What I

Now, I want to do this post for several reasons. The first one is a basic failure to understand what the hell, Satanic Bible most people are reading. The second reason is due to a conversation I had recently. The third reason is well, the ONA and the reasons I am NOW looking into that (and the basic fact that I get the sinking feeling I got the base ideas behind ONA from LaVey in an odd way). Okay, here goes.....

When I read Anton LaVey, I got a different message then the one I see tossed around so much by LaVeyans, to the extent that I figured everybody else is mostly wrong, and I am right. It happens, average people seem to fail to correctly input information.

1. The Carnal and the Spiritual are the same. I took this to mean "the body is a temple, housing a God, you." So, to me that meant, eat well, take care of yourself, get in good physical shape. Your body houses you and should be in accordance with your mental state. It is a direct reflection of that mental state. So, do what you can to be better, become as close to physical perfection as possible. That idea is why I lost 80 lbs and started exercising regularly.

2. A woman should be a woman, not a posing as a man. That was powerful to me. I should be empowered as a woman, acknowledge my femininity. Fully embrace that aspect of myself. 

3. That Satanist are a type of person. Really neither a philosophy or a religion, I thought Anton described a person that is an abberation of sorts, a person who naturally resists society as a whole and opposes the nature of society in general. They represent the OPPOSITE of that ideal, always have. Next is why....

4. The idea sprang in my head upon reading Satanic literature that God really represents society and it's ideals. That's why God is the "enemy" of the Satan. Satan represents "not societal" or natural. The way things are naturally, not how people think they should be. 

5. That other Satanists (true, phenotype ones) are my family. That I should not only respect them, but a genuine feeling of family would develop when I encountered them. Like Satanists were a long lost family spread out all over the world and the TSB was designed to bring them back together, to help them find each other. I always saw it in my head like little pinpricks of light, spread throughout the world. That honor, loyalty, and respect would be a natural side effect of encountering them.

6. That ultimately, Satanists were supposed to infect and tear apart society as a whole. What I mean is, the job title was to destroy it, that is opposing it. That is had to be done, it was always the "Satanic" that did tear society apart and that I would eventually develop the desire to do so and the way to do so would appear. 

7. Constant self improvement was the key to gnosis. I know a little New Agey, but that, it was a path. One that never ended, was full of strife, but that it would never stop. That a Satanist never really grows up and becomes static, but that they constantly evolve. That was the key. Never get static
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8. That humor is necessary. LaVey was a bit of a trickster and I took that to heart. Have fun, laugh at yourself, be a little silly at times. That one of the differences between a Satanist and a non Satanist was taking oneself seriously.

9. That Satanists and humans in general have a little quirk. What I mean is, they are imaginative and logical. So, that the part of the brain that was responsible for dreams, etc, the subconscious if you will, needed stimulation. That by stimulating that part of the brain, you tapped into something else, something bigger. That by accessing that, you could change your view of the World. By changing your view on things, you could manifest a different reality. I always shorten this to "change your mind, change you reality." 

10. That there is no DOGMA for a Satanist. I took this to mean, take what you like and throw away the rest. There is a "core" to the idea (the oppositional to society idea), but beyond that, do what you want. So I have, I threw away all of the rituals, the rules of the Earth, etc. they all seemed unnecessary. That when it came to the "religious" portion, you got to do what you wanted. 

11. That Satanism was a lifestyle. One of constant self improvement, resistance to society in general and that it would be natural and understood by the ones that were actually Satanists.

12. That a Satanist constantly studies, learns, and applies new concepts. 

13. That Good and Evil, DO NOT EXIST. That those ideas were false and anything that made you keep those ideals, had to be cut out. That the end goal was to be ammoral. 

My point is this, I never see these ideas talked about by the average Laveyan. There is a call to just read LaVey and that his Satanism is the only brand. The idea of tolerance and acceptance by society seems to permeate the whole "LaVeyan" school of thought, when I would assume it wouldn't, due to the nature of the Archetype of Satan. A lot of women that are LaVeyan are like little men running around. What did you read? Where did you get the idea that just reading TSB was the start and end of Satanism? Anyway, end of rant. :)


*I know not all LaVeyans are like the above description. Just ranting. :)