MY FINDINGS CONCERNING SATANISM

Okay, I know... I'm a pagan, so what am I doing including a page on Satanism here?!?  Well - I couldn't help but notice the amount of shite this relgion and its followers have to cop by the misinformed masses - and yes, that does include Pagans!  Due to the bad reputation, many of the misinformed steer clear of looking deeper into the topic for some subconscious fear... but I've done a little bit of research and can't help but stand on my soapbox and rant and rave with some basic facts to back me up.  Of course it goes without mention that if you are a Satanic and are browsing this page, you probably won't find anything astonishingly new here, but if you happen to notice any errors in my research please inform me so I may correct them.

All right.  Let's get started.  It may go to interest some that there are three branches (or types) of Satanism, all coming under the one collective label.  Generally speaking though, when a person describes themselves as Satanic, you can bet your lucky dollar they are referring to Modern (or La Veyan) Satanism, and are a follower of the Church of Satan.  The other two types are Gnosticism (also known as Setianism - these people follow the Temple of Set), and Gothic Satanism (or Traditional Satanism).  I will attempt to discuss all three. La Veyan (Modern) Satanism has its home base in the Church of Satan, which is located in San Francisco, California.  It was founded by Anton La Vey in the 1960's (possibly earlier?), and views Satan not as a deity, but rather as a principle of life.  He is a symbol representing power, virility, sexuality and sensuality (all the things deemed as "naughty" by the Catholic Church) and is referred to as a "preferred archetype".  They DO NOT worship him (in fact I am under the belief that they do not worship ANY form of deity), and you can draw the conclusion that they do not make sacrifices to him, and are not granted nasty powers from him either.  La Veyan Satanism also follows the teachings of the Satanic Bible (excerpts may be read here), which was written by Lex Satanicus (?) in 1967 under the supervision of La Vey.  There are stories that much of the material contained within the Satanic Bible was plaguerised by La Vey, but I haven't personally seen anything to confirm this. Gnosticism (Setianism) is a branch off of La Veyan Satanism.  It was founded by Michael Aquino, who was originally a member of the Church of Satan and a friend/close associate of Anton La Vey.  His views however were slightly different from La Vey's, and so the two grew apart, and Aquino left to form Setianism and denounced the Church of Satan.  The main difference between the two is that Setianism views Satan not as a natural life force, but as a deity. It is important to note that Gnosticism accepts Satan as the pre-Christian deity, and not as some demonic god.  He actually takes on the form of the pre-dynastic Egyptian god Set; ritualistically known as Set-ten (hence the modernisation of the name), and is also known as Seth or Typhon.  He is NOT the Lord of Evil, and is not regarded as part of the universal forces.  He is often pictured as a man with an animal head (often a hyena), and not the goat-footed, red-horned demon of Christian mythology.  However, they do not worship Set as a god.  Gnostics take the Nine Deadly Sins as outlined by the Church of Satan as restrictions on humanity and explore them to their limits, with emphasis placed on self-control.

Gothic (or Traditional) Satanism is the nasty one responsible for all those horrific rumours.  You see, the Catholic Church proclaimed that throughout the country, witches would gather for Black Masses on the Pagan date of Samhein.  Covens existed in numbers of thirteen, and activities occuring at these Black Masses would centre around worship of the Christian Devil.  Members of covens would dance and chant at midnight until the devil appeared, and he would grant people unnatural powers (such as the ability to turn into an animal, disappear at will, control minds, etc.) in exchange for their souls.  The Catholic Priests also said that these people were often female, as females hold a weakness for such things, and any suspicious behaviour labelled the poor woman as being a devil worshipper and had her put through the trials of purification and burned at the stake.

