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The nine Satanic statements: These form the core of the Church of Satan beliefs. They were 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.
The nine Satanic sins are: Stupidity, pretentiousness, solipsism, self-deceit, herd conformity, lack of perspective, forgetfulness of past orthodoxies, counterproductive pride, and lack of aesthetics. 7
Theology of the CoS:
-People have created Gods in many forms; pick one that might be useful to you.
-Heaven and Hell do not exist.
-Satan is not closely related to the modern (post 1400 AD) concept of the Christian devil. Satanists view Satan as a pre-Christian life principle which represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life.
-Satan is not a being, a living entity; he is a force of nature.
-Human life is held in sacred regard.
-"Satan...represents love, kindness and respect to those who deserve it."
-The highest of all Satanic holidays is the birthday of the individual Satanist. Of lesser importance are:
-Walpurgisnacht (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
-Many Christian anti-Satanic hate literature lists other seasonal days of celebration. However, they appear to have been pulled out of thin air by the authors. They have no connection with reality.
-Black Masses (parodies of the Roman Catholic religious service) are not normally performed by Satanists (except on rare occasions for their entertainment or publicity value).
-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 victim's death; delivering a soliloquy, etc.). Destruction rituals are best performed by a group. If a person targeted by a destruction ritual is not deserving of it, the ritual will not harm them.
-Male Satanists generally wear full length black robes, with or without a hood.
-Young women generally wear sexually suggestive clothing; older women wear all black.
-Many Satanists from different traditions wear amulets carrying the symbol of the Sigil of Baphomet. This is a goat's head, drawn within an inverted pentagram (5-pointed star with one point downward and two up). It is surrounded by a circle. Although there have been many similar symbols involving the head of a goat and an inverted pentagram in a circle, this particular configuration is a registered trade mark of the Church of Satan. 14
-The A.S. LaVey's book The Satanic Bible shows a symbol located over the Nine Satanic Statements. It is an infinity sign (a figure 8 on its side). A Roman cross is placed at the center of the figure with a second, longer cross piece added. This is not a Satanic symbol; it is an ancient alchemical symbol for brimstone.
-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 that 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 in the CoS.
-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 on avoiding doing harm to others. At least one black candle, representing the Powers of Darkness, is placed to the left of the altar. These powers are sources of energy which are currently unknown and hidden. Additional black candles are oriented as needed to provide sufficient illumination.
-The language used during magical ritual is Enochian, whose words variously sounds similar to Arabic, Hebrew or Latin. It was revealed to Dr. John Dee, court astrologer and metaphysician to Queen Elizabeth I, through his helper Edward Kelley. Kelley said that he was in contact with the Angels described in the Apocryphal book of Enoch.
Satanic ritual tools: A simple Satanic ritual can be performed with a single candle and a Baphomet. However, more elaborate rituals may include the following:
-A bell which 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, ideally made of silver; it may not be formed of gold because that is a metal that Satanists associate with Christianity and Neopagan religions. In fact, Wiccans and other Neopagans use chalices made of various metals, including silver, and other materials.
-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.
Rules of behavior:
-Prayer is useless; it distracts people from useful activity.
-Ritual killing (of humans or animals) violates Satanic principles. Blood drawn from a victim is useless. Victims are killed symbolically, not actually.
bullet Members enjoy indulgence instead of abstinence. They 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 unto others as they do onto you.
-Engage in sexual activity freely, in accordance with your needs (which may be best realized either 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 consenting adults). The ideal is a monogamous relationship based on compatibility and commitment.
-Suicide is actively discouraged.
-The Satanist needs no elaborate, detailed list of rules of behavior.
-Membership in the CoS is limited to adults of legal age, unless a teenager obtains the written permission and attendance of their parent or legal guardian.
Political agenda:
-Termination of the myth of equality for all.
-Tax all churches.
-Remove any religious beliefs which have been incorporated in legislation.
-"Development and production of artificial human companions."
-The freedom for all to live within a total environment of their choice. 8
Organizational matters:
The Church of Satan is highly decentralized, believing that a strong central organization is not desirable. Each Satanist is expected to follow his/her own path.
As of 2001-APR-31, Magister Peter Gilmore is the High Priest of the Church of Satan; Blanche Barton is the High Priestess. 11
Local CoS groups of Satanists are generally called grottos.
Attitudes towards other religious groups:
Many Satanists feel that Wiccans are hypocrites, because the latter restrict their work to positive, healing activities. Satanists use Magick and other rituals to benefit themselves and their friends, but also are free to use these same rituals to harm their enemies -- persons who have hurt them. Some have incorporated some anti-Wiccan elements in their rituals.
Satanists have been described as conducting rituals that are specifically aimed at attacking Christian beliefs and practices. Many authors, almost all conservative Christians, have described alleged Satanic rituals in which religious Satanists recite the Lord's Prayer backwards, or desecrate and use the host and wine that they have stolen from a cathedral. This is pure fiction that can be traced back to books written during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
Satanists' are often highly critical of all other faiths. They are particularly opposed Christianity, because of its paramount position in Western society and the historical persecution by Christians of Satanists.
Satanism in Action 12 publishes a blacklist of people and groups who they feel are guilty of "spreading lies and misleading propaganda against Satanism." The blacklist recommends to "Smash on sight" any of the listed offenders. Most are conservative Christian authors, counter-cult groups and anti-cult groups. 13
 marshjazz · Tue Jun 12, 2007 @ 03:29am · 0 Comments |
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