring Adept to acquire the necessary basic skills. The most advanced form, which lasts for one alchemical season (from the winter solstice to the summer solstice in northern climates), is more selective but is more effective and develops greater and stronger abilities.

• Exploring the sinister paths of the occult. These personal explorations allow the aspiring sorcerer to begin the process of objectifying causal forms and to develop the necessary skill that allows one to find, become sensitive to, and be able to distinguish between the different locations of esoteric energies, using both personal energies (energies in the psyche of the individual and limited to the lifespan of the individual or a period of that life), archetypal energies (energies shared between various individuals over long periods of causal time, often beyond the life of an individual), and acausal energies (beyond the two previous types).

In the "Black Souls" pages we'll explore the second method, that is, personal exploration of the occult as a technique for developing sinister empathy.