Newsgroups: alt.satanism,alt.magick.tyagi,talk.religion.misc,alt.answers,talk.answers,news.answers Subject: file of alt.satanism Frequently Asked Questions Followup-To: alt.satanism,alt.magick.tyagi Keywords: FAQ, Satanism, Satan, religion, philosophy, demonology, Lucifer, Set, Mastema, Beelzebub, Iblis, infernal, demon, spirit, fallen, Book of Noah, Book of Enoch, Setianism, Luciferians, Hades, 666, Underworld Ruler, hellfire clubs, Black Mass, cultists, devil, Pact With the Devil, tormentor, adversary, opponent, diabolism, sorcery, demon-worship, sabbatic goat, Baphomet, pentagrams, point-down pentagrams, pentacles, trapezoids, trapezohedrons, nonology, Prometheus, Ialdabaoth, Archon, Demiurge, Scratch, Old Hairy, Great Accuser, Old Nick, Wild One, Chozzar-Shugal, Melek Tawes, Peacock Lord, Emerald Serpent, Black Flame, Yezidis, Virosaivites, Brotherhood of Satan, Church of Satan. Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Summary: alt.satanism newsgroup FAQ URL: http://deitus.tripod.com Replaces: 50030418 From: satanservice.org@boboroshi (tyaginator) Reply-to: spam@luckymojo.com (tyaginator) Archive-name: religions/satanism/faqeol Posting-Frequency: monthly or when desired Revised: 50060606 LOCATION http://www.arcane-archive.org/faqs/faq.astneol.0418.php ______________________________________________________________________ PREFACE This is the Embassy of Lucifer's version of the alt.satanism FAQ. For information specific to other organizations, we recommend reading the various FAQ's posted on alt.satanism. The intent of this initial FAQ is to provide some basic information about Satanism. The FAQ will be expanded each month to provide more detailed and complete information about the Embassy of Lucifer and other organizations. ==================================================================== CONTENTS 1. What is Satanism? 2. What is the Church of Satan? 3. What is the Temple of Set? 4. Who is Lord Egan and What is the First Church of Satan? 5. How do I know which of these organizations to join? 6. Does the Embassy of Lucifer agree with the philosophy of the C.S.? 7. Then, like the Temple of Set, does the Embassy of Lucifer accept the literal existence of Satan? 8. How, then, does the Embassy of Lucifer differ from the Temple of Set? 9. What is the O.T.O./A.A.? 10. What is the deal with Aeons & Ages? 11. What is a Word in relation to an Aeon? 12. I find the whole idea of "Aeons" and "Words" a little too esoteric. What does this really have to do with Satanism and why should I be interested in it? 13. What is the Infernal Mandate? 14. How can I learn more about Satanism? ==================================================================== 1. What is Satanism? While there has been a moderate level of conflict between groups with doctrinal differences each claiming to practice the true or correct form of Satanism, Satanism may be generally described as any philosophical or religious system inspired by the symbolic image of Satan and possibly other mythological gods and demons. 2. What is the Church of Satan? The Church of Satan (C.S.) is a church which was established by Anton LaVey on April 30, 1966 in his home in San Francisco, California. The C.S. received a great deal of publicity at that time and during the early 1970's grew to include local chapters, called Grottos, in several major cities across the United States and Canada. Since Anton LaVey's death, on Oct 29, 1997, the C.S. has been run by Blanche Barton, his former lover and High Priestess. The current High Priest is Peter Gilmore, a long time supporter of and Magister in the C.S. The C.S. enjoys a legacy of being the first legally established church dedicated to Satanism and the organization spear-headed by Satanism's one-time "Black Pope", Anton LaVey. 3. What is the Temple of Set? The Temple of Set (T.S.) is a magical and philsophical organization which was established by Michael Aquino, a Magister in the C.S., when he left the C.S. in 1975. He, and several others, claimed that Anton LaVey had dishonored the name of Satan by "selling priesthoods". There was also a growing division between those members of the C.S. who considered Satan as nothing more than a symbol to be used in rituals and others in the C.S. who considered Satan to be a literal being. In opposition to the Church of Satan's position of professed atheism, the Temple of Set recognized the actual existence of Satan as the Prince of Darkness, a being who pre-existed Christianity and even Judaism. They claimed his original name was not Satan but Set, one of the gods of ancient Egypt. 4. Who is Lord Egan and What is the First Church of Satan? The First Church of Satan (FCoS), located in Salem, Massachusettes, calls itself a "heretical offshoot of the Church of Satan." Lord Egan was a member of the C.S. in the early 1970's, prior to the split between the C.S. and T.S. The FCoS claims that the contemporary C.S. has abandoned the liberal philosophy of the original organization which Anton LaVey founded and has become a more fanatical and bigotted organization. The FCoS has attempted to preserve the traditions of the original Church of Satan. 5. How do I know which of these organizations to join? You don't have to be a member of any organization to be a Satanist. People join organization for many different reasons and sometimes that reason is simply to belong to something. Those who join the C.S., T.S., FCoS, or any other organization simply to fill a need to identify themselves with something aren't really practicing Satanism. If you are really a Satanist then you don't need any organization to recognize you as such. But, as a practicing Satanist, you may enjoy associating with others who share similar beliefs to your own and derive great pleasure taking part in group activities. So, regardless of what anyone says about any of these organization, just remember that the differences are political. Join whatever group feels right to you but let your reason be the sincere desire to associate with others of similar belief and not the need for acceptence. 