Theistic Satanism

Theistic Satanism is a general term for forms of Satanism which believe that either Satan/the Devil is an actual deity and/or force. Theistic Satanists are not atheists, and may believe in a conscious universe. Satan may be perceived as male and female, a Muse and the Bestower of knowledge (Gnosis). Believers may place a great emphasis on the Serpent in the Biblical tale of Genesis, whom they perceive to be one of the many emanations or incarnations of Satan. According to such teachings, Satan blessed mankind with the "forbidden" fruit of knowledge of good and evil. From this perspective, knowing both good and evil is the birth of wisdom. It is for this reason that Theistic Satanists may perceive Satan as a Force for good, which may also be used for evil. Devil worshippers reject this idea, and see themselves as the enemies of "Good" and the servants of "Evil" in the name of Satan, who they see as the God of all that is Evil and in adherence with the Christian bible. Other Satanists refer to Devil worshippers as reverse Christians for that very reason.

History

The concept of Satan has evolved over the centuries, as has Satanism.

One of the first mentions of Satan (Ahriman) is in the Zoroastrian Avesta, a book that pre-dates Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In Judeo-Christian traditions, Satan was seen as a part of creation, embodying the principle that one could choose contrary to God's wishes, and thus empowering the potential for free will and defiance. (In this context an ancient Jewish commentary notes that only when the potential to contravene God's will arose, could creation become "very good" as opposed to merely "good".) Over the centuries this concept of Satan came to embody all that was evil and against God, a change attributable to two main influences:

• The view that everything had its opposite, and that God, all-good, must have His opposing deity too (many preceding multiple deity religions also had their evil gods as well as good gods, Set of the Ancient Egyptians being one example). Although in Judeo-Christian traditions Satan is never credited as a deity: rather, as a fallen angel, therefore not taking on qualities as a deity.
• The spreading of Christianity, followed by Islam, both religions which gained a wide number of adherents, placed a high premium on salvation and the afterlife, and within which Satan grew as an embodiment of all that was trying to undermine God in this theological world-view.

As European society evolved from the reformation into the Enlightenment onwards (17th and 18th centuries), people began to question the nature of evil, and Satan gradually evolved yet again in response to this, so Satanism came to signify a tradition which denied traditional religious paths in favor of a self-oriented path, rather than a path which favored evil.

In an older sense, Theistic Satanism also refers to unorthodox practices within Abrahamic religions deemed by an orthodoxy to be in opposition to the Abrahamic God. The earliest recorded instance of the word is in "A confutation of a booke (by Bp. Jewel) entitled An apology of the Church of England", by Thomas Harding (1565): ll, ii, 42 b, "Meaning the time when Luther first bringed to Germanie the poisoned cuppe of his heresies, blasphemies, and Satanismes." As Martin Luther himself would have denied any link between his teachings and Satan, this use of the term "Satanism" was primarily pejorative. Many Satanists find such use of the term offensive.

Satan within Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Some theistic satanists believe the concept of "Satan" originated with Spiritual Satanism. They believe that it was captured later in the Judeo/Christian Bible as "Evil". This Judeo-Christian-Islamic view of Satan can be broken up as follows:

