from http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/traditionalsatanism/theology.html (accessed 9/6/06) SATANIC THEOLOGY Traditional Satanism has no single, solid theology, as Satan has never really went to great lengths to explain it all to us fully. Even in the Al-Jilwah, Satan doesn't really touch much at all on the history of the universe and the struggle between him and Jehovah. But, Traditional Satanism does at least have a loose Theology wich most all of us agree on. It is the same basic theology confessed by the medieval witches and the Luciferans, and in a sense it is the same basic idea believed in by the Judeo-Christian religions, although we take a very different view of many of the events which happened. The Satanic theology is essentially this: In the beginning, Satan and Jehovah came into existence. Some believe Satan came first, others believe Jehovah came first, some believe they both come about at the same time. But that really doesn't matter. Satan and Jehovah seem to have worked together for some time , but eventually something happened. This is also another issue which Satanists see differently. Some believe that Satan fell, or left Heaven, after mankind came around and had more to do with getting in trouble for teaching man while others believe that Satan fell far before mankind by rebelling against Jehovah's rules in heaven. There have been many reasons for why Satan left, and they can get pretty different from each other, but one thing is always constant: Jehovah started acting like an asshole in some way, and Satan wasn't going to just take it. Ok, so after the battle in heaven, Satan and the angels who took his side (now known as Demons) left the heavenly realm and created their own eternal home in the spiritual realm, which we know as Hell. Traditional Satanists believe that after death, we will go to this spiritual realm to be with Satan, and if he wishes, he may reincarnate us back on earth. Next came the most important event in the history of humankind. After leaving Jehovah, Satan looked upon the mindless animal that was to become man, and gave this creature the Black Gnosis, Satan's gift of free-will and intelligence. We believe that our advanced mental capacity and our immortal Will are direct results from the Gift of Satan. The Christians also believe this part of the story, yet they condemn this action as the worst thing that ever happened, the event which made mankind "fall from God." And it is true, it did make us turn away from Jehovah and reject his ways. We believe that essentialy Satan is the Lord of the Earth and therefore, Jehovah's silly laws and rules should not apply for us. There is no such thing as "sin" in satanism. Our nature is not fallen or wrong, our nature is perfectly healthy and natural. We believe that eventually, the final battle will come, and Jehovah along with all of his worshipers will be thrown into torture and misery forever. As you can see, this is a rather loose theology that leaves alot of room for personal interpretation. But it is also very clear on certain issues, and most all Traditional Satanists believe something similar, if not identical to the theology I have presented. Unlike the Christians, we don't already have one big instruction booklet that lays it all out for us. The closest things we have to sacred texts describing the history of the universe from a Satanic point of view are the Diabolicon of the early Church of Satan (as it existed from 1966 to 1975) and the Mishaf Resh of the Yezidis. But these texts have their flaws. Firstly, the Diabolicon, while supposedly inspired by Satan, is not His direct word as the Al-Jilwah is. So, while the Black Coven of Satan believes that the Diabolicon does contain much truth, it also is tinged with the mind of Michael Aquino, the Satanist who "recieved" the text while in the Vietnam war. But we do consider the Diabolicon to be the closest to the truth, and a text that is genuinely inspired, though not directly dictated. Now, the Mishaf Resh on the other hand, is even less reliable although it is older. The Mishaf Resh, or Black Book, is often paired with the Al-Jilwah. Together, these two books made up the main holy texts of the Yezidis. But while the Al-Jilwah is a holy text recieved from a god, the Mishaf Resh is merely a collection of the stories and customs of the Yezidi as passed down from their ancestors. And as anyone who has read the Mishaf Resh knows, it is definitely not an inspired text from Satan, nor does it claim to be, as parts of it are obviously written from the point of view of the Yezidis themselves. It is full of curious and odd customs of the Yezidis. For example, according to the Black Book, the Yezidis can not change clothes or urinate while standing. And it has some odd stories too, such as the story where Satan tempts mankind to eat wheat, and after Adam eats it, his stomache hurts because he is full and mankind was apparently created with no "outlet" if you know what I mean. So, Satan sends a bird to come and literally peck Adam a whole in his rear so he can relieve himself. Obviously, this text is the result of years of storytelling and isolation, not the result of Satan communicating to man. END