An Introduction to Satanism: Theology, Philosophy, and Practice

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following is a highly abridged and edited version of an unpublished dissertation originally written in 1999. Minor revisions have also been made to reflect changes in Church management and administration, as well as to remove as much unnecessary academic jargon as possible. It is presented here to serve as a brief and concise introduction to Satanism in theory and practice for a general readership.

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this paper is to provide for the layman a brief introduction to the origins and fundamental beliefs and practices of the religion of Satanism. In order to do this, we must first define what we mean by "Satanism" to begin with: what it is and what it is not, and whether or not it constitutes a bona fide religion.

As a topic of study amongst researchers of new religious movements and recent philosophical schools of thought, Satanism has not been given as much time for discussion and debate as other groups and movements, such as the Objectivism of Ayn Rand, the Church of Scientology, Wicca and the various other neopagan sects. The problem for lines of legitimate research was further compounded during a social epidemic originating in the United States, commonly referred to as the "Satanic Panic," which began in the mid-1980s and lasted up to the early 1990s. The conclusion of various federal authorities and sociologists regarding this panic has been that there is no evidence to substantiate any of the claims and allegations put forward by the various parties involved. The history and issues regarding this particular moral panic has been thoroughly and extensively detailed in many other works, and it is not the aim of this paper to delve into this matter.

The primary scriptural sources for the Satanic religion are The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals by Anton Szandor LaVey, the late Founder and High Priest of the Church of Satan in San Francisco, California. His other writings, which include The Satanic Witch (originally published as The Compleat Witch), The Devil's Notebook, and Satan Speaks!, are also considered authoritative by the Church of Satan, as well as by many of his adherents. In 2007, the current High Priest of the Church of Satan, Magister Peter H. Gilmore, released The Satanic Scriptures, which includes a number of Church rituals that were previously unavailable to the public, as well as a collection of his essays and social critiques. The Satanic Scriptures is particularly noteworthy as it is the first work published by an official of the Church other than LaVey that is considered religiously authoritative. These books thus form the scriptural canon for the Satanic religion as practiced by the Church of Satan.

Two other books that must be mentioned are The Secret Life of a Satanist, an authorized biography of Anton Szandor LaVey, and The Church of Satan, an official history of the Church of Satan, both authored by Magistra Blanche Barton, the former High Priestess of the Church. While not forming part of the religious canon of the Church of Satan, they are considered important reference works for those interested in learning how the philosophy of Anton LaVey and the practices of the Church developed.

This paper will primarily concentrate on Satanism from the viewpoint of Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan, which thus far has been the only Satanic religious institution officially recognized by any government. The Temple of Set, a religious institution founded by Dr. Michael A. Aquino, a former official of the Church of Satan, will not be detailed as it does not fit the proper definition of Satanism, nor does it define itself as being a Satanic religion.

DEFINITION

Satanism, properly defined in the modern context, is a religious philosophy promoting the supremacy of the individual through the development and strengthening of the ego. It is a form of positivism in that it holds to the belief that true knowledge can only be acquired through objective sense experience and observation. While metaphysical speculation is not entirely avoided, such theoretical knowledge is treated as entirely subjective and not considered authentic or genuine. Thus, Satanism is ultimately a religion and philosophy of objective sense experience.

As to the question of whether or not Satanism qualifies as a bona fide religion, we must first take into consideration the fact that what constitutes a religion is not limited to the belief (or the lack thereof) in a divinity. Theravada Buddhism, for example, is a traditional religion that lacks any belief or dogma regarding the existence or non-existence of divinity. What thus elevates Buddhism to the status of a religion rather than a mere philosophy or way of life is the fact that it involves specific beliefs regarding the nature of the world and reality, the position of the human being in the universe, and practices that are believed to help the adherent attain peace of mind and contentedness.

Merriam-Webster defines religion as "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith." This definition applies as much to Satanism as any other religion. One fundamental tenant of the Satanic religion is the sincere belief that Satanists form an elite separate from the rest of humanity. In essence, one cannot convert to Satanism or be made a Satanist. One is born a Satanist, or is not a Satanist at all. This particular belief is very similar to that held by the Yazidis of northern Iraq (and the related Ahl-e-Haqq of Iran), who believe that they are descended from Adam, while the rest of humanity is descended from Eve, and thus they view themselves as forming a natural aristocracy.

It is further held as a matter of principle that Satanists are entirely responsible for their own actions, both for their own successes as well as their failures. Such principles and beliefs are held to with the utmost conviction and arguably establish the basis for Satanism being a religion in the true sense of the term.

