Introduction
Satan is not a real, living entity, conscious or a physical thing that can be interacted with. It is a symbol, something ethereal, something that basically doesn't exist except as an emotional attachment and personal dream. Just like Buddhists do not worship Buddha, Satanists hold up Satan as an ultimate principal rather than an object of literal worship. Satan inspires and provokes people, like all (honest) religions the ultimate point is self-help. God believers have a different opinion on what Satan is, but their opinion is a result of their religion. Satanism's Satan is much more eclectic and multicultural than to be defined by Christianity or Islam.
Satan is the dark force in nature representing the carnal nature and death of all living things. Satan is the best word to describe our powerful and independent symbolic figurehead and our opposition of God and organized religion accords with even traditional views of Satan. The materialism of Satanism (even the spiritual components are highly reductionist) is a direct challenge of God, Allah, and all or other religious symbols. Satan wishes to replace God. The Christian Bible and other artefacts of religion may be plundered and misused as required as they're merely Human inventions. The social engineering aspect shows through with our imagery and style, we control people with it.
Of course Satanism has denominations and widely varying beliefs. Many types of Satanism exist including some where Satan is seen as a living being. I think if there was a god, it would probably be an evil one. In these, thankfully, the basis of the belief is not the Christian Bible and I call these beliefs "Righteous Satan" theologies. All the elements of Satan I have just mentioned are discussed in more depth below and on the essays linked from this page.
Satan is inseparable from good. It only exists in our limited minds as we try and explain the world. A Satanist does not treat Good/Bad as Light/Dark. The descriptions are arbitrary. The Dark Force cannot be avoided, tamed, ignored or resisted against. We create it as we view the world. Every Satanist defines it differently. We feel it all the time - it is our ego, our intelligence and our errors all warping to form our observed reality. It is the potential for nothingness that exists wherever there is something. It is real life, necessity and materialism.
"Satanism is not a white light religion; it is a religion of the flesh, the mundane, the carnal - all of which are ruled by Satan, the personification of the Left Hand Path."
The Satanic Bible, The Book Of Lucifer p52
Satan is Not Real
" Communists do not believe in a deity called Commun but they do revere and hold up communes as an ideal.
Taoists do not worship the god Tao but, instead honor the philosophy and symbolism of the Tao.
Atheists do not worship the god Athe. Instead, they seek to live a lifestyle that is a-theist, i.e. "without god(s)."
Ventriloquists do not bow down and beg before the demon Ventriloqu. They study and practice the art of ventriloquism.
In the same way, many who use the term "Satanist" to describe themselves follow a cogent philosophy of life modeled upon the mythical literary character known as Satan, honoring his qualities, his rebellion and applying his name to the natural forces which so many white light religions oppose.
The narrow use of the term "Satanism" to mean only the worship of a devil deity misses the more robust and complex nuanced development of the word over the past 33 years or so. Perhaps considering it through the above contexts will help to understand the broader definition. Or perhaps the stupid and narrow-minded will continue to fail to grasp the concept."
Posted by RMerciless on alt.satanism, 1999 Sept
I add to the above post by RMerciless: What is Buddhism, and do Buddhists worship Buddha? No, Buddhists respect, revere and strive to be like Buddha, but they do not worship him. A Buddha is an enlightened person, Buddhism is atheistic and believes in spiritual life and reincarnation without the help of Gods.
Satanism is Satanism not due to our worship of any deity, but for the philosophy that we stand for. We recognize ourselves as gods, and we hold our own perspective on life as holy and revere our own experiences as the only truth we can ever know. [ See "Masters of Existence" for the essay on self worship ]
Satanism is the utter rejection of the spiritual way of theistic religions, and the honest admittance that we are just animals who evolve as any other complex system. The following justifications go further on the discussion on the Church Of Satan's idol, Satan:
Satan is the Dark Force in Nature 1
"Most Satanists do not accept Satan as an anthropomorphic being with cloven hooves, a barbed tail, and horns. He merely represents a force in nature - the powers of darkness which have been named just that because no religion has taken these forces out of the darkness"
Anton LaVey, The Satanic Bible Book of Lucifer IV
"Satan is the dark force in nature. Satanists do not see that nature contains a dark and light force, the dark force is nature. Nature is uncaring, part of it's natural processes is death. Satan is death, a returning to the Earth of one's own elements. Good is derived from chaos and evil and not from will or motive. Altruism is long term selfishness and the recognition of this forms the Satanists' reverence for the dark force in nature.
