The 'Black Book of Satan' of the Order of Nine Angles: Text with Annotations

The Order of Nine Angles, David Myatt and Threat Inflation

Within the realm of ‘terrorism studies’ and in wider media discourse, the name of the ‘Order of Nine Angles’ (O9A), conventionally described as a Nazi Satanist organisation, has become increasingly prominent in recent years, partly on account of some well-publicised instances of criminal activity in which the O9A’s name has come up. Most notable in this regard is the case of Ethan Melzer, who was sentenced in March 2023 to 45 years in prison for attempting to murder American military personnel, material support for terrorism, and illegal transmission of information.

According to the press release on his sentencing, Melzer had infiltrated the U.S. army “in service of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and jihadist group” (referring to O9A), and he is described as having been a “member of O9A,” whose supposed members are encouraged to carry out ‘insight roles’ to gain experience and prepare to commit acts of violence, all as part of the ultimate aim of causing the “demise of Western civilisation.” Part of Melzer’s plans for a “jihadi attack” within the U.S. army involved communicating with a purported member of al-Qa‘ida, and the release also notes that Melzer consumed Islamic State propaganda.

Melzer’s case and other instances of murder and criminal activity have been used to promote the idea that the O9A constitutes an extremely dangerous threat, with Nick Lowles of ‘Hope Not Hate’ describing O9A as “the most extreme and dangerous far right group operating in Britain” (and also the whole world, apparently) while calling for it to be outlawed as a terrorist organisation. A similar impression was conveyed by the ‘Counter-Extremism Project’, which once described David Myatt as the founder of O9A and listed him as one of the world’s “top 20 most dangerous extremists around the world.”

While these assertions make for a frightening portrayal, they are also simplistic and sensationalist, and they have been effectively challenged by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Emelie Chace-Donahue in their academic study of O9A published in the journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. In trying to document an O9A worldview, the authors justifiably emphasised that it is the writings of ‘Anton Long’ (often thought to be a pseudonym for Myatt) that should be given more weight in trying to determine the foundation of that worldview.

To be sure, these authors do not remotely argue that O9A is somehow a benign phenomenon. On the contrary, they are quite clear that O9A has “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” connections to “violent extremism.” Intrinsically speaking, there exist texts put out in the name of O9A that could drive self-proclaimed adherents of O9A to commit violent acts (e.g. discussions of “culling” in O9A-branded literature could be interpreted as incitements to murder) or join violent extremist groups (e.g. the encouragement to do so as fulfilling an “insight role”), while extrinsically speaking, aspects of “O9A philosophy” could attract people who are already members or adherents of an extremist group.

Rather, an issue of over-simplification lies in confidently speaking of O9A as an organisation in the sense of having a clearly defined and knowable structure with recognisable and proven command-and-control, presenting an obstacle to designating O9A as a terrorist organisation. Thus, as Gartenstein-Ross and Chace-Donahue note, “It is difficult to prove that specific illegal activities, including those connected to violent extremism, bear a definitive connection to O9A. O9A’s organizational design makes it unclear if any individual is an associate, member, or unaffiliated.”

This murkiness contrasts very much with the case of the Islamic State (for an example of comparison). In the case of the Islamic State, there are essentially two conceptions of membership. One form of membership is that a person can formally be part of the organisation’s ranks in ‘Islamic State central’ in Iraq and Syria or one of its provincial affiliates around the world stretching from the Philippines to West Africa. The other form of membership consists of proving one’s oath of allegiance (bay‘a) to the Islamic State’s caliph and conducting an attack against recognised ‘enemies’ of the Islamic State (e.g. citizens of ‘Crusader coalition’ countries that have fought against the Islamic State). In the latter case, even if there was no contact with known Islamic State members in Iraq, Syria or other countries where the group operates provincial branches, the oath of allegiance and legitimacy of the attack by the individual or group of individuals would be sufficient to be recognised in the Islamic State’s official propaganda as a ‘soldier’ of the Caliphate. Thus, a common thread binds these two conceptions of membership: a declared oath of loyalty to the Islamic State’s caliph, who serves as the overall leader in an organisation that has an discernible command-and-control structure.

