Index

Index

I	The forming of Modern Satanism	2
II	Who or what is Satan?	2
III	Philosophy and Ethics	3
IV	Elitism	4
V	Rituals	5
VI	Conclusion, disclaimer and suggestions for further study	7
VII	Used literature	8
VIII	Other books by A.S. LaVey	8

I The forming of Modern Satanism

At the thirtieth of April 1966, on “Walpurgisnacht” a man named Anton Szandor LaVey (1930-1997) formed the “Church of Satan” (CoS for short). Although there have always been people who worshipped the Dark Side, opposing to the mainstream religion, there is something special to the latest developments. The CoS is the first above-ground organization in history openly dedicated to the acceptance of Man’s true nature—that of a carnal beast, living in a cosmos which is permeated and motivated by the Dark Force which we call Satan[1]. Mention that the CoS is not dedicated to Satan, but to Man’s true nature, as they call it themselves.

After the formation of the ‘church’, various splinter groups were formed. There was a big split in 1975, when Michael Aquino left to form his own “Temple of Set”.

The CoS never mentions numbers of members or any names. Because of this policy it is hard to guess how many members they have. A U.S. Department of the Army pamphlet (#165-13) estimated the number of CoS members on 10 to 20 thousand in the 1970s. But we can only guess how much it is now. I think by the way that most Satanists are not a member of any Satanic organization.

Many Satanists are locally organized in grottos (CoS), pylons (Temple of Set), or sometimes covens (standard for most witchcraft groups).

The local groups have discussions, study, ritual work, and other activities, and are mostly free do whatever they want as long as it remains within the constraints of the philosophy of the church or temple.

II Who or what is Satan?

It’s important to use a proper definition of Modern Satanism, because of wrong associations there could be on this subject. It wouldn’t be easy to give a proper definition of the wide-ranged perspectives of thoughts within Satanism. Through an introduction to some philosophical and ethical basic principles, and rituals I hope it becomes clearer what this movement stands for.

That’s why I decided to start describing the range of perspectives of views on Satan him- or itself. Satanic perspectives range from those which are atheistic, to those which revere Satan as the Judeo-Christian Satan.

Only few people who call themselves Satanists claim to worship a personal deity or angel called Satan. Generally speaking, those who follow LaVey’s footsteps, do not want to be associated with them. To them, they are frustrated, immature and instable persons opposing to their Christian environment or upbringing. In this paper when I mention Satanism, without further clarification, I mean Modern Satanism, which excludes Devil Worship. I have no idea what is going on in Devil Worshipping cults, neither have most of the Modern Satanists.

The Temple of Set has a modern understanding of the ancient Egyptian godhead Set. This organization does not worship Set as a god, but do see him as some personal being. Although Set mostly known as an evil deity, the Temple of Set emphasizes that the godhead was not seen as evil in early times, but as the god of knowledge and self-improvement.

Anton LaVey’s views on Satan are an example which tends to atheism. To him, Satan merely represents a force of nature.

It [Satan] is an untapped reservoir that few can make use of because they lack the ability to use a tool without first having to break down and label all the parts which make it run.[2]

III Philosophy and Ethics

In 1969 “The Black Pope” LaVey published the Satanic Bible (see Used literature), which contains the principles of his existentialistic philosophy, ethics and rituals. The main value of Satanic philosophy is individualism. As you read this book you notice he has been influenced by Nietzsche.
Satan represents evil just as much as good, because they believe there is no evil and no sin! The problem is that religion as a way of oppression invented evil and sin. Religion then is needed to wash the sins away, while in fact the religious sins are a vital life force according to the Satanist.

To understand the basics of Satanism, the understanding of the representation of Satan is fundamental. This representation is more important than who exactly Satan is (ontological). The nine satanic statements of LaVey as stated in the Satanic Bible give us a sight on the simple fundamental basics of his philosophy:

The nine satanic statements:

1. Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!

2. Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!

3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit!

4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!

5. Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!

6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!

7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!

8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!

9. Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years! [3]

Since there is no God, the God you save can be yourself. When the idea of God is invented by man himself, then by worshipping God, man is actually worshipping himself. LaVey calls on to worship yourself without the need of the existence of an externalized God.

The Satanist is pursued to do whatever is ‘natural’, ‘human’, instead of abstinence what is preached by almost all religions in some form. LaVey wants to get rid of all sense of guilt, of all boundaries enforced by others.

