What is Satanism?
Satanism, the first carnal religion in human history, was codified and established by Anton Szandor LaVey (1930-1997) with the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966 C.E. (Year One). It is a religion and a philosophy based on man as he really is: a carnal being free from the fiction that is spirituality and one who champions total responsibility, pragmatism, and the here-and-now. Currently, the Church of Satan is headed by High Priest Peter H. Gilmore, High Priestess Peggy Nadramia, and Magistra Blanche Barton. Additional information on Church of Satan hierarchical structure, policies, updates, and more can be found at the CoS website.
Satanism has been referred to as an “unreligion” in the sense that it does not subscribe to the notion of an anthropomorphic deity and, by extension, some being who must be worshiped, its most common misconception. Others say that Satanism is challenging popular notions of how ‘religion’ is defined, not content with the dictates of Judeo-Christian strictures. Both are valid opinions. But for those who feel that deity worship and religion must be and always have been inextricably bound, it should be noted that Satanism’s lack of deity belief and deity worship is not singular as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism (all considered religions the world over) also share this viewpoint. Also, the concept of a literal “Satan” which infiltrates people’s lives and influences their decisionmaking is exclusively Christian, and decidedly not Satanic.
Satanism is further described as being a de facto personality type as, in the words of Anton LaVey, “Satanists are born, not made.” To try is to lie. It takes a certain set of predispositions to accurately label oneself a Satanist, to naturally feel at home with all that Satanism entails. Satanism, as a philosophy, can be potentially taken and learned from by a large percentage of the population, but this does not make one a Satanist, but, perchance, Satanic. Qualities such as cowardice, insecurity, self-loathing, drug addiction, stupidity, constant life failures, unconditional niceness, and lack of direction (and there are MANY more) are clear indicators that the person in question and the title of Satanist are NOT compatible. For such a person, Satanism isn’t a direct reflection of one’s core (as it is with Satanists), it can only be a human improvement program at best, which is valid on that level only. This is one distinction that many, be they Satanic “hopeful” or earnest researcher, would be better off to recognize.
It must be stressed that critically reading The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey is tantamount to understanding at least the basics of Satanism. It is the definitive tome of Satanism and cannot be avoided if accurate knowledge of Satanism is desired. As supplement (read: not replacement), perusing some of the Satanic magazines published by Church of Satan members and officials will lend some insight into Satanism in motion, as a productive model. And of course, websites published by these same folks (including myself) are also useful. Conversely, we do not officially advocate chat rooms and message boards as viable sources of Satanic information.
Membership in the Church of Satan is completely voluntary and not required in order to be a Satanist.
web.satanism101.com/index.html
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