Ask a Theistic Satanist thread!

[Sean R. R.]

This is so funny that I seriously think you should write a humor article with this sentence in it--6 Misconceptions of Satanism or something. Really. Cracked would eat that up. Anyway...



I'm not really into theistic anything in terms of endorsing the idea that there are concrete, fixed deities with singular personalities etc. However, I do think there's a lot to say for thoughtforms, and it seems to me if belief in a thing, particularly over a long period of time, wields power whether or not that actually helps something become manifest in the ether (basically, no one can refute, for example, Catholic influence upon the world, God or no God). But I do personally think that well-fed beliefs do gain real, independent power, the manifestations of which are probably manifold.

So, my question basically is, do you think that Christianity has inadvertently strengthened Satan by keeping the faith that such an entity exists well fed? And, this is I guess important, do you think that your Satan and te Christian Satan are connected enough for this action of faith-based anti worship has in fact elevated the powers of the Hell you seek?

Finally, I feel uncomfortable fitting in with either theistic or atheistic/LaVeyan Satanism, because I do believe in the divine but not in terms of actual, realized deities, though I realize the value and power of compartmentalizing divinity into personalities and the power behind invoking those personalities which are well established and possess some amount of accompanying artifacts, text or otherwise.

SO, I am wondering as a personal matter, just for your opinion, and with the above in mind, I think, in a not entirely though largely LaVeyan way, that Satan is the most suitable deified personality for me to invoke as symbolic of my path, though I do not believe he is necessarily manifest except as a powerful and ancient collection of focused thought and human attention, so would you or wouldn't you consider me a theistic Satanist?

And finally, knowing that many use Satan as iconography for a philosophy who are without belief in a literal Satan, do you think that there truly are, as many evangelists would have us believe, many atheists unwittingly calling upon a very powerful entity? Some LaVeyan Satanists seem to take their rituals and allegiance to Satan very very seriously and spiritually, if not with theistic intentions.

Damn... You like to write, don't you? Well, I like to read, so thanks!

I highly doubt that there is a strong connections between our Satan, and the Satan of the Bible. However, a bit of this energy flow seems to affect our Satan since testimonies from people who have made contact with him assure that he recieves this energy but it's only enough to annoy him. Also, it seems as if little by little the "fear for Satan" among christians is fading away, thus resulting in a decrease of such flow of energy.

For what I hear you seem more of a hybrid between Theistic and LaVeyan, making the "grouping" process quite difficult. However, bear in mind that it is just a label, and I've known quite spiritual LaVeyan Satanists who are also in a kind of hybrid state between Theistic and Atheistic. I think it's not a thing of what people consider you, but what do you consider yourself. But since you are asking the question, the most polite thing to do is answer: I would consider you a kind of Spiritual LaVeyan Satanist, as it is something I've been exposed to, and you seem to fit well into that category. But remember, categorizing is very subjective, and only necessary if group practice is sought. Then again, you would need to have read the Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey to fit into Laveyan Satanist properly. It's a big mess, if you ask me. I've always choosen to keep certain details of my beliefs a secret in order to avoid categorizing issues.

I do not think they call into the entitiy itself, but rather the power within themselves. If I'm not mistaken (and you would have to consult Medusa in case I am), Satan is an archetype found within themselves. Spirituality and LaVeyan Satanism are not contradictory. They don't believe in entities, but most believe in a certain power, may it be physical or metaphysical, again, if I'm not mistaken.

[Siloh]

Thanks. Those answers were along the lines I expected. Yes, I write a bit much. Many may be amazed to know I post solely through my phone!

I always chuckle thinking about people who endorse Satan through their fears possibly lending him greater power.

[Corvus]

I don't know if this fits in with theistic or atheistic satanism but where does the worship of the 'Self God' come in?
What do you think hell is like?
what happens when you die?

Does a biblical Devil exist as a separate entity from Satan?
Since Satan means adversary what is he adversary to?
Why does he exist?