• Jewish: Satan ‏(שטן)‏ in Hebrew, means "adversary" or "accuser", and is also the name used for the angel who tests believers. Ha-satan is not considered an enemy of God, but a servant whose duties include testing the faith of humanity.
• Islamic: The Arabic word for Satan, "Template:Semxlit" ‏(الشيطان)‏ means transgressor, or adversary, as in Judaism. It is a title which is generally attributed to a being called Iblis, who is a Jinn that disobeyed God and was condemned consequently by God to serve as a source of misguidance for mankind and the Jinn to test their faith in God. Iblis is said to be the proper name for the devil-like figure named in the Qur'an whereas there are many Shaitan.
• Christian: In most branches of Christianity, Satan, originally Lucifer (from the Latin "lucifer" - "bearer of light") before he fell away from Grace, is a spiritual being or angel who was once in God's service. Satan is said to have fallen from God when he surrendered to his own vanity and refused to take his proper place in creation (In Christianity, the fallen "son of the dawn" of Isaiah 14:12 is identified with the "adversary" of the Book of Job.) It is said to be Satan who whispered to man that he could become as God, negating his creaturely position, which led to man's original sin and his being cast out of Eden. Satan is also referred to as the Devil from the Greek "diabolos" (Διαβολος), meaning "slanderer" or "one who accuses falsely" (derived from the verb "dia-ballô" (δια-βαλλω) which most literally means "to throw across" or "carry something over"). Reportedly, LaVey made the claim that the word "devil" was derived from the Sanskrit "devi", meaning goddess (though this is thought to be an incorrect etymology).

Types and approaches within Theistic Satanism

Theistic Satanism is often similar in outlook and attitude to Philosophical Satanism, though it is generally a prerequisite that the Satanist accept a theological and metaphysical canon involving one or more God(s) who are either Satan in the strictest, Abrahamic sense, or specially created to identify with or represent the practitioner. A Satan represented in the latter group may be entirely of the practitioner's mind, or may be an adoption from another (usually pre-Christian) religion.

Depending on the Satanists in question, the God (or gods) may be any in a variety of deities, sometimes taken from ancient faiths; with common ones being Set of Egyptian theology, any number of ancient Mesopotamian Gods or Goddesses, sometimes Gods of Greek or Roman mythology (Mars, for instance). Others claim a largely original God, although it is usually said by those Satanists that their deity is in fact very old, perhaps from ancient pre-history and often being the first God worshipped by humans (though such claims are unverifiable at best).

Others worship a stricter interpretation of Satan: that of the fallen angel featured in the Christian Bible, though unlike many who see him as being evil as defined by the Christian Church, they instead believe him to be correct in his rebellion against God. All these faiths hold in common, however, with each other and with Philosophical Satanists, that man, and specifically the self are the highest priorities. This view is often supported by Satanists' view of the god, who is seen to encourage individuality and freedom of thought, and the quest to raise one's self up through means such as magic and similar to Nietzschean Will to Power. A common Satanic maxim to this effect is that, "Any worthwhile God would rather have a Partner-in-Power than a prostrate and grovelling slave."

One example of this would be the Abrahamic Satan, such as the Serpent in Genesis encouraging mankind to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, saying "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.", with the clear implication, coinciding with the beliefs of all Satanists, that mankind should know what is better for itself than any God which would forbid knowledge and self-government. Because of the common position that their faiths are in fact very old, or the oldest, Theistic Satanists sometimes refer to themselves as "Traditional Satanists" and Philosophical Satanists as "Contemporary Satanists".

Diabolatry

The term "Devil worship" has a wide variety of associated meanings, but in its most objective sense, it simply refers to a religious belief in and worship of a Devil or devils. Devil worship can also be referred to as Diabolatry (from the Greek "diabolos" - devil - and "latreia" - worship), or as theistic Satanism. It is a controversial term, since it has been used by LaVeyan Satanists as a term for those criminals who commit crimes citing Satan or Satanism as part of their justification.

There is widespread assumption that Diabolators (Devil Worshipers) and Satanists and criminals conducting abhorrent acts under the name of either of these terms, are the same. Reasons for this may include:

• For many people (even Satanists), the terms "Devil worshiper" and "Satanist" are synonymous;
• The media continues to use the term "Satanist" instead of "Devil worshiper" for criminals who commit crimes in the name of Satan (most likely because "Satanist" is shorter and fits more easily in a headline);
• Many criminals who commit crimes in the name of Satan call themselves "Satanists," not "Devil worshipers,"; and
• Referring to Satanism and Devil worship as "completely separate concepts" is often interpreted by non-Satanists as semantic gerrymandering and "hair-splitting" at best, or outright lying and deception at worst.

