What is Satanism to You?

[Stormbeard]

Satanism is a core set of beliefs, how you choose to practice is up to you, and is essential to how Satanism fits for you.

I, of course, am not a Theistic Satanist. To believe in the devil himself would be to accept the rest of Christian mythology. To me Satanism is about strength of self. I hold an very high moral code. I feel no shame in lust or jealousy, and would always seek to have what I desire on the grounds that in getting it, I cause no harm to come to those who deserve no harm.

I believe that man is god. We are masters of our surroundings and we have great control over our environment. We're here (personally I don't care how) and we must direct our own lives. It is our responsability to change things for the next generation also, if we care about the survival of our species.

The important thing is that you be the best person you can be. Treat all that you meet appropriately (treat the kind and worthy with respect, and the rude and wicked with contempt)

I'll confess to being in love with the theatrical side of Satanism also. I'm romanced with the idea of the demonic ambitious warlord planning his war on heaven. Admit it, as far as villains go, Satan is one of the coolest.

My belief system is about power through yourself and your beliefs. About action and justice, and not about buying brownie points for an afterlife which may never come.

How about you?

[Shield_Wolf]

What does Satanism mean to me.....lets see.
Well first, I do believe in Satan and in Lucifer(and to me from experience there two different beings, but any way). I believe it is grow to become the God you want to be, to do what you want. To Become stronger in everything. If I want to be nice I will, an asshole, I will.
I'm not really good at explaining things.....lol. But for the most, that's what it means to me.

[Sentient_Annex]

I watched the Devil's Advocate a few weeks ago with a girlfriend, and ever since I've been reconsidering my perception of what Satanism stands for.

What is Darkness, but a birthing place for new creation? Satanism represents the contradiction of a pure heart/mind, it is the turbulence in the darkness to create new things.
If we were all pure of heart & mind we would follow blindly in the footsteps of our leaders. We could not create new things, we would not think for ourselves.

This would bore the Christian God very greatly; it's a parody! To me Satan represents the plight of a human and God represents the ongoing ideal of salvation. Satan & God come hand in hand & cannot be isolated.

What I'm saying is that Satan is absolutely necessary. I believe that Satan was portrayed as a fallen angel from God's territory to give humans a relative standpoint of themselves. Satan is a humanist!

God is this undeniable force that expands beyond the human, thus giving a person something to desire beyond immediate gratification. God is not a humanist; God portrays the uncontrollable universe which requires we act in certain ways in order to survive. God often also portrays simply government.

Just my opinion.

[Crypto Knight]

I'm new around here but since I started down my path through Satanism and my investigation into black magic, this seems like the best place to start.

Generally whenever I hear the term "Satanism" or "Satanic" in mainstream media I cringe. It's always a buzzword for something else and I dislike the way it is used (but then again, I despise mainstream media, so go figure).

I see three basic kinds of satanists. They each have different definitions, beliefs, and practices. Different enough to warrant their own individual labels (I haven't seen them defined as such anywhere here, so feel free to correct me here).

The first type are the not-so-serious types. Typical demographic is composed of 15-year-olds with the "I'm mad at daddy" complex. These are the ones who get on medis shows and generally give everyone else a bad reputation. They are also idiots. Having been one of these at one time I feel justified in saying that.

This first type I'll call pseudo-Satanist or maybe anti-Christians is a better term. They select their attitude, accoutrements, accessories, rituals and beliefs to be the "opposite" of mainstream Christian values for no other reason than to get a rise out of people. To put it bluntly, they are attention whores. Thankfully, most people outgrow this phase. (It took me all of two months to move beyond this phase).

The second type are the ones who are just cashing in on brand name recognition. These are pretty much your "real" Satanist. From what I've seen they are spirtual humanists first and foremost. Stormbeard can tell you more about this than I can, so I'll leave it to him rather than blather on in a semi-ignorant fashion.

The third type, however, doesn't seem to get much airplay, so I'd like to talk about them. These are the ones who started out with a basically Christian upbringing but noticed a few serious flaws in the bible. In this belief system they maintain that Lucifer was a god a wisdom and knowledge. He possessed all the wisdom of the creator. And He rebelled. What is interesting in this belief system is that even though He knew he could not win He was compelled by his moral convictions to fight just the same. For that He has my respect and admiration. For any reading of the Old Testament will expose the Most High as a malicious, narcisstic, egotistical, genocidal maniac who deserves neither worship nor praise nor the slightest admiration.

Perhaps that comes across as overly harsh. Perhaps not. I would like to point out that this isn't my belief, simply one that I have encountered and it answers Stormbeard's question in the OP.

As for me, I see how it means all these things. I also see the general animosity such a label attracts from mainstream Christian society. Few are tolerant or accepting, and I can actually respect that. The second definition is the most rational. I think it needs a better name than "Satanism" simply because there is too much cultural baggage attached to the term and this detratcts from the underlying meaning. Not that it's a bad name. It does have flash and shock value, if that was what you were going for.

