You have heard it said, put to death what is earthly in you. But I say to you, indulgence of the flesh is the pleasure of life.

“Sermon of the Night Queen” The Book of Infernal prayer

Of all the Infernal virtues that have been explored in this series, Indulgence maybe the one I have been the most uncertain of how to approach. This is because the sin that is the basis for this virtue, gluttony, is the cause of an inordinate amount of physical ills in developed societies. Likewise, I venture to guess that more Theistic Satanists struggle with overeating and poor nutrition choices than do not.

The evolutionary basis of our bodies’ desire to overeat is simple enough to understand. When food sources are scarce or undependable, it is more advantageous to be over rather than underweight. You can always burn excess fat when food is hard to come by, but you can’t conjure a meal from thin air. Then problem for those of us in first and second world countries is that food is rarely scarce. Thus, we exist in a continuous time of feasting, with no cycle of famine to naturally balance us out.

The health risks of obesity are well document: increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, diabetes, certain cancers, osteoarthritis, depression, and sleep apnea. Cleary, the interests of most Devil worshippers will be better served by restricting their diet rather than going hog-wild.

So, why is this still a virtue? The Brethren of the Morningstar—taking cues from LaVey—partially address this by speaking of Indulgence rather than gluttony, which has a more expansive connotation that can be interpreted from a subjective basis. For some of us, or in certain seasons of life, indulgence may mean overeating. For others, indulgence will require eating a caloric deficit.

What the concept of Indulgence recognizes, and why this is still an infernal virtue, is that our relationship with food and drink is personal and may change over time. Tastes change. Needs change. External circumstances change. What makes sense for one Diabolist may not for another, and what makes sense today may not tomorrow.

What this virtue also negates is the entire religious concept of one diet being objectively more holy than another. Taboos and dietary restrictions are common among a variety of world religions. Jews and Muslims are forbidden to eat pork. Though few sects seem to stress it, the New Testament technically forbid Christians from eating blood and food offered to idols (Acts 15:29). Many Hindus abstain from beef for religious reasons, while some Buddhists and Hindus abstain from meat entirely. Most monastic traditions have rules surrounding how much their members may eat, the rational being that the less you are concern and with and nourished by the material, the better you are able to transcend this world and partake of the spiritual.

For the Devil worshipper there are no ritually unclean foods, nor will starving yourself make you any more or less holy in the eyes of our god and goddess. What you should and should not eat is entirely a matter of personal need and taste. You are free to indulge your culinary desires as you see fit.

Likewise, a Diabolist’s relationship to intoxicants is also a matter of personal choice. Indulge what and when you will, remembering that, for some, sobriety is its own indulgence. No Diabolist should ever feel they are required to partake of any substance they do not desire. If a ritual calls for the use of intoxicants a practitioner is uncomfortable with, an alternate substance can be found, that step of the ritual can be skipped, or the individual can abstain from that particular rite entirely. Let your will be your guide. The only caution I would add with regard to drugs is that more precaution and discernment should be exercised with them as the negative effects are much more acute than with regular food and drink. The risks of prosecution and jailtime must also be taken into consideration where applicable.

Truthfully, all of what has been said applies equally to all the things we consume in the loosest sense of the term. Music, movies, TV, books, pornography—all are materials we are free to consume as our personal tastes and desires dictate. Indulge or abstain to your heart’s content. Only be mindful that what we regularly put into our minds affects us as much as what we put into our bodies. Be further aware that media often contains much more than what is perhaps evident on the surface. Whether consciously or not, most media expresses the worldview of its creators in some form or another. Consume enough of one particular worldview and you will soon find yourself resonating with it and thinking in-line with its terms. What we consume intellectually can, at best and at worst, widen or narrow our horizons accordingly. It can challenge us to grow or sink our feet into the much of the past.

At root, the virtue of Indulgence denies that the truest and best course in life lies along the path of equilibrium. Rather, it instructs us to be embrace our desires and seek out sensual pleasures. The flip side of that coin, however, is that we must also accept that everything has a cost. You cannot lay hold of ecstasy without also laying hold of agony as well. For world-rejecting faiths, the answer to this dichotomy is to cultivate a state of indifferent non-desire. The Diabolist, however, places their feet in the deepest of hells, so that their head may touch the highest of heavens.

As Crowley writes in Liber AL vel Legis, “Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all sorrows are but as shadows; they pass and are done; but there is that which remains.” This is not to say that sadness is illusory or less real than happiness. In a sense, they are equally real and equally illusory. What it means is that joy contains both pleasure and pain, and to embrace existence is to wrap our arms around both. When we eat, we consume the body of Leviathan. When we drink, we drain Leviathan’s blood. Satiation and dissatisfaction are equally the manifested gloried of her Spirit within us. Learn to enjoy indulging in both.