Various Forms of "Satanism"
By: Guardians of Darkness
RCPriest (Urls and updates provided by Comrade Chrys, Tani Jantsang)
Some Important Clarifications (updated occasionally when new information arises) (updated when http turned into https and messed everything up).
The newcomer will invariably notice that there are quite a few basic forms of Satanism out there in organizations. None of these could really be defined as the literal devil worship of some mythical horned man with a tail or other personification of Satan. Update: As of 2007, we are made aware that there now are some forms of Satanism that are defined as literal worship of the Devil, listed below.
1. Sat/Tan, the Dark Tradition or Dark Doctrines type Satanism, though it might very well be argued that this is not "satan-ism" at all; it's traditional Eastern philosophy or darkness-theology. It is, however, legitimately Left Hand Path and based. This is the type of Satanism the Satanic Reds - Social Realists espouse and recognize as legitimate, since this system is from an ancient tradition that is
1. genuinely Left Hand Path,
2. has a Boundless Darkness as the Prime Force or Prime Spirit or Thatness (or Deity, as some view it),
3. has a "flaming light" within the Darkness that flashes out and becomes all things due to the Urge of the Boundless Darkness,
4. has that Dark Flame or "Black Flame" as being within people, IF they let it flow. Only people with that Flame within can self actualize, if they choose to do that. Chakra blocks prevent the Flame from flowing. The Flame is the same as Kundalini or Chi, as some view it.
Basically, Sat, Tan would mean "Being, Becoming."
Here are examples for the words used: Sat: The one ever-present Reality in the infinite world; the divine essence which IS, but cannot be said to "exist" because it is Absoluteness, or Being-ness Itself. Satta: the One and Sole Existence. Sattva: Understanding; quiescence in divine knowledge; a Bodhisattva is a person that possesses this. Satya: Supreme Truth. Satya Yuga: the Golden Age of the age of truth, actually the first Yuga, but often equated with the Trita Yuga (last age). Tan means to "stretch forth" to "become." Words such as Tantra, Tanmatri have the root word "tan" in them.
As for Sat and Tan, legitimate words: It is highly possible that the Hebrews committed a cultural inversion on the word Sat, since they did have contact with Persians who definitely DID invert ALL the ancient Sanskrit (Shivaite) concepts; they also duallized all of it when it was always non-dualistic. The Persions definitely did view the Devas as Demons or Devils. The Hebrews did not invert the word Tan because the Tanaim, in Hebrew, are those who "know what the angels know." The Tanaim are the True Magi.
There is also a very strong case, with scholarship from India, to be made to show that the people of Abraham came from Northern India. (Abraham, or Abram, or Brahma, and his wife Sara or Sarai, or Saraiswati. The names of Isaac and Ishmael are also derived from Sanskrit: (Hebrew) Ishaak = (Sanskrit) Ishakhu = "Friend of Shiva." (Hebrew) Ishmael = (Sanskrit) Ish-Mahal = "Great Shiva.")
About 1900 BC, the cult of Brahm was carried to the Middle and Near East by several different Indian groups after a severe rainfall and earthquake tore Northern India apart, even changing the courses of the Indus and Saraisvati rivers. The classical geographer Strabo tells us just how nearly complete the abandonment of Northwestern India was. "Aristobolus says that when he was sent upon a certain mission in India, he saw a country of more than a thousand cities, together with villages, that had been deserted because the Indus had abandoned its proper bed." (Strabo's Geography, XV.I.19.) "The drying up of the Sarasvati around 1900 BCE, which led to a major relocation of the population centered around in the Sindhu and the Sarasvati valleys, could have been the event that caused a migration westward from India. It is soon after this time that the Indic element begins to appear all over West Asia, Egypt, and Greece." (Indic Ideas in the Graeco-Roman World, by Subhash Kak, taken from IndiaStar online literary magazine; p.14). Indian historian Kuttikhat Purushothama Chon believes that Abraham was driven out of India. He states that the Aryans, unable to defeat the Asuras (The mercantile caste that once ruled in the Indus Valley or Harappans) spent so many years fighting covertly against the Asuras, such as destroying their huge system of irrigation lakes, causing destructive flooding, that Abraham and his kindred just gave up and marched to West Asia. (See Remedy the Frauds in Hinduism.) Therefore, besides being driven out of Northern India by floods, the Aryans also forced Indian merchants, artisans, and educated classes to flee to West Asia.
