[review: this was from a packet of information I received from a witch
 who lived at Haus Kaos while she was being educated into the ways of
 (Gardnerian-related) Craft roundabout the year 1994-5.  she found
 the material to be difficult to believe, given my stated claims of
 being a Satanist, and so brought them to me and other haus members
 at that time for a review.  beyond this I have no idea where or
 when they were penned, though the copies I have are easily a third-
 or fourth-generation photocopy of typed materials.  I am placing
 these in the "NonSatanist Propaganda" files. -- nocTifer]

____________________________________________________________________

SATANISTS, MAGICIANS AND WITCHES

        by M.F.S. [the author may not wish her name known]
-------------------------------------

[only that text pertaining to Satanism entered here. -- nocT]

In 1968 a survey was taken among the readership of the largest
general circulation Witchcraft newsletter in the United States.
The Editor asked readers to indicate which of a number of
different types of covens they had either affiliated with or
wished to affiliate with.  The results were most surprising,
as except for the members of regular covens in the readership,
the majority of the readers did not apparently know the
difference between the various types of covens.  Some readers
could not distinguish between the Craft of the Wise and some
of the groups associated with it only in the minds of the more
lurid press, the Satanists and the Black Magicians....

Naturally, I alone am responsible for the material presented
herein.  The subjects of Satanism and Ceremonial Magic are
covered only as they are confused in the public mind with the
religion of the Craft.  A specialist in the traditions of the
Craft will be able to find many slights in this exposition.
I ask that they bear in mind that it was written for those
looking for Wisdom, not for those who have found it.

[SIGNED]
--------------------------

SATANISTS

Satanists are not really witches at all.  Their theological
base comes from the Christian Bible, a book not recognized
as cannonical by those who practice the Craft of the Wise.

In the Christian Gosple [sic] of Matthew, Chapter 4, Verse
9, the Devil tempts Jesus, showing him all he world and
its glories.  He tells him, "All these things will I give
thee if thou will fall down and worship me."  This is part
of the temptation of Jesus, and, naturally, he repudiates
the Devil and the things of the world.  On this one verse
in the Christian Bible hangs the whole theology of the
worship of Satan.

Satanists believe that the Devil is the 'Lord of this World'
and Jesus, the Christ, is the 'Lord of the World to Come'.
This point is also found or implied in the basic theology
of the worship of Satan.

Satanists believe that they are trading a promise of the
eternal salvation made by Jesus for the joys of this world.
Obviously the only person who can make such a trade is one
who has something to trade.  Thus only a convinced Christian
can become a Satanist.  Once a Satanist, he will remain a
subject of Christian Theology and subject to the final
judgement of the Christian Trinity.

As a result of this change of allegiance within the Christian
theological framework, Satanists usually require their
applicants to repudiate their Christian Baptism, which
dedicated them to the 'Lord of the World to Come'.  The
repudiation can take many forms, and may be a rather formal
ceremony involving a ritual renunciation and the swearing
of oaths to 'The Lord of this World';, [sic] the making of a
pact or some such thing.  The degree of the break with the
former life depends on the individual group.  Some groups
demand that the new Satanist renounce all of his former
Christian associations in some detail.

Many Satanist groups demand that their members attend
Christian religous services regularly, as they feel that
services attended by a discipline of Satan are voided in
their appeal to the Christian God.  They also may try to
obtain consecrated materials from the Church in this way.

The basic texts of Satanism are the same as those used by
the Christian Church generally, with the writings of the
early fathers and the Scholastics being stressed.  Gnostic
Christianity is a favorite starting place for some Satanist
groups; Thomas Aquinas is a favorite for others.  In both
Satanism and Christianity the male Father figure is the
Creator of the Universe, His Son is the Redeemer of Mankind
and Satan is the Antithesis of the Creator.  To Satanists
all women are inferior vessels, only males are capable of
obtaining perfect identity with Satan, and thus the true
victory in this world.  Because the Satanists stress this
more than other groups which hold the same doctrine, only
women who wish to wallow in guilt and slime are really
welcome in Satanist groups.  The most revealing drawings
of Satan show him as having woman's breasts, to try to
avoid the blind alley to which the theology of a male
creator leads.