Satanists believe in the working of magic and the practice of rituals as a way of performing that. The use of doctrine and ceremonial rituals is justified by the fact that we, humans need it, and therefore it is necessary.

IV Elitism

The CoS urge their members to be strong personalities, rationalistic and powerful. Because of this, and their hierarchical system, Satanists are an elite group – or at least see themselves as an elite group. As LaVey stated in his Satanic Bible: “I am a Satanist! Bow down, for I am the highest embodiment of human life!”

The CoS has many times been accused by ex-members of being manipulative ego-boosters, looking down at any one lower than them, and of being a cult[4].

The Temple of Set centers on self-improvement or “self-creation”, and sees themselves as a tool for the self-improvement of their members. However, you already got to be pretty intelligent…

If you do not possess high intelligence, the exercises of initiation will simply be beyond your capacity, and you must have the common sense and honesty to recognize that and seek personal happiness elsewhere.[5]

V Rituals

Many people probably think of Satanic rituals as sacrificing animals – or even worse – humans, baby’s for an example. Whether that’s done by a few Devil Worshippers, I don’t know. Personally I think there will be some truth in the stories accusing Satanists of ritual sacrifices[6], but it is against the principles of Modern Satanism, since humans are considered gods. I believe that in the wide range of occult organizations and practices, many are considered Satanists by (evangelical) Christians because of the great lack of knowledge about Satanism. In my opinion it is better not to speak or write about something at all until you know what you’re talking about… In the eighties there was a real anti-satanic hype in the U.S. about Satanic Ritual Abuse (S.R.A.). There were many stories of people who ‘suddenly remembered’ being abused in some satanic cult during childhood, and many books were written by – especially – evangelical Christians. Even if some of these books would be true, I don’t think Modern Satanism is involved in it.

The definition of magic as given by LaVey himself is the following: “The change in situations or events in accordance with one’s will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangeable.”

Because most Satanists don’t believe in the existence of personal supernatural beings, the working is mostly explained in (bio-)magnetic terms. The working of it is not yet scientifically proved, but for the Satanist it is enough that ‘it works’, as a black box. Of course it is quite a difference whether a Devil Worshipper summons/asks a ‘demon’ to do whatever he wants, or a (Modern) Satanist using some sort of ritual, believing that the powers used to perform the desired working are just natural powers which will some day be scientifically proved.

LaVey discerns two kinds of magic; Lesser Magic and Greater Magic. Lesser Magic is non-ritual or manipulative magic by which the person who performs it, ‘commands’ an other person ‘to look’, by using sexual appeal, sentiment or wonder. In other words, making someone else think “wow, what an attractive person”, “what a lovely person is that!”, or “what a strange looking person is that?”. I’ve heard people claiming almost all natural behavior is considered Lesser Magic by LaVey.

LaVey discerns three kinds of Satanic rituals (Greater Magic) in his Satanic Bible; a sex ritual, a compassion ritual and a destruction ritual.

The purpose of the sex ritual is to create desire on the part of the person whom the Satanist desires, or to summon a sex partner to fulfill desires.

LaVey encourages a compassion ritual when a Satanist wants or needs something so bad that the person is said or feel much anguish without it.

If a Satanist wishes to enchant or entrap a deserving person, he could perform a destruction ritual. I haven’t figured out how/if Satanism provides some ethical guidelines answering to the question when a person deserves a destruction ritual. Personally, I know of a few cases in which a destruction ritual ended up in leukemia for the person who ‘deserved it’. A few years ago at the ‘evangelical broadcasting’ in the Netherlands (EO), there was a person who said to be an ex-satanic priest explaining how they performed destruction rituals against people who wanted to get out of the movement, and often ‘killing’ them within an hour by getting them a car accident… Of course I cannot judge the truth of his story, or the proud Satanist I’ve heard of on the Internet (I am a member of a few Satanic mailings) who claimed that after performing magic (not exactly a destruction ritual) the person died of leukemia half a year later…

The rituals are not necessarily performed at a grotto, many rituals can be performed individually.

Satanism is often considered an ‘unreligion’, but the prescriptions of how to perform the rituals are dogmatic and ceremonial, despite LaVey runs down the other occult movements -such as Wicca- because of their ‘esoteric nonsense’. The Satanist must use various devices like special cloths (black robes) an altar (nude woman), candles, bells, chalice, sword, gong etc. etc. to reach an emotional state at the performer. Satanists deny the distinction between white- and black magic (white magic is magic for ‘good’ purposes, such as for other persons and black magic is used for the growth and fulfillment of the performer him/herself).