Part of the reason why some Satanists demonize the term "Devil worshiper" is because of the LaVeyan teaching that worshiping a deity is a sign of intellectual weakness.

It is also commonly claimed that anyone who worships the Devil is necessarily constrained by Christian theology and dogma, whereas Satanism is "freed" from such. In fact some forms of contemporary Devil worship tend to divorce themselves from strict Christian theology in any event. The Church of Azazel is a good example of this as it practices a polytheistic form of quasi-Devil worship that combines elements of Deism and the African-based Diaspora religions (e.g., Vodou, Santeria, Umbanda) and emphasizes the importance of philosophy and intellectualism to its adherents, as well as purposefully distancing itself from actual worship of Satan. There are, however, some Satanists that are proud to wear the title 'Devil Worshippers', for they actually worship Satan, rather than a polytheistic substitute: an example of this would be the Cathedral of the Black Goat. Actual Devil Worshippers, naturally, reject any claims made by non-Devil Worshippers about it being a sign of intellectual weakness to worship Satan.

Another common argument postulates that throughout history, there have been far more crimes committed in the name of Jehovah, Jesus Christ and Allah than there have been in the name of Satan; yet people do not typically use the term "Christ worship" to be synonymous for criminal activity. Therefore, it makes even less sense to use the term "Devil worship" as a label for criminals, and the idea of claiming that someone is a criminal simply because they worship a particular deity or principle is pure nonsense.

Satanism as a Distortion of Roman Catholicism

Perhaps under the influence of the recent Inquisition and witchcraft trials of the Middle Ages, the French Revolution and Enlightment in 18th century France began producing various kinds of popular "satanic" literature, which turned in the 19th century (especially around the 1890s and later) into a full-fledged satanic movement. Many popular grimoires had their origins in France at this time, as well as the writings of the Marquis de Sade, who described the Roman Catholic church and its ceremonies in blasphemous terms. In 19th century France, various heretical offshoots of the Roman Catholic church began appearing, which described performing Roman Catholic rituals (especially the Mass) in sexual terms. At the same time, Eliphas Levi published his French books of the occult, and in 1855 produced his well-known drawing of the Baphomet, which continues to be popular in satanism to this day. Finally, in 1891, Joris-Karl Huysmans published his satanic novel Là-bas, which summarized all of French satanism and mentioned all of the key players, and additionally gave a detailed description of a Black Mass, which he said was being performed in Paris at the time. Quotations from Huysmans' Black Mass also are common in traditional satanic rituals to this day, as it is one of the few sources that actually describes the supposed words of a Black Mass. In the type of Satanism described in Là-bas, prayers are said to the Devil, Hosts are stolen from the Catholic Church, and sexual acts are combined with Roman Catholic altar objects and rituals, to produce a variety of Satanism which exalts the Devil and degrades the god of Christianity in a purely Roman Catholic form.

Setian Satanism

Main article: Setianism

According to this sect, the Egyptian deity Set, is the real Dark Lord behind the name Satan. They have their own concept of the Black Flame.

This type of Satanism maintains that the Hebrews ran into an adversary in Egypt who was the Pharaoh of the Seti Dynasty, when Set was the principal pharaonic Deity. After the Pharaoh expelled the Hebrews from Egypt, the Hebrew Bible scribes wrote "Exodus", demonstrating the enormity of this event to the Hebrew people. However, there are apparently no Egyptian records to back up any of the Hebrew claims except a passing mention of the Pharaoh kicking many foreigners out at that time — not just Hebrews. Setian Satanists theorize that "Satan" is a wrong or slanderous label for a legitimate Egyptian God, the God Set.

The practices and theology of the Set sect are very oriented towards cultivating self-hood. They reject the dissolving of the individual into oneness with existence, and celebrate the separation of the individual self from the rest of the universe. Some followers believe in Set as a real theistic conscious being that appears in revelations and delivers messages, while others revere Set as a principle. How historically correct their picture of Set is might be considered debatable.