In all Satanist groups the dominant figure and leader of
the group is a male.  Woman is always subordinate to him,
and often to all of the males in the group.

Since the time of Aleister Crowley there has often been
a priestess in the Satanist group, taking a place under
the leader and bearing the title of 'The Great Whore' or
something similar.  This merely identifies the group as
being of fairly recent origin.

Among Satanists the ideal man is Satan and the ideal woman
is the 'Great Whore' of the book of Revelations in the
Christian Bible.  The actual religious convictions of the
group may be gauged by the amount of effort they put forth
to emulate their ideals.

Most Satanists feel that the leader of the group is
responsible only to Satan, and cannot be called to account
by any mortal.  As a result, he leads the group with an iron
fist in his velvet glove.  Members of the group are supposed
to subordinate themselves to him as they would to Satan
himself, showing their dedication to their leader as their
dedication to Satan.  The leader is in charge of all the
rituals; he trains the applicants and initiates, and usually
acts as treasurer of the group as well.  The authority of
a leader of a Satanist group is far stronger than that
exercised by any leader of any group in the Craft.  He is
practically never questioned by members in his group.

Satanists usually work with the males wearing robes of
various kinds and the females either partly or fully nude.
Women are often used as an altar by the Satanists, though
not always.  In some groups sexual relations of various
kinds often play a part in the worship services as well as
in the workings of magic.  They usually consider all forms
of Magic black and asscribe [sic] it to Satan.  The
traditional Black Mass often forms the keystone of worship
in the Satanist group, but there are many other forms of
worship which are used.

Satanists may or may not charge for training and initiation.
They may either have a meeting place of their own or meet
in the homes of members.  Members may be charged for
attendance at meetings.

Membership in a Satanist group, or participation in Satanist
services is usually taken to be a prohibition to a coven of
the Craft.  If you would really rather be a witch, don't
experiment with Satanists.

...

-------

WITCHES

Witches are even more varied than the ceremonial magicians
in their traditions.  There are more witches than either
Satanists, magicians or Quabbalists [sic], but, as they
generally are very reticent people, they seldom make much
of a splash in the press.  The Satanists who do, however,
have used witches as sacrificial goats since the times of
the great witch trials.  When the Satanists go out to
desecrate a church or grave yard [sic] the witches get
the blame....

French and German witch covens are not as well-known in
the United States as some of the other traditions.
Apparently the majority of these traditions have slid off
to the point of being merely curiosities here.  I know of
several singletons (witches who practice alone) of the two
groups, but no organized coven of the French tradition.
German witch groups seem to have carried over here from
the German witchcraft revival at the end of the Second
World War.  As the revival was of Satanism, these are not
really witches at all....

-----------------------

[review: a preceding portion of the batch of documents handed
 out by this coven included this material of uncited source,
 titled "LESSON 1 -- WHAT IS THE CRAFT OF THE WISE", including
 the following text. nocTifer]

_______________________________________________________________

...

Probably now is as good a time as any to tell you what witches
re not, and what they do not do:

1. Witches are not Satanists.  There is a great confusion in
the mind of the public on this point.  Most people feel the
word witchcraft is synonymous with the word satanism.; [sic]
that witches have black masses, worship the devil, do human
and animal sacrifice and in general are dedicated to doing
evil and hurting as many people as they possibly can in the
course of their lives.  What motivates this is never adequately
explained of course.  When I was a kid I always wondered why
if witches were as powerful as people said they were, if indeed
they had made pacts with the Devil and thereby gained lots of
powers, then why weren't they better at protecting themselves
against witchhunters -- why didn't they just disappear, or turn
themselves into something or fly away. [sic]  Why did they let
themselves be so easy [sic] captured and executed?  Of course,
the truth of the matter is that witches are not Satanists.
The Craft, by its very nature, could never be involved in any
of the above sculduggery....

--------------------------------------------

EOF