Do all Satanists worship the Devil? You might think the answer is an obvious YES. But it’s not really that simple!
Not all Satanists worship the devil. Satanism is a general term that includes a broad range of people. Even more than the wide range of Christian denominations. Satanists can range from atheists to those who actually worship the devil.
The word Satanist might conjure up some specific imagery in your head.
Maybe a cultist holding a dagger over an altar, ready to make a human sacrifice.
Maybe a group of angsty goth teens in a cemetery trying to summon the Devil.
But the truth is that Satanism is a term that encompasses a lot more than just that.
While I don’t personally consider myself a Satanist, I think some aspects of Satanism are rather fascinating, and the topic is worth exploring and understanding.
By the end of this article, you’ll hopefully understand all the things that the word “satanist” can really include.
The Satanic Panic
In the 1980s, a moral panic spread throughout America.
Parents everywhere were worried that Satanic cults were kidnapping and brainwashing teens and children.
There were all sorts of gruesome urban legends about ritual abuse and sacrifices that were supposedly going on. This involved demonic possession, poisoning, drowning children, and even worse.
Everything from rock music to video games was claimed to have hidden messages and trying to convert kids into Satanists.
In the late 80s and into the 90s these ideas continued to spread as far as the UK and Australia.
This is mostly where we get our images today of what a Satanist is.
But by the middle of the 90s, many of the claims that were being made started to be met with skepticism and rejected.
Many of the supposed victims of Satanic rituals and abuse had their allegations proven false and the whole idea basically collapsed and stopped being an issue in society.
The Church of Satan
For most modern people who say they’re a Satanist, they’re usually referring to the Church of Satan.
While this organization has the word Satan in its name, they are basically atheists. They do not actually believe in a literal Devil.
The church was founded by Anton LaVey in 1966.
In the group’s central text, The Satanic Bible, LaVey discusses the hypocrisy he witnessed as a child, seeing supposedly good God-fearing men commit atrocious acts on Saturday nights (excessive drinking, violence, sexual deviancy), but then go to church on Sunday morning and act pious.
I’d like to think that the main thing that created Satanism as a movement was this moral double standard. Basically Satanism is a big “F U” to Christianity and all of organized religion. That’s probably a big reason of why they intentionally chose an antagonistic name for their group like Satanism.
Instead of literally believing in Satan, they use the image of Satan as a representation of individualism, enlightenment, and other concepts.
The Nine Satanic Statements
The main tenants of Satanism are summed up in the Nine Satanic Statements. They are:
1. Indulgence instead of abstinence
2. Vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams
3. Wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit
4. Kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates
5. Vengeance instead of turning the other cheek
6. Responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires
7. Satan represents man as just another animal.
8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins that all lead to mental, physical, and emotional gratification
9. Satan is the best friend the church has ever had. He’s kept them in business all these years!
The Eleven Satanic Rules of The Earth
Satanists also follow the Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth. These are a basic set of rules on how you should live your life as a Satanist:
1. Don’t give your opinions unless you’re asked.
2. Don’t tell other people your troubles unless you’re sure they want to hear them.
3. When you’re in someone else’s home, show them respect or don’t go there.
4. If a guest in your house annoys you, treat them cruelly and without mercy
5. Don’t make sexual advances unless you’re given the mating signal. (This doesn’t mean that Satanism has some secret mating signal. It just means normal adult responses that show an interest in sexuality. Stuff like dilated pupils, flushed skin, quickened breath, etc. Basically, use consent.)
6. Don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you. Unless it’s a burden to someone else and they ask to be relieved of it.
7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you’ve successfully used it to obtain something. If you deny the power of magic after using it, you’ll lose everything you’ve gained.
8. Don’t complain about anything that you don’t need to subject yourself to.
9. Don’t harm little children.
10. Don’t kill non-human animals unless you’re attacked or for food.
11. When you’re walking in public, don’t bother anyone. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they don’t stop, destroy them.
What About “Real” Satanism?
So are there any “real” Satanists out there who unironically worship the Christian devil? Yes. Perhaps the most notorious group is the Order of Nine Angles. The ONA describes their practices as “traditional Satanism” and is largely shrouded in secrecy, although there have been allegations of ritual human sacrifice and other illegal acts. If you’re looking for the extreme and dangerous type of Satanism, the ONA seems to fit the bill.
There are other organizations that promote the belief of a Satan-like figure. For example, Luciferians believe in Lucifer. Although while Satan and Lucifer are synonyms to most Christians, the group makes some pretty clear distinctions. They see Lucifer as the “light bearer”, and a positive aspect of Lucifer.
Before Christianity, Lucifer was associated with the morning star in the mythology of the Canaanites and other peoples.
There’s also the Temple of Set, which promotes belief in a version of Satan they believe is the same as the Egyptian God Set of disorder and violence.
What is a Demon?
Historically, the demons of one religion were often the Gods of another.
When a group of one religion conquered the land and people of another, they would often reinterpret the deities of the existing culture as a part of their own belief system.
Benevolent gods were recategorized as evil, lying demons.
Even monotheistic religions acknowledge the existence of other Gods. For example, the Biblical commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”
Converting people to your religion in ancient times was propaganda and mental warfare as much as anything else. To make people follow your religion, you had to convince them that their own gods were corrupted and using trickery.
You probably recognize many of the ancient Gods that Christianity has demonized over the centuries. These include Lucifer, Beelzebub, Baal, Baphomet, Behemoth, Moloch, Samael, Set, and more. Even the idea of Satan itself may have been taken from another ancient religion.
You probably automatically assume that many of these are just synonyms for Satan when you hear them.
Conclusion
Do Satanists really worship the Devil?
Well, maybe. The best we can say is “it depends what you mean by Satanist.”
But it’s safe to say the majority of people who call themselves Satanists don’t even believe the Devil is a real entity.
Satanism is a confusing term that means a lot of different things to different people.
The issue is even further confused by the issue of demonization. Today we use the word demonization to mean “to portray something as wicked or threatening.”
But we can trace its origin back to when demonization is something that believers in one religion would do to the Gods of another. Literally turning them into demons in their own mythology as a way to discredit other beliefs.
Then again, every religion seems to have their sects which embrace the controversial side of their religion. Islam has the Yazidis, Hinduism has the Aghori, and Christianity has Satanists.