Buzz
Cults often face widespread disbelief. Although history is filled with genuine cults, many individuals dismiss them as mere “conspiracy theories.” This mindset, however, is comparable to an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Cults are real, and some pose significant dangers.
The Order of Nine Angles is one such cult. This group has connections to neo-Nazi and anarchist factions, and its dedication to the “Left-Hand Path” has led to allegations of human sacrifice and murder. Exploring this organization offers a glimpse into extreme radicalism, where Satanism, political extremism, and hard-line Islamism intersect.
10. Origins
The Order of Nine Angles (ONA) was established in the UK by Anton Long. Long and his associates created ONA by merging various occult groups active in England at the time. Long claimed that his childhood travels across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, particularly the latter, exposed him to diverse religions. During this period, he also taught himself Greek, Arabic, and Persian.
Long himself admitted that during the early 1970s, he was drawn to society's darker aspects and eventually engaged in criminal activities. Soon, this emerging occultist joined forces with other British witches and warlocks, many of whom traced their lineage back to Britain’s ancient pagans. By the 1980s, the ONA started releasing publications asserting that their unique form of “sinister” occultism originated from the ancient Indo-European tradition of “solar paganism.” Anton Long and priestess Christos Beest argued in their writings that their Satanism aimed to resurrect Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic paganism in opposition to Christianity. They even authored a book titled The Black Book of Satan, which outlined a seven-step journey toward achieving the sinister.
9. Distinction
Some uninformed journalists associated the ONA with Anton LaVey and Michael Aquino. LaVey’s Church of Satan, established on Walpurgis Night in 1966, focused heavily on theatrics and self-promotion. Their so-called “bible,” The Satanic Bible, leaned more toward philosophy than theology. LaVey denied Satan’s existence and instead embraced the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand.
Michael Aquino, a former US Army officer, founded the Temple of Set, a Southern California-based occult group. Aquino advocated for what he termed “esoteric Satanism.” The Temple of Set split from the Church of Satan to pursue enlightenment free from Judeo-Christian moral constraints. Aquino’s followers aimed to transform themselves into individual deities.
The ONA, however, rejects these ideologies. They are theistic Satanists, meaning they worship Satan as a literal deity. For them, engaging in black magic and spreading chaos are acts of devotion to their dark god.
8. The Significance of David Myatt
David Myatt, a British national, has led a fascinating life. Born in Tanzania and raised in East Asia by his civil servant father, Myatt started practicing martial arts as a child. His early interest in global religions, such as Buddhism and Islam, eventually led him to political activism rather than academia or priesthood.
In 1969, Myatt joined the British Movement (BM), a far-right group established by Colin Jordan. Jordan, a polarizing figure in British politics, advocated for relocating Britain’s Jewish population to Israel, halting non-European immigration, and expelling black and Asian communities from the country. His provocative stance often resulted in violent clashes with Labour Party supporters and immigrant groups. Recognizing Myatt’s skills, Jordan appointed him as his personal bodyguard.
By 1974, Myatt founded the National Democratic Freedom Movement, a blatantly neo-Nazi group that published the newspaper British News. Myatt’s involvement in street fights led to frequent arrests. Simultaneously, he worked with London-based Thelemites and ONA members, influencing the ONA to adopt National Socialist racial ideologies and the belief that Christianity was a religion for the subservient.
In 1998, Myatt embraced Sunni Islam and subsequently sought to merge extremist Islamist ideologies with neo-Nazi principles of political upheaval.
7. Connections to Right-Wing Organizations
Under the influence of David Myatt and other British activists, the ONA started forming alliances with right-wing groups across Europe. In some cases, these groups independently adopted the ONA’s philosophies and ideologies.
French journalist Christian Bouchet is one intellectual shaped by the ONA’s ideas. In 1991, Bouchet, a prominent figure in France’s far-right political scene, established the Nouvelle Resistance, a revolutionary nationalist movement, and the pan-European European Liberation Front. Bouchet’s ideologies were shaped not only by the ONA’s Aryanism but also by the works of American author Francis Parker Yockey and Savitri Devi, the founder of “Esoteric Hitlerism.”
In New Zealand, Kerry Bolton’s Black Order drew direct inspiration from the ONA, while Germany’s National Socialist Underground was similarly influenced. Recently, one of Germany’s longest trials concluded with Beate Zschape of the NSU being found guilty of ten murders.
