Satanism is a religion that has perhaps the most dubious reputation in the world. Very often this movement is branded as a catalyst for the most heinous and cruel crimes. However, despite this, Satanism exists and continues to develop. According to unofficial statistics, at present, several million people are adherents of this religion in the world.
Who is Satan?
Who do followers of this dark movement consider to be their patron? In the Abrahamic movements, Satan is primarily the main antagonist of the heavenly forces and the Creator in particular. Even his name itself is translated from Hebrew as "opposing God." Common synonyms for Satan are:
- Devil.
- Lucifer.
- Sly.
- Beelzebub.
Representatives of the most widespread religions today - Christianity and Islam - consider Satan to be the main culprit of all human misfortunes, the personification of evil, pushing people to the path of spiritual death. After the seduction of Eve in paradise, this once beautiful angel was turned by the Creator into a vile serpent, forced to crawl on his belly all his life.
Background
So, Satanism is a movement or religion, whose representatives consider their protector the adversary of God, a rebel, Satan. The origin of this, now quite numerous current, falls around the beginning of the 20th century. However, the teaching of Satanism cannot be considered a completely new one, of course. For example, the same humanistic revolution of the Renaissance can be presented not only as essentially anti-Christian, but even as an anti-religious movement. The adherents of the Apostle Paul on the achievement of eternal life through spirituality opposed the active affirmation of the interests and rights of the flesh.
All kinds of occult and magical secret societies existed in different centuries in different countries. Actually, Satanism itself did not exist, however, some Catholic priests in past centuries held black mass and other dark rituals. From literature is known, for example, the witch-devilist Frenchwoman La Voisin, who lived during the time of Louis XV. This woman is credited with carrying out a huge number of dark rituals, including with the sacrifice of infants, as well as many poisonings.
Alistair Crowley
Devilism flourished, therefore, perhaps the whole time that Christianity existed. The history of modern Satanism began with Alistair Crowley. It is this person who is considered by many to be the ideological inspirer of the dark current. A. Crowley became famous primarily for the fact that he actively promoted this religion at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Modern Satanists do not like to advertise the fact that it was Crowley who "recreated" all kinds of supposedly ancient spells and rituals. Therefore, today the name of this occultist is quite thoroughly forgotten. Once he was considered the "great magician of the twentieth century." A. Cowley glorified himself not only with numerous sexual orgies using drugs and a loyal attitude to National Socialism, but also with some scientific works.
Superman idea
In addition to Alistair Crowley, the German philosopher, the representative of irrationalism, Friedrich Nisce, is considered the inspiration of modern Satanism. It is his idea of a superman that is in this current the equivalent of an individual who is able to find for himself the main goal and meaning of life.
Anton La Way
Thus, Satanism is a dark movement, the ideological inspiration of which can be considered Alistair Crowley and Friedrich Nisce. The founder of the new Church of Satan in the last century was an American of French descent, Anton La Vey. It was this man in the 60s who formulated the main provisions of the new doctrine. Almost all modern Satanists are members of the Church of Satan Anton LaVey.
The Commandments of Satan
People, for whatever reason, are interested in this religion, probably would like to know what the commandments of Satanism exist. Of course, this religion has its own philosophy. There are only nine commandments of Satan. They look approximately as follows:
- instead of abstinence, a person should indulge his instincts;
- instead of spiritual dreams, one should choose a full existence in the material world;
- enemies need to take revenge, and not turn the second cheek;
- instead of hypocritical self-deception it is worth showing wisdom;
- mercy can be shown not to flatterers, but only to those who deserve it;
- Responsibly it is worth behaving only with responsible, and not with spiritual vampires;
- man is an animal, the most dangerous for all other animals;
- all the sins that Satan represents are not leading to spiritual death, but to physical, emotional and mental satisfaction.
The Black Bible
The main provisions of the dark doctrine, including the commandments of Satan, are described by Anton LaVey in a book specially written for this purpose. It is called the “Satanic Bible” and includes four main sections:
- The Book of Satan.
- "The Book of Lucifer."
- The Book of Velial.
- The Book of Leviathan.
According to many representatives of the intelligentsia, the “Satanic Bible” is a completely consistent and rational work that can cause interest primarily among adolescents and young people. Judging by this work, generally accepted ideas about this religion are often erroneous. After all, the ideology of Satanism is often presented as indulging in irresponsible and cruel acts. However, judging by the work “The Satanic Bible,” such behavior is completely at odds with the ethics of this teaching. The main thing in La Vey's religion is the independence of the individual. That is, a person must answer for his perfect actions before himself, and not before God or the devil.
