We do not like the church of satan
What is the charm behind the church of satan? How come this has become so popular to both young and adults? What is the secret behind the enemy of hypocrisy ?
One thing to be known before all others, there is no satan in the church of satan. Since there is no god, according to the way of szandor lavey, then there is no satan as well. This is said in the satanic bible. Why then call it Satanism? Good question, which, inevitably, is asked in the satanic bible as well. Its founders answer is simple : Satanism rose against Christianity. It is the antithesis to religion and thus should have a name that goes against religion in the fiercest way possible. This is why this movement, which is a more social movement than religious movement, did not accept
Names such as humanism.
One thing in favor of lavey, but against all of his new believers these days, is that the satanic bible was written some 40 years ago, when people were much more naïve than that. This is the only explanation of how anton szandor lavey could come with the concept of no god ,no satan, but rather another unnamed force that rules our earth. The name of that force does not appear on any page of the satanic bible, but instead of it come all the names of the devil in any earthly culture. Why is that? There is no devil, remember?
Satanism, the neo-humanian order, have the symbol of the infamous goat, centering an inverted pentagram , encircled by Hebrew letters.
The letters spell the name leviathan, the beast of the sea and the name of a great devil. The inverted pentagram is one of the known symbols of satan and of earthly lies. In the normal pentagram, the triangle pointing upwards symbolizes the spirit, while the other four symbolizes the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) ,meaning basically that the spirit is above matter.
The upside down pentagram describes the opposite, matter above spirit.
Why is that? Because we are animals and we have earth to enjoy. There is no heaven, no hell, only what we make earth to be today. (which is a strange concept to be thought of by people who describe their late founder lavey as sitting in hell and laughing) .
however , this inverted pentagram reminds more of the story of faust, or any other story about a devil that gives wealth and earthly success for the price of the soul. Must be a pretty stupid devil, if wealth is more important than the soul, right? A weird comparison to an order who do not believe in the devil.
Inside this inverted pentagram stands proud the goat. Baphomet. Who is thats right, the devil. Again , to a movement that defies god and the devil, this is a little odd. Mystery? Some might call it hypocrisy.
The belief in the mysterious non-satanic power of the satanic church is not in the heart. Again, this is not a religion but a social movement. A would be member have to pay 200 american dollars in order to get a crimson card that proves he is a believer. The nemesis of all religions falls in the most obvious and post modern traps of all other organized religions, the translation of a genuine belief to an materialistic correspondence. Of course, judging the inverted pentagram, the church of satan at least have an good excuse.
Anton szandor lavey has some truth in his book, and indeed, his power lies in his words. One of the things he says is that dogma is necessary in order to change the reality around you. While other religions call it a prayer or a miracle , Mr.lavey goes dramatic like his followers expect, and call it magic. In the third part of the satanic bible lies the grimoire you have been longing to all of your miserable life, a book that tells you exactly how to get money, women and success ,the building stones of the church of satan, in the original enochian keys, written in an old language you cant possibly pronounce right. The orders to the ritual and the words of magic are to make one convinced he or she is calling upon the force of the devil, which he or she does not believe in in the first place.
Laveys power, again, is in his words. He is a very convincible writer, who use an old weapon of writing things as facts without leaving any chance of questioning him. This is in fact a way of life to the Satanist. As its written in their bible as well. Another fine weapon lavey is using is appealing to the readers will. In the same chapter where he promises the reader the powers of magic, unsubjected to god or to satan, but rather to an unknown earthly power of an unknown name, Mr lavey also hands the weakness of god. His true name. In all of the magic spells written there, the cry for shemhamforash is cried. What a treat it is for the Satanist to be able to blaspheme god so bad with this hellish cry!
Let there be said ,shemhamforash means in Hebrew "the explicit name" . nothing more. "shem" means "name". "Hamforash"means "the explicit" , and in fact this is being said a lot by orthodox Jewish people who do not want to say the name of god in vain, so they are referring to him by "the explicit name". So in theory, Lavey is doing god a service by not pronouncing his name in vain.
The peak of the church of satan, with lavey still in its heard, was the 70s. The time for post hippie thinking and anti conservatism. Without the thought about the consequences of unsafe sex and the taking of the hippie war against the mainstrem one step forward. The church of satan is about individualism. This practice is anthropologically interesting, as many of its members are developing an RPG like characters to prove their individualism, many of them look like their orders founder mr lavey, with a goatee and a shaven head, or worse, like bands they like.
Again, while the church of satan is not about the devil and is about individualism, most of its believers are wearing the same representations of the dark. black and red, inverted crosses, skulls and uniforms. A few do the exact opposite which is actually a refreshing thing to witness but somehow it seems like the main goal of this religious, un-religious group is not fulfilled.
In the post modern era we live in, things like truth and right/wrong can vary from one person to the other without any doubt of where the real truth is. The truth is much easier to follow if its the truth you want to hear. This of course is in laveys favor and he knew how to use it. And now, as a reward to his victorious play, he must be sitting in hell and laughing at this
I tried to pretend it looked like a spreading tree, shadows pooled beneath it, but it didnt. It looked more like a dead cat I once , the fat, glistering grubs writhing blindly, squirming over each other, frantically tunneling from the light.
But even that is avoiding the real horror. The horror is this : in the end, it is simply a picture of an empty meaningless blackness
Watchmen, 1986.