Satanic cults

Main article: Satanic ritual abuse

The existence of large networks of organized Satanists involved in illegal activities, murder, and child abuse is occasionally claimed. Those claims have not been substantiated, and it has been labeled by many Satanists as an example of a moral panic.

Other organizations

Ancient anti-orthodox Christian groups

Ophite

In the Ophite sect of early Christianity, the Serpent was praised as the giver of knowledge. Sometimes Satan was also referred to as Lucifer or "the light-bringer", but others see this as incorrect because they believe that Satan and Lucifer are two separate entities. Some Gnostics claimed that the being declared God by Christians and Jews was, in fact, a lesser being known as the Demiurge, whose name is derived from the creator figure in Plato's Timaeus; very few Gnostic sects identified this figure with Satan; others (such as the Valentinians) saw Satan as a subsequent creation of the Demiurge.

Early Gnostic

Some early Gnostic sects, such as the Borborites and the followers of Carpocrates, were accused of horrific acts, including the eating (in imitation of the sacrament) of semen, menses and aborted fetuses. These acts were committed with the apparent justification of libertinism; given that the material universe was not God's creation, it could be put to any use with no moral consequences. Accounts of these barbaric acts are not held to be at all credible, as the accusations were rhetorical attacks against these groups by such heresiological writers as Irenaeus.

Valentinian

Main article: Valentinianism

However, Gnostic sects were commonly more liberal in nature than emergent orthodox groups; for example, in viewing sexual congress as a good, even a potentially spiritual act, and in allowing woman priests and bishops to administer sacraments. There is evidence that Valentinians performed a religious ceremony known as the Bridal Chamber, in which the physical union of a man and woman was viewed as an earthly reenactment of God's completeness; the Gnostic conception of the divine was as an androgyne, as opposed to the orthodox identification of him as male. Such criticisms as Irenaeus' may be the deliberate exaggeration of these misdeeds (from the point of view of orthodoxy).

Luciferian and Promethean

Main article: Luciferianism

A completely new movement, active in several European cities, specifically in the Netherlands, is an offshoot of the GMA (Grotto Magistratis in Amsterdam) in Amsterdam, calling itself "Luciferians" or "Prometheans". These can be largely classified as philosophical satanists who have adopted transhuman or extropian notion of a technological singularity. Luciferians allege a singularity will take place before 2040 and will be symbolic for the final death of the monotheistic god. Some Luciferians claim the first artificial intelligence will be, in fact, Lucifer. These Luciferians tend to not believe in the supernatural but do believe in the creative use of memetics.

First Church of Satan

The First Church of Satan (FCoS) was created by Rev.John Allee who claims to be an early member of the Church of Satan. FCoS is unique in two ways: 1) it is open to a wide variety of Satanists including LaVeyan Satanists, theistic/traditional Satanists, and dark pagans; and 2) it is far more nonhierarchical than other Satanic organizations. There are several noticeable differences in the organization of the First Church of Satan (FCoS) compared to the Church of Satan (CoS). Chief amongst them are individuality and the lack of any sort of hierarchy: the FCoS believes that individuality must be encouraged, and that attempts to bury it beneath titles is a terrible thing. For this reason, there is essentially no hierarchy within the FCoS, though there are titles ("High Priest/ess" for the Allees, "Priest" for others). John Allee, now the High Priest at The First Church of Satan, was the first to coin the phrase, "Free Thought Satanism" and felt a Satanic organization should promote personal godhood while maintaining an attitude of sovereignty for all. He argued that "elitism" should be determined by nature, outside the framework of a political or religious institution.

The Worldwide Church of Satanic Liberation

The Worldwide Church of Satanic Liberation was founded on January 8, 1986 by Paul Douglas Valentine. Though originally founded as a means to act out against the Satanic ritual abuse hysteria of the 1980s, the WCSL later made a goal of attempting to surpass the Church of Satan as the most popular Satanic organization.