LaVey states that there are some ingredients to be used; desire, timing, imagery, direction and the balance factor.

Desire is the motivating force to perform the ritual; the emotional persuasion. The moment of the ritual is mostly at night, because the subjective dream state of the other person can be used, and also knowledge of the menstrual cycle (in case of a sex ritual of course) of the other person in case the other person is a woman. Imagery is used to intensify the emotions of the performer and is probably the most important ingredient. The performer is encouraged to use whatever object is necessary. In case of a sex ritual this would be clear…in case of a compassion ritual, for an example surround yourself with photos or smells of whatever you want. In case of a destruction ritual, destroy the enemy by proxy, by using dolls, photos or whatever.

Of course the Temple of Set, or other satanic organizations, and of course (maybe the biggest ‘group’) the individual, independent Satanists all have an other approach, other rituals, and probably without all those required objects and incantations.

Merely using magic for impulsive, trivial, or egoistic desires is not Setian [adj. Temple of Set]. It must become second-nature to you to carefully pre-evaluate the consequences of what you wish to do, then choose the course of wisdom, justice, and creative improvement.[7]

VI Conclusion, disclaimer and suggestions for further study

Many Satanists describe Satanism as merely a philosophy, a way of life. To me, Satanism is a individualistic religious movement. Of the dimensions of religion described by N.Smart[8], Satanism has a clear ritual, doctrinal, ethical and social/institutional dimension.

As in many occult literature, there are almost no references to sources. That’s very sad, because you just have to believe the authors, without checking out whether what they is true or not.

Of course, no-one is going to believe someone who just invented a new religion. Every movement wants to have old roots. Revealing old wisdom, that because of the mainstream religions has almost been disappeared…

So it is nothing new that Satanism includes rituals from the Knights Templars and the Illuminati, and that the Satanic Bible contains Enochian keys, in Enochian, a language said to be older than Sanskrit, or that the Temple of Set, with their misunderstood godhead Set, wants to reveal ancient wisdom concerning the structures of our universe.

For further study on Satanism I think it is necessary to study the whole wide range of esoteric movements in history. Further study could be done on the Wicca movement (which is a form of witchcraft) and the satanic literature from the seventeenth and eighteenth century.

The books I have used for the use of this small paper, as listed next page are just enough to be introduced to the subject. While reading, writing and searching on the Internet I have bought me some more books of LaVey, and other books have been ordered too. I couldn’t wait any longer, and since this paper should be an introduction, and not an entire study, I think it is enough…for now.

VII Used literature

books:

- Brown, M.D. R., He Came To Set The Captives Free, (Chino, CA: Chick Publications 1986)

- Lamers, M.J., Vlucht in de Werkelijkheid, (Amsterdam: Satanisch Seminarium, 1983)
- LaVey, A.S., The Satanic Bible, (New York: Avon Books 1969)

- LaVey, A.S., The Satanic Rituals, (New York: Avon Books 1972)
- Religie & Mystiek magazine, nr. 1-3, 2000.
- Smart, N., The World’s Religions, (Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1989, 1998 (2^nd ed.)

internet:

- Church of Satan website

(www.churchofsatan.com)

- Temple of Set website
(www.xeper.org)
- Religious Tolerance website
(http://www.religioustolerance.org)

- Satanism (/satanism.htm)

- The Church of Satan (…/satanis1.htm)

- Hatred & misinformation directed against Satanists (…/sat_hate.htm)

- Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) Topics (various)

- Vexen Crabtree
(http://simon.crabtree.com/satanism/)

- De Opkamer – Satan – Michael Eenhoorn (http://www.opkamer.nl/teksten/eenhoorn.htm)

- First Church of Satan website
(http://www.churchofsatan.org)

- The Bifid Barb
(http://users.erols.com/searssux/main.htm)

- The Evil One website
(http://w1.1753.telia.com/~u175300682/index.htm)

VIII Other books by A.S. LaVey

Satan Speaks!, (Feral House 1998)

The Devil’s Notebook, (Feral House 1993)

The Satanic Witch, (Venice: Feral House 1970)

[2] A.S.LaVey, “The Satanic Bible, 1968, page 62

[3] LaVey, A.S., The Satanic Bible, page 25

[4] The Bifid Barb website and the First Church of Satan website

[6] Such as Brown, R., He came to set the captives free