Satanism and NLP

I have been doing some extended reading and looking through forms of applied psychology for personal, and Lesser Magic, reasons. I was curious of anyone's opinion on Neurolingusitc Programming, and Radical Constructivism. Of course the former is not my bag, I guess I don't see very much of it falling into Solipsism. However, Neurolinguistic Programming can be a quite useful way to apply the Balance Factor.

Of course these are views held by the Temple of Set, which I did some reading about. They have some useful books on their reading list, some however seem to delve into the whole Supernatural stint about Set and the "real" Prince of Darkness.

I was just talking about NLP with a friend earlier. I think it's a useful tool. Still working through a stack of books on the subject, and can't say that I've worked any remarkable transformations in myself or others with it yet, but...

Since I started studying NLP, I pay much more attention when I speak to people, and I notice things in my speech and their's that once sailed over my head.

I would recommend you to read this article:

PRETENDERS TO THE THRONE:

It has been written by Peter H. Gilmore, our present High Priest and Magus of the Church of Satan.

http://skepdic.com/neurolin.html

Long but worth reading just to get a different take on Neuro-linguistic programming.

I find some of the methods of NLP to be useful tools in Lesser/Greater Magic, but I don't buy into any of the egalitarian dogmas espoused by its leading proponents.

A good article, Discipline, even though I'm wary of the "skeptical community". I've often found "skeptics" to be just as antagonistic to Satanism and specifically the Church of Satan as creationists.

http://skepdic.com/satan.html

Look at that, entry for Anton LaVey leads to some shit disturber, and links to that old "Analysis Of The Church of Satan" article by a TOS affiliate.

>>A good article, Discipline, even though I'm wary of the "skeptical community". I've often found "skeptics" to be just as antagonistic to Satanism and specifically the Church of Satan as creationists.

Of course.

That doesn't mean their information on other topics is inaccurate.

I think Satanists should be skeptical of everything, even fringe ideas that might appeal to Satanists.

Since I take being the adversary to heart (even an adversary to my own beliefs and opinions), I tend to examine things to death.

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/neurolinguistic-programming-and-other-nonsense/

Interesting, at least it will provide a counterpoint.

I actually first heard of NLP through, of all places, an Anthony Robins course. I can certainly see how this could be incorporated into LM or even GM. I'm not about to divulge the fine details, though.

In terms of lesser magic, I think Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people" is by far some of the best material you can read and apply.

Agreed with Warlock here. Though we as Satanists can use what ever methods or techniques we feel successful to our personal purposes, I think that certain skepticism is and should always be the base of Satanism. The difference between Satanism and many other religions is that we base our understanding to science, logic and personal understanding, not just rules and regulations. So asking questions like why? and what for? is always more Satanic in my eyes than accepting truths as they are told..

Agreed. I'd add that--at least speaking of my own experience--some of Dale's suggestions don't habituate easily. I still have some well-ingrained though not very self-serving habits. When Dale's material is applied correctly, though, it works. I'm still learning it.

As I am still learning about NLP. From what I have so far gathered of it, NLP is really everywhere. Just came across this example the other day:

Is that door still open?

How many people absent-mindedly understand that question as an implied command/suggestion to close the door? I'm thinking many.

Of course, I'm sure there are a some here that would deliberately interpret it as a direct question and reply with Yes, it is, all the while still understanding the implied command.

It's a rather benign example, but I think it illustrates the use of learning about NLP. If one understands these mechanisms that most others don't notice, he can leverage them to his advantage.

That explanation seems to be just standard psychology.

Well, I'm no psychology major, for sure. I suppose NLP could be a kind of standard psychology just like How to Win Friends and Influence People is.

I would have thought that making people feel good about themselves to get from them was simple stuff, but not obvious, and I learned making it habit isn't simple, either. And, Dale's book sales would indicated the same of millions.

I think NLP could offer much the same, only instead of examining what makes people feel good about themselves, it examines how their speech reveals what makes them tick. Leveraging that is another story entirely.

* * *

It occurs to me that my example was just a poor example to highlight NLP with...

I'll keep this thread in mind and if I come across or remember one that really wows me, I'll chime in with it here.

Keep in mind that some people set their speech patterns for you to read, also. Not everyone is a blank page when it comes to behavioral psychology, even if they have developed their manipulation techniques for less than admirable reasons. Some leaches just act certain ways to get things and don't even realize the tactics they are employing.

I think most of us have been approached by that certain guy/gal who thinks they got it down and when they start to talk they lay it on so thick you can tell by their eyes and their general demeanor that they think they are getting away with something.

I have never read "how to win friends and influence people", but remember that learning these tactics benefits our purpose but some people have learned these tactics and use them as a survival method. Careful who you try to befriend or influence.

I have a large addition to this but I'm afraid I will append this version since it's "up here".

And the last NLP person I heard of did This

Has anybody approached the owner of skepdic about this? I've listened to him on the Skepticality podcast and he sounds like the kind of person who would change his view if it was pointed out to him that the source was biased.

The Skepticality podcast also actually got things right about Satanism and clearly stated that it is not devil-worship in one of their episodes where the topic came up.