Satanism is appealing?

Oh! Thank you for clearing that up for me. I've never, ever heard that version before.

Some claim to be satanists without having true knowledge of what it means. It just "sounds cool". Reading one book or one article does not make one a satanist. It is not only beliefs, ideologies, and workings, but also how one may choose to live their life.

I am in no way a Satanist, and I can appreciate the true version(s) individuals celebrate. It's quite spiritual, and uplifting if one resonates with it. With any belief system the possibility for certain people to use it in a negative way will always exist, regardless of consequence.

This thread has been moved to Other Paths from Misc Topics.

Now, there are several different branches of Satanism. I don't know the name of this specific branch I'm going to talk about (because the name is tossed and mangled just as much as "Pagan").

There is a certain Satanism branch that actually has more roots in Atheism, than anything else. They do not believe in any sort of deity or 'creator', which immediately sets them up for being against the Abrahamic churches. In fact, "Satanists" were the first outward Atheists in the Christian mind. Christians believe in two high-power entity concepts: Yahweh and Satan. If you don't believe in Yahweh, then immediately you're set up as being a "Evil Devil Worshipper".

This specific branch believes in a sort of enlightenment through the use of ritualistic practice; that their spirits and bodies are of power, and to not use that power would be ridiculous in their eyes.

As for worshippers of an apposing entity of Yahweh (not necessarily evil, mind you) I have been taught to call them Luciferians.

xEmbraceX, i do believe that do are talking about a branch of LaVeyan Satanism because unlike others they believe Satan is a concept or a thoughtform, while other branches think the same of christianity.

like what has been said there are many different types of satanism each with their own belief systems.

Satanism has three major offshoots, as best as I can tell.

LaVeyan Satanism is atheistic humanism with ritual magic. It is the worship of the body and physical pleasures. It was first espoused by Anton LaVey, the Black Pope of the Church of Satan, during the 1960's. Their headquarters is in California. To be a card-carrying member, you pay a $200 dollar membership fee that allows you to attend their meetings, which are, again, of virtually zero use to you unless you live on the West Coast.

Theistic Satanism is what most people think of when they think "Devil worship." It is the worship of Satan as he has manifested through the lens of the Bible and thousands of years of Christian interpretation. (The latter half of that sentence is a necessary disclaimer; Satan and his domain - Hell - appear conspicuously few times in the Bible, so most of what we understand of him is the product of opinion and interpretation gleaned through literature like Dante Alighieri's Inferno.) There's not many of these around.

Finally, there's Luciferianism and other like sects. These worship Lucifer as a beacon of truth and light. Sometimes he's an archangel from the Bible; other times, he is interpreted through the Sumerian pantheon, where he assists mortals against the wicked will of their creator Gods.

As a practitioner of a sort of LaVeyan Satanism, I can tell you the major appeal is for self-worship; the deification of the magic practitioner and his or her initiates. Satanists don't beseech the Gods for assistance; they command it. Its rituals and rites have a more macabre, domineering tenor than those in Wicca, which I believe to be a better reflection of humanity's relationship to the elements - and the universe as a whole - than the rosier picture right-hand pathists paint.

Hope this helps! Blessed be.

I was never attracted to satanism because I found it to be somewhat cataring to the ego which I find detrimental to my own spiritual progress. Thats just me though. I have no problem with other people practicing satanism, if they find divine truth in that system than good, its better than following a system largely accepted by society yet finding no divine truth in it. What i cant stand are punks who think its cool to say they're satanists because they want to inspire fear.

Just to add in regards to the LaVeyan Satanism; some people have approached "The Satanic Bible", and it's companion, "The Satanic Rituals", and come away thinking it to be literal devil worship due to the magical rituals inscribed within the two books.

I just want to clarify this by saying that the majority of LaVeyan Satanists don't use these magical rituals to try and make something happen in the world, but to change something within themselves. The rituals are used as an esoteric emotional outlet; if you're harbouring hatred towards an individual, or sexual frustrations (just two examples, it's obviously not confined to these two feelings), you can enter the ritual chamber and let these out in atmospheric rituals, which allows you to shamelessly express yourself. This means that you can have a good time and this can be done with no harm to yourself, and, in the cases where you are harbouring hatred towards somebody for instance, then no harm comes to them. And if harm does come to them, then at least there is no laws broken on your part; the Church of Satan respects the law, or at the least, abides by its rules.

There are two good documentaries (and probably more) out about the Church of Satan for anybody interested; "Satanis: The Devil's Mass" (1970) and "Inside the Church of Satan" (2010). The "Inside the Church of Satan" documentary also includes a full recording of the ritual known as the "Rite of Ragnarok", for anybody who may be interested in seeing that.