SATANISM

Note:

Because of the large amount of misinformation in circulation about Satanism, this information sheet is much longer than others in this series.

What is Satanism?

Most names of religions (like Christianity, Hinduism, Islam) have well defined meanings. One exception is Satanism:

Some people feel that all non-Christian religions and all Christian denominations other than their own are forms of Satanism. This would imply that all Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems - in fact at least 75% of the world's population are Satanists.
Others feel that all religions other than Judaism or Christianity are inspired by Satan and are thus Satanism.
Large numbers of people feel that a wide variety of unrelated, benign religions (such as Santeria and other Caribbean religions, Druidism, New Age, Wicca, etc) are forms of Satanism.

Such definitions create great confusion. The following are recommended terms and descriptions for four mostly unrelated religions that have been called Satanism:

Religious Satanism: This faith includes the recognition of the Christian devil, Satan, either as a deity or as a principle. Three main denominations exist: the Church of Satan, the Temple of Set and the Church of Satanic Liberation. Other short lived Satanic groups currently exist and have existed in the recent past. According to Statistic Canada, the 1991 census found 335 Canadians who identified themselves as Satanists. The actual number is probably significantly larger. A US Department of the Army pamphlet #165-13 "RELIGIOUS REQUIREMENTS AND PRACTICES OF CERTAIN SELECTED GROUPS - A HANDBOOK FOR CHAPLAINS" (1978-April) estimated that there were 10 to 20 thousand members of the Church of Satan in the US. Accurate data is impossible to estimate, since the largest group (the Church of Satan) does not release its membership totals.
Gothic Satanism: It is an imaginary, profoundly evil religion that was invented during the late Middle Ages. Concepts included ritual killing of children, selling their soul to the devil, breaking crucifixes, conducting black masses, etc. It has never existed in the past, and does not exist today, except in the imagination of the public.
Teen Satanism: A syncretistic religion which blend of elements taken from Religious Satanism and Gothic Satanism. It is practiced by rebellious teenagers - typically for a short period of time. They probably number in the tens or hundreds of thousands; an exact estimate is impossible to obtain, since they are totally devoid of any central organization.
Other types of Satanism: Occasionally, serial murderers will claim to be Satanists in order to justify their horrendous activities. Police investigation reveals that they know little about the religion. A small percentage of child molesters will abuse children in a Satanic setting as a means of controlling the victims. The molesters are not actual Satanists; they are simply using the facade of Satanism to further their criminal acts. Some heavy metal rock bands pretend to be associated with Satanism. Their main reason is to gain notoriety in order to sell more records. These three quasi-Satanic groups will not be dealt with further in this information sheet.

Religious Satanism - Brief Description

Religious Satanism (or Satanism) involves:

the recognition of the Christian devil, Satan in his original Biblical form, or of the ancient Egyptian God Set, either as a deity or as a principle.
the concept that belief in Satan or Set as a living entity does not require them to worship or demonstrate their faith in him (as, for example, Christians worship their God).
the belief that one should live out their lusts and desires, explore the "seven deadly sins" with enthusiasm.
many beliefs, practices and rules of behaviour which are in conflict with traditional Christianity, and essentially all other religions.
a Baphomet symbol, which is a goat's head, drawn within an inverted pentagram (5 pointed star with one point downwards and two up). It is often surrounded by a circle.
a second symbol which is an infinity sign (a figure 8 on its side). A Roman cross is placed on top with a second, longer cross piece added.
two main Satanic denominations, and a few small ones, totaling perhaps 10,000 adult followers in North America.

Religious Satanism - Its Origin

Modern Satanism is generally (though mistakenly) regarded as a creation of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). Aleister was in fact a very prominent ceremonial magician who based his rituals largely upon Judeo-Christian principles. He was raised in a Plymouth Brethren family, but developed an early dislike of organized Christianity. After university, he joined the Order of the Golden Dawn, which practiced magick (ceremonial magic) based on the Kaballah (or Cabbalah, a Jewish mystical tradition), Rosicrucianism (a mystical blend of alchemy, Hinduism, Judaism, etc), Freemasonry (a men's fraternal organization) and Theosophy (a Gnostic tradition believing in a common thread that links all religions). He was kicked out of the Golden Dawn and later joined the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), which blended ceremonial magic, sex magick and Freemasonry. Crowley reveled in notoriety, billing himself as the Wickedest Man in the World and the Great Beast 666 of Revelation. He is alleged to have committed at least one animal sacrifice, experimented with many illegal drugs and engaged in countless sexual orgies. It is not known how much of this actually happened, and how much is imaginary and created to satisfy his insatiable desire for publicity. Nor is it known how much of the time he was serious, and when he was behaving with tongue in cheek. His prime aim was to contact his Holy Guardian Angel Aiwaz. He did not consider himself a Satanist. He was a prolific writer on magick. Many Satanists have incorporated the contents of his books into their own rituals. Many authors and TV personalities have stated that Crowley was the first Satanist, even though evidence points to the contrary.