Actually, the Fallen Angel himself, according to the teachings of LaVey, is a symbol of freedom, rebellion against injustice, self-development. Status The Church of Satan is now official. It is allowed in many countries of the world. In our country, the Russian Satanic Church was officially registered in May 2016.
The main symbols of Satanism
Initially, this religion was designated mainly only by inverted crucifixes. After the publication of the La Vey Bible, the pentagram with the image of a goat (Baphomet) inside became the main symbol of Satanism. Of course, this pentacle was not invented by the founder of the Church. Most likely, its prototype is the symbol of the Goat of Mendes (the incarnation of Noether Amon). The latter was called by the Egyptian priests "hidden, abiding in things" and was considered a kind of dark force permeating all nature.
The inverted cross and Baphomet, thus, are the main symbols of Satanism. But they, of course, are far from the only ones. Includes the symbolism of this religion and other signs. For example, three sixes are very common. They can be portrayed as either 666 or FFF (F is the sixth letter of the English alphabet).
Satanism as a religion: gods
In fact, of course, there are no gods as such in this movement. In this case, the main patron of the flock is Satan himself. Also in their rituals, representatives of such movements can turn to all kinds of demons. In addition to Baphomet, the most popular include:
- Astarota.
- Hippopotamus
- Abadonna.
- Leviathan.
- Asmodeus.
These, of course, are not exactly the gods of Satanism. Demons in this religion are considered rather different faces of Lucifer himself. Sometimes representatives of this movement use fictional dark characters in rituals. For example, La Vey’s book “Satanic Rituals” describes a way to appeal to Cthulhu of Lovecraft. Of course, Satanists also believe in Jehovah. After all, Satan must confront someone.
Rituals
The essence of Satanism is, therefore, in the freedom of man's choice and his independence from any Higher powers. Of course, in this religion there are not only symbols and philosophy. Spend, as already mentioned, its representatives and various kinds of rituals.
According to A. LaVey, fantasy plays an important role in any religious activity. It can manifest itself to the maximum only when performing special ritual actions. Therefore, the founder of the Church of Satan also developed several rites, which can be divided into two main categories:
- practical effective;
- ceremonial.
The magic of Satanism is usually based on the appeal to some demons in order to achieve personal goals. Do not consider the ceremonial satanists of La Veya and the well-known black mass. In their opinion, this is precisely an effective ritual, the main purpose of which is to free oneself from the dogmas of the Christian church.
It is also believed that both men and women can conduct satanic rites. Of course, when carrying out the rituals, their participants also use all kinds of symbols of Satanism - inverted stars, black candles, crosses, pentagrams.
Satanic "sins"
The main qualities that representatives of the La Vei current should not possess are:
- stupidity;
- lack of breadth of views;
- ignorance of the experience of generations;
- herd conformism;
- unproductive pride;
- rudeness of nature, lack of aesthetic, noble feeling;
- solipsism;
- propensity to self-deception;
- pretentiousness.
Satan and Lucifer - what is the difference?
For many people, these two characters are identical. However, historically the difference between Satan and Lucifer still exists. The most important difference between these names is age. Lucifer is a much more ancient demon, which appeared in mythology in the pre-Christian era. For example, the Romans identified it with the morning star - Venus. From the ancient Greek name “Lucifer” is translated as “Carrier of Light”. Since ancient times, this demon has been a symbol of craving for freedom, an open rebellion. Satanism itself professes the same principles (photos of the rituals and symbols of this religion are presented on the page).
In the Christian understanding, Lucifer is actually the Fallen Angel, who declared himself equal to God (in revenge for the latter's love for people) and rebelled. As a result, he and the angels that joined him (one third of the total composition) were overthrown in hell, where they remain to this day.
Satan, in comparison with Lucifer, appears as a somewhat more mundane character. No wonder he is considered the Prince of Peace. For the first time, Satan is mentioned in the Torah, a Jewish religious book from which later Christians and Muslims gathered information. Here Satan is represented, for the most part, simply as an accuser or witness of a person’s bad deeds. Actually in the personification of evil, the adversary of God, he was transformed already only in Christianity and Islam.
Baal Zevuv
This ancient pagan god is also often identified with the concept under consideration (Satanism). The devil and Beelzebub in some sources are identical characters. Historically, the latter is a transformation of the ancient Eastern god Baal-Zevuv. And this deity, in turn, once allegedly made numerous sacrifices, including human ones. And Christianity, of course, put an end to this.
Reliable archaeological evidence that the temples of Baal were sacrificed, however, does not exist. Actually in Beelzebub, this god was transformed in the Middle Ages. In the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus, he is called the prince of the underworld, the supreme sovereign of the hellish empire. In some cases, in ancient sources, Beelzebub is identified with Satan, in others it is considered his main assistant.
