⛧ First Church of Hypocrisy, Blasphemy, and Self-Righteousness ⛧

For all that many Satanists like to make fun of neopagans, at least neopagans can make magazines about neopaganism that last for years, even decades; but every Satanism magazine I've ever seen or heard of has died fairly quickly. And the reason for this is that Satanists tend to be full of the same kind of close-minded, self-righteous fanatacism they supposedly left behind with Christianity. Every branch thinks they're the end all be all of Satanism. So much for "forgetfulness of past orthodoxies." Which reminds me, most of that shitty attitude can be blamed on LaVey, who claimed to be the first actual Satanist, and on his Church of Satan.

Another problem with such magazines is that while paganism is a HUGE umbrella term, with lots of material to talk about and lots of different people with their own perspectives, LaVey did such a number on Satanism that the CoS was the only Satanic group any normies knew about until the Temple of Set, and even the ToS is obscure, especially when compared to the newly rising (morning) star The Satanic Temple.

Thus, Satanism is very limited by comparison to paganism, not as much to talk about, especially if you're not willing to question LaVey's dogma. But I for one would love to have open discourse with other Satanists about philosophy, etc.

I know of at least one topic that could be pursued in a Satanist magazine: discussing the Satanic Sins, the Satanic Rules, and the What Satan Represents. Because while a lot of it is good, there's a lot more that could be added (which I have added to in my own writings), and much that needs editing. Like, I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that what LaVey called Solipsism is actually called Projection, and that's a shame because Solipsism - which is completely different from Projection - should be its own Satanic Sin.

I don't really know if I consider myself theist or atheistic. I'm a Satanist, and I have moods; sometimes I have theistic moods. Other times I have atheistic moods. I think it's the chaote in me.

That said, I really hate it when atheistic Satanists shit on the theistic Satanists. Theistic Satanists were here first, and LaVey's version of Satanism is to Satanism as Wicca is to paganism. People keep saying there are no surviving pagan religions and that Wicca is a reconstruction. The truth is, they're not only forgetting African pagan religions (which are alive and well and have been this whole time), but also that paganism was NOT completely crushed. They couldn't crush European Judaism, what makes people think European paganism was crushed? Mostly it just merged with Catholicism, the way Santeria did.

Also, it's forgetting that Wicca is NOT and has NEVER BEEN a reconstruction of European paganism: Gardner basically grabbed and slightly modified the rituals of the Freemasons, said it had to be done naked, and called it Wicca. Anyone who's ever been to a Thelema ritual knows this; the rituals of Thelema are almost exactly identical to Gardnerian Wicca's rituals.

Likewise, LaVeyan Satanism was basically this guy with absolutely ZIP in the way of knowledge about already-extant Satanism redefining the term to suit his own prejudices and then taking massive dumps on theistic Satanism, denouncing it all as dabbling. Sure, there ARE dabblers, but theistic Satanism is as old as Satan (who is far older even than Judaism and only became evil when monotheism adopted Him) and never died.

This whole "Satan is just a symbol" stuff is nice and all if you're into that scene, but it's no excuse to shit all over anyone who thinks Satan is real. The theistic Satanists have been around a lot longer than you have, and anyone saying that theistic Satanism is less valid than atheistic Satanism is being just as stupid as the kind of Wiccans who scoff at hard polytheists when "everybody knows" that "all Goddesses are The Goddess and all Gods are The God." Um, no. You're welcome to believe that, but don't crap all over people who disagree. That kind of bullshit behavior looks terrible on everybody. For things that are purely a matter of faith, one belief is as valid as another unless it shits on someone else to try to gain legitimacy. It's only acceptable to call someone a brainless moron when they believe something that's been proven wrong, like "fluoride in the water is used to control people's minds." Don't be silly, that's TV's job.

Hell, LaVeyan Satanism isn't even terribly original. LaVey took Crowley's philosophy, made a "For Dummies" version of it, and called it Satanism. Also, I laugh at the use of Enochian in Satanic rituals. Yeah, wannabe-badass LaVey used an angelic language for his rituals, WTF? I mean yeah, Satan is supposedly a fallen angel by post-Judaic standards, but still... at least warp the fucking Enochian, like The Black Speech was a warping of elven tongues in the LOTR.

