Satanism was founded in 1966 by Anton LaVey. Satanists are first and foremost atheists and the teachings behind it is based on individualism, carnality and Epicureanism . Satanism is a Left-Hand Path (LHP) religion which rejects traditional Right-Hand Path (RHP) religions such as Christianity and Islam. Satanists perceive RHP religious beliefs in the denial of life and the emphasis on abstinence and unnecessary guilt as undesirable. Satanism does not involve the literal worship of any being other than the self. Satan is a symbol of carnality and earthly values, which are part of man's inherent nature. Anton LaVey established Satanism as a religion in 1966, and codified Satanic beliefs and practices in The Satanic Bible in 1969. The Church of Satan acknowledges that there are many Satanists around the world, including both members and non-members. It often rejects the legitimacy of any other organizations of Satanists, dubbing them reverse-Christians, pseudo-Satanists or Devil worshippers.
On Walpurgisnacht of 1966, Anton LaVey began the Church of Satan. Beforehand, he had given lectures from his home, the infamous Black House, charging two dollars for admittance. He formed a "Magic Circle" with his closest associates. It was soon suggested to LaVey that he had enough material to start an organized religion.
The Church of Satan attracted a great deal of publicity. Its use of nude women as altars, and performances of a Satanic wedding and funeral service, brought it much attention. Anton LaVey shaved his head and wore a white clerical collar, sometimes even wearing horns to complete the image of the Devil incarnate. His flamboyant personality attracted many followers and admirers.
In 1969, LaVey published The Satanic Bible, which, even to this day, remains the most authoritative literature on the subject of Satanism, outlining the basic concepts, philosophy and rituals of the religion. A companion book, The Satanic Rituals, published in 1972, presents an array of rituals associated with Satanism throughout the ages, but not necessarily central to the Church's belief system. LaVey also released other literature to further expand on the ideology, namely The Satanic Witch (previously published as The Compleat Witch), and 2 essay anthologies: The Devil's Notebook and Satan Speaks! Today, the Church of Satan promotes itself as the only true representation of Satanism, and it routinely publishes materials underscoring this contention.
In The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey describes Satan as a motivating and balancing dark force in nature. Satan is also described as being the "Black Flame", representing a person's own inner personality and desires. Satan is seen as synonymous with nature. In his most important essay, "Satanism: The Feared Religion", the Church of Satan's current leader Peter H. Gilmore states:
"Satanists do not believe in the supernatural, in neither God nor the Devil. To the Satanist, he is his own God. Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates. The reality behind Satan is simply the dark evolutionary force of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things. Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshipped, rather a reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will. Thus any concept of sacrifice is rejected as a Christian aberration in Satanism there is no deity to which one can sacrifice". -Peter H. Gilmore
Satan in mythology and literature around the world is a trickster and a rebel. He is a the classic figure seeking to free man from slavery. He does not require worship because he is a symbol similar to the way flags embody and idea and a philosophy. Figures such as the Greek Prometheus are said to perfectly exemplify the qualities of Satan, as the prideful rebel. Satan is seen as the powerful individual who acts in terms of rational self interests regardless of what others might say. The word Satan is derived from Hebrew and it means "adversary" or "accuser" this is not a literal being it's symbol for everything good in man and woman.
Satanists are atheists, they shuns the idea of belief in all other deities as well. Belief in any such externalized deities is generally considered grounds for excluding someone as a Satanist. Devil worship in particular is considered nothing more than a misguided inversion of Christianity, the practitioners of which being regarded as being on par with Christians or other practitioners of the 'Right-Hand Path'.
The following is intended as humor and sarcasm. It should not be taken seriously. Most of you know by now that I have a rather dark sense of humor and when I saw "THE 101 RULES OF TRUE SATANISM" posted on numerous websites I had to post it on mine as well. Unlike the other websites I've seen this on I felt it only fair to post a link to The Official Church of Satan's website so that there is no confusion in regards to what real Satanism is and is not. Be sure to click on the many links below for more information about the truth behind the worlds most notorious religion.
Educate Yourself: Your Dark Guru Merlin
2. Quote Nietzsche obsessively, but own none of his books.
3. Come up with long, evil sounding nick names like the grand high exalted daemon magister templi rex of the third degree
4. Whenever greeting other Satanists, the only acceptable greeting is Ave.
5. When feeling especially Satanic say Ave Satanas.
6. Pretend Ave Satanas is appropriate Latin.
7. Use Latin as much as possible. It is the Dark Lord's chosen language.
8. Come up with evil sounding screen names for message boards, like goatlord666, infernalbelial9, and Crucifier.
9. End all screen names with 666.
10. If you can't come up with an evil enough sounding screen name placing Lord in front of your own name is acceptable.
11. Own all of Crowley's books and read exactly none of them.
12. Form an online Satanic org with you and your friends and declare yourself the high priest.
13. Give your org a hellish sounding name like The Temple of Unholy Sacrilege, The Evil Church of Satanic Divinity, or, if the name you want is taken, The FIRST Evil Church of Satanic Divinity.