Satanism is called dark or evil by many because unlike white-light religions (such as Christianity, Islam, Paganism, Wicca and most other religions) it does not try to isolate what is "good" from what is "evil". There is no cosmic struggle between good and evil; all is gray and natural goodness is dependent and the same as natural evil."
"The Dark Force in Nature" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 July 22
Satan is the Self God 9
"People create gods in their own image according to their own desires. Gods are our creations. Within organized religion, people's opinion on their "god" is always individual and subjective but merely uses the terminology of their religion to describe their own god.
Outside of religion, people come up with their own terminology to describe "Gaia", Pantheism, Paganism, monotheism... depending on a person's will and need they search out gods that closely match what they themselves want. Gods are created according to our needs.
If a real God does exist, then we cannot perceive it. We can only perceive ourselves and our own expectations projected into the heavens. It is our own sense of ego that we feel from god. It is our own pride that makes us think we know the truth. God is the individual, and each individual may as well be his own god."
"Masters of Existence: Self Worship" by Vexen 1999 June 16.
"The first and second Book of Lucifer in The Satanic Bible expands on this idea greatly. Between religions and within religions, people have their own personal idea of what god is. Each individual has created their own god, in accordance with their own imagination and experience, and such a god is purely a projection of the ego. "Man has always created his gods, rather than his gods creating him" (The Satanic Bible: part of Book of Lucifer 1:1). The logical philosophy of god is that it is only ever a reflection of the self: That there is no universal god, that each of us is both his own god and redeemer. For Satanists, this state of affairs is represented by Satan, as a symbol of the prideful ego, rather than God, a symbol of homocentricity and all of it's errors."
"The errors of homocentricity" by Vexen (Offsite)
Satan Represents Death 10
"The victory of death over life is inevitable. Both the introverts and extroverts gain from the acceptance of Satan as the clearest symbol of death, worthy of exaltation: It is the denial of social mores and fear surrounding the concepts of death (the direct fear of death is of course healthy), and focus a person on their life in a more balanced manner. Not wanting to waste their life, positive and enriching lifestyles are embraced rather than ones that are either too compulsive or too introspective. Compulsion is a lack of freedom and vitality, and nihilistic internal despair is a lack of Satanic energy. By accepting Satan, you are accepting a savior from death, whilst alive, so that the cost of admitting the power of death is paid by an enriched life. To look to the skies for redemption from death is an imbalance, a distortion of healthy life-embrace for the emotional drunkenness of a belief in afterlife. The stupefying affect of a belief in afterlife denies the truth of the matter, whereas life-empowerment through the acceptance of death is revitalizing. The affect of this acceptance is purifying."
"Satan Represents Death" by Vexen 2003 Jun 25
A Personal Relationship with Satanism
Devil's Notebook
"My brand of Satanism is the ultimate conscious alternative to herd mentality and institutionalized thought. It is a studied and contrived set of principles and exercises designed to liberate individuals from a contagion of mindlessness that destroys innovation. I have termed my thought "Satanism" because it is most stimulating under that name. Self-discipline and motivation are effected more easily under stimulating conditions. Satanism means "the opposition" and epitomizes all symbols of nonconformity. Satanism calls forth the strong ability to turn a liability into an advantage, to turn alienation into exclusivity. In other words, the reason it's called Satanism is because it's fun, it's accurate, and it's productive"
Anton LaVey, 1992 Aug 31
Durango, Mexico
Introduction to "The Devil's Notebook"
Satanism inspires. The word and title of Satanism is part of that. All Satanists' have personal reasons which are multiple and varied; Satanism thrives on individualism, personal reflection and non comformity. Everyone has their reasons.
