Deus et Maledictus Est!
Hail Satan
Don David Scott, the Raven
Who is Satan?
-------------------------------
"I was not content to believe in a personal devil and serve him, in the
ordinary sense of the word. I wanted to get hold of him personally and
become his chief of staff."
-------------------------------
Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), British occultist. The Confessions of
Aleister Crowley, ch. 5 (1929; rev. 1970).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps the dictionary definition of Satan will shed some light on this
subject:
(perhaps not):
"Satan ... noun
Theology.
The profoundly evil adversary of God and humanity, often identified with
the leader of the fallen angels; the Devil.
[Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin Sat'n, from Greek
Satanas, Satan, from Hebrew satan, devil, adversary, from satan, to
accuse.]"
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition.
-----------------------------------------
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia says:
"Satan [Heb., = adversary], in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the
principle of evil conceived as a person; also called the Devil. In
Christian tradition Satan was the leader of the angels who rebelled against
God and who were cast out of heaven. He and his followers are seen as
tempters of humanity and the source of evil in the world. He has numerous
other names, such as Lucifer, Beelzebub, Evil One, and Prince of Darkness."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dictionaries attempt to provide us with basic definitions, defining words
in their broadest sense. One purpose of a dictionary is to supply the
speakers of a language with meanings common to all, thereby allowing us to
understand each other. Encyclopedias also define terms of common usage, but
they go a step farther by providing essays on subjects which words invoke.
The philosophies from which Satan arose sprang from the distant past, and
from a clash of cultures. We will need to descend (as from the Gate to
Hell) deeper in to the chasm of history.
--------------------
"Those who consider the Devil to be a partisan of Evil and angels to be
warriors for Good accept the demagogy of the angels. Things are clearly
more complicated."
Milan Kundera (b. 1929), Czech author, critic. The Book of Laughter and
Forgetting, pt. 2, ch. 4 (1978; tr. 1980).
---------------------
Philosophies in general and this subject in particular require diligence to
comprehend. Dedication to truth, not an acceptance of the teachings of
others but rather a scientific study of reality, is required. Logic should
be your tool of choice in any study. Many Scholarly works have covered this
subject and I do not claim to do more than scratch the surface of Satan's
origin. My intent is to stimulate the need for knowledge. I hope that my
casual essay will arouse the desire in others to study this subject in more
depth. In the future, I will expand my essay in greater detail. Now, let's
get our hands dirty...
In the beginning, the Hebrew god was without form and void. His people, the
Hebrew tribes, were primarily hunter-gatherers; if you had it, they hunted
you down and killed you for it. They took from others and then made it
their own. When the "walls of Jericho" came tumbling down, as you can see
in the Torah, the Hebrews killed every man, woman and child. Then, by
direction of their "god," they severed the heads of the fallen and pounded
them to the tops of stakes for display. This was to serve as a warning. It
also provided the Hebrews with an income.
The idea that only "our tribe" is human and everyone else is "not human" is
not unique. Actually, it is common among tribes even today in "primitive,"
for lack of a better word, societies. Yet their violent adherence to their
god was noted by other tribes. Noted, and dealt with. Civilization after
civilization used them as slaves after winning the war against them and
thus saving their own heads from the stake.
Hebrew philosophy has, throughout recorded history, been eclectic. They
often absorbed the ideas of their "oppressors" into their religion. "We are
being punished by god" the holy men would say, "why are we being punished?"
The answers to these questions usually took the form of "god is teaching
us..." During the years 586-538 BCE the Hebrews entered a period historians
call the BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY, where the Persians used them as slaves. The
Persians believed in two basic gods, the god of night and the god of day, a
god of light and a god of darkness. Since you could pull off unscrupulous
behavior at night, the god of darkness seemed less-than perfect to the
Hebrew captives. They reasoned that the god of light must be JHVH, their
god, and that the god of darkness must be his adversary. "Satan" in Hebrew
means "adversary," and thus, Satan was born.
Shortly after Satan's "birth" the idea of Hell gained acceptance. Prior to
this, the official doctrine was that all people (Hebrews) who died went to
Sheol. Sheol was a place of shadows where the world still existed but
remained forever out of your grasp, a phantom world that you walked for
eternity. You went to Sheol despite your blasphemy or holiness. Our idea of
ghosts emerged from this belief.
The Persians also are responsible for the doctrines of a final judgment,
the resurrection of the dead, a scheme of world history, new beliefs about
the end of time, and a more involved and extensive set of beliefs
concerning angels. Frankly, the Hebrews did not come up with much on their
own. Their belief system reminds me of a well-organized pawn shop.
-----------------
"We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can
at least respect his talents. A person who has for untold centuries
maintained the imposing position of spiritual head of four-fifths of the
human race, and political head of the whole of it, must be granted the
possession of executive abilities of the loftiest order."
Mark Twain (1835-1910), Concerning the Jews, in Harper (New York, Sept.
1899; repr. in Complete Essays, 1963).
------------------
A survey of the Bible will yield no explanation of Satan's origin. Further,
no explanation of gods' reason for allowing Satan to exist is given. The
christians, who built their religion on a reinterpretation of Judiastic
thought, further elaborated on the origin and nature of Satan. Most
christian theology personifies Satan as god's real opponent, who is an
entity, a real being. This idea is nowhere to be found in the christian
bible or Hebrew torah. In the bible, he is only a "principle" in a "created
order," not a real being. The title "fallen angel" was also appended by
christianity.
The belief in a master of the powers of darkness belonged to many ancient
cultures, most notably the Chaldeans, the Persians, and the Babylonians.
Zoroastrianism's Ahriman and the Egyptian God Set, all possessed similar
characteristics to Satan.
Satan has been called many things, in the New Testament he is named "the
tempter," "the slanderer," "the enemy," "the liar," terms which the Hebrews
undoubtedly used for Jesus. A survey of the teachings of Jesus next to the
doctrines of the Torah, would provide an excellent case for proving the
Hebrews correct, at least with regards to Judiasm.
With the preceding in mind, we will return to the original meaning of
"Satan," adversary. To me, as a Satanist, Satan represents the opposer to
all judeo-christian ideals and ideology. Satan is the personification of
Evil, where Evil means fleshly, unspiritual, and ungodly. Satan represents
the fulfillment of the fleshly life, the enjoyment of the here and now, and
the liberation of the psyche from the chains of judeo-christian guilt.
Who is Satan?
Oh hear the names He has been given:
Archfiend, Prince of Darkness, Prince of this world,
serpent, Old Serpent, Tempter, Adversary, Antichrist, Common
Enemy, Enemy of mankind
Diabolus, Father of Lies, fallen angel, rebel angel,
evil genie, Shaitan, Eblis, spirit of evil, principle of evil,
Angra Mainyu or Ahriman,
the Foul Fiend, the Devil, the Evil One, Wicked One, Old Nick,
Apollyon, Abaddon, Satan, Lucifer, King of Hell, angel of the
bottomless pit...
Who is Satan? He is the mighty adversary of the inhuman death-cult
religions. He is the light springing from the darkness of history. He is
the true friend of mankind.
But most of all....
"The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman."
(William Shakespeare in King Lear, act 3, sc. 4. Spoken by Edmund the
Bastard.)
Hail Satan!
Don David Scott
Back to info. on satanism