To avoid any misunderstandings, it must be stressed that Satanism has nothing to do with devil worship or demonolatry. Both are medieval inventions of the Christian Church and used to justify the atrocities of the Inquisition. There has never been any evidence of such practices in history, and it was only until the 1970s that individuals claiming to engage in devil worship or demonolatry began to surface, though such claims did not achieve any widespread attention until the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. As such, so-called "theistic Satanism" is generally considered to have been a tool of fundamentalist Christian propaganda and has not attracted any interest from scholars of new religious movements.

ORIGINS

While Satanism is an entirely modern religious movement, the origins of Satanic belief and philosophy (as opposed to devil worship) can be traced back to the sixth century BCE in Persia, when the prophet Zarathustra established his spiritual philosophy. Contrary to popular belief, we have very little knowledge of Zarathustra's original beliefs and proclamations, much of which was codified but later destroyed when Alexander of Macedon ransacked and burned Persepolis after conquering the Achaemenid Empire. Zoroastrianism as a religion did not become fully institutionalized until after the foundation of the Sassanid Persian Empire, when for the first time an organized clergy came into being and the orthodox religious texts of Zoroastrianism were established.

What we do know of Zarathustra's original teachings is that it was more a spiritual philosophy and way of life, rather than a theistic religion. At the time, ancient Persia had increasingly become infiltrated by foreign religious beliefs from neighboring Babylon, principally in the form of idolatry. Zarathustra thus sought to purify the land of such beliefs and spoke out against the worship of idols and deities and return Persia to the traditional Aryan religion of his ancestors, which in its simplicity revolved around reverance for the Sun and the fire as the source of life energy and veneration of one's ancestors.

The first part of his fundamental teaching was that fire was the sacred essence of life and it was to be revered and respected, but not worshipped. This likewise applied to the Sun, which was viewed as an element of the sacred fire. The second part of his teaching was that human beings have the inherent capability to define good and evil, and that the good should be strived for, and evil to be shunned. What is good, he taught, is what contributes to personal happiness and contentment, while what is evil is that which is harmful to both oneself and to others. The third part of his teaching was that both the Darkness and the Light are equal forces of the Divine, that the Darkness preceded the Light, and that one cannot exist without the other. The Darkness was symbolized in the form of Ahriman, who represented the earth and the air, and the Light in the form of Ahura Mazda, who represented the Sun and the fire. There is nothing in Zarathustra's original teachings to suggest that either representations were meant to be anything other than symbolic metaphors for the two supreme elements of the universe.

In Zarathustra's original teachings we find no superstitions nor rituals. There was no theogony, or conceptions of angels, demons, and spirits, nor a belief in an eternal heaven and hell.

Essentially, that is all that we know of his teachings. It was long after his death that his teachings were expanded upon by others and gradually it took on the form of an organized religion with an increasingly complex and detailed mythology involving hierarchies of spirits and angels and demons, with Ahura Mazda becoming elevated to an omnipotent Creator God and Ahriman becoming the supreme force of evil in the world, but equally powerful as Ahura Mazda. According to this new mythology, however, Ahura Mazda would triumph over Ahriman in the end times. Voluminous texts were written detailing a complex system of ethics and morals, laying out what was allowed and what was forbidden. No longer was the individual allowed to set his or her own standards of ethical and moral conduct — now the clergy was the intermediary between the human and the divine, dictating to the masses exactly how they should live.

This contradictory and paradoxical dualism, which was not part of Zarathustra's original teachings, had an immense influence upon the burgeoning Abrahamic faith of the Hebrew people, which in turn gave rise to Christianity, which in turn led to the birth of Islam.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

THEOLOGY

Regarding the existence of God, Anton LaVey writes in The Satanic Bible, "It is a popular misconception that the Satanist does not believe in God. The concept of 'God,' as interpreted by man, has been so varied throughout the ages, that the Satanist simply accepts the definition which suits him best. Man has always created his gods, rather than his gods creating him. God is, to some, benign—to others, terrifying. To the Satanist 'God' — by whatever name he is called, or by no name at all — is seen as the balancing factor in nature, and not as being concerned with suffering. This powerful force which permeates and balances the universe is far too impersonal to care about the happiness or misery of flesh-and-blood creatures on this ball of dirt upon which we live."