The Sanskrit word for "fighter"
is Yuddha or Yudh. Abraham and his group belonged to the Ayodhya (Yehudiya,
Judea) congregation who remained aloof from non-believers and Amalekites (Polytheistic
Aryans?). Several word-meanings can be extracted from "Abram," each
of which points directly to his exalted position. Ab = "Father;" Hir
or H'r = "Head; Top; Exalted;" Am = "People." Therefore,
Abhiram or Abh'ram can mean "Father of the Exalted." Here's still
another: Ab-î-Ram = "Father of the Merciful." Also, in ancient
India, the Aryan cult was called "Brahm-Aryan." The Aryans worshiped
multiple gods. Abraham turned away from polytheism. By so doing, he would have
become "A-Brahm" (No longer a Brahman).
This type of Sat/Tan Dark Doctrines Satanism can be seen in various organizations
that run in various ways, localized or loosely connected. Practitioners tend
to be solitary in their practices. Material that defines this type can be bought,
hard copy as Dark Tradition Monographs, however, there is much free material
on the web on this type. The Dark Tradition Monographs are extensive and detailed.
Free Material can be found on the web. This type of Satanism includes the Pythagorean
system on the pentacle (the pentalphas), which correspond to the Five Dharmas,
and the pentamychos system, which corresponds to the fearsome or towo
aspects that defend the Dharmas or Five Principles. The Five principles, as
seen in nature, are parts of what the Dark Force IN Nature does, as it permeates
and motivates all of nature. This type of Dark Doctrine Satanism also includes
parts of the Kaballa, Taoism and Hermetic material. For hard copy materials:
Dark Tradition Monographs. Now a book.
For free material and information on the web:
Satanic Reds - Social Realists,
( https:www.satanicreds.org )
[For detailed information
on Hebrews coming out of India]
2. Set. This type of Satanism believes that the Hebrews ran into
an adversary in Egypt who was the Pharaoh of the Seti Dynasty, where
Set was a Deity. The Pharaoh kicked the Hebrews out of Egypt. From
this event, the Hebrew Bible scribes wrote "Exodus," showing that
this was a major event to the Hebrew people. However, there are no Egyptian
records to back up any of the Hebrew claims except, perhaps, a small mention
of the Pharaoh kicking many foreigners (hapiru) out at that time, not
just Hebrews. Needless to say, this was a big enough event, to the Hebrews,
to warrant their calling the country Egypt and its Seti Pharaoh "ha stn,"
the adversary. Since the Hebrew word "ha stn" has no vowels, and neither
does the Egyptian name Set, the Setian Satanists theorize that "Satan"
is a wrong or slanderous label for a legitimate Egyptian God, the God Set.
Set plus en or hen. Etymologically, this is incorrect.
However, it is very possible that the Hebrews could have made a pun with the word Set and heh. Considering that Set-heh, in Egyptian, does mean "Eternal Set," it would be easy to see someone turning the "h" sound into an "n" sound in order to demonize the Egyptian God. From Egyptian Heaven and Hell, by E.A. Wallis Budge, Chapter XI - the Eleventh Division of the Tuat, which is called Re-en-qerert-apt-khatu, [pg. 248-9 Vol I], "In the lower register are 1. Horus (description) and 2. A huge serpent, called the 'Everlasting SET,' standing upon his tail." And on "[p 254-5 Vol I] Horus is expounding on those that have been "sent to Hell" more or less, erased from existence, "....and ye shall not be able to flee from the flames which are in the serpent SET-HEH." Budge's commentary [pgs 177-179 Vol III]: "The region to the left of the Boat is one of fire, and representations of it which we have in the Book Am-Tuat and the Book of Gates may well have suggested the beliefs in a fiery hell that have come down through the centuries to our own time. Quite near the Boat stands Horus, holding in the left hand the snake-headed boomerang, with which he performs deeds of magic; in front of him is the serpent SET-HEH, i.e., the Everlasting Set, his familiar and messenger (vol. i., p. 249). Horus is watching and directing the destruction of the bodies, souls, shadows, and heads of the enemies of Ra, and of the damned who are in this DIVISION [of the Tuat], which is taking place in FIVE pits of fire. The texts which refer to the pits of fire show that the beings who were unfortunate enough to be cast into them were hacked in pieces by the goddesses who were over them, and then burned in the fierce fire provided by SET-HEH and the goddesses until they were consumed.
