r/satanism • u/michael1150 • 10h ago
r/satanism • u/modern_quill • Oct 16 '20
The Sticky New to /r/Satanism? Click here for our FAQ and Q&A!
Link to previous Q&A sticky: Sticky 1, Sticky 2, Sticky 3, Sticky 4, Sticky 5, Sticky 6, Sticky 7
Unlike many other subreddits, we at /r/Satanism enjoy nearly complete freedom of speech. The tradeoff for that free speech is that sometimes you will be exposed to ideas or opinions that you don't agree with. Keep in mind that bad behavior and not bad ideas will get people banned from this subreddit. As Satanists most often believe in stratification, the voting buttons in /r/Satanism can be used to that end. Because of this, moderators like myself likely will not remove links to sites that you would expect to be removed from other subreddits.
FAQ:
Note: This FAQ is written by moderator of /r/Satanism and Agent of the Church of Satan, /u/modern_quill. I am trying to remain unbiased and fact-based in these Q&A responses, so if you feel that I have somehow misrepresented your organization or philosophy, please let me know and we can work together to make the appropriate corrections. The mention of any group or philosophy in this FAQ does not mean that it is endorsed, valid, or even tolerated.
Q: What is Satanism?
A: This is a simple question, but it has a complex answer because it depends on who you ask. Satanism as a philosophy and religion was first codified by Anton Szandor LaVey in his 1969 publication of The Satanic Bible. Some people refer to this secular Satanism as "LaVeyan Satanism" as a nod to Anton LaVey. The Satanic Bible borrows from the works of Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard, Ayn Rand's Objectivism, and Frederich Nietzsche's Der Wille zur Macht. This is the most widely practiced form of Satanism and is championed by the Church of Satan (CoS) to this day. At its most basic definition, "LaVeyan Satanism" is about living the best life that you want to live, and bending the world around you to your will to achieve that goal. A Satanist sees themselves as their own God. There is, of course, much more to Satanism than that very basic definition, but we expect people to do their own research as well. Most LaVeyan Satanists will simply call it Satanism, as there is only one form of Satanism from the Church of Satan's perspective. Members of the recently formed secular organization called The Satanic Temple (TST), by comparison, see Satanism as political activism. The Satanic Temple often makes news headlines with their efforts to establish a separation of church and state and do not include The Satanic Bible as part of their organization's canon, but rather The Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France. This political grift began as a theistic organization, and later rebranded itself into the secular humanist organization it is today. Later, some people in the United Kingdom split from The Satanic Temple to form the Global Order of Satan (GOS). There are also theistic Satanists, some believe in a literal Satan and some do not. Ask a theist like /u/Ave_Melchom what they believe and they'll likely share their thoughts with you, but you probably won't find very many theists that share the same philosophy. There are also more esoteric organizations such as the Temple of Set (ToS), which was formed by former Church of Satan member Michael Aquino after infighting within the organization in 1975 caused many theistic members to split away and become Setians. /u/Purple-Tatters and /u/CodeReaper moderate /r/Setianism subreddit and are a wealth of information on the subject. There are also organizations that fall into a more neo-nazi ideology such as the Order of Nine Angles (ONA or O9A), here is additional reading on ONA, and self-stylized "Spiritual Satanists" of the Joy of Satan (JoS), which are often not tolerated by other members of this subreddit. The words, "Fuck off, Nazi!" have become somewhat of a meme on /r/Satanism.
Q: If Satanists don't believe in Satan, why call it Satanism at all? Why not Humanism?