Thus, Satanism does not establish any dogma regarding the existence or non-existence of divinity, other than a belief in the existence of a natural balancing force in nature. While Satanism may be interpreted as being atheistic in nature, it is more precisely defined as being agnostic, as there is not only no commitment to accepting the existence or non-existence of a God or gods, but likewise not of any ultimate reality beyond earthly life. From the Satanic viewpoint, if any form of ultimate reality does exist, it is not objectively knowable to human beings and thus has no bearing upon our lives in the here-and-now. Metaphysical speculation regarding such subjective matters is considered not only inconsequential, but also potentially harmful as it distracts from concentrating on earthly matters.

That said, any form of belief in the existence of an anthropomorphic God or gods is considered absolutely incompatible with Satanism. It has been put forward that the Satanist worships him or herself, but this conclusion is simplistic and inaccurate, as this potentially implies that Satanists pray to themselves or view themselves as possessing god-like power. It would be more accurate to state that if the Satanist worships anything, it is the vitality of existence itself. The Satanist lives only for him or herself, not for the sake of any external deity, nor is the existence of the Satanist dependent upon any external deity.

The most definitive statement concerning Satanic theology is that it is absolutely and unequivocally non-theistic. As with the science of quantum theory, there is a recognition of a primal force in the universe that is the source of all motion and energy, but acceptance of such concepts are not necessarily universal amongst Satanists. Unlike most other religions, Satanism ultimately leaves speculation regarding the nature of reality to the realm of science and individual Satanists are free to draw their own conclusions.

PHILOSOPHY

The philosophy of Satanism is summarized in the Nine Satanic Statements put forward by Anton LaVey in The Satanic Bible, which are reproduced below in bold with accompanying commentary. Acceptance of these fundametal statements and rules is considered basic to the nature of Satanism.

THE NINE SATANIC STATEMENTS

1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!

To the Satanist, the act of living itself is an indulgence. Abstinence is death and negation of life. The Satanist strives to live his or her life to the fullest extent possible and to affirm existence in the most positive terms.

Repressing one's own natural needs and desires only leads to the premature deterioration of the body since this inevitably results in depression and anxiety. LaVey furthermore differentiates indulgence from compulsion: indulgence being a chosen action, whereas a compulsion is not.

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

As the possibility or probability of an afterlife is unknowable, to the Satanist it is futile to hope for a better life beyond death. Hope itself is considered a barrier to positive self-development. If the Satanist desires a better life, he or she must focus on the here-and-now and take action to improve immediate conditions rather than waste precious time on spiritual fantasies which only distract from earthly reality.

If the Satanist's desire for life is strong and powerful enough, if the ego has been sufficiently developed, the vitality of his or her existence will potentially survive the demise of the flesh.

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

To the Satanist, the only truth is objective truth. The concept of having to confess one's mistakes and errors to another human being is considered offensive and degrading, not only because it pointless, but in effect is a hypocritical denial of responsibility for one's actions. From the Satanic viewpoint, mistakes and failures are inevitable and part and parcel of the human condition. If the Satanist commits a wrong, then he or she is expected to take responsibility and recognize the mistake for what it is and not to do it again.

This particular statement is especially important because it is putting forward the stance that the Satanist cannot escape responsibility. In a theistic faith such as Christianity, God is always there to "forgive" the believer. No matter what the mistake, no matter how great the crime, the believer is assured of forgiveness if his repentence is sincere. To the Satanist, this is nothing short of self-deception and a hypocritical attempt to evade responsibility.

In this sense, the Satanist carries a greater burden and responsibility than the theist, because there is no god to pray to for forgiveness or redemption, and there is no heaven to hope for. The Satanist stands alone, and assumes sole responsibility for his or her actions in life, both the positive and the negative.

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

The Satanist practices a revised version of the Golden Rule, showing respect and kindness only to those who are deemed worthy of such consideration, or who have earned such respect. This is not to imply that a Satanist would treat someone rudely for no apparent reason. When initiating communication with another, a Satanist is likely to be courteous and polite. But if such civility is not returned in kind, then the Satanist is under no obligation to continue treating the offending party with any level of respect or kindness.

In his philosophical writings, Anton LaVey stressed the importance of basic civility and granting kindness and consideration only to those who adhered to such "old-fashioned" notions. Since the 1960s, society has witnessed a steady but inevitable decline in civility and personal conduct, and in this regard Satanism maintains a traditionalist approach to personal conduct and communication by not tolerating any form of disrespect or rudeness.