"I had hoped that, now the greater part of you no longer believe in me, I would have a modicum of leisure pour cultiver mon jardin... but the flood of speaking engagements shows no signs of slackening. Your interest in me has somehow failed to wane alongside your credulity.
[...]
You treat me as a backwards God [...] despite being quite unable to decide whether you want the frontwards God himself any more. [...] It is a deluded role, a scrap, a travesty, an incoherence: apparently you like it all the same."
"The Chatto Book of The Devil" Introduction. [More Quotes]
Satan may not exist, but we like it all the same, and more: Want to be like it!
Satan Represents Evil 4
"Satan represents the state of affairs recognized by Satanists: That all good is based on evil: That love and altruism are both selfish and carnal. Satan represents the evil and uncaring attitude of the dark force in nature. It represents good being dependant on evil and life being ultimately defeated by death. Satan represents all of this evil which in turn creates all good. Without our evil sides we are lost and Satan represents acceptance of this."
"Good relies on Evil" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Oct 14
Satan Represents Doubt 5
"Satan represents Doubt. God did not want Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil. Allah did not want his creation to doubt his word. In both theologies, it was Satan, the most intelligent created being, who stood up against this enforced ignorance. Satan tells mankind: Search for knowledge, even in taboo places. Shaitan told the Djinn: Let us test God's word, let us not mindlessly believe all that God says. Although these myths are irrelevant to the modern world, the role of Satan is very much relevant to our lives and our search for knowledge. Enlightenment is the ability to look past stated truth and dogma, and Lucifer is the Crown Prince of Satan that represents our search for enlightenment."
"Doubt" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Dec 11
"Without the wonderful element of doubt, the doorway through which truth passes would be tightly shut. [...] Now is the time for doubt! The bubble of falsehood is bursting and its sound is the roar of the world!"
The Satanic Bible, Book of Lucifer introduction
That Which Makes us Happy 8
"Satan is said by some Satanists to represent their loves in life, their hobbies, the internal things that make them happy. So, for one person, a stable job is Satanic. For another, physical fitness is the most Satanic thing, for another intellectualism is more Satanic than finance or fitness. All agree that failure is unsatanic... so Satan represents the points of life for Satanists. Anton LaVey comments on this and says that if collecting trains is a Satanists' thing, then that is his religious rosary and that is Satan's Will."
"Search for Happiness" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Dec 24
"For me Satan is the personification of the driving force in my life: it is darkness, the inevitability of death that encourages me to live life fully whilst I'm still alive! So... Satan is what I love in life... in particular at this time it is... Love, affection, music, large cities, computers and self empowerment."
"Why I am a Satanist" by Vexen Crabtree 2001 July 29
Irrelevant Question
The fact that the question "Why call it Satanism" is irrelevant can easily be overlooked. The reason for the irrelevancy is the simple excuse that I did not call it Satanism. When I became a Satanist I did not choose it's name. You could not ask a communist, "why did you call your system Communism?" because the question is pointless - he did not call it Communism but he joined a system that was already called so.
If we wish to find out what the beliefs of Muslims are, do we go and ask a Christian? When we want to know about anthropology, do we ask a White Supremist? When we want to know about Satanism do we ask Jew's for information? It doesn't matter what Christians think about Muslims, the best way to find out Islam is to ask a Muslim, and buy the Qu'ran. The worst thing you could do is ask an enemy of one religion what he thinks of it and hope to get at any truth! If you want to know what Satanism is, you do not trust Christians, Scientologists, Devil Worshippers, Jews or the Press Office of your local paper: You ask Satanists and you buy The Satanic Bible
The concept of Satan is not the property of Christianity - modern monotheistic religions generally use the term Satan to describe their anti-God, but these concepts evolved from older pagan polytheistic concepts. Christianity overuses the term, but we do not accept their definition of Satan of course, because we don't believe in the Bible. The word Satan is not property of any Church! Least of all foreign ones! The only people who are qualified to describe Satanism is the Church Of Satan - how could it be otherwise? The Church of Satan does not use the Christian image of Satan. But sometimes we do, just to scare the theists.
