 The ONA describe their occultism both as " Traditional Satanism " , and as a " mystical sinisterly @-@ numinous tradition " . According to Jesper Aagaard Petersen , an academic specialist of Satanism , the Order present " a recognizable new interpretation of Satanism and the Left Hand Path " , and for those involved in the group , Satanism is not simply a religion but a way of life . The Order postulates Satanism as an arduous individual achievement of self @-@ mastery and Nietzschean self @-@ overcoming , with an emphasis on individual growth through practical acts of risk , prowess and endurance . Therefore , " [ t ] he goal of the Satanism of the ONA is to create a new individual through direct experience , practice and self @-@ development [ with ] the grades of the ONA system being highly individual , based on the initiates ' own practical and real @-@ life acts , instead of merely performing certain ceremonial rituals " . Thus Satanism , the ONA assert , requires venturing into the realm of the forbidden and illegal in order to shake the practitioner loose of cultural and political conditioning . Intentionally transgressive , the Order has been characterised as providing " an aggressive and elitist spirituality " . Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey claimed that the ONA fit the stereotype of the Satanist " better than other groups " , something which he thought was deliberately achieved by embracing " deeply shocking " and illegal acts . 