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

Satanic philosophy does not accept pacificism. If a Satanist is attacked or harassed in any way, he is expected, as a matter or principle, to defend himself to the best of his abilities. As such, Satanism places great emphasis upon the right of the individual to be able to defend him or herself effectively, and Satanists are generally strong proponents of law and order in society.

However, this statement of principle was not intended by LaVey to apply to every single conflictive situation in life. For example, if a Satanist were to find himself in a situation where he is staring down the barrel of a gun in a bad part of town, mounting a proper defense would likely result in death, thus violating the Satanic principle of self-preservation. That said, the intelligent Satanist would avoid placing him or herself in such a situation in the first place, most especially by avoiding areas where such incidents are likely to occur!

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

Though the concept of "psychic vampirism" had existed beforehand, it was LaVey who first coined this specific term. In short, a psychic vampire is someone who drains another person of their vital energy. This can be interpreted both objectively and metaphysically.

In the objective sense, a psychic vampire is essentially a parasite who takes from others, but gives nothing in exchange. For example, someone who constantly "borrows" money, but never pays anyone back, or someone who puts down another in order to make themselves feel better. A "friend" who contributes nothing to the "friendship," for instance, would be a classic case of psychic vampirism, i.e. only calling upon their "friend" when they need to vent some frustration or angst.

In the metaphysical sense, a psychic vampire is believed to literally rob others of their life energy. This phenomenon has been described by others, most notably by Dion Fortune in her occult classic, Psychic Self-Defense. An example of this type of psychic vampire is a person who when others are around him, inevitably feel tired or fatigued and so forth.

However, in The Satanic Bible, LaVey discusses psychic vampirism in very objective terms and devotes an entire chapter discussing exactly how such parasitic individuals and organizations operate, and how and why to avoid them at all costs.

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 intellectual and spiritual development," has become the most vicious animal of all!

The Satanic viewpoint is that the ultimate nature of the human being is carnal and earthly, and that to deny and repress our animal nature and deceitfully elevate ourselves to a high position in the universe (e.g. "God created man in his own image") has only led to endless violence and bloody conflicts, all in the name of religion and ideology.

The Satanist strips away all the illusions regarding the alleged "divine" nature of humanity and views himself and other humans for what they are: animals that have a near limitless capacity for great intellectual and creative ability, but more often than not, through their own arrogant self-deception, reduce themselves to violent, brutal creatures worse than the beasts of the jungle.

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

A reference to the "Seven Deadly Sins" of the Catholic Church: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. All of these are considered sins principally because each and every single one of them relate to an innate trait of human instinct towards carnality and materialism.

As the Satanist has abandoned all pretense to being a divine being and has fully embraced his or her carnal nature, there is no longer any barrier to preventing indulgence in any of these "sins." LaVey brilliantly exposes the fallacies behind each of the alleged "Cardinal Sins," demonstrating concisely and clearly how every single human being is inevitably guilty of committing every single one of these alleged sins.

It is noteworthy that amongst the Cardinal Sins is the absence of actual criminal behavior: murder, rape, pedophilia, among others, all of which the Christian Church has been flagrantly guilty since its inception to this very day, which further supports the Satanic assertion that repression of one's human nature can only lead to turmoil, conflict, misery, and death.

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

The term "church" here is used in reference to all organized religion in general, and the Abrahamic faiths in particular, all three of which have thrived and persisted upon the concepts of the "fear of God" and "protection from the temptation of sin (and the Devil)." Without fear, such religions cannot survive, and thus human beings who adhere to these religions in the modern age willingly enslave themselves to fear.

Satan, representing everything that the anti-human religions seek to repress and destroy, to the Satanist symbolizes the artistic force in nature responsible for both creation and destruction, that power of the "unknown known" which can be accessed and manipulated by those few who have the ability to understand it.

PRACTICE

MAGIC

The practical application of Satanism is most often associated in the popular consciousness with the practice of ritual magic. Though magic forms an important facet of the Satanic religion, it is by no means the only method by which to put Satanism into practice, nor is it even necessary for the Satanist to engage in ritual and ceremony. Indeed, there are as many Satanists who choose not to practice ritual magic as there are who do.

Anton LaVey provides the following definition of magic in The Satanic Bible, "The change in situations or events in accordance with one's will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangeable." LaVey further separates magic into two categories: "Greater Magic," which involves the performance of a formal ritual or ceremony and is principally an emotionally-driven activity, and "Lesser Magic," which does not involve ritual or ceremony, but rather employs less dramatic methods by which to obtain the desired results.