Language
The word "Satan" originates from a transliteration of the Hebrew word "an opposer" or "an accuser": And therefore a Satanist is someone who follows this route - the opposition. Like the Shadow Government we do not endorse the status quo unless we can justify it for ourselves. The word Satan became to mean opposition to the Church, to the Holy Church, not through our own actions but through the actions of those who wished to rule over us in the name of a fictitious God. Linguistically we have always been Satanists and the Church Of Satan is our Church.
This is an excerpt from "Critique of Religion and Philosophy" (1958) by Walter Kaufmann, pp 46 - He is not, nor am I implying that he is a Satanist in anyway, I am simply using his words to express that which I was trying to write...
"Part of the excitement of the quest for the truth comes from the scent of freedom: What is wanted is what is new, different, original: A hitherto unknown fact, a novel distinction or an unconventional perspective ... to dislodge as much as possible of what had seemed fairly established."
[ and he continues on pp46 ]
"... above all, we want to triumph over falsehood and deception."
Therefore, we are Satanists, opposition to Stupidity and Conventions that are based on untruths. We are certainly not "Devil" worshippers, as the word "Devil" originates from Greek, meaning "a great deceiver" and therefore is a bad metaphor to use in place of the word Satan2. The word Devil is not included in The Satanic Bible's list of infernal names. But if we wanted to, we could use the word Devil, for fun, if the word is effective.
"In Satanism, Satan is an archetype, a representation of certain qualities that the Satanist embodies including rational self-interest, avoidance of oppressive mentalities, the questioning of all, and a perseverance towards success and human potential."
From
www.satanism101.com/satfaq.htm, written by Rev. Matt Paradise.
A Satanist seeks the truth in the opposite way to the Religious Bible Basher - through trial and error, inference and intelligence, rather than the theistic methods of heart-searching, Bible reading or trying to find truth in myths! The opposite to divinely inspired knowledge, we learn through empirical observation and hard work!
Satanism, the Opposite to God
If you read The Satanic Bible you will find a list of seventy seven infernal names preceded by the Four Crown Princes of Hell, including Satan, the rebel. These names come from lots of different cultures and lots of different time periods.
They all have one thing in common: They were/are seen as the primary force working against the dominant Gods within those cultures. The Church Of Satan could have been called The Church of Set (Egyptian), The Church Of Shaitan (Islamic), etc, but the most famous adjective to describe our Church is Satan. The accuser, the rebel. Given that the COS is a Western phenomenon, it is only right to adopt a figurehead of what is in the Western World the most famous symbol of anti-deity sentiment.
Satanism is a rich eclectic religion, and our figureheads a diverse and from many cultures. To fully understand what Satanism idolizes you cannot rely on merely the imagery of Satan, but on the imagery and doctrines of the Four Crown Princes and the seventy seven infernal names, both found in The Satanic Bible, along with further details than I give on these pages.
Atheism and anti-theism
Atheists are opponents of gods. A god is only as powerful as it's followers, and every atheist denies every god that little bit of power. A Satanist plays this game, too, and rejects all gods, including the Christian Satan, and demons as false.
So many atheists are conservative in their opinions towards gods. Not so, the Satanist. Satanists are explicit atheists, and proud of it, much like the Humanists. Being more goodevil in their approach to life, a Satanist will happily side himself with the principal and traditional enemies of the gods of the religions.
The Church of Satan is founded with mankind in mind, with the Earthly world as our guide. We do not like hypocritical white light religion. One good thing that is often found within the most hypocritical monotheistic lines of thought are the bad guys ... the darker elements and characters from white light religions are useful to us as examples, heroes and pillars of strength against what are always stacked odds, and overwhelming enemies.
