Satanism is what? Symbols, commandments and essence

Satanism is a religion that has, in the world, perhaps the most dubious reputation. Very often this movement is branded as a catalyst for the most abominable and cruel crimes. However, despite this, Satanism exists and continues to develop. According to unofficial statistics, at present, several million people are adherents of this religion in the world.

Who is Satan?

Whom do the followers of this dark movement consider as their patron? In the Abrahamic currents, Satan is primarily the main antagonist of the heavenly powers and the Creator in particular. Even his very name is translated from the Hebrew as "opposing God." Common synonyms of Satan are:

• Devil.
• Lucifer.
• Sly.
• Beelzebub.

Representatives of the most widespread religions of today - Christianity and Islam - consider Satan the main culprit of all human misfortunes, the personification of evil, pushing people to the path of spiritual death. After seducing Eve in paradise, this once beautiful angel was turned by the Creator into a vile snake, forced to crawl on his