Third file from "Satan Wants You", by Arthur Lyons
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For all their differences, all of the neo-Satanic churches share several
structural and psychological traits, not only with themselves but with
other occult sects. With hero worship often a large factor in the
success of these groups their existence has been dependent on the
charisma and continued life of the leader. As he or she goes, so goes
the cult -- which has resulted in a short life span for a majority of
occult and virtually all Satanic organizations.

As seen, most Satanists are frustrated people reacting against the
banality and powerlessness of their lives. Feeling like insignificant
cogs in a machine, bewildered by the complexities of various
bureaucracies, these people seek out a group that will accept them,
in which they can vent their feelings of hostile alienation, without
being censured. Through the practice of "magic" and the achievement
of "adept" levels they can feel that they are unique and powerful.

But becoming part of an elect elite can have side effects. While
aiding the individual in feeling more powerful, it can make relating
to others outside the group even more difficult.... Socializing with
others of like mind only reinforces the process; an inferiority
complex is transformed into a superiority complex. Weird becomes
weirder.

Once that happens, the need to believe becomes even stronger....

An accidental connection can reinforce the neurotic's belief in his
own powers: think of someone, and if that person appears, the thought
*made* him appear. The several thousand times that the person 
*didn't* appear are conveniently forgotten....

Psychologist Erich Fromm divided religions into two principal
categories: humanitarian and authoritarian. Humanitarian religions,
according to Fromm, concern themselves with the goals of self-
realization, while authoritarian religions emphasize the importance
of their own power.

	The essential element in authoritarian religion... is the
	surrender to a power transcending man. The main virtue
	of this type of religion is obedience, the cardinal sin,
	disobedience.

{NOTE: Fromm, Erich, "Psychoanalysis and Religion", New Haven: Yale
    University Press, 1950, p. 35.}

Most Satanic cults are authoritarian in nature. The members join
the group to remedy feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy by
submitting to cult leaders in order to be taught the "occult secrets
of magic." Thus, they feel themselves as part of an elite group, in
possession of exclusive powers, superior to the rest of humanity....

While teaching that the ultimate goal of the Setian is self-realiza-
tion, Michael Aquino states that the governing principle of magic is
the ability to

	control people without their realizing how or why
	they are being controlled.

Gini Graham Scott's experiences with the Temple of Set echoes my own
observations of other Satanic and occult groups: 

	The power of the High Priest increases the power group 
	members feel. He derives much of his power from the
	members' belief that he is better able to communicate
	and manifest (Set) through his being. Also, when
	members honor him with salutes and hails, he appears
	that much more powerful. His power, in turn, reflects
	back on the group.

{NOTE: Scott, op. cit., p. 190.}

But although the orientation of both the leadership and the laity
of most neo-Satanic churches such as the Temple of Set and the
Church of Satan is authoritarian, and stresses control, there is
no evidence that any so-called "brainwashing" techniques are
employed within these groups to program the thoughts of their
members -- as has been alleged in contemporary cults such as the
Moonies or the Hare Krishnas....

With the possible exception of The Process in the early 1970s,
no organized Satanic church has attempted to attain that kind of
control of its membership. The Church of Satan, the Temple of
Set, and the Church of Satanic Liberation, although displaying
some of [R.J. Lifton's eight components of 'religious totalism'],
-- assuming at times a fascistic, authoritarian tone -- have not
attempted to break down the thoughts of their members. In fact,
their stress on egotism, individualistic thought, and noncomfority 
-- although within their groups, their members have simply arrived
at another kind of conformity -- has been a barrier to the
implantation of any cohesive system of thought. This, perhaps, has
been a source of failure of such groups as LaVey's and Aquino's
to consolidate and add to the gains in membership they made in the
early 1970s.

Back in 1971, before he became certain that Set was a real entity,
Michael Aquino seemed to anticipate this built-in program for
failure in his own temple when he wrote that

	a large percentage of letters to *The Cloven Hoof*
	portray Satan as a *de facto* God to be served,
	worshipped and adored -- not as an anti-god. For
	such persons, the distinction between Christianity
	and Satanism is principally semantic. The long-
	term influence of such a tend could be disastrous
	and I suspect the question may be called shortly.
	Some people, I suppose, cannot exist without a 
	master to serve. Erich Fromm is alive and lurking
	in the ritual chamber.

{NOTE: Correspondence with the author.}

"Satan Wants You", by Arthur Lyons, Mysterious Press, 1988; pp. 134-7.
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