We are the ones who choose knowledge rather than stupidity, we choose the tree of knowledge and not innocence from it. We question anyone who suppresses the truth. We question anyone who follows something blindly. We oppose theism, we oppose externalisation of guilt as dishonest and harmful. We believe in happiness of the body and self, rather than scoring up points for the afterlife through abstinence.
"The Devil has the most extensive perspectives for God; on that account he keeps so far away from him: - the Devil in effect, as the oldest friend of knowledge."
"Beyond Good and Evil" Nietzsche p94
Throughout History every culture has had a figure which represents the carnal, The Satanic Bible lists seventy-seven of these Infernal Names, and it does not matter which name you apply to us: We are the unreligion, we are the scientists who deem ALL religious constructs to be false.
Materialism and Allah
"Islam is a monotheistic religion centered on the belief that the Human Species were created with the sole purpose of worshipping Allah, the Islamic supreme God. A Muslim must always seek to worship the creator, and not the creation, therefore worshipping Allah, and not the material world. This abstraction is seen as good, whereas the worship of material things is the utmost evil.
It highly obvious that the Islamic Shaitan (or Shaytan) is a being that promotes the non-existence of Allah, or at least one who worships himself (as the only true existential object) instead of his own creator. The Church of Satan KALAM is a religion of self worship and it is named to reflect that fact. The highest opposition to Allah is Satan, where a Satanist worships and self and denies Allah the respect or time of day. [...]
The Church Of Satan represents the Shayatin (Islamic plural of 'Satan') of the Islamic religion: The source of it's evil, which is the devotion of Human life TO Human life and not to any externalized creator."
Notes on "Islam"
Satan as Opposition and Replacement of God
A Satanic mission: The abolition of the concept of God by gradually increasing the intelligence of the Human Race. This includes the abolition of Christianity, Judaism, all Orthodox Churches, all Bible based religions (including Qu'raan, Injil/Torah/OT and the NT Canon). Should Satanism succeed in it's this aim then once again, the name "Satanism" will have been justified.
All of the Crowned Princes within Satanism represent ungodly and healthy doctrines that develop the Human Race towards being independent of religion, making us accountable for our own actions, forcing us to take responsibility for the Earth and society, all without the dominating presence of belief in god, eternal punishment or heavenly rewards.
Satan is the champion of being human, the messiah of your mind, the idol of ideal behaviour and intelligent conduct, and above all, the accuser of pop society and the accuser of organized religion;
"I question all things. As I stand before the festering and varnished facades of your haughtiest moral dogmas, I write thereon in letters of blazing scorn: Lo and behold; all this is fraud!"
The Satanic Bible: The Book of Satan 2:1
Bastardize the Bible
The Bible is the main part of Judeo-Christian religions, why should it be mentioned here? Well it is undoubted that it has had a large influence over the years especially in the West and the Middle East. The Bible and it's side affects has caused a lot of misfortune, war and suffering as a result of the innumerable denominations that sprung from this ambiguous source.
The Bible's structure and myths have developed through time, along with our interpretations of them and translations, and as atheists we are free to bastardize, misuse and abuse as much of the text as possible.
I can pick and choose myths, stories and text from the Bible to suit my need, sometimes taking the text out of context, sometimes merely using it's words. If I like a part of the imagery, i.e., one of the many monsters that feature in the Bible, then I will not hesitate to use it. Unless I can find something better from another book.
My website Holy Shit! contains some descriptions of parts of the Bible that are bound to shed some bad light on the Bible.
Bastardizing the Bible has these advantages:
There may be some good imagery you wish to copy.
Even small Bible quotes can make you appear more intelligent and more learn'ed.
The Bible is not copyrighted.
Making the Bible appear less sacred or holy and more like a bog standard (poor quality) book that can be bastardized without fear or shame.