In contrast to many Satanic organizations of the modern day, the WCSL does recognize an actual demonic world, and therefore constructs spells and rituals accordingly.

Unitary Satanism; The Satanic Alliance Ministries

Unitary Satanism S.A. ministries do not incorporate a church system into their philosophy. Originally founded in 1999 by High Priest Ciprian, it seeks validities within each form of Satanism, excluding Wiccan/RHP practices. Unitary Satanism offers a closer examination on various practices and beliefs on the LHP ranging from conspiracy theories to atheology (LHP-atheology: LaVeyan styled materialistic Satanism philosophy).It seeks to undermine systems of White-Lighter belief in which control is asserted in such a way that personal liberation and empowerment is hindered or never achieved. Satanic Alliance Ministries are politically tilted towards anarchism. In other words, liberated individuals with unique ways of thought, free to govern themselves and develop/realize their full human potential spiritually and carnally, under no oppression from the RHP conformists. Founder HP Ciprian centralized his followers R/L (offline); as of 2006, the ministry is developing an online homepage in recognision that "the Internet seems to be one of the few places left on Earth where an open mind is free to seek uncensored truth".

Sinagogue of Satan

The Sinagogue of Satan is an organization of "Occult Satanism" an all one religion founded by Michael S. Margolin on January 29, 1999. This religion is not based on those of the popular Satanists of today, but is instead based on the works of Aleister Crowley. The religion contains no dogma in or of itself, and encourages its followers to believe in whatever they choose, as long as they do not attempt to push their beliefs on others. The aim of this religion is the ultimate destruction of religions through the advancement of individual freedom and social responsibility. The Sinagogue of Satan does not promote self-indulgence, but rather self-expression balanced with social responsibility.

See also

• Azazel
• Cultural Satanism
• Devil
• Left Hand Path
• Luciferianism
• Stregheria
• Magic
• Folk magic

References

• Ellis, Bill, Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions and the Media (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2000).
• Ford, Michael W., Luciferian Witchcraft (Lulu Press: March 31, 2005), Liber HVHI - Magick of the Adversary DCLXVI Edition (Lulu Press: June 6th, 2006).
• Hertenstein, Mike; Jon Trott, Selling Satan: The Evangelical Media and the Mike Warnke Scandal(Chicago: Cornerstone, 1993).
• Margolin, Michael S., Liber of the Goat (Promotional Sales Books, LLC: 1999)
• Brown, Seth "Think you're the only one?" (Barnes & Noble Books 2004)
• Medway, Gareth J., The Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism (New York and London: New York University Press, 2001).
• Palermo, George B.; Michele C. Del Re: Satanism: Psychiatric and Legal Views (American Series in Behavioral Science and Law) . Charles C Thomas Pub Ltd (November 1999)
• Pike, Albert, Morals and Dogma (1871)
• Richardson, James T.; Joel Best; David G. Bromley, The Satanism Scare (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1991).
• Vera, Diane, Theistic Satanism: The new Satanisms of the era of the Internet
• Sotelo, M.A., The Satanic Mini Bible (Lulu Press Inc., LLC: 2006)
• Zacharias, Gerhard (1980). The Satanic Cult. Translated from the German by Christine Trollope
• Huysmans, Joris-Karl (1891). La-Bas. ISBN 978-0140447675. The classic novel of Satanism.

External links

• Theistic Satanism and Left Hand Path oriented links
• Articles and essays about Theistic Satanism
• Satanism Archive
• Thelema, Xeper, Deitus

Organizations

• Open Directory Project: Satanism Organizations
• First Church of Satan (Rev. Allee)
• The Reformed Church of Satan
• Sinagogue of Satan
• The Devil's Advocates
• League of Independent Satanists
• The Satanic Chapel
• The Circle of Leviathan