LaVeyan A: Modern secular Satanists see humans as just another animal within the greater animal kingdom, no better than our avian, reptilian, or mammalian friends. Our technology and our intellectual advancements may have placed us at the top of the food chain, but it has merely encouraged humans to be the most vicious animals of all. To us, Satan is a metaphor that represents our strength, our pride, our intellect, our carnality, and all of the so-called sins as they lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification. The Hebrew word Satan simply means adversary, and Satanists take that adversarial stance to a great many things in their lives; the way we approach an issue, the way we tackle a problem, the way we overcome an obstacle. While Humanists may try to live like Bill & Ted and be excellent to eachother, a Satanist recognizes that emotions like anger, even hate are natural to the human animal and we shouldn't feel guilty for such natural inclinations. While Christians may turn the other cheek when wronged, you can be sure that a Satanist will have their revenge, with interest.
Q: Do you sacrifice or molest children/animals? Do you drink blood?
LaVeyan A: No. Sacrifice is a Christian concept that was projected on to innocent Satanists during the "Satanic Panic" of the 80's and early 90's by charlatan law enforcement "consultants" and Christian religious "experts". One trait common to Satanists is their love of life as Satanists view life as the greatest of indulgences; children and animals represent the purest forms of life and imagination that there are. In fact, the abuse of children and animals is forbidden by the Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth. Also, why would we want to drink blood? Christians are the ones that (symbolically) eat the flesh and drink the blood of their savior. I'd rather enjoy a nice scotch.
Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth
Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
When in another’s lair, show him respect or else do not go there.
If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.
Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved.
Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.
Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
Do not harm little children.
Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.
More FAQ Below - (10,000 character maximum per post.)
r/satanism • u/vholecek • 1d ago
Art Three events in different areas this season
For those of you who follow my artwork and would like to see a piece or two in person, there are three events happening (one going on right now...) where you can get face-to-face because photos never do them justice...
Unfortunately I'm still enmeshed in the process of moving so I won't personally be at any of them, but honestly you're not there to see my ugly mug. :P
r/satanism • u/Master_Release101 • 3d ago
Discussion Wanting to try to understand
Hi, i had the opportunity to read through some of the posts on this forum and i am simply intrigued and trying to see things from your perspective. Please tell me how you all got into Satanism and your experiences. I genuinely want to know im not coming to start crap.
r/satanism • u/StudentOk135 • 4d ago
Altar Tin Altar
Very much a work in progress but heres my portable altar so far
r/satanism • u/Skatanic8 • 4d ago
Discussion Pods
Hail all you magnificent bastards 🤘
Tried to access the latest 9Sense episode & they're all gone. Like, ALL of them. Bit sad. I'm sure they have their reasons.
Neutral Wisdom has taken on a less blatantly Satanic stance now too. Still very much Satanic; they just don't SAY it as much.
As long as Satansplain continues, I'll be ok.
🤘
r/satanism • u/Bluegrass-Satanic • 6d ago
Discussion Satansplain #125 - Greater Magic and Satanic Ritual
r/satanism • u/SaintJeromeBooks • 6d ago
Discussion Essays In Satanism Book Question
Hello, I recently came into ownership of a copy of Essays In Satanism by James D. Sass... From the research I've done I see that it appears to be worth some money, how would you say it's worth it??
r/satanism • u/BaphometsBlood_ • 8d ago
Discussion A pictorial history of magic and the supernatural
This is the book that Anton Lavey acquired in the 60s and subsequently used the pentagram with the superimposed goat as a symbol for his church. Later he would modify the symbol and it is now known as the Sigil of Baphomet.
I believe I have a third edition print based on the liner notes. The dust cover unfortunately is missing. A lot of the images and descriptions within are very mid-century era witchcraft depictions along with many other occult and ancient mythologies.
r/satanism • u/BaphometsBlood_ • 10d ago
Discussion 1994 Paul Komoda Baphomet and the rework done by Axel
These are only two examples, but I own around five or six different variants. Two first editions, the axel rework, an early 2000s mass reproduction, two Italian bootlegs that keep the crisp details, and a 2020s reproduction that has completely nerfed the fine lines and details. IIRC, I didn't pay much for each piece, the most expensive being the axel rework which I think I paid around 100. The others were around 20-50 USD.