The fourth point is worth pausing over. For many people the 'taboo' of the Bible and words like "Jesus Christ" can istil a psychological power on people. Overuse and misuse of Biblical texts and the name "Jesus" can help to make these concepts appear less important.
Social Engineering
Calling Satanism by any other name would lessen it's effectiveness as a social engineering exercise (which it is), and therefore make it less efficient, which is not in the Satanists interest.
It is incredibly useful to us that the dumb, bigoted and ignorant will presume that a Satanist is an immature person who sneaks around graveyards at night time because it allows us to immediately filter out a whole set of people who are not ready (and may never be) to perceive us. Satanism is not about accepting people for what they are: We change people. We teach people. We do not want to become inundated with dumb-asses whom we have to spend time coaching them, rather than using them.
I wear a pentagram, I did at University, I do now. The pentacle has this effect:
If you are stupid and judge me by appearance, the pentacle will keep you away. What a shame.
If you are religious, then you suddenly feel nervous about talking to me of religion. Oh well.
If you are sensible, you ask me about it. Ahah! A question! There's nothing better than good old knowledge!
Finally: It sounds good. It allows the rebel to rebel, and yet remain logical and factual. It allows those who become dissatisfied with their faith to defect and revel in truth rather than descend into petty faith crime, or self deluded "sin". It is a net to catch the elite who see past what they were presented with.
One of the reasons I became a Satanist was to aid in the giving of religion a bad name (Satanism is a ludicrous example of a bad religion to many).
Righteous Satan 3
There are other Satanic groups (besides the Church of Satan), including groups who believe in Satan as a righteous being, who will one day defeat hypocrisy and stupidity across the whole world. I call these "righteous Satan", there are quite a number of theories with varying justifications of how Satan can be the best being to worship.
"Some theologies and theories that place Satan as saviour, releaser and defender of righteousness, and the White Light God as oppressor and Evil. These are common themes in Satanic music, and are also present in nearly all schools of thought that are labelled as Devil Worship. There is no known historical group that accepts the White Light definition of God and Satan and also worships Satan within that dualistic context."
"Righteous Satan" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Jan 06
The Traditional Devil
Click to read full essay on The Traditional Devil.
According to monotheistic white light religions, and especially in conservative views, Satan is not the same as how Satanists' see it. Satan is seen as a symbol of temptation towards bad choices, a symbol of defeat and failure and a symbol of deceit and hatred. Except for those there are areas where even conservative Christians and Satanists agree on when it comes to discussing Satan. These are that Satan is Unholy, Carnal, Earthly; that Satan is Death and it's followers are not going to Heaven; Satan is not caring and that Satan's followers are frequently subversive and secretive. The final point in common is that Satan wishes to oust God.
Worship 6
Satan is a metaphor that symbolises all the things in life that are necessary for survival. Satanism is the worship of the self, it is an existentialist movement where we admit that there is no way of experiencing an objective reality and that everything we do is clouded by our own imperfect perceptions. Satanism is, amongst other things, the worship of clarity and overcoming self deceit.
Satanists Worship themselves (if anything)
We worship truth and science
We worship the vessel that brings us reality: our own bodies and consciousness
Conclusion
Satanists are not passive atheists, but explicit atheists. Theologically, we are certainly evil, as the very label we give ourselves portrays that we oppose the concept of God. Our very existence denies God power and credibility. The essay on Dualism goes into this deeper.
Satanism is the unreligion, whose adherents are sided squarely with the opposition to concepts of gods. There is a Jewish proverb, "If God lived on Earth, people would break his windows".
"Why do you call yourself a Satanist?"
Because Satan is the accuser of all gods and religions, the rebel in the world of theology, and the firm and powerful denial of gods. Satan wishes to kill god, and we feel this is a good cause. Given that gods do not exist, we're all already Satanists. The Church of Satan is however for those who feel that abstinence is not enough, mere atheism does not have the sharp edge of Satanism. Satanism is not a religion, it is the unreligion.