In that sense, Set is most definitely something that fits into a Christian (not Jewish) definition of Satan!
This type of Set-Satanism or Setianism is also legally a tax-exempt, bona-fide religion. Set, to them, is the Dark Lord. They also have a concept of the Black Flame. Some of their other practices and doctrines are complex, and doctrinal material can only be obtained by joining the Temple of Set.
For information on The Temple of Set.
( www.xeper.org )
3. LaVeyan Satanism. This type of Satanism is solely based on the thoughts and philosophy of one man, Anton LaVey. Theologically, their religious philosophy, what there is of it save, perhaps, in rituals they've done, can be clearly seen as inverted Catholicism. Philosophically, it's more or less a mixture of Nietzsche, Ayn Rand and a few others, including a chopped up version of Ragnar Redbeard's Might is Right. Their concept of "We are the alien elite" is much akin to the "Chosen of God" or the "Elect of God" in Judaism and Christianity. As far as I know, there are two factions of this type of Satanism:
a. the First Satanic Church run by Karla LaVey, Anton LaVey's daughter.
( https://firstsatanicchurch.com/ )b. the Church of Satan run by Peter Gilmore and Peggy Nadramia.
( https://www.churchofsatan.com )
The two factions are strongly at odds with each other and had a bitter court fight after Anton LaVey died, though they both use LaVeyan material: The Satanic Bible, The Satanic Witch, The Satanic Rituals; books available for purchase in some stores. The LaVeyan organizations are neither Churches, in any sense of that word, legally or other, nor do they believe in any form of Satan. They tend to be atheistic or hard core atheists.
There are many other organizations that are unaffiliated with these three main types who often use material from any three of these, plus their own material. These, however, are the three basic Ideas in Satanic or LHP Organizations. Keep in mind that ToS is about SET and SR is about Sat and Tan.
c. The First Church of Satan ( https://web.archive.org/web/20060418045344/http://churchofsatan.org/main.html ), another organization that was bitterly against the Church of Satan, seems to use ideas from all of these organizations, plus ideas from Thelema (Aleister Crowley). Aleister Crowley's books are availble in stores. Information on him is availble on the web. It is archived. Apparently the org nol longer exists.
4. Social Justice Warrior Satanists. The Satanic Temple. Political social justice warriors strongly promoting separation of church and state. They seem to know NO type of doctrine and use the Mendesian Goat "Baphomet" for shock value - and it works! They are extremely anti-Christian. They are HIGHLY politically active and have legal services for many things, have won cases, have an afterschool Satan Club. They have helped people.
( https://thesatanictemple.com )
5. Solitary Satanists: There are also solitary practitioners that are not affiliated with any organization who may or may not use material from these organizations and/or invent their own forms of Satanism. They may be public, or private.
6. The
Order of Kaoss Under Satan TOKUS,
is a Division of the Church of Euthanasia. As a form of Satanism, TOKUS maintains
close affinity with the Church
of Euthanasia, who is their Mother and their initiator into the mysteries
of the Flesh, the World, and the Devil. Their definition of human sacrifice
is suicide, non-reproduction, abortion, cannibalism and sodomy.
( https://www.satanservice.org
)
( https://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/ )
7. Theistic Satanism.
( http://theisticsatanism.com/other.html )
b. Theistic Satanism in general.
( http://www.theisticsatanism.com/ ) and also on Facebook HEREc. Joy of Satan (Black [African] Satanist Group)
( https://www.ancient-forums.com/viewforum.php?f=13 )
d. Demonolatry
( https://demonolatry.org/ )
e. Satanic Thulian Society is a group that reverts back to the pre-1975 LaVey. It is a Theistic Laveyan Satanic Organization. And The Official Cult of Cthulhu. They appear to be alt.Right, perhaps even neo-Nazi and don't seem to mind slandering people and just taking what others have on websites. The two books they advise for their Cthulhu group are proven plagiary. They are incredibly critical of The Satanic Temple.
