Satanism

About the Church of Satan

Quotation:
"You cannot love everyone; it is ridiculous to think you can. If you love everyone and
everything you lose your natural powers of selection and wind up being a pretty poor judge of
character and quality. If anything is used too freely it loses its true meaning. Therefore, the
Satanist believes you should love strongly and completely those who deserve your love, but
never turn the other cheek to your enemy!" Anton LaVey

Overview:
Religious Satanism is a valid religion, generally followed by adults. It is essentially unrelated to teen
Satanic dabbling and to various other beliefs and practices that have been described as Satanism.
The largest of the many traditions within Religious Satanism is the Church of Satan (CoS), which
some people believe was founded on Walpurgisnacht, 1966-APR-30, (I Anno Satanas) by Anton
Szandor LaVey (1930-1997). It was actually founded later that year.
The CoS, shares one property of the Church of Scientology: it is so controversial that many versions of
"the truth" have sprung up over the years. It is impossible to separate reality from fake history. The
following essay is our best shot at describing CoS history.
The beliefs, practices and rituals of the Church of Satan have few, if any, points of similarity with the
Christian or Muslim concept of Satan. The CoS' Satan is pre-Christian, and derived from the Pagan
image of power, virility, sexuality and sensuality. Satan is viewed as a force of nature, not a living
quasi-deity. Their Satan has nothing to do with Hell, demons, pitchforks, sadistic torture, demonic
possession, and profound evil. There are references in LaVey' writings to having conducted a few
Black Masses for publicity purposes, in which the Roman Catholic Mass was ridiculed. But, it is
unknown whether these references were satirical or reflected actual rituals. Assuming that the black
masses were fictional, all of their rituals have no connection to those of Christianity or of any other
religion.
Some of their beliefs and practices are:
They do not worship a living deity.
Major emphasis is placed on the power and authority of the individual Satanist, rather than on a
 god or goddess.
They believe that "no redeemer liveth" - that each person is their own redeemer, fully
responsible for the direction of their own life.
"Satanism respects and exalts life. Children and animals are the purest expressions of that life
force, and as such are held sacred and precious..." 2
There are probably fewer than 10,000 religious Satanists in North America. The best known Satanic
organization is the Church of Satan. Associated with the CoS are many local grottos. CoS membership
is kept secret within the group. 9 Many Satanists prefer to work alone as solitary practitioners.

Founding of the Church of Satan:

Many rumors have grown up about Anton Szandor LaVey's (1930-1997) life before he founded the
Church of Satan: that he was a lion tamer, sideshow barker, police photographer, student of
criminology, "official church organist", etc. It appears that none of this is true. The persistence of
these rumors are a testimony to Anton's extensive publicity talents. 2,9
Religious Satanists existed in the 1950's, both in the United States and the UK. But they were little
known to the public. Legends describe how modern Satanism burst into mass consciousness on
Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, (I Anno Satanas) when LaVey announced the creation of the Church
of Satan. 2 In reality, LaVey was teaching weekly lectures on occult topics for $2.00 a person during
the spring of 1966. A professional publicist, Edward Webber, suggested that he "would never make
any money by lecturing on Friday nights for donations ... it would be better to form some sort of
church and get a charter from the State of California ... I told Anton at the time that the press was
going to flip out over all this and that we would get a lot of notoriety". Formation of the Church of
Satan occurred much later in 1966; it was triggered by a newspaper article that referred to LaVey as
the "priest of the Devil's church". 9
LaVey is widely believed to have been the technical advisor for the 1968 movie Rosemary's Baby. He
claimed to have played the part of the Devil in that film. Apparently, his only involvement with the
movie was that he was once asked by a theatre in San Francisco to make an promotional appearance
when the film opened. 9 However, LaVey seems to have been involved as an advisor in a later movie
The Devil's Rain which was released in 1975. He appeared in the movie as a Satanic priest. Some
chants and symbols in the movie come from his writings.
LaVey wrote the Satanic Bible in 1969. This was followed by The Compleat Witch (1970) (later
republished as The Satanic Witch). The Satanic Rituals was published in 1972. These are essentially
the only readily available books on Satanism that can be found in most bookstores. Many additional
publications have been written by other Satanic groups. However, they are not in wide distribution;
one normally has to discover them through specialist publications or Satanic Web sites.
Anton LaVey allegedly died on 1997-OCT-29. Some maintain that the death certificate was forged to
read OCT-31 -- Halloween.