If there are 4 princes, of equal power and importance why does the faith seem skewed toward Satan?
How do Satanists view modern Christianity (please be specific)
Demons are?

Angels are?
Other deities are?
Are there any female entities in this faith? (does Satan have a girlfriend?)

In this faith are there any crimes? (or sins or anything like this?)
What qualities are valued by your god/s?
How many questions can I ask? should I break this into smaller chunks?

When you talk about omnipotence inside yourself, what do you mean?
How does your god/s interact with the world? what effect do they have on the world?
What is Satan to you?

[Sean R. R.]

I don't know if this fits in with theistic or atheistic satanism but where does the worship of the 'Self God' come in?
What do you think hell is like?
what happens when you die?

I think that the worship of the 'self God' is LaVeyan... However, there is some kind of "ulitmate project" in which you empower the soul through meditation, energy works and contact with deities until you obtain a power over the ordinary, such as telekinesis, pyrokineses, telepathy, working as a medium, and perhaps other things with -kinesis.

What do I think? Well, as much as I know that it doesn't have a physical image by itself, I think it would kinda look like what you'd want it to be, depending on how much power you have over your own self. To me, it would be some awesome castle with blood rivers and all that awesome stuff that comes to mind when listening to metal.

Basically, there are three cores of our self: The body, The Mind and The Soul. Once we die, our mind, that contains the soul, separates from the body, and passes onto the astral plane. There, depending on how much control you have over yourself, you will be able to maintain some kind of shape, and be able to "travel" on the astral plane, meeting other beings and stuff. You can also choose to come back to life. This last process is a bit obscure, I don't know the details.

Does a biblical Devil exist as a separate entity from Satan?
Since Satan means adversary what is he adversary to?
Why does he exist?

Perhaps as a thoughtform, but we don't recognize it part of our faith.

Satan means 'adversary' en Hebrew, which is not a used language in our religion, and that denomination is of Jewish use, not Satanist. Satan, in the Bible, refers to every other belief system.

Why does WHO exactly exist? Our Satan, or their Devil? If it's the latter, I'm in no position to answer, however, I think it would be to put a 'evil side' to antagonize the 'good side' which would be the Christian God, this has nothing to do with our faith, though.

If there are 4 princes, of equal power and importance why does the faith seem skewed toward Satan?
How do Satanists view modern Christianity (please be specific)
Demons are?

I think this is a result of a certain dogmatic trauma which prevents people who come from Abrahamic religions, or any other monotheism, to completely adhere to the concept of polytheism. Also, misconception in general worsens this status. Also, it's partly an appereance, probably for the name 'Satanism' which leaves in second plane the other three main deities. It would be hard to be called Fourcrownedprincesofhellism, now that I think about it. To sum up: A lot of stuff.

Nice question. I answered it in the OP. But perhaps I wasn't specific enough:

Some of us hold a strong grudge against Christians, I used to as well, but got over it quite quickly thanks to the guidance of a friend. This kind of Satanists are often referred as Reverse-Christians or Church-Burners. I love the terms, most of the time it fits them well. This kind of Satanists usually focus too much on their hatred against Christianity and do not practice their own path, thus making them just a reaction. They are often not considered as true satanists.

Most satanists go through a "Reactionary phase", in which they are just being rebel to their parents, trying to opose christianity, or any other reason. After this phase, some of them leave Satanism. Some of them end up feeling related to it, and stick to it. One important term you said is "modern". I don't know exactly what you mean by modern, but I guess a generic answer will suffice: Taking modern as open-minded, we usually get along, depending on the open-mindness of the person. And perhaps, even when the person might not be open-minded, but as long as they are tolerant, there will be little to no friction between us.

The word Demons comes from the greek, if I'm not mistaken, and it used to mean 'spirit'. A common misconception created by the pejorative use of the word has made Demons seem evil. They are just entities or deities, most are friendly, quite some are severe and strict, and very little are not evil, but rather have a dark humor of sorts...