6. Does the Embassy of Lucifer agree with the philosophy of the C.S.? Yes. We agree with everything that Anton LaVey wrote concerning Satanism in his books, the Satanic Bible, the Satanic Rituals, and the Satanic Witch. It is our position, however, that this information was provided in a way which would be acceptable to society. The position of the C.S. today that "Satan does not exist" is based on Anton LaVey's hesitation to declare the literal existence of Satan in his books. We would say that this hesitation was not due to a disbelief in Satan but rather to a realization that the Church of Satan's survival in those early days depended on society seeing it as nothing more than a carnival act. 7. Then, like the Temple of Set, does the Embassy of Lucifer accept the literal existence of Satan? Yes. Our position is that Satan does exist, or rather that the being man calls Satan has a literal existence. Whether we call him Satan, Lucifer, Belial, Leviathan, Asmodeus, Yahweh, Allah, Krishna, Jesus, or any other name, the Force we call upon in our rituals is active and dynamic and can respond to our invocations. 8. How, then, does the Embassy of Lucifer differ from the Temple of Set? We agree with what Michael Aquino and other members of the T.S. have written. We see no actual conflict between the writings of the T.S. and the C.S. The material that has come out of both of these organizations has been benefitial to practicing Satanists. The Egyptian magical tradition was a major focus in the T.S. due to the fact that the Dark Lord had manifested to Michael Aquino in the form of the Egyptian god Set. The Embassy of Lucifer is less limited in its approach to the Dark Lord, who is seen as having many forms and many names (some of which man has created to honour him or denegrate him, and others of which he has revealed to us for his own purposes.) 9. What is the O.T.O./A.A.? The O.T.O. (Ordo Templi Orientis or Order of Oriental Templars) was a German magical order of the early 20th century which practiced various rituals primarily sexual in nature. The A.A. (Astrum Argentinum) was an organization established (at least theoretically) in the mind of the magician Aleister Crowley, the former member of another magical order called the Golden Dawn. In theory, any organization which followed the principles of the A.A. was part of the A.A. weather it recognized itself as such or not. When Crowley joined the O.T.O., the O.T.O. became the vehicle for his Order of the Silver Star. Enlivened by Crowley's genius, the O.T.O./A.A. became one of the most incredible magical orders of all time, and succeeded at formulating a system of magick which combined Western Magical tradition (the Caballa, Enochian Magic, etc.) with Eastern Mysticism (Tao-Tching, Yoga) Aleister Crowley's aim was the synthesis of Science and Religion into a system of magick which he believed would ultimately transform the world. 10. What is the deal with Aeons & Ages? Anton LaVey claimed that 1966 was Year 1 in the Age of Satan, a new age of Fire which had displaced the Age of Ice which preceded it. He remarked in the Satanic Bible that nature cycled between ages of Fire and Ice. Beneath the nordic symbology which he used, Anton LaVey was obviously aware that a new Aeon had begun since he was familiar with the writings of Crowley and would have had no other reason to make reference to a new Age. Most likely, he did not want to confuse readers with esoteric "jargon", but wished to present Satanism in the most simple and direct terms. In 1904, Aleister Crowley had had a vision in the desert and written his most famous book, the Book of the Law. At that time, Crowley declared the end of the Aeon of Osirus and the start of a new Aeon - the Aeon of Horus, the Age of the bright unconquered child. Crowley's Aeon of Osirus is LaVey's Age of Ice and Crowley's Aeon of Horus is LaVey's Age of Fire. An Aeon represents a period in the non-natural evolution of mankind. Aleister Crowley described the Aeon of Isis as a period where man lived in harmony with nature and worshipped nature deities. He named this period of humanity for Isis since Isis was the goddess of nature in Egyptian mythology. The Aeon of Osirus, according to Crowley, was characterized by religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which taught man to restrict his natural impulses, deny life, and seek death as the greatest reward for a life of abstinence. He named this period for Osirus since Osirus was a sacrifical god who brought life to the earth through his death. Crowley's Law of Thelema represented an end to this period of sacrifice and the start of a new Age - the Aeon of Horus. In 1975, when Michael Aquino left the Church of Satan, he called upon the Prince of Darkness for guidance and the Dark Lord appeared to him in the form of the Egyptian god Set. Aquino was inspired by this manifestation to write his own book, The Book of Coming Forth By Night, which, like Aleister Crowley's Book of the Law, heralded a new Aeon. The Aeon of Horus had ended and the Aeon of Set had begun. He was given the Infernal Mandate and charged to establish a temple dedicated to the Prince of Darkness in the semblence of Set. The newest utterence of an Aeonic "Word" occured May 5, 2000, when Magus Tsirk Susej, now Senior Ambassador of the Embassy of Lucifer, declared that a new Aeon - the Aeon of Lucifer - had begun and that 2001 would be the year 1 in the Aeon of Lucifer. He was told not to take the Infernal Mandate from the Temple of Set for it would soon be given over freely and would be in the hands of every Satanist. He wrote to the T.S. to inform them that a new Aeon had begun but received no answer to his inquiry. And on April 30, 2001, nearly a year after speaking the "Word" which brought about the Aeon of Lucifer, he established the Embassy of Lucifer as a vehicle for the advancement of the Word DEITUS. 