6. Connections to the Left
The ONA prides itself on embracing diverse perspectives. Consequently, its membership includes individuals aligned with left-wing ideologies. While much attention has been given to the group’s ties to right-wing organizations, the ONA’s theology, which celebrates chaos, has also resonated with anarchist groups known for acts of vandalism.
The ONA explicitly states that it “supports anarchism” as the ideology most aligned with black magic. For its members, fostering anarchy is seen as beneficial, as they believe suffering and upheaval lead to wisdom and enlightenment. Thus, the ONA opposes organized society and its structures. This philosophy has been adopted by various small anarcho-communist groups, though the ONA’s ties to the left are less concrete compared to its right-wing connections.
5. The Atomwaffen Division
The American neo-Nazi organization Atomwaffen Division has been frequently associated with the ONA. In March 2018, The Daily Beast reported on internal conflicts within the group, highlighting how its Satanist faction declared war on non-Satanic members. Journalist Kelly Weill noted that James Cameron Denton, the alleged leader, had previously shared ONA imagery online. Denton and his followers reportedly reconcile Satanism with the ONA’s ideology, which encourages infiltration of extremist groups, while other Atomwaffen members reject this alignment.
The Atomwaffen Division is far from a marginal group. They have distributed flyers on American university campuses, possess significant armaments, and have previously threatened to attack the US government and the nation’s power grids. The group was also implicated in the murder of college student Blaze Bernstein. Samuel Woodward, Bernstein’s killer and a former Atomwaffen member, confessed in court that he targeted Bernstein, who was Jewish, because of his sexual orientation.
4. The Objectives of the ONA
The primary aim of the ONA and its adherents is to usher in the so-called New Aeon. The group asserts that the contemporary world has collapsed under the weight of global capitalism, consumerism, religious extremism, and environmental degradation, all of which they attribute to Magian (Judeo-Christian) cultural and political influences. They believe the New Aeon will emerge once humanity reverts to its tribal origins.
The ONA also holds that the New Aeon will be initiated by Vindex, a revolutionary figure destined to restore justice. Vindex, akin to Achilles, will be a semi-divine warrior with a predetermined purpose. His fulfillment of this destiny will herald the arrival of the New Aeon.
To accelerate the arrival of the New Aeon, the ONA advocates for the widespread dissemination of its “sinister” principles. Members are urged to infiltrate radical organizations, particularly those with a predominantly youthful membership.
3. Human Sacrifice
The ONA is notorious within the Satanic community for being one of the few groups that advocates for human sacrifice. According to their beliefs, taking a human life is a form of “powerful magick” that releases energy, which can then be harnessed and utilized by practitioners. The ONA claims that their pagan ancestors in England performed human sacrifices every 17 years to preserve “cosmic balance.”
ONA members adhere to the concept of “culling,” a practice where the victim supposedly chooses their own demise. Some ex-members allege that Myatt remains active in the group, urging followers to engage in criminal activities and murders as part of their magical rituals.
2. The Seven Fold Way
At the heart of the ONA’s philosophy lies the Seven Fold Way, a structured hierarchy of occult practitioners. Each level of the Seven Fold Way signifies a distinct stage of occult mastery. The ONA’s approach to occultism emphasizes rigorous discipline, intellectual depth, and physical resilience.
The ONA’s seven-tier hierarchy of mastery includes: 1) Neophyte, 2) Initiate, 3) External Adept, 4) Internal Adept, 5) Master/Mistress, 6) Grand Master/Mousa, and 7) Immortal. The exact number of members at each level remains unclear, though estimates suggest the ONA has over 1,000 members worldwide.
1. The Dark Gods
In ONA theology, the Dark Gods are a collection of malevolent deities residing in the acausal realm, a dimension linked to our causal world. This acausal realm operates outside conventional time and possesses more than three spatial dimensions. The Dark Gods can influence the minds of practitioners, a concept reminiscent of Lovecraftian lore. Similarly, the ONA prophesies a new era when these Dark Gods will merge the acausal and causal realms.
Baphomet, one of the Dark Gods, is revered as both the mother and bride of Satan. This goat-headed deity, associated with femininity, is believed to be the progenitor of all demons. Historically, the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping Baphomet by multiple sources.
The remaining Dark Gods in the ONA pantheon are entirely unique to the group, with no direct ties to traditional Western occult practices.