Its beliefs and practices:

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
The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth are:
These are 11 rules of behavior written by Anton LaVey in 1967. 16 They include rules
governing conversations, behavior towards guests, avoiding theft, acknowledging the
power of magic, avoiding harm to children, refraining from killing animals, and behavior
towards others.
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. Children in particular are not to be harmed.
"Satan...represents love, kindness and respect to those who deserve it."
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).
Seasonal days of celebration:
The most important 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.
LeVey did refer to "Satanic revels" in his book "The Satanic Bible." However, he was
referring to the seasonal days of celebration that various cultures observed between the
solstices and equinoxes. These were Halloween (the Fall climax) and Walpurgisnacht (the
Spring climax).
There is a widespread but mistaken belief among conservative Christians that the term
"Satanic Revels" refer to long, drawn-out celebrations held five to six weeks after each
equinox and solstice. They are alleged to involve orgiastic sex and blood rituals of some
type. Some suggest that they include kidnapping, forced confinement, sacrifice and
dismemberment of human victims. All such activity is unsubstantiated rumor. The myth
of Satanic revels may have originated in Modest Mussorgsky's composition "St. John's
Night on the Bare Mountain" (popularly called "Night on Bald Mountain"). It involves
"nocturnal revels, led by the demon Chernobog (often depicted as a black goat)." This
was popularized by Walt Disney in his 1940 movie Fantasia. 17
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.
Rituals and ceremonies: Some Satanists practice their religion free of ritual. They simply
follow a lifestyle involving the Satanic statements and rules, while avoiding the Satanic sins.
Others do engage in rituals, frequently involving 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.
Magic rituals consist of three types:

1. Lust ritual: sex magic which includes masturbation,

2. Compassion ritual to achieve healing or happiness, 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 sometimes wear full length black robes, with or without a hood. But this
practice varies across North America.
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 star which contains a goat's head, and surrounding which appear
two concentric circles. Between these circles appear five Hebraic characters." 14 The star
is an inverted pentagram. 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 since 1983. 15 It was first used on 1967-SEP-
01; filed on 1981-DEC-14, and registered on 1983-MAY-3 as U.S. Registration # 1236878.
It was canceled on 2004-FEB-07. Registration for a second version was filed on 2004-
FEB-18. 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.
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.
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.
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. This is the CoS' version of an Ethic of Reciprocity.
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, Peter Gilmore was the Magister of the Church of Satan; Blanche Barton was the
High Priestess. 11 They switched roles in 2004. An interview of Peter Gilmore is available online. 18
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 magic 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.
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. 12,13
Books by A.S. LaVey:
Dates shown are of the currently-available editions:
"The Satanic Bible," Mass Market Paperback, (1989). Read reviews or order this book safely
from Amazon.com online book store
"The Satanic Rituals," Mass Market Paperback, (1991). Review/order this book
"The Satanic Witch," Feral House, (1989). Review/order this book
"The Devil's Notebook," Feral House, (1992). Review/order this book
"Satan Speaks!", (1998). Review/order this book
Also see the biography of Anton Lavey:
Blanche Barton, "Secret life of a Satanist: The authorized biography of Anton LaVey," Feral
House, (1992). Review/order this book
Another useful book is:
Blanche Barton, "The Church of Satan: A History of the World's Most Notorious Religion,"
Hell's Kitchen Productions, (1990). Review/order this book

References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not
necessarily still active today.
1. "Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups" Department of the Army, 1978-
APR. The section on Satanism is available on line at:
2. The Church of Satan has an official home page at: http://www.churchofsatan.com They list web sites of
Church of Satan Grottos, Satanic artists, musicians, members and publishers.
3. The Temple of Set is at: http://www.xeper.org/
4. "Not Like Most" is a "publication of Satanism in Action." They follow the traditions of the Church of
Satan. See: http://www.purgingtalon.com/
5. A FAQ list for the Church of Satan is at: http://members.chello.at/
6. Noctuarium: The Pit, is a chat room run by a CoS member. See: http://www.geocities.com/
7. A.S. LaVey, "The nine Satanic sins," (1987). See: http://www.churchofsatan.com/
8. A.S. LaVey, "Pentagonal revisionism: A five-point program," (1988) at:
http://www.churchofsatan.com/
9. Zeena LaVey and Nikolas Schreck, "Anton LaVey: Legend and reality,"at:
http://www.churchofsatan.org/
10.The First Church of Satan of Salem, MA has a web site at: http://www.churchofsatan.org/
11.Satanism101 supplies a "straightforward look at the Satanic religion." See:
http://www.satanism101.com/
12.Satanism in Action publishes a periodical titled "Not Like Most," See: http://purgingtalon.com/
13.Satanism in Action's blacklist was at: http://www.purgingtalon.com/ It seems to be offline.
14."Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR)," United States Patent and Trademark
Office, at: http://tarr.uspto.gov/
15.Peter H. Gilmore "The History of the Use of the Sigil of Baphomet in the Church of Satan," at:
http://churchofsatan.com/
16.Anton LaVey, "The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth," 1967, at: http://churchofsatan.com/
17."Night on Bald Mountain, Wikipedia, as of 2005-NOV-07, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
18.David Shankbone, "Satanism: An interview with Church of Satan High Priest Peter Gilmore," MySpace,
2007-NOV-05, at: http://blog.myspace.com/