There is no comparable membership criterion in the O9A in the sense of declaring an oath of allegiance to a recognisable leader in a hierarchical structure, though there is apparently an “oath of kindred honour” whereby adherents of the O9A’s philosophy swear to be loyal to each other.

The other issue of over-simplification concerns the esoteric and contradictory nature of materials put out and promoted by those who proclaim to be involved with the O9A: an issue touched upon by Gartenstein-Ross and Chace-Donahue. I would add that regardless of whether one accepts the notion that Long is Myatt, the fact is that Myatt is often referenced in writings put out in the name of O9A, is cited by Long , and seems to be widely admired among those who say they are adherents of the O9A.

Myatt’s own writings have varied widely over the past half-century or so. For decades, he promoted ‘National Socialism,’ and then gained notoriety for his apparent conversion to Islam with writings in support of Osama bin Laden and suicide bombings, and finally we have his writings since the early 2010s where he says that he has now rejected extremism, saying (for example) that Western societies now are better than those elsewhere and in the past because of their upholding of values such as tolerance and freedom of expression. Some of these later writings, on the surface, stand plainly at odds with writings put out under the name of Long or in the name of the O9A. For example, a recurring talking point in Long/O9A writings is a rejection of the “Nazarene” aspect (i.e. the Christian aspect/heritage) of Western society. In contrast, Myatt, under his own name, has written in defence of the Catholic Church and expresses appreciation for Western Christian music.

It may of course be argued that those later writings are a ruse to fool naive observers, but I find this to be implausible. The business of being an ‘ex-extremist’ can potentially be quite lucrative, yet I see no evidence that Myatt has profited off marketing himself as a former extremist, such as going on lecture circuits, presenting at conferences, writing in leading newspapers etc. I would rather say that Myatt’s more recent writings contribute to the contradictory and esoteric nature of the broader milieu of literature consumed by those who proclaim to be aficionados of O9A and Myatt. To borrow an analogy that was once applied to the Qur’an, the wider corpus is now somewhat like a supermarket, and the aficionados can take what they want from it. Some who proclaim adherence to the O9A may well believe that neo-Nazism can bring down the present ‘system’ that is deemed corrupt, and by extension believe in engaging in criminal and terroristic activity, partly drawing on Myatt’s older neo-Nazi writings. Others may just like Myatt’s poetry and his translations of Ancient Greek literature (such as the Corpus Hermeticum) and meditate on them and pursue a life of seclusion.

As a digression for the sake of proper disclosure, I should mention that I have been aware of Myatt and his writings since I was around 14 or 15. I remember having first come across him listed on Wikipedia as a convert from ‘Paganism’ to Islam, which sparked my curiosity and led me to examine some of his writings. While I never took any of his extremist political writings seriously, I do remember using some of his poems (most notably ‘In the Night’, which I quite like) to practise unseen poetry commentary for my GCSE English Literature exam, and while my teacher at the time thought my commentary on ‘In the Night’ was quite good considering the poem’s “limited scope” (or words to that effect), he told me that another Myatt poem was “truly dreadful and could be bettered by an able 15-year-old” (or words to that effect, and I don’t think that poem is available online anymore). Regardless, using some of Myatt’s poems for commentary practice certainly helped me in my final GCSE English Literature exam. Indeed, I scored nearly full marks in GCSE English Literature.

Later on, I corresponded with Myatt in the period 2011-2013, most notably querying his translation of fragment 1 attributed to the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus. Myatt provided a courteous response to my query, and put up a blog post about the matter on one of his sites with credit to me. I should add that unlike most of those who comment on O9A and Myatt, I do read Ancient Greek and can judge his translations, which strike me as idiosyncratic though generally accurate and acceptable. In addition, at the present time I am in occasional correspondence with him.

None of this of course is to deny the grave harm that Myatt has caused with his past neo-Nazi and Islamist writings (and many of his ‘Satanist’ writings as Anton Long, if he is in fact Anton Long)- harm that he would acknowledge in his present writings that claim to reject extremism. In addition, so long as the Internet exists, his past writings are likely to remain in circulation even long after he is dead, propagating the potential for harm. However, if Nick Lowles is wondering why the authorities are not taking action against Myatt, it is certainly not because the authorities are somehow soft on him and the O9A. Rather, it seems fairly likely that given Myatt’s record of extremist writings, the authorities have kept a close eye on him, but there is simply no evidence to suggest that Myatt is presently involved in the encouragement, preparation or committing of acts of terrorism and criminal violence. If there were such evidence, he would surely have been arrested and formally charged by now.