Just my point of view. Like I said, these are just ways in which I understand the term in my mind, so if you have a different view I'd love to hear it.

[Stormbeard]

I sometimes wonder, would there be a better term than Satanism? Perhaps there would, the word itself carries quite some taint. However, as far as the character of The Beast is concerned, it is an IDEAL name.

Lucifer is the beast of man, he is mankinds wants, his desires. He is selfish pleasure. However he is also a thinker, a challenger of dogmatic blind obediance. He is an entrepreneur and an opportunist. He desires nothing more than to better himself and grow to be a stronger person.

The desire to be strong is not a bad thing. Lucifer is portrayed as being greedy for power, but who is really the greedy one? The angel who craved more, or the creater who refused to share?

[Crypto Knight]

Personally I've always disliked the term Satanism simply due to the fact that I hold the Abrahamic theology from which it was coopted in contempt as spiritually plagaristic at best and whole absent at worst. The concept of Lucifer comes closer, even if it does involve essentially the same entity.

It does tend to kill some conversations (or at least make them unnecessarily confrontational) when you tell them you are Satanic. By way of contrast, the next time you get the opportunity, say you follow the path of enlightenment, light or wisdom or somesuch, then let the conversation follow from there. In my experience most people are sheep and will bend to your will and ideas if they hear them without prejudice. It is only when they agree with you on the major points that it becomes worthwhile to put things in, how shall I say, a more colloquial light.

:devil:

[Stormbeard]

Personally I've always disliked the term Satanism simply due to the fact that I hold the Abrahamic theology from which it was coopted in contempt as spiritually plagaristic at best and whole absent at worst. The concept of Lucifer comes closer, even if it does involve essentially the same entity.

It does tend to kill some conversations (or at least make them unnecessarily confrontational) when you tell them you are Satanic. By way of contrast, the next time you get the opportunity, say you follow the path of enlightenment, light or wisdom or somesuch, then let the conversation follow from there. In my experience most people are sheep and will bend to your will and ideas if they hear them without prejudice. It is only when they agree with you on the major points that it becomes worthwhile to put things in, how shall I say, a more colloquial light.

:devil:
It is for such a reason that I do not discuss my religion. It takes much more effort to get across that it's not about worshipping Satan than it's worth.

[Lady Valkyrie]

Satanism is a core set of beliefs, how you choose to practice is up to you, and is essential to how Satanism fits for you.

I, of course, am not a Theistic Satanist. To believe in the devil himself would be to accept the rest of Christian mythology. To me Satanism is about strength of self. I hold an very high moral code. I feel no shame in lust or jealousy, and would always seek to have what I desire on the grounds that in getting it, I cause no harm to come to those who deserve no harm.

I believe that man is god. We are masters of our surroundings and we have great control over our environment. We're here (personally I don't care how) and we must direct our own lives. It is our responsability to change things for the next generation also, if we care about the survival of our species.

The important thing is that you be the best person you can be. Treat all that you meet appropriately (treat the kind and worthy with respect, and the rude and wicked with contempt)

I'll confess to being in love with the theatrical side of Satanism also. I'm romanced with the idea of the demonic ambitious warlord planning his war on heaven. Admit it, as far as villains go, Satan is one of the coolest.

My belief system is about power through yourself and your beliefs. About action and justice, and not about buying brownie points for an afterlife which may never come.

How about you?

Even as a Christopagan I do not believe in a literal Lucifer/Satan/Devil/Hell. I never reallly believed that true Satanists worshipped the Christian's Satan. What is Satanism to me... I'm starting to learn... but right now it's simply a way of life... a life of indulgence and pleasing oneself without remorse or guilt.... and it's also about justice... love and kindness to those who deserve it and not waste your time and energy on those who don't deserve it. I actually agree with many of the "Nine Satanic Statements."

[Stormbeard]

Aye. There is one law and that is 'do what thou wilt'

[Rudas Starblaze]

I sometimes wonder, would there be a better term than Satanism? Perhaps there would, the word itself carries quite some taint.

aye, its called Rudasism.;)

the moto of the cult.....

"have you ever been Rudified?"

[aluokaloo]

no, and I'm not sure if I want to or not. :) What is Satanism to me, to me it's 2 parts common sense, one part pleasure, a whole lotta self responsibility, a smidgen of in-your-face, it's an intriguing, sea that's calm on the surface, and really deep, and powerpacked with eneegy, it'd in it's way a lot better balanced then many other popularized religions. It's a whole lotta misunderstood, and it's fun to shock the normal masses with, not because it's evil, but because of it's common sense philosophy, that so many people practice today.

[Stormbeard]

"have you ever been Rudified?"

That makes you sound like a pro wrestler