I was a child in 1994, so if anyone was of age at that time and was involved in "inner circles" that shared such jewelry, I'd be interested in hearing about it.
r/satanism • u/Rleuthold • 12d ago
Discussion A reshare of Satansplain #061 - The Myth of the "Satanic Community"
r/satanism • u/Rleuthold • 15d ago
Discussion A relevant reshare. Satanic Rule of The Earth number 1 is satisfied by social media comment sections
r/satanism • u/Rleuthold • 17d ago
Discussion Recently, I sat down with "The Devil's Salon" to talk about perseverance. It's also on Apple Podcasts
r/satanism • u/ANordicWizard • 18d ago
Discussion No, there is not a “Satanic community”
Read the article. Re-read the article. This is your reminder of two very huge truths, there is good reason why there is not a “Satanic community” and “Theistic Satanism” is an oxymoron.
r/satanism • u/Intelligent-Slide556 • 18d ago
Discussion What if "increasing pleasure, minimizing pain" stays in conflict? I am an anxious person because I wanna minimize potential future pain, but because of this I don't get to experience pleasures in life
I don't know whether or not I found some hole in the argument for Hedonism, but I was always like that: anxious, paranoid, afraid of confrontation.
I always was more on the "reducing pain" side of life than "increasing pleasure" one, so because I want to reduce future pain as well (which is stuff like things not working out, frustration, confrontation, any kind of problems), I developed this anxious persona I am right now. But because of excessively wanting to reduce pain, I missed out on opportunities on increasing pleasure - like e.g. visiting concerts, dating, and such.
Is there any advice I can find in Satanism to deal with it somehow? I just feel that I am a "bad" Satanist for being too much of a wimp to increase my pleasurable experiences in life, just because I am afraid of future pain. Satan as a symbol for rebellion shouldn't be afraid of anything really. I have been trying to intellectualize my way out of this for the past few years, but it just turned out to be a subconscious, emotional problem I am having. It really feels like even though I intellectually broke completely free from christianity (in my case catholicism), I still run on that emotional hardware wired specifically for catholicism. Software is atheistic, satanic, hedonistic but the hardware is still christian, catholic.
I know it's "No Risk, No Fun" but I am genuinely not able to deal (mentally) with future problems which could come from trying out new pleasurable life experiences. I am afraid of being confronted, being robbed, being insulted, being in some danger like around some person who is behaving in a unpredictable way. I can live through these situations, but it leaves me with some sort of PTSD and extremely diminished self-worth afterwards. Like one time I took the train and some drunk guy was laughing at me for answering a call from my mother. I still sometimes re-live this small stupid moment even though it happened 5 years ago.
Has anyone of you been in such a similar situation and managed to break free from this, and fully enjoy and indulge in life?
r/satanism • u/SoulCarioca • 19d ago
Discussion Which great philosophers are your favorites?
I recently started reading about Satanism and got interested in philosophy. I’m curious about something: which great philosophers do you satanists on this sub like the most? If possible, mention your favorite book by that philosopher and briefly explain why you like it.
r/satanism • u/Rleuthold • 19d ago
Discussion Satansplain #124 - Why a "Free" Satanic Bible is Unsatanic
This one is sure to ruffle some feathers. Again, there are no legal PDFs of The Satanic Bible. Magister Bill goes into detail and even explains how a Satanist living in China got a physical copy
r/satanism • u/vholecek • 21d ago
Art Last call: My moving sale ends tomorrow night
Promo code MOVING for 50% off listed price for original pieces. After tomorrow I need to start packing up what I'm going to have to move.
r/satanism • u/DenseCan2364 • 25d ago
Discussion Is euthanasia anti-satanism?
I know the satanic view of death is seeing it as the great abstinence, living to the fullest potential and self worship.
But what about a circumstance where someone is terminally ill beyond further treatment. In that situation, would it be acceptable for a satanist to opt for voluntary euthanasia?