Religious Satanism - Its Organizations:

Modern Satanism really begins with Anton Szandor LaVey (b. 1930). On April 30, 1966 (I Anno Satanas) he created the Church of Satan. Anton drew on his previous experience as a lion tamer and side show barker, and on his readings into psychology, magick etc, and wrote the Satanic Bible in 1969. This was followed by Satanic Witch (1970) and The Satanic Rituals (1972). These are essentially the only available books which accurately describe Satanism. Books written by non-Satanic authors are plentiful, but are usually filled with misinformation that is derived from the Witch burning times in Europe (cira 1450-1792 CE) rather than from any present or past reality.

In 1975, one of LaVey's followers, Michael Aquino left the Church after a disagreement, and organized the Temple of Set. This form of religious Satanism is recognizes a pre-Satanic deity, the Egyptian God Set as an entity which stands separate and apart from the forces of the natural universe. He was typically portrayed as a man with the head of an animal (perhaps a hyena). Set was copied by the Chaldeans who called him Had or Hadit; this later became Shaitan, and still later the Satan of Christianity.

Religious Satanism - Its Beliefs and Practices:

At the core of the Church of Satan are the nine Satanic Statements, written by Anton LaVey. In abridged form, they state that Satan represents:

indulgence, not abstinence
vital existence, not spiritual pipe dreams,
undefiled wisdom, not hypocritical self-deceit
kindness to those deserving of it, not love wasted on ingrates
vengeance, not turning the other cheek
responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires
man as just another animal - the most vicious of all
gratification of all ones desires
the best friend that the Christian Church has had as he has kept it in business for centuries

LaVey's theology contain the following concepts:

People have created Gods in many forms; pick one that might be useful to you.
Heaven and hell do not exist.
Satan is unrelated to the modern (post 1400 AD) concept of the Christian devil. They look upon him as a God who represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life.
Satan is not a being; he is a force of nature.
Ritual killing (of humans or animals) are not allowed. Blood drawn from a victim is useless. Victims are killed symbolically not actually.
Human life is held in sacred regard.
The highest of all Satanic holidays is the birthday of the Satanist. Of less importance are
- Walpurgusnacht (evening of April 30) and Halloween (evening of October 31),
- Solstices in June and December,
- Equinoxes in March and September,
- Satanic Revels are held five to six weeks after each equinox and solstice
Black Masses (parodies of the Roman Catholic religious service) are not normally performed by Satanists (except perhaps for their entertainment or publicity value)

LaVey's rituals and ceremonies contain the following concepts:

Names used include Satan, Lucifer, Belial and Leviathan.
Ceremonies are pageants which are used to celebrate a person or element of faith.
Magick rituals consist of three types:
1. Sex magic (includes masturbation),
2. Healing or happiness ritual, and
3. Destruction ritual (may include sticking pins in a doll; drawing a picture or writing a description of the victims death; delivering a soliloquy, etc). Destruction rituals are best performed by a group.
Male Satanists wear full length black robes, with or without a hood.
Young women wear sexually suggestive clothing; older women wear all black.
All Satanists wear amulets with the symbol of Baphomet, described above
Altar: When the Satanic Bible was written (1969) a nude woman was customarily used as an altar, since Satanism is regarded as a religion of the flesh, not of the spirit. She reclined on an altar which was trapezoidal in shape, about 1 m high and 2 m long and placed against the West wall of the room. Her head pointed South. A live altar is now rarely used.
One white candle is placed to the right of the altar; it symbolizes the belief of Satanists in the hypocrisy of "White Magicians" and Wiccans because of the latter's insistence to do no harm to others. At least one black candle, representing the Powers of Darkness, is placed to the left of the altar. Additional black candles are oriented as needed to provide sufficient illumination.
The following tools are used:
- A bell is rung nine times at the beginning and end of the ritual; the Satanic priest rotates counter-clockwise as he rings the bell
- A chalice is ideally made of silver; it may not be formed of gold because that is a metal that Wiccans use, and Satanists want do distance themselves as much as possible from Wicca.
- Other ritual tools include a gong, sword, elixir (usually wine), phallus, and parchment. They and the chalice and bell are placed on a small table near the altar.
The language used during magical ritual is Enochian, whose words variously sounds similar to Arabic, Hebrew or Latin. It is of ancient and unknown origin.

The Church of Satan's rules of behaviour include:

Prayer is useless; it distracts people from useful activity
Enjoy indulgence instead of abstinence. Practice with joy all the seven deadly Christian sins (greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust and sloth)
If a man smites you on one cheek, smash him on the other.
Do onto others as they do onto you
Engage in sexual activity freely, in accordance with your needs (which may be best realized through monogamy, or by having sex with many others; through heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality; using sexual fetishes as you wish; by yourself or with one or more persons). Sexual activity must be between consenting adults. The ideal is a monogamous relationship based on compatibility and commitment.
Suicide is frowned upon.
The Satanist needs no elaborate, detailed list of rules of behaviour.

Local groups of Satanists are called grottos; they correspond to Christian congregations and Wiccan covens. They feel that Wiccans are hypocrites; their attitude towards Christianity seems to be more of amusement and ridicule. They have incorporated some anti-Wiccan elements in their rituals; there are few or no elements which ridicule or invert the beliefs or practices of Christianity or of any other religion.