11. What is a Word in relation to an Aeon? There is a magical tradition that says a magician must cross the abyss and overcome death itself. He must face his true self, and having done this, he receives the "knowledge and conversation of his holy guardian angel." The Magister Templi is one who has become Master of the Temple and is aware of all things within the magical universe as it presently is. When the Master of the Temple speaks his "Word" and declares his "Law", he becomes a Magus. There is a great deal of symbolism in this that some will enjoy reflecting upon. It describes the process of gaining magical experience. A Magus is one who has spoken a Word eithor bringing about a new Aeon or strengthening an existing Aeon. A magical "Word" is a word which captures the significance of an aeonic period. The Word which Aleister Crowley spoke was THELEMA - the greek word for "Will". In this context he meant the true Will of the magician. He said, "Do what thou will shall be the whole of the Law." The magician was called to discover his true nature and act upon his Will without fear, without guilt, without shame, and without hesitation. The warning to this is that what one wants or thinks that he wants is not always the thing that his true self has Willed to be. The Word which Michael Aquino spoke was XEPER - the Egyptian Word meaning to "Become" or "to come into being". With the Aeon of Set, the magician was told to XEPER or "become" continually and never to remain simply as he is now. The Word of the Aeon of Lucifer is DEITUS and the Law of this Aeon is "THELEMA, XEPER, DEITUS" or "Will to come into being as a God." While space does not permit a comprehensive discussion of these terms, the meaning of this is that through the exaltation of the Will, man came remake himself in the form of a God. 12. I find the whole idea of "Aeons" and "Words" a little too esoteric. What does this really have to do with Satanism and why should I be interested in it? The language of a scientist speaking of quasars may seem esoteric to those unfamiliar with astro-physics, but he speaks in a language man has invented to describe certain phenomena. Some events cannot be described in everyday language and require the use of a special language. Magicians schooled in a certain tradition or school of magic will speak in a language they share based on their studies. Those magicians schooled in Babylonian traditions may not speak the same esoteric language as those who have studied Egyptian tradition. Anton LaVey avoided the use of an esoteric language in the Satanic Bible because he wanted his book to be easy to understand. Aleister Crowley was a magician well versed in Caballistic, Enochian, and Egyptian magic as well as Yoga and other eastern traditions. His books were filled with language so full of esoteric words that large amounts of the material can hardly be understand by the apprentice to magic. The crux of it is that not all Satanists are interested in magic. Some Satanists are very interested in magic and study many magical systems. Other Satanists enjoy simple rituals they can use to improve their lives but are not interested in anything that may seem esoteric. And some Satanists have no interest in ritual at all but agree with Satanism on a purely philosophical level. 13. What is the Infernal Mandate? The Temple of Set claims that the Infernal Mandate is the authority which was given to Anton LaVey by the Dark Lord to establish the Church of Satan in 1966. Without this Mandate, they say, the very act of creating such a church would be meaningless. Because of this Mandate, the priesthood of the Church of Satan was initially a priesthood ordained to the Dark Lord. The Church of Satan today denies that any such mandate ever existed. Because the C.S. denies the literal existence of Satan, they have no need for a Mandate from him. The Temple of Set claims that in 1975 Michael Aquino was given the Infernal Mandate and that it was by this Mandate that the Temple of Set was established and its priests and priestesses ordained. Since the Temple of Set recognizes the literal existence of Set, this Mandate is essential to them. Many will argue that there never was a specific Mandate or that no Mandate ever existed. It is the position of the Embassy of Lucifer that, should such a Mandate have existed, it is no longer in the possession of any organization but, rather, has been delivered into the hand of the individual Satanist. 14. How can I learn more about Satanism? You can learn more about the Embassy of Lucifer by visiting the Embassy of Lucifer's Home Page http://deitus.tripod.com You can learn more about the various satanic churches by visiting their respective Home Pages. The Church of Satan's Home Page is http://www.churchofsatan.com The Temple of Set's Home Page is http://www.xeper.org The First Church of Satan's Home Page is http://www.churchofsatan.org These pages contain links to many other sites containing books and articles about Satanism. ______________________________________________________________________ from an original post to alt.satanism by Dagon EOF 666