Satanism

What is Satanism? What is the Satanic Bible? What is the truth behind Satanic rituals and Satan worship? Is the focal point of Satanism "Satan" of the Hebrew and Christian Bible or someone different? These are examples of questions people have when they hear about Satanism.

It is helpful to know that terms like “Satanism,” "satanic," and even the name "Satan," encompasses a wide variety of ideological, philosophical, and theological beliefs. "Satanic" groups can be quitedifferent from one another, but still use the same terminology.

Satanism: Differences

There are different ways to classify satanic groups to help people understand how each group believes and behaves. Not every group performs satanic rituals, participates in satanic worship, reads theThe Satanic Bible, uses traditional satanic symbols, or attends "the Church of Satan."

First, not every form of Satanism professes a belief in gods or spirits. While some forms of Satanism believe in spiritual entities, others have a materialistic worldview and in relation to faith and religion they are atheists or agnostics. Satanic spiritualists, on the other hand, contend that Satan is a god or a chief evil spirit and they pursue interaction with him and other evil spirits. In contrast, those Satanists who are professed atheists and agnostics seeSatanism as a philosophical worldview manifesting in a particular lifestyle often characterized by questioning authority. The spiritualitsts are more likely to perform satanic rituals, while the non-spiritualists don't.

Second, satanic groups include a wide range of adherents. Some Satanists are teenagers who are dabbling in self-proclaimed diabolical groups and covens These young people practice Satanism recreationally and their activities often include fantasy role-playing games, heavy metal music with satanic lyrics, and drug use.

Other Satanists belong to groups whose purpose is less recreational. This type of satanic order is often esoteric and regularly practices occult rituals. It's also populated by adults, not teenagers.

Third, satanic organizations have different purposes. Some are public, while others are private. Public groups are sometimes incorporated as non-profit religious organizations and have tax-exempt status in the United States. This subset of Satanism produces the most literature and is even recognized by the United States military. There are, however, private groups as well that largely operate in secret.

Satanism: Groups

The following chart provides a starting point for understanding different satanic groups.

	Founding	Spiritualists or Materialists	Known for	Public or Private	Literature
Beasts of Satan	Mid-1990's in Italy	spiritualists	committing ritual murders from 1998-2004 in Italy	private	none
Church of Satan	1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey in San Francisco, California	materialists	The Satanic Bible	public	The Satanic Bible(1969, Avon Books)
Dragon Rouge	1989 in Sweden	spiritualists	practicing occult arts and black magic	private	none
First Satanic Church	1999 by Karla LaVey in San Francisco, California	materialists	started by the daughter of Anton LeVay	public	none
Luciferianism	13th century	spiritualists	conflicted with Pope Gregory IX	private	none surviving
The Ophites	circa 100 A.D.	spiritualists	worshipped the serpent of Genesis	private	made esoteric diagrams
Order of Nine Angles	1960's in England	spiritualists	affirmation of human sacrifice	private	Hysteron Proteronby Anton Long
Our Lady of Endor	1948 by Herbert Arthur Sloane in Toledo, Ohio	spiritualists	Sloane believed Satan appeared to him as a horned-god when he was a child	private	Heavily influenced by The Gnostic Religionby Hans Jonas
Palladists	1737 In Paris, France	spiritualists	called a "Masonic Diabolical Order" in Lewis Spence'sEncyclopedia of the Occult	private	none surviving
Temple of Set	1975 by Michael A. Aquino after a disagreement with the Church of Satan	spiritualists	Aquino was a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army	public	Jewelled Tablets of Set, The Crystal Tablet of Set
Typhonian Order	late 19th century in the U.K.	spiritualists	Aleister Crowleyled the group for a time	public	The Typhonian Trilogies by Kenneth Grant
The Yezidi	antiquity, Central Asia	spiritualists	bird worship	private	unknown