Satanism...a lil infomation please :)

[SilentDreams]

I never really thought about Satanism. Heck I've only been to a Santanic website once but that was because I googled for something else(a black flame candle, yes I've see 'Hocus Pocus' lol). But really and truly I don't know a thing. I thought I had some of the basics, evil people, skin cats, sacrifice, worship satan. As of last night I chucked all those beliefs in the "toilet". I was on a site The Witches Way (http://www.witchesway.net) and read that the author found out that Santanists don't sacrifice and don't worship the Christian Satan. So now I"m all confused. So if anyone could just give me some basic beliefs of Satanists then I'd really appreciate it.

[amethyst_faerie]

i don't really have any advice, i don't know much either. but before i started to find out a little bit more i thought they were all just bored anti-christian teenagers trying to shock everyone, but if you look around the web, you'll see that they're not, and satanism is as valid a religion as any!!

[SylverStar]

Muireannach made an FAQ thread about it. The link is below this thread in the similiar links portion.

[Gede]

MM~
Satanism is not so much a religion, as the founder of the Satanic Church Anton Le Vay despises any form of organised dogmatic religion. Satanism is a modern philosophy based on the inherent materialism and immediacy of humanity. It is a system based on the integrity of the mind, on the selfishness of society, on the carnality of the flesh and on common sense. There are no sacrifices, or at least it is not excessive (as far as I know), and the violation or interference with other beings is not sanctioned at all. It is simply a matter of reasonable emotion. It does not promote love and forgiveness to all beings and acknowledges that stupidity and ignorance is common in today's society and therefore many Satanists suggest that love should only be shared with those who are deserving. In fact hatred is also a principle of working balance. It is quite interesting in fact. There is nothing particular sinister about it, although there is a lot of anti-Christian self-gratification involved, to a degree mockery I guess. Hope that helps. I would check out organisations such as the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set, a varied incarnation of the original teachings.

Namaste, Gede...

[GOTHYK]

You've got it right there gede. I have the Satanic Bible by Anton Szander LaVey and it changed my life and the way I viewed religion altogether. Although I found it based alot of it's standards on anti-christian sentiment, it shows us that we are nothing more than animals when it's all said and done and that we should embrace these natural animal instincts. Since reading the 'Satanic Bible' I have felt so much more free to be who I am and to take control of my own destiny. To stand up for myself when I have been wronged and to carry myself with pride - a sin to Christians. If I had to catogorise my beliefs in any practice or religion it would be the LaVeyan Satanism. If anyone wants any info. Type in Anton LaVey in Google. His books are available from Amazon Books and are worth a read.

Satanism is most definately not the 'devil worshipping', baby skinning group of cannibals that they are often portrayed as. But they are only portrayed in such a way through the eyes of Christians who spread the misconceptions that were concieved (I would assume) byhearing about small groups of very sick people

[Aidron]

Your best bet is to do a search on the boards for Satanism, as there have been countless threads regarding the topic.

Secondly, pay another visit to the Church of Satan website, their official website. Look over the information available there.

Any other detailed information, hunt down a Satanist and ask them (there are quite a few on the boards, and I myself have strong Satanic leanings).

Above all else, unless the person is a Satanist themself, I would not trust too much what they have to say on the matter. By far Satanism gets the most misconceptions and bullshit thrown its way out of all paths available to mankind in my experiences.

Also, for the record, Satanism is not referred to as such because of devil worship, but the actual reason being essentially that it shows opposition of Christianity. Within Christianity Satan is the eternal advesary, and they attempt to demonstrate through the title of their path that they oppose what Christianity-and in fact most religions of the world-stand for. Overall, it's more about rebellion from mainstream propoganda as they view it than it is about wicked devil worship, especially since they have no concept of Satan or any god within their belief system.

[Phoenix Snowrose]

This is a board my friend runs...it's Called relgious disscussion..and after you click on the link I think the best place to start would be "Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth."
http://rsdforum.proboards12.com/index.cgi?board=satanism I hope it helped...I wish I could do more...but I don't know that much about it myself.

[MentalCensorship]

As it was stated before, Satanism is a set of philosophies, as other religions are. http://religioustolerance.org/satanism.htm has great essays informing about Satanism. The Church of Satan is good as well. I'm not Satanist, yet I respect their philosophies and grasp the seventh Satanic Statement in the Satanic Bible.

[Rubber_Piggy]

As i understand it 'Satanist' does not just include worshipers of the the christain satan but is a group of pagan religions (ie. non-abramhamic). It was my assumption that the term comes from the fact that christians typically see everything non-christain as evil, and all evil originates from satan and therefore all non-christain paths are 'Satanic' regardless of who/what they believe. Thus the term 'Satanism' may have come about as an alternative to the term 'non-christian'.

I've done no focused research on the topic, this is just me piecing together bits of info i have come across in other resarch.

[auryn]

Read http://www.satanism101.com/ - it's all there, easy to read, and clear and concise.

[auryn]

Oh, and as for the reasons for the term Satanism - well, there are several. One is that it is adversarial to sheep mentality and herd conformity - ie. following mainstream religions just because everyone else does. However, Satan is also an archetype representing various principles such as indulgence, vital existence, undefiled wisdom, kindness to those who deserve it and vengeance to those who deserve *that*, etc. And yes, some Satanists use it for the shock value - partially to shock people into hopefully breaking out of sheep mentality. There's a longer discussion of that on the site mentioned in my previous post, and in the related threads below.

[misschief]

well.. i could be wrong, but i've always seen satanism as somewhat similar to witchcraft.. before you all give me bad karma, and crazy PM's... finish reading.....
imo, it's like witchcraft in this way: just because i am a witch, and you are too... it doesn't mean there is anything similar in our beliefs or our magic. see what i mean? maybe there are a few established churches of satanism, but their beliefs don't set the standard for all of them. looking around the web is a good idea.. but i'd take it all with a grain of salt.

[Djinn]

Members of the Temple of Set (http://www.xeper.org/) are often called Satanists. I don't know much about the ToS, but their web site seems to support that identification.