Gothic Satanism - Its Origins

Gothic Satanism was an invention of the Christian Church at the time of the Witch burnings. Christians believe that it existed then and was a great threat to the established order. Many Christians (particularly conservative ones) still believe this today. However, it is an imaginary religion that does not exist in reality.

Throughout the 15th Century, there was a rising hysteria within the Christian Church about the perceived presence of Satan worshipers, who were seen as a destabilizing influence. The Witch burnings (sometimes called the burning times or the female holocaust) began.

Two Dominican priests, Kramer and Sprenger wrote a book circa 1486 The Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches Hammer) which became the main reference text for the genocide. They wrote that these Gothic Satanists:

are mostly women because they are more impressionable, more perfidious, more carnal, more vengeful, and (intellectually) more like children than are men. God, being male, has mostly preserved men from heresy;
kill, bewitch and induce plagues in animals; stop cows from giving milk;
cause impotence, sterility, abortions and miscarriages;
ride at night on broomsticks to sexual orgies;
drink the blood of unbaptised infants and devour them, or convert them into soup, or bake them in an oven; their bones are made into ritual instruments;
offer their children to demons;
kill or place curses on people by simply looking at them, saying a phrase, causing lightning to strike them, by blowing in their face, pushing pins into a wax doll made in the image of the victim, etc;
beat, break, stab or step on a crucifix whenever they can.

A second reference text was Guazzo's Compendium Maleficarum, which was written about 1620. He described how Satan worshipers:

ride through the air on the back of a goat or a staff
anoint themselves with magical oil and fly on their own
anoint themselves with a cream or make a certain sign, and immediately vanish;
appear to change shape from human to animal and back;
can change people and animals from male to female and back;
swear homage and obedience to Satan, and had their bodies branded with his mark;
rejoice, dance, eat and drink in the presence of Satan who appears at these celebrations in the form of a hideous and deformed black goat;
suffocated, pierced and killed their own infants, cut off their extremities and cooked their trunks.

The inquisitors tortured suspects until they were willing to confess to anything in order to end the pain. So, of course, there is abundant testimony available in the court records as evidence.

The last European victim of the "Burning Times" was burned at the stake in 1792, although the Church continued to exterminate heretics by burning in South America into the 1830's.

Near the end of the "Burning Times", the concept of the Black Mass was added to the public's beliefs about Satanists. This was allegedly a parody on the Roman Catholic Mass. Urine or dirty water were substituted for wine; moldy bread or turnips were substituted for the host. The Mass was said in the local language (opposite to the Church's use of Latin). Texts were read backwards. The cross would be spat upon and broken. Infants would be sacrificed. Public beliefs about Gothic Satanism coalesced into a religion which was anti-Christian in every detail.

Gothic Satanism - Today

500 years later, many people believe that Gothic Satanists remain a great threat. In the State of Utah, about 90% of adults believe in the existence of Satanic groups who abuse and kill infants. Satanists are no longer believed to fly through the air on broomsticks or instantaneously vanish. But the baby killing, selling ones soul to Satan, rituals involving a goat, breaking a cross or crucifix, even shape shifting between animal and human has been described by modern Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian authors. Many writers and seminar speakers may be completely unaware that most of their source material can be traced back to the texts used by the Renaissance Witch hunters. Outrageous claims have been made of 60,000 ritual killings a year, and of baby breeding prisons where young women are kept continually pregnant so that their infants can be taken and sacrificed. The concept of Gothic Satanism as being thoroughly anti-Christian has remained intact for centuries.

No criminal investigation in the past 300 years is known to have found hard evidence of Satanic Ritual Abuse (with the possible exception of a case in Greece during 1995). However, the belief that Gothic Satanism exists as a major social threat continues, even without any evidence.

There are many indicators that Gothic Satanism does not exist:

essentially all beliefs and practices attributed to Gothic Satanism can be traced to Kramer and Sprenger's book, the Witches Hammer.
many books which are allegedly written by ex-Satanists have been shown to be frauds
no book by a Gothic Satanist describing their beliefs and rites, etc has ever been written. If Gothic Satanists existed in any numbers, such books would exist and be in print.
baby breeding camps could not be successfully hidden for decades
various government studies and many hundreds of police investigations have failed to come up with hard evidence of human sacrifices or other Satanic crimes.

Teen Satanism

There are tens or hundreds of thousands of rebellious teenagers in North America who briefly dabble in a form of Satanism. Their source material is often the books by LaVey, perhaps supplemented by writings about Gothic Satanism by Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian authors. Sometimes, teens will also include elements from books on Wicca or other Neo-pagan religions in their practices.

These teens are responsible for Satanic graffiti, and (rarely) animal sacrifices. Some look upon Satanism as a method of rebelling against their parents' beliefs. Fortunately, it is usually a passing fad that teens quickly outgrow. Teen Satanists have no connection with Religious Satanists. There is of course no connection between the teens and Gothic Satanists, because the latter do not exist.

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