By the way – I’ve now started a Glossary section on the site, where definitions useful in the context of discussion on this blog will be posted. Take a peek – it will significantly grow over time.

Within the context of the Church of Satan, “Lesser Magic” can be defined as social engineering or manipulation of people to further one’s own ends. Anton LaVey wrote an entire book on the subject, and his in home “Witch School” predates and proceeds the Church itself. His own life (and the lives of many of his heroes) is a textbook example of this.

What we’re going to talk about here is the actual objective mechanisms behind what can be called Lesser Magic, as currently understood by hard science today.

“Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an approach to changing socially useful behaviors that employs scientifically established principles of learning to bring about these changes” (Kearney 19). ABA is the only objectively verifiable school of psychology, and is considered a hard, and not a social one. The basics are actually quite easy to understand for the reasonably intelligent, but even the definition found above contains some very precisely defined terms (that are not quite correctly defined by their common usage).

My time is short, and writing out an ABA 101 post is both boring for me and redundant to do – there are plenty of “layman” introductory sources to learn these things from. My current, in print and redily accessable (and cheap) favorite here is quoted above – Albert J. Kearney’s “Understanding Applied Behavior Analysis: An Introduction to ABA for parents, teachers, and other professionals”. Wonderful, yet short, introduction.

Go get the book – he introduces these concepts far better then I can, and why reinvent the wheel anyways? If you are cheap or can’t afford the book, google Applied Behavior Analysis. I don’t care if you deem me full of shit and this blog useless – this book belongs on the shelf of every Satanist. That’s a plain Amazon link above – I don’t need your money.

Get a feel for ABA, and suspend your uninformed opinion as to it’s validity. Next couple of posts will rely on this information.

This context requires some precise definitions to be comprehensible, even at a basic level.

(Edit: In private conversation, a prominent member of the CoS reminds me that the team is Lesser Magic, and not Lesser Black Magic. This is a failure in editing on my part, and has been corrected (and the catch appreciated))

(2nd Edit: one more correction became necessary, which actually illustrates the mechanism of Behavior Shaping via Rule-Governed (or Verbal) Behavior. Bonus question – can you describe this mechanism?)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Damn, that’s three posts in one day. Maybe I should get back to work….

As you’ve no doubt guessed, “Richard Cerno” is a pseudonym, chosen to protect my professional identity. Those who need to know have my true name, so if you need to ask, you don’t need to know. For the bottom feeders reading this, Richard Cerno is comprised of exactly two words – “Richard” reflecting the organ I most love to exercise (lust being my favorite vice), and “Cerno”, a latin verb meaning “to sift, to understand, to know”.

I am a businessman and an engineer, located in sunny California. I’ve been around the Band Camp of Silicon Valley for many a year, honing my skills, making money, building influence, and forming alliances. I consume knowledge in my spare time, with marketing, psychology (specifically, Behavioral Analysis), economics, and political science being my primary diet. Before you ask, yes, I do work in advertising, and can back my successes up in this field with clear, objective statistics. I am a musician as well, specifically a vocalist and guitar player, and have collaborated in many musical projects (and genres) over the years.

I am a lifelong, natural Satanist, the realization of which came from hard life experience living all over the world and the purposeful study of human nature. I am a more recent member of the Church of Satan, and wholly subscribe to his writings. My deepest interest in the Church involves the further development of what Magister James Sass calls, “Deep Satanism”

I do stay crunchy in milk, and fresh in the refrigerator for many months. Both my penis and my tongue are fully functional.  Some assembly required. If I don’t piss you off, then you’re not thinking, but remember: just because you’re pissed, doesn’t mean you’re correct. If you’re not thinking, then off to the desert with Ipissmuss’ Laurel and Hardy for you.

Welcome to the Boardroom. I speak for no one other then myself. If you find these posts of value, then stick around and pull up a chair.

After much reflection, I have concluded without reservation that becoming an Active Member in the CoS is what I want to do, and I want this for more then simple ego gratification reasons. This post explores some of this self analysis.

From the very beginning, I have been clear on two things: 1) That I was a Satanist, as described in the writings of Anton LeVay, and 2) At the very least, I needed to mail a check into the CoS for membership as a small thanks to him and his church. But Active Membership is more. To me, it demanded a detailed and methodical examination of many things. What does Active Membership mean to me? What are the risks involved? The benefits? What are my real motivations for pursuing this? Do I really agree wholeheartedly with all the tenets of the Church.

And the most important of all: While the Philosophy of Satanism describes me completely, am I willing to commit to the Religion as the CoS describes it? Don’t dismiss this question outright, as they are certainly different things. The Philosophy of Satanism is a very Atheistic, Humanistic one, which provides axioms for understanding oneself and the world. I’ve known hundreds of people in my life who act accordingly, unconsciously. This occurs because the tenets of LaVey’s writings are based on observational behaviors – it describes the natural state of the animal called man. The Religion of Satanism takes this one step further, and provides both a vehicle whereby ritualistic dogma can and must be applied to further ones desires and passions, and an absolute, unshakable resolution for the first outcome of all of the basic CoS tenets: If the tenets of the CoS are wholly true, and one accepts them as this, then one has accepted complete, full and total responsibility for one’s life. There is no one to blame for anything in one’s life but oneself. There are no longer any excuses. 

This process was absolutely necessary for me – an unexamined life is the way of the sheep, particularly in a Working so important as this. I have concluded that, yes, this is where I belong, and this is truly who I am: a Satanist through and through, balls to bone. I want this, and I will have it.

So, this site has been brought back (such that it is, at the moment), and my Active Membership form has been complete. Over the next few posts, I will be sharing some of my answers to the questions on the application.\

Welcome back to the Boardroom.