So yeah: theist, non-theist, whatever. Just don't shit on each other over your differences. You end up looking even pettier than "Christian" sects that disagree over a comma, since as a dominant religion, they've earned the right to be that inane and divisive. When there are so few of us, we need to stick together and stop being as shallow as the Christians-in-name-only.

This image is my own personal sigil, an idea I got from some Thelemite friends of mine. Please do NOT use it for your own stuff. It has a chaostar on top, followed by the Satano-Discordian cross (with pentacles pointing into the half-circles of the Hand of Eris part of the cross, and half moons inside the infinity symbol), the Satanic Cross upside down (no special meaning in its being upside down, just looked neat that way), the Anarchism A symbol second from the bottom, and a Hindu swastika at the very bottom.

So, basically, the power of the earth and the left-hand path, the humor of Discordianism, the freedom of chaos magick, the freedom that anarchism represents, and my pacifism represented by the Hindu swastika; with the pentacles and half moons being nods to the pagan side of my path.

asitlisidik asked: "i thought that star with circle is symbol of satanism :S"

The pentagram is an ancient symbol dating back thousands and thousands of years, and has been used by old pagans, by Christians, and is now primarily associated in modern times with the religion called Wicca, which is a neo-pagan religion. It represents the five elements (earth, air, fire, water, and spirit). Wiccan pentagrams are usually point-up, but sometimes the point-down variety is used.

The point-down, or "inverted" pentagram is often associated with modern Satanism, especially the versions with a goat's head drawn on them, but the inverted pentagram is, just as the regular pentagram, an extremely ancient symbol. Since Wiccans generally claim that the point-up position means the superiority of spirit over the mundane, modern Satanists tend to prefer the point-down pentagram to indicate a preference for the earthly world over spiritual pipe dreams.

The association of the inverted pentagram with Satanism is an odd one. The pentagram was widely used in earlier Christian times as a Christian symbol, just as the crucifix symbol was also stolen from the pagans. (The Romans made ill use of the crucifix as a method of torture and execution; Christians using it as their symbol is a bit like having an electric chair or noose as their religious symbol.) At some point in history, someone began using the pentagram in "Satanic" rituals, and suddenly it fell out of favor. But some modern Christians still use it. This is similar to the way the swastika, AKA the Fylfot Cross, AKA the Sun Cross - a nearly universal symbol of peace - was perverted by the Nazi party into a symbol of hatred.

Another popular modern Satanism symbol, that of the inverted crucifix, makes even less sense as a Satanic symbol than the inverted pentagram, seeing as the inverted crucifix is the Saint Peter's Cross. Saint Peter felt he was unworthy to die using the same Roman torture method that had been used on Jesus, and so he turned his crucifix upside down and martyred himself on his head. This sounds like something an insane Discordian with a death wish would do, but it was an insane Christian instead, and bizarrely, he started a fad, because Catholicism was uber-goth before goth was even a thing.

You can see a proper Satanic Cross here: http://burningonyx.tumblr.com/post/26961660460/of-course-the-cross-is-older-than-christianity

Found on Facebook, adapted for the LJ/DW format:

90% of Livejournal users won't repost this. They are too afraid to stand up for the truth in today's secular world. But when Odin sent Thor to slay the frost giants, he was thinking of you. If you believe that He loves Yggsdrasil with all His heart, and will fight to defend it and us at Ragnarök, please share this. If you know in your heart you'll be with Him in Valhalla, share this. Those who brave the ridicule of this secular world will truly be rewarded with mead and wild boar in the sacred halls of Valhalla! Skál!

Or, my own version:

90% of Livejournal users won't repost this. They are too afraid to stand up for the truth in today's secular world. But when Lucifer had Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit and defy the false Creator Yahweh, he was thinking of you. If you believe that He loves humans with all His infernal heart, and will fight to defend us from ignorance and an insane tyrannical "God," please share this. If you know in your heart He will be with you always, for He is the Lord of the Earth, share this. Those who brave the ridicule of this secular world will truly be rewarded with earthly delights, knowledge, wisdom, and freedom on Earth and in the afterlife (if there is one)! Avé Satanas! Avé Luciferi!

Not perfect, but amusing anyway.