Angels are?
Other deities are?
Are there any female entities in this faith? (does Satan have a girlfriend?)

Some think they're just thoughtforms of a sort, or don't exist at all. However, some claim that Angels can be traced down to even pre-judaic cults, where they were denominated as 'The Greys'. I know nothing about that topic, however.

Other deities are either entities or considered thoughtforms. The question is too vague, sorry.

Of course there are! One of the Crowned Princes of Hell is Ishtar. There are many female deities. I think Satan does have a girlfriend... I'm not sure of the name though.

In this faith are there any crimes? (or sins or anything like this?)
What qualities are valued by your god/s?
How many questions can I ask? should I break this into smaller chunks?

Nope. There are things that are frowned upon, though. Like sacrifying animals just for the sake of being a satanist. Sacrifice is a VERY VERY VERY sacred thing. You just don't pick a random animal and sacrifice it. An example of an acceptable sacrifice, is that... Let's say you have an old dog, and it becomes sick. Then they tell you they have to euthanise it. And if there is really no hope for the poor thing, you might as well end his suffering with a clean, fast and painless death. This must only be done if you REALLY know how to do it, or you could cause further suffering to the animal.

Each god values different stuff. For example, Beelzebub adores good students that get high grades and are always seeking knowledge and wisdom. Azazel, being a patron of the arts, specially music, he likes artists who never give up their dreams despite of the circumstances. All of this, not depending if the person is Satanist or not.

You can ask as much as you want. Don't you worry about it.

When you talk about omnipotence inside yourself, what do you mean?
How does your god/s interact with the world? what effect do they have on the world?
What is Satan to you?

Most of our power resides in the subconcious. One of the goals of the meditations and energy works is to be able to access the subconcious at will. This is called merging the two minds, as if merging concious and subconcious to create some sort of super-conciousness, in which you are able to use much more of the potential of your mind and the power within.

Our gods don't interfere with human affairs unless they are politely requested to do so. They communicated to us that they want to watch us grow spiritually as much as we can by ourselves, and even when recieving help isn't bad, being able to advance by ourselves is a quality very few have, yet something everyone could have.

What is Satan for me? An advisor, a friend, someone who can be trusted, and along with the other gods, someone we can count on for help with our problems, but only after we've done our best to solve them ourselves. All the answers are within us, but sometimes we can't reach them. Reaching the moon is way easier than reaching the core of our planet

[GabrielWithoutWings]

I posted this in the other Satanist thread but didn't get any bites. I'll re-post here since it's more relevant:

Here's a quick question for you spooky LHPers:

Has anyone heard anything out of Diane Vera lately? All of her web sites and blogs are all outdated. I used to visit her site back in the day and check it occasionally to see if anything new has been posted. I understand that she's a theist and most of you are suitheist.

Also, he's quite spot-on in regards to Maxine. She's completely batshit crazy.

[Ophidia]

I think that when people emigrate from latinoamerican countries, which usually hold a strong religious influence, they feel more free about what they can do and start looking for alternatives and such. Of course, this is just my assumption. I would say that such beliefs as Wicca, Celtic and Satanism are, along with Santeria and Candomble are practiced but in secret, hidden from public eye.

That makes sense. Thanks.

[Siloh]

Beelzebub has got my back hard. He must've pushed me through college. For real.

Okay, so, my gentleman friend and I often have what I call extraordinary luck. It's not necessarily extraordinarily good or bad, just extraordinary in one direction or the other. One thing that's truly amazing, though, is that we find money constantly in either public places or places that definitely didn't had money before, and this truly only happens when we're about to be screwed financially. We always attributed it to our Dark Lord, only or less than half jokingly.

So, I'm wondering, do any of these princes have a reputation for increasing wealth?

I'm also wondering what Ishtar and Satan's most usual expertise is in.