Needless to say, Gothic Satanism originated during the Inquisition (aka the Burning Times), and is at large an imaginary religion (I have not as yet been able to find any accurate information concerning this particular path - only what the Catholic Church has to say of it).  It is responsible for not only the reputation of Satanics as a whole, but also all witches who are persecuted as being junkies, drunks, twisted idiots who sacrifice children and animals, mass murderers, devil worshippers, sex-crazed maniacs, and the list continues. Both Gothic and Gnostic Satanics believe in reincarnation.  This body they are currently in will die, their soul continues on and is anchored within the body of another (animal or human), and their memories of this life are added to the bank of knowledge in the subconscious and so the cycle continues.  Modern Satanics however believe in the soul as a form of bi-level consciousness, rather than simple energy.  When you die, your soul returns to a collective consciousness, and resides within Sheol (a place of half-material existence) either for the rest of eternity or until they choose to reincarnate again.  While in this in-between state, they may influence events by willing the change to occur, and not having the limitations of the flesh to deal with.  When/if they do choose to reincarnate, their new incarnation bears no conscious memory of the previous lives or the time spent in Sheol. Now... as for some similarities between the three.  ALL Satanics are critical of belief systems other than their own.  This is mainly due to the fact that Satanism teaches a person to think for themselves, strengthen themselves and that the need for worship is experienced by the weak.  Because of this, they have a remarkable knack for spotting loop holes in other's beliefs and philosophies.  It comes as no surprise that Christianity, particularly Catholicism, is regarded in a remarkably bad light by all Satanics (I wonder why?), although they do tolerate a person's right to be a Christian, and are not usually outwardly aggressive (though I did once see some idiot Christian standing on a street corner get his lights knocked out for sticking a "Jesus loves you" flyer up a Satanist's nose... but that was provoked).  It may come as a surprise to some that Satanists also regard the Wiccan tradition very poorly also.  This is partially due to Wicca's exclusive practice of white magick (they only practice magick which is beneficial to all - the "nastiest" kind of spell that is in keeping with Wicca is a binding).  However, this is largely due to the Wiccan's efforts to kiss ass to the Christians and their attempts at uniting the Church of Wicca with the Church of Christ (this is hypocracy due to the fact that Wiccans were just as badly persecuted as the Satanists were during the Inquisition).  Satanism sees Good and Evil as both being natural forces, and as such should ideally be practiced equally.  Wicca certainly doesn't do this. All Satanists are on a quest for knowledge, as knowledge leads to power.  Remarkably, the quest for knowledge is also denoted by Christianity (they don't seem to approve of much, do they?), as demonstrated by Adam and Eve when they partook of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.  This then cursed them to become outcasts, and thus labels knowledge as "evil".  Knowledge conquers fear, so it is that when a Satanic fears something, they will confront that fear and learn from that experience, rather than cry and run screaming from it. Another important fact to note is that "man is just another animal".  Satanists recognise this and do not place humankind on a pedestal as being any higher than any other creature.  Sometimes humankind is regarded as lower than another being.  They do not deny reality and are very much realists.  What I found particularly interesting is that Satanists do not (on the whole) harrass others.  No matter what race or gender you are, whether you are fat or thin, no matter what your sexual preference - all of this is of no concern to the Satanist.  There is nothing that says they must find all this appealing, nothing that says they must spend time with you or like you... and so there is no need for them to harrass you in regards to these matters.  They judge a person for the whole person, not their preferences or particulars.  I find this to be quite likeable. Whie I'm babbling, I might as well mention that all forms of Satanism work to preserve the seperation of church and state.  I completely agree with this - Christianity is hardly practical, and it hardly constitutes any form of lifestyle.

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You've probably gathered that while I support Satanism, I do not follow it or consider myself as being a Satanic.  Because of this, if you are Satanic and have found errors in my findings, then please drop me a line and let me know, so I can correct them. The majority of information I have gathered has come from: The Abyss and Hr Vad's Homepage of Satanism If you are after further information regarding Satanism, then you can't really go wrong at the Church of Satan's official webpage. For further information regarding Setianism (Gnosticism), The Temple of Set are probably most able to answer your questions (or fears).  Click here to e-mail the Ozzie headquarters of the ToS (located in New South Wales).