Editing Order of Nine Angles (section)

===Traditional Satanism and paganism===

{{Quote box
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| quote = "[Long] rejects the quasi-religious organization and ceremonial antics of the Church of Satan, the Temple of Set and other satanic groups. He believes that traditional satanism goes far beyond the gratification of the pleasure-principle and involves the arduous achievement of self-mastery, self-overcoming in a Nietzschean sense, and ultimately cosmic wisdom. His conception of satanism is practical, with an emphasis on individual growth into realms of darkness and danger through practical acts of prowess, endurance and the risk of life."
| source = — Scholar of esotericism Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2003|p=218}}
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Although it places little emphasis on the figure of [[Satan]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Doyle White |first=Ethan |title=Satanism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Satanism |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |year=2023 |language=en-GB |access-date=2025-05-14}}</ref>
the ONA describe their teachings as "Traditional Satanism".{{sfnm|1a1=Faxneld|1y=2013a|1p=207|2a1=Faxneld|2y=2013b|2p=88|3a1=Senholt|3y=2013|3p=250|4a1=Sieg|4y=2013|4p=252}} This is a term that has since also been adopted by [[Theistic Satanism|theistic Satanist]] groups like the Brotherhood of Satan.{{sfn|Faxneld|2013b|p=88}} Faxneld suggested that the Order's adoption of the word "traditional" was part of a "conscious strategy to build legitimacy" by harking back to "arcane ancient wisdom",{{sfn|Faxneld|2013b|p=88}} drawing comparison with how some esotericists called their practices "[[Neopagan witchcraft|traditional witchcraft]]" to distinguish themselves from the dominant form of modern witchcraft, Wicca.{{sfn|Faxneld|2013a|pp=207–208}}

R. Parker, a writer associated with the ONA, has stated that the group is not "strictly satanist or strictly Left Hand Path" but rather uses Satanism and the Left Hand Path as what it calls "causal forms", "that is, as techniques/experiences/ordeals/challenges" to encourage the practitioner on the path to wisdom.{{sfn|Shah|Cooper|Newcombe|2023|p=4}} Parker described the Order more specifically as "a sinisterly-numinous mystic tradition".{{sfn|Shah|Cooper|Newcombe|2023|p=4}}

The ONA strongly criticises other Satanist groups like the Church of Satan and the [[Temple of Set]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=2003|1p=293|2a1=Baddeley|2y=2010|2p=155|3a1=Shah|3a2=Cooper|3a3=Newcombe|3y=2023|3p=6}} deeming them "sham-Satanic" because they embrace the "glamour associated with Satanism" but are "afraid to experience its realness within and external to them".{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=293}} In the view of the ONA, these groups' attempts to codify themselves as institutions and profess their commitment to "ethical religion" replicates the dominant status quo rather than reacting against it.{{sfn|Shah|Cooper|Newcombe|2023|p=6}} In turn, the Church of Satan has criticised what they alleged was the ONA's "paranoic insistence that they are the only upholders of Satanic tradition".{{sfn|Kaplan|1998|p=115}} Kaplan characterised these comments as being part of "the intramural tensions" common within "the world of Satanism".{{sfn|Kaplan|1998|p=115}}

Monette argued that "a critical examination of the ONA's key texts suggests that the satanic overtones could be cosmetic, and that its core mythos and cosmology are genuinely hermetic, with pagan influences."{{sfn|Monette|2013|p=87}} Modern pagan elements have also been identified in the Order's teachings.{{sfn|Doyle White|2018|p=158}} The group presents itself as having pre-Christian origins, describes Satanism as "militant paganism",{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=293}} and claims that the "true ethos" of Western civilisation is "pagan in essence".{{sfn|Doyle White|2018|p=161}} It has claimed that some practitioners undergo "black pilgrimages" to prehistoric ceremonial sites around Shropshire and Herefordshire,{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2003|p=220}} and, according to Goodrick-Clarke, publishes material evoking the idea of it being a tradition rooted "in English nature".{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2003|p=219}} Various references are made to aspects from Northern European pre-Christian mythologies, for instance the Anglo-Saxon notion of [[wyrd]] and the Norse wolf [[Fenrir]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2018|p=161}} However, the ONA does not advocate the re-establishment of pre-Christian religions, with one ONA tract stating that "all past gods of the various Western Traditions are rendered obsolete by the forces which Satanism alone is unleashing".{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=293}}