14. Offer members of your org an evil looking certificate or card.
15. Update your org's site once a year- no exceptions!
16. Turn all crosses you see up side down.
17. Make inverted crosses out of random objects.
18. Draw inverted pentagrams on your spiral notebook in math class.
19. Wear all black, all the time!
20. Paint your fingernails black, and don't repaint them until it has all worn off.
21. If your parents let you, paint your room black.
22. Make a Satanic alter using your dresser.
23. Carry your Satanic Bible everywhere you go.
24. Stand up for originality and individualism, but look like every other Satanist.
25. Wear outrageous looking clothes, and then complain when other students make fun of you.
26. Wear Halloween cloaks and capes as your ritual attire.
27. Listen to heavy metal.
28. Make the sign of the horns and bang your head while listening to heavy metal.
29. Make the sign of the horns while looking in the mirror to remind yourself of just how evil you are.
30. Never smile for pictures, and make the sign of the horns.
31. Complain about real world actions with Satanism but spend all day on message boards.
32. Leave your Halloween decorations up year round.
33. Celebrate all Satanic holidays even if you don't know what they are for.
34. Get excited every time your sales receipt comes out to $6.66.
35. Instead of saying oh my god, say oh my Satan.
36. Repeat the Lord's Prayer backwards six times every night before bed.
37. Make long boring posts on message boards that don't go anywhere.
38. Your signature should contain at least six lines not including Hail Satan.
39. Join every online org you come across.
40. Join every e-group and message board you can, post at each one approximately twice.
41. Create your own message board, and only allow your friends access.
42. Make your own Satanic website by ripping off everyone else's.
43. Declare yourself a Modern Satanist, wait a week, declare yourself a traditional Satanist, then revert back to Modern Satanism.
44. When anyone asks you what the difference between traditional and modern Satanism is, simply say: We are all sons of the Dark Lord.
45. Tell all your friends that you follow the Left Hand Path. When asked what that means just stare at them blankly.
46. If it's a dark sounding religion or path, it must be linked to Satanism. Examples include: Vampyrism, Demonolatry, and Chaos Magic.
47. Always spell vampire with a "Y".
48. Name your pets after the Infernal Names.
49. Hang out in cemeteries after dark.
50. Stir up trouble in Christian chat rooms.
51. Always spell Christian as Xtian.
52. I know what your altar is missing, a fake skull.
53. Cover your car's bumper with Satanic bumper stickers. Act surprised when they get ripped off.
54. Own Satanic clothing and jewelry; only wear them indoors when your parents are not home.
55. Start fights with other Satanic orgs because they are not true enough.
56. Claim to have secret knowledge of ancient occult mysteries.
57. Offer viewing of these ancient secrets for a small, nonrefundable fee.
58. Claim that you come from a long line of devil worshippers and that LaVeyans are not true.
59. Get ordained at the Universal Life Church (ULC)
60. Attempt to gain tax exemption.
61. When passing Jehovah's Witnesses on the road, yell "God is dead" out the window while giving the sign of the horns.
62. Post on message boards with more than one screen name. Use one alias to back up the other's arguments.
63. Blame all your troubles on God. When something good happens yell Hail Satan.
64. Pretend online curses are intimidating.
65. Dye your hair black.
666. Try to obtain a pet goat.
66. Rewrite the Nine Satanic Statements, Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth, and Nine Satanic sins.
67. Claim to be writing the next Satanic Bible.
68. Tell everyone you are the new "Black Pope".
69. Remember, Satanists are easy to make money off of. Sell Satanic paraphernalia at ridiculous prices.
70. Cheap Halloween accessories are an inexpensive source of ritual tools.
71. Bash Wiccans but own at least one Wiccan/Pagan book.
72. Read Harry Potter books.
73. When you have a strange dream, it must be significant, tell others immediately.
74. Use white out to draw inverted pentagrams on your backpack straps.
75. Cast curses on the bullies at school.
76. When someone asks you what's the significance of the Baphomet, tell them that it's a dark secret and cannot be revealed to outsiders.
77. Re-read The Satanic Bible, this time make sure to get past the second page.
78. Master the Enochian language.
79. Read Might is Right and wonder why it seems so familiar.
80. End all emails with Shemhamphorash.
81. If asked what Shemhamphorash means, stare blankly.
82. Don't spell Satan as S8N.
83. Start yet another Satanic group in Canada.
84. Claim ruler ship over the city your group resides in.
85. "Misplace" bibles from motel rooms.
86. Hang an up-side-down cross from your rearview mirror.
87. Call your phone company and request a phone number beginning with 666.
88. Own a pet snake.
89. Black cats also make acceptable pets.
90. Create a website using lots of graphics from Hellishgraphics.com
91. Play role-playing games obsessively.
92. Make it your life's quest to uncover the secret occult meaning behind "Yankee Rose".
93. Pretend the line between Thelema and Satanism does not exist.
94. Shave your head and grow a goatee.
95. Refer to your small collection of occult books as a library.
96. The only acceptable colors for your altar candles are black, white, and if feeling especially grim - red.
97. All true Satanists collect fantasy weapons off of ebay.
98. Make plans to build an actual Satanic church.
99. If that does not work out make plans to open an occult book/coffee shop.
100. Hang out in the occult/new age section of the bookstore waiting for other dark brethren to arrive.
101. You mean to tell me you read this whole thing when you could have been jerking off in a cemetery while worshiping Satan somewhere?! For shame!!!
One man risked his life for what you will see, traveling to a distant, snow-covered land where strangers took him in a car, deep into the icy wilderness. There his journey began, through secret passages, into unholy rituals, to capture what has never been documented before. Few would dare to venture within the Church of Satan. And he will take you with him on this quest for truth, through a dark, controversial realm. Joshua P. Warren is the first outsider in over 40 years granted this level of access, and the first person EVER to document the Satanic Rite of Ragnarok. This Satanic ritual is included in its entirety, based on High Priest Peter H. Gilmore's The Satanic Scriptures.
Here's a clip from the TV show Californication were Becca says grace. This clip is a perfect example of how people judge alternative religions before they do any research in to why they are opposed to them. �Every religion in the world that has destroyed people is based on love� -Anton LaVey
This is a great documentary about the world, legacy, music, loves, rituals, careers and philosophies of Anton Szandor LaVey.
Linked below is and excellent Lecture on Satanism by Reverend Kevin I. Slaughter. This lecture was filmed and edited by Kevin I. Slaughter for Underworld Amusements. (http://www.underworldamusements.net/)