In the end, the question boils down not to whether the O9A and Myatt are forces for good in this world, but whether the O9A threat is being inflated here. I do think there is a clear case of threat inflation. This is not to say that no threat is posed by those who use the name and brand of O9A or that those who warn of the O9A are being disingenuous, but rather I am simply saying that threats need to be put in proper perspective. As Gartenstein-Ross and Chace-Donahue concluded:

"Finally, it is necessary to highlight and continually reassess the operational impacts of the O9A movement. To date, the movement’s impact appears to be minimal overall. As this article establishes, though O9A’s philosophy and practice has meaningful overlaps with extremism, it has yet to substantively translate at the movement level to high membership numbers or clearly identifiable acts of violent extremism. With little evidence of its actual practice, there is a risk of allowing O9A to write its own narrative or propagate a fictional story for effect. Although O9A’s overarching narrative is worth examining, in part so observers will understand what they are seeing as they encounter aspects of this philosophy and narrative, it is also worth treading cautiously and evaluating the movement based on what it has actually done. This is not meant to downplay the threat posed by O9A, but rather to highlight the importance of tracking whether the O9A movement will evolve and grow in fulfillment of its philosophy."

For my part, I believe that the threat inflation here is partly due to a broader trend of psychological overcompensation. With the disasters that have followed the declaration of the ‘War on Terror’ in the aftermath of 9/11, it seems as though there is a sense of guilt for a perceived overreaction to jihadism, and thus there is a perceived need to compensate by launching the real ‘War on Terror’ that goes after the far-right, giving rise to a broader trend of threat inflation that has been touched on by Jacob Zenn.

In summary, I put forth the following propositions:

1. There are clearly writings under the names of O9A, Long and Myatt that are harmful or can be construed for harmful purposes.

2. An organisational structure for O9A has not been definitively established to illustrate a clear organisational structure with command-and-control. Moreover, definitively tying the O9A in an organisational sense to specific criminal acts is difficult. This poses obstacles for notions of designating it as a terrorist organisation.

3. As a phenomenon, O9A is still very marginal, and certainly cannot be seen as posing a danger comparable to that of a designated terrorist organisation like the Islamic State (which virtually kills people on a daily basis).

4. Even so, people using the name of O9A and engaging or attempting/plotting to engage in criminal and terrorist activity should be arrested at the earliest possible opportunity. In such instances, there should be thorough investigation regarding suspects’ use of the O9A name and whether the information retrieved should lead to a re-assessment of point 2.

5. Unless some new evidence comes to light, the notion that Myatt himself presently poses a criminal or terrorist threat is absurd. It is also ridiculous to characterise him presently as one of the world’s most dangerous extremists.

6. There is a need for better understanding of the esoteric aspects of O9A philosophy and the terminology in O9A discourse, as well as better understanding of the writings of Myatt. In this regard, knowledge of languages such as Latin and Ancient Greek would be very helpful, but at present there is a lack of such specialisation among those who have examined the O9A and Myatt.

In this post, I provide a limited remedy to the problem raised in point 6. I present here a copy of Anton Long’s “Black Book of Satan,” which could be considered a part of ‘O9A canon’ so to speak, containing instructions for a number of O9A ceremonies. This print copy of the work comes from a limited print edition by Thormynd Press, which also used to print many of Myatt’s writings (a fact that has been used to link Myatt with Long/O9A). Rather than providing a detailed commentary on the work, my annotations are limited to translating phrases of Latin and Greek that occur. In general, however, the orgiastic aspects of the O9A rituals become very apparent, as well as the clear subversive parodying of Christian ceremony.

On right-hand page:

Veni, omnipotens aeternae [sic] diabolus!- “Come, all-powerful eternal devil!”

The “Veni” chant: the “come” chant.

Suscipe, Satanas, munus quod tibi offerimus memoriam recolentes, Vindex- “Receive, Satan, the gift we offer you, as we reflect on remembrance of you, Vindex.”