( https://www.satanicthuleiansociety.com/ ) ( https://www.officialcultofcthulhu.com/ )
8. Traditional Theology. "Satan" is, after all, a word that would be considered the intellectual property of Jews and possibly also of Christians and then, later, Moslems, if copyright laws existed back then! In which case, there is the Judeo-Christian-Islamic view of Satan, which further needs to be broken up. I think all Satanic or similar groups are going to have to run into these ubiquitous views and then have to bother with countering them, explaining themselves.
a. Jewish. There are good urges (yetzer ha-tov) and bad urges (yetzer ha-ra); good tendencies, and bad tendencies in Judaism. These are nurtured within the person, by his own free choices in life. Jews do not believe in a devil. They might be seen, secularly, as using the word "satanic" to mean anything that is opposed to LIFE, such as genocide. Conversely enough, due to some very clever strategies in life and in their own survival and advancement in societies, many Christians and Moslems have seen, or do see, Jews themselves as "satanic"! They are also seen as the people who killed Jesus and were one of the first groups of people to be thought of as "satanic" by Catholics. An excellent and detailed book: Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews by James Carroll ( https://www.amazon.com/Constantines-Sword-Church-Jews-History/dp/0395779278 )In the Old Testament, Ha-Stn is an Angel of God, as can be seen in the Book of Job.
However, Jewish Mysticism does have concepts of dark demonic forces, but none of them are called Satan. The Temple of Lylyth, a good site that is no longer available, used primarily Jewish mysticism and refered to themselves as "Michelet Satanism and Witchcraft." There is a Dark Doctrine monograph that deals with Kaballa and these matters, though it's more a combination of Kaballa and Hermetic concepts, it mentions the demonic forces Hebrews did invent: Kaballa Dark Tradition ( god-ad-ddocs.html ) The Temple of Lylyth, is unfortunately no longer online, was of this type. Unfortunate because they had seriously heavy information on their site. The book, Satanism and Witchcraft by Jules Michelet, is available in stores. The Gospel of Aradia, which is along the same lines of thought as Michelet, is online:
( https://www.satanicreds.org/satanicreds/aradia.html )
GOOD NEWS! What was gathered up of what used to be Temple of Lylyth can be seen HERE
b. Islamic. "THE Satan" is any adversary or enemy, be it a person, a leader, or a nation of people. Right now, 2001, Muslims see the United States as "The Great Satan" due to the USA's support of Israel and actions against Islamic nations. Israel is called "The Little Satan." In the Islamic sense, it means what TO THEM is an "evil adversary." Muslims usually call the devil Iblis and have legends about Djinn and Afreet of all types.
c. Christian. In Christianity, Satan, also called Lucifer, is a spirit being or physical being or a person (the anti-Christ) that is the enemy of Jesus. Logically, it can't be the enemy of God because, in Christianity, God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. Therefore, if Christians conceive of this Satan as the adversary of God, they are probably referring to Jesus as God-in-man. Christians usually consider Satan to be a being or entity.
The Christian view of God and Christ, and of the Devil (Satan or Lucifer) is a lot more like Paganism than is the view of God or "THE Satan" held by the Jews and Moslems, where God is simply GOD. In both Judaism and Islam, God has no sons, no daughters, and no personal adversaries at all; God has no images, no forms, no idols.
9. Dictionary, any standard Dictionary in the West. In the dictionary, Satan is the adversary of God and the Lord of Evil. Satanic: cruel and vicious. Satanism: innate wickedness; obsession with evil; the worship of Satan marked by the travesty of Christian rites.
Be as it may, the only organizations that are NOT using the word "Satanic" or "Satan" as a defacto PUN on the word, or as a metaphor, and which ARE seen by theologians as more or less the dictionary definition, would be the The Order of Nine Angels and some Theistic Satanist organizations.
The Set types are really talking about a bonafide Egyptian Deity, which they maintain is the original Satan. The Sat/Tan types are really talking about a bonafide Left Hand Path, Dark and esoteric Tradition and feel that this doctrine about Boundless Darkness is where the original conception of a dualistic idea of an anti-God originated (Darkness theology opposed to the theologies of the Light). Be as it may, Set and The Sat are not "the Satan" of monotheism.
Using the strictest of terms, even monotheism might have to agree that there can be no anti-God (various conceptions of God by many cultures) except in the minds of the foolish. The God in monotheism is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.
For more on the origins of God/Devil dualism, see Persian Dualism - the Roots of Dualism.
For information on one of the primary shapers of Christianity, see Augustine and a Legacy of Terror.