Also, I'm really interested in how to pay homage to those entities whose functions have been plentiful in my life, whether or not I fully accept deification. So if I sometimes burn really outdated, terrible, misguiding academic texts which could only serve to worsen one's academic understandings, could this be considered a type of ritual Beelzebub would enjoy? I'm really very serious about him having my back through school. Not that I didn't work; scholarly work is my game. But really, I've always thought my ability to succeed in the worst of times was probably aided by a force somewhere, and whether his name is Beezlebub or the Lollipop King, he deserves my gratitude.

[Sean R. R.]

I posted this in the other Satanist thread but didn't get any bites. I'll re-post here since it's more relevant:



Also, he's quite spot-on in regards to Maxine. She's completely batshit crazy.

Ah, Diane Vera, the enlighter to many of us. She hasn't updated her main page or blog since June 2011. However, the admins of her other pages are still active. Nothing is clear about what's happened to her.
Yes, Maxine is nutty nuts.

Beelzebub has got my back hard. He must've pushed me through college. For real.

Okay, so, my gentleman friend and I often have what I call extraordinary luck. It's not necessarily extraordinarily good or bad, just extraordinary in one direction or the other. One thing that's truly amazing, though, is that we find money constantly in either public places or places that definitely didn't had money before, and this truly only happens when we're about to be screwed financially. We always attributed it to our Dark Lord, only or less than half jokingly.

So, I'm wondering, do any of these princes have a reputation for increasing wealth?

I'm also wondering what Ishtar and Satan's most usual expertise is in.

Also, I'm really interested in how to pay homage to those entities whose functions have been plentiful in my life, whether or not I fully accept deification. So if I sometimes burn really outdated, terrible, misguiding academic texts which could only serve to worsen one's academic understandings, could this be considered a type of ritual Beelzebub would enjoy? I'm really very serious about him having my back through school. Not that I didn't work; scholarly work is my game. But really, I've always thought my ability to succeed in the worst of times was probably aided by a force somewhere, and whether his name is Beezlebub or the Lollipop King, he deserves my gratitude.

None of the Four Princes are specialists on money. However, there is a high ranking deity, called Belphagor, who helps people he likes when they are in need. He makes people lose money to be found by the persons he likes. It sounds quite like something he would do indeed.

Ishtar is the Demoness of Fertility, Love and War. Supposedly she is one of the most beautiful Entites in all the planes. She helps unfertile couples have a child, for example. She despises betrayal and adultery, and has a reputation to punish cheaters by making them feel attracted to someone who most likely will cheat on them. She helps people who is genuinely in love at seducing the object of their love and such.

Satan is the patron of justice and equality. To him, the father is equal to the son, and the father's parenting should be, according to him, in the order of guidance and advice, not giving orders and forcing the child to anything. He despises, as Beelzebub, liars and hypocrites. He is known to help teenagers into facing their parents (with respect), and try to place them into the best position possibly attainable without disrespecting the parent's culture. He is very respectful of beliefs and faiths. He helps shy persons express themselves. He can assist in general ritual.

Misguiding knowledge and fake wisdom are things that angers Beelzebub quite a lot. Burning books should prove a good homage. But be careful if you do a ritual, try not to burn yourself or make any mistakes. He's very strict and looks down upon mistakes. If he's been helping you, it's because you meet his criteria, so don't worry about that.

[Medusa]

I am not a Theist. So this question comes with a sincere curiosity to understand theists. Do you actually believe in Satan/Lucifer/angels/demons/princes of Hell? Not intellectually, nor metaphysical on some psycho babble plane of existence. But a real honest to goodness entity that is not invisible etc etc.

I'm just so curious.

[Sean R. R.]

I am not a Theist. So this question comes with a sincere curiosity to understand theists. Do you actually believe in Satan/Lucifer/angels/demons/princes of Hell? Not intellectually, nor metaphysical on some psycho babble plane of existence. But a real honest to goodness entity that is not invisible etc etc.

I'm just so curious.

Yep we do believe in such entities. The term "psycho babble" cracked me up, lol.