So, What is Satanism?

The religion of Satanism represents arguably the largest Left Hand Path movement in the West. The "Left Hand Path" is an umbrella term referring to counter-culture religions. "Sinister" and "Sinistral" are the descriptive adjectives applied to religions to indicate that they are of the Left Hand Path, as "Sinister" is etymologically descended from a word meaning "left" and "Sinistral" means "left-handed." The practitioners of Sinistral religions are referred to with another umbrella term-- "the Black Lodge"-- whereas the adherents to mainstream religion are called "the White Lodge."

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The religion of Satanism prioritizes the individual judgment of the witch. The Satanist does not have faith, but rather believes in whatever she happens to think is true. While many Sinistral texts are available to the Satanist, none of them are holy writ and none of them aspire to be dogma. A post in a thread on the Become a Living God forum can be of more value to an individual Satanist than a chapter out of Transcendental Satanism if she agrees with the post and not the book.

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The Satanist seeks truth through personal research, practical experience, and directly channeled gnosis, which is knowledge attained from spirit. None of these things are perfect, confirmation bias can cloud research. Lack of perspective can cloud life experience, and spirits are occasionally willing to patronize certain misconceptions held by the witch, either for convenience or to insure her well-being in some way. While no Satanist consciously wants this, it is an ineluctable reality.

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In perusing the channeled gnosis of other Satanists, the witch must be careful to regard almost all of her knowledge as tentative. She must search for trends in the revelations of black prophets and speculate on the impetuses behind the disagreements between authors.

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Satanism is a very eclectic religion in that it draws from various different sources. The witch selects the practices which are useful to her and the postulations which resonate with her and arranges them into an ever-evolving patchwork spirituality. A Satanic witch who draws philosophical inspiration from the religion of Thelema, uses Norse runes in witchcraft, and practices Hindu chakra meditations all as part of her Satanic religion is very much a representation of the norm. In reading a book like the Baphomet Codex, a Satanist will happily select one postulation she agrees with even though she disagrees with the majority of the text and does not practice its rituals. She will do the same with any other book or religion she studies.

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Satanism certainly constitutes a quest for self-empowerment, self-improvement, and self-understanding. The Satanist actively seeks to improve herself through spiritual meditation, research, introspection, physical exercise, magickal practice, and whatever other means are conducive to the mastery of her journey in life. The Sinistral witch pursues her quest for self-empowerment even to the point at which her magickal adepthood turns her soul into a goddess. She resides in the Qlippoth, known also as Hell and Sitra Ahra, a Hebrew phrase meaning "the Other Side." Her spirit lives on as an exalted demoness, experiencing adulation and pleasure in Hell, which she is free to leave at any time for the pursuit of personally selected goals, even to offer her tutelage to living Satanists. This ascent into godhood, called an "apotheosis," brings about the cessation of samsara, the process of death and reincarnation.

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Satanism is open to people of all races, ethnicities, sexualities, nationalities, and moral dispositions. While Satanism champions heretical thought, it is not merely a reaction to or opposite of any mainstream religion. Theistic Satanism has its roots in the religions of Thelema, Stregheria/Stregoneria, polytheistic Paganism, and the writings of Kenneth Grant which are known as the Typhonian Trilogies.

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Some Satanists would argue that Satanism does not count as a religion based on some technical speculations, but this essay does not use words that specifically. Some Satanists often say things like this: "Satanism is not a religion, it's a way of life!" as if other religions were not ways of life. Refer to the dictionary definition of religion and you will see why Satanism is correctly considered one.

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-V.K. Jehannum,

Comments

  1. trueblue1996May 28, 2016 at 9:17 AM

    You use too many big words.

    ReplyDelete
  2. michelles71blogMay 31, 2016 at 10:41 PM

    its really just too much nomenclature

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clarius Omotola OluwadareSeptember 27, 2017 at 12:17 PM

    How Can I Be Full Left Hand Path Legion,

    ReplyDelete
  4. Baba yagaAugust 3, 2019 at 3:12 AM

    About "everything a Satanist believes is true": the Peyote-Indios do not know a word for "hallucination" - everything they perceive, is true. They distinguish between right and wrong, but both are "true".

    ReplyDelete

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