Lilith is the first woman
Of course, Satan, like almost any self-respecting god, has a wife. In general, he has four of them. However, the main one is Lilith, the first woman who escaped from paradise. According to the Ben Sira Alphabet, three angels were sent after her by the Creator. However, Lilith flatly refused to return to her husband. For such an offense, God punished her by dying 100 of her demon children every night.
In Jewish philosophy, Lilith is a winged monster that harms newborns. Jews believe that at night she abducts babies and drinks their blood or replaces them with demons. By agreement with the angels sent by God, she does not touch only those children whose name is written over the bed.
In the Kabbalistic tradition, Lilith is a demon who appears to men, seducing, and then killing them. It is in the literature of this orientation that she was first mentioned as the wife of Samael (Zohar book).
In the modern Satanic tradition, Lilith can be identified with many black goddesses - Kali, Hekata, Heli, etc. It can also be two Liliths, the eldest and the youngest. The first is actually the wife of Satan, and the second is the wife of the demon Asmodeus.
Other wives
In addition to Lilith, the spouses of Satan and the mothers of demons are also considered:
- Naama
- Agrath;
- Ishet Zennunim.
There are other female demons in Satanism - Lamia, Makhkhalat, Elizazdra. Lilith differs from the rest in that she was previously mortal. Most of the other demonesses were overthrown from heaven with Lucifer. In the rituals conducted by representatives of this movement, among other things, such signs of Satanism as the "Black Moon" Lilith and the lama of Naama can be used.
The opinion of the Gentiles
Thus, for the Jews, Satan is a witness to the actions of man, a slanderer and an accuser of God. For Christians, this character is the personification of evil, confusing a person from the true path. But what do pagans think about Satanism? Christians, as you know, do not like both of these religions. Indeed, in Satanism and paganism there is something in common - the rejection of God or the gods as a force that must be worshiped in any way. Well, or on which you can shift the responsibility for your actions. However, many Satanists at the same time consider the Creator an enemy whom Lucifer will defeat sooner or later. The pagans have a slightly different attitude towards the gods, of course. Representatives of this religion consider them not to be some Absolute that controls human life, but rather more powerful partners than people. Representatives of this religion do not consider any god an enemy.
The pagans do not deny the existence of Yahweh. However, many representatives of this religion consider it to be quite boring, spiteful and unbalanced. Some pagans equate Yahweh with the dark beginning - the devil, explaining this, including the similarity of the names of these two characters themselves.
Actually, Lucifer himself is sometimes identified by representatives of this religion with the god Wotan (Odin) or the Russian Veles. Also, sometimes Satan in this religion can be associated with Chernobog.
Satanism in the Russian Federation today
In our country, Satanism as a religion appeared in the time of the USSR. In Moscow, for example, the first such groups were noted in the 70s. In those days, however, they were very few in number. But gradually this religion gained popularity in the USSR, spreading to other big and small cities. In the 80s, quite large satanic societies appeared in the country. In the 90s, being a follower of one of these groups has also become very fashionable.
At the moment, Satanism in Russia It is represented mainly by the religious society "Russian Church of Satan", whose members are followers of La Vey. Of course, there are today in the Russian Federation and others, in most cases, closed and secret currents of a similar orientation. Of the most famous, one can distinguish the following: “Black Angel”, “Southern Cross”, “Green Order”.
In general, the whole spectrum of adherents of dark forces in Russia is divided into two main groups:
- the Satanists themselves;
- demon worshipers.
With some stretch to the adherents of Lucifer can be attributed to all sorts of practicing sorcerers and witches.
Christians about Satanism
The attitude of the members of the Russian Orthodox Church to representatives of this trend, of course, is sharply negative in most cases. Christians do their best to nullify this movement. Moreover, they direct their religious anger not only actually to the Satanists themselves, but also to all currents that the ROC is ranked as such, and even to representatives of culture. For example, in 2014, in connection with an insult to the feelings of believers, the problems of the pro-Satanic Polish group Behemoth arose. The latter, at the initiative of Orthodox activists, was even expelled from Russia (officially for violation of the visa regime).
Of course, Christian priests express their opinion about this religion. For example, those who wish can read the book of A. Kuraev "Satanism for the intelligentsia." It is dedicated not only to this dark current. It tells about other directions and movements attributed by the Russian Orthodox Church to Satanism.
Among such religions in the book "Satanism for the intelligentsia" Kuraev includes, for example, the Living Ethics of the Roerichs excommunicated from the church, paganism, occultism, theosophy of Blavatsky, etc.
Light Satanism
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