The difference between Greater Magic and Lesser Magic is often confusing to the layman and can best be demonstrated through the example of a man employing magic in order to secure the interest of a woman. Let us presume that this man does not have a love interest in mind at all and is single, and thus he desires to have a girlfriend. Having exhausted all other avenues of pursuit, he decides to employ Greater Magic to attract the interest of a woman.

Theoretically, he could perform a ritual towards such an end and find himself some days later in a situation where he becomes acquainted with a woman with whom he establishes a connection. However, unless he has a specific love interest in mind, it is just as likely that nothing will happen since he is not directing his emotional energy towards any specific person. In other words, his energy is being directed nowhere and will not result in any change, at least in theory.

In such a situation, where there is not yet any specific person of interest, he would be much better off employing Lesser Magic to first attract the attention of someone towards himself. There are a variety of ways he would go about doing this, depending upon the person in question, but invariably involves manipulation of the visual senses, what LaVey terms the "command to look," among other techniques that anyone can use to bring about the desired effect, in this example the amorous attentions of a woman. Having successfully employed Lesser Magic to secure a potential love interest, the man would then go about using Greater Magic to direct his energies towards this person. And the rest, of course, would be up to him.

While the core of LaVey's teachings on Greater Magic are contained in The Satanic Bible as well as The Satanic Rituals (the latter of which is primarily concerned with ceremonies intended for group performance), the bulk of LaVey's teachings regarding Lesser Magic are outlined in The Satanic Witch as well as several of his articles in The Devil's Notebook and Satan Speaks!.

LaVey describes the ritual chamber, the environment in which the ritual or ceremony is conducted, as an "intellectual decompression chamber" as ritual magic is inherently an anti-intellectual and emotionally-driven activity. The purpose of the ritual chamber is to serve as a threshold between the rational, analytical world of the mundane and the irrational, subjective world of the arcane. This is necessary in order to assist the practitioner in suspending his or her disbelief, which is a prerequisite to the effective performance of ritual.

LaVey's description of ritual as a psychodrama is unique amongst writers of the occult and entirely appropriate, as the origin of theatre is to be found in the earliest eras of civilization, when dramatic performances were designed as homages to the gods. Just as the actor of the modern stage and cinema must suspend his or her disbelief to effectively perform a character in order to suspend the audience's disbelief, so must practitioners of ritual magic suspend their own disbelief in order to be able to bring about the shift in consciousness necessary to direct the intensity of their emotional needs and desires towards their intended goals.

EROTIC CRYSTALLIZATION INERTIA

Erotic Crystallization Inertia (ECI) is a term coined by Anton LaVey to describe a method by which to aid in the promotion of longevity and youthful vigor. The theory is based upon the idea that change in culture, trends, and environments is one of the primary reasons why people gradually wither away and die. The more changes there are in one's life and environment, the quicker one will succumb to the aging process. The purpose of ECI is to help stagnate the aging process and increase one's chances at living longer.

This is done by surrounding oneself with objects and memorabilia and dressing in the fashions from the peak of one's youth, which is the moment when one crystallizes in that particular moment of time. The ultimate implementation of ECI would involve the construction of total aesthetic environments completely isolated from the outside world. Such an environment would be completely and totally timeless, not subject to whatever changes occur outside.

Taking the concept even further involves the construction of artificial human companions, which LaVey has discussed in great detail in a number of articles and interviews. Similar in nature to the animatronics of Disneyland or the automaton musical ensemble, The Dr. Phibes' Clockwork Wizards, in the film The Abominable Dr. Phibes (which itself was inspired by LaVey's concepts), the use of artificial human companions in a total environment of one's own design is the penultimate goal of ECI in practice.

CONCLUSION

Based upon what little has been presented in this paper, the religion and philosophy of Satanism is clearly a multi-faceted and diverse body of beliefs, principles, and practices which have had a broad and dynamic influence upon the world through art, music, literature, and cinema. The Satanic Bible remains the fountainhead of modern Satanic thought and the standard reference text for anyone interested in the subject of Satanism.

The impact of Anton Szandor LaVey's philosophy and wide-ranging theories has, with very few exceptions, not been widely acknowledged in academia, but with the rapid advancement of technology and increasing scientific developments in the fields of life extension research and practical applications of quantum theory, it is inevitable that interest in LaVey's contributions to these fields will in the near future not only gain recognition, but continue to inspire visionaries who are at the forefront of artistic and technological innovation.

BACK TO MAIN PAGE