Sanctissimi Corporis Satanas- “Satan of the most holy body.”

On the left-hand page:

Agios o Satanas- “Holy Satan”

On right-hand page:

Murotaccep menoissimer ni rutednuffe sitlum orp te sibov orp iuq iedif
muiretsym itnematset inretea ivon iem siniugnas xilac mine tse cih

(While this is seeming gibberish, in fact the Latin words have all been spelled backwards, such that it actually reads):

peccatorum remissionem in effundetur multis pro et vobis pro qui fidei
mysterium testamenti aeterni novi mei sanguinis calix enim est hic

“This is the chalice of my blood, of the eternal new testament, the mystery of faith,
Which will be poured out on behalf of you and behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.”

On right-hand page:

Sie anod namretae meiuqer

(Again, seeming gibberish but in fact Latin words reversed):

Dona eis aeternam requiem

“Grant them eternal rest.”

Veni, omnipotens aeterne diabolus!- “Come, all-powerful eternal devil!”

Agios o Satanas- “Holy Satan.”

Satanas- venire!- “Satan, come!”

Dominus diabolus sabaoth. Tui sunt caeli- “Lord Devil Sabaoth. The heavens are yours.”

Tua est terra!- “The Earth is yours!”

Ave Satanas!- “Hail to thee, Satan!”

On right-hand page:

Fratres, ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Satanas!- “Brethren, may my sacrifice and yours become acceptable in Satan’s eyes.”

locis muliebribus- “Women’s parts” (probably referring to a female’s private parts).

dignum et justum est- “It is worthy and just.”

On right-hand page:

Veni, omnipotens aeterne diabolus!- “Come, all-powerful eternal devil!”

The “Veni” chant: the “come” chant.

Left-hand page:

Agios o Satanas- “Holy Satan.”

On left-hand page:

Sanctus Satanas- “Holy Satan.”

On right-hand page:

Agios o Satanas- “Holy Satan.”

On left-hand page:

1. Devil

The day of anger, that day
Will reduce this world to ashes
While Satan bears witness with the Sibyl.
What great trembling there will be
When Vindex is to come
And strictly scrutinise everything.
The day of anger, that day!

2. Holy Satan

Holy Satan, Holy Lord
Devil Sabaoth.
Holy Satan, Holy.
Satan- come!
Satan- come!
Hail to thee, Satan, Hail to thee, Satan.
The heavens are yours.
The earth is yours
Hail to thee, Satan!

3. The rising splendour

The rising splendour of the eternal light
And Lucifer of justice: come
And illuminate those who are sitting in the dark
And in death’s shadow.

4. General chants:

To Satan, who makes my youth delightful.
Come, all-powerful eternal devil!
Devil, put protection in place.

Agios o Satanas- “Holy Satan.”

Agios o Baphomet- “Holy Baphomet.”

On left-hand page:

Holy Satan!
Holy Baphomet!
Holy Shugara/Holy Shugare!

On left-hand page:

Aperiatur terra et germinet CHAOS- “May the Earth be opened, and may Chaos sprout!”

On left-hand page

Holy Satan!
Come, all-powerful eternal devil!
Holy Baphomet!

On right-hand page:

Ad Satanas, qui laetificat iuventutem meam- “To Satan, who makes my youth delightful.”

Pone, diabolus, custodiam!- “Devil, put protection in place!”

On left-hand page:

Holy Satan!
Holy Baphomet!
To Satan, who makes my youth delightful.

On right-hand page:

Holy Satan!

On left-hand page:

Holy Baphomet!
Holy Atazoth!
Holy Satan!

On right-hand page:

esse filo captum palchritudinis [sic] suae, et nil amplius desiderare, quam eius amplexu frui, et omen concubitum [sic]- ex commixtione hominis cum Diabolo et Baphomet aliquoties nascunture homines, et tali modo nasicturm [sic] esse anti-Nazarenus

"To be captured by the thread of his/her comeliness, and to desire nothing more than to enjoy his/her embrace: and the omen of sexual intercourse- from the mixing of man with the Devil and Baphomet, men are born at different times, and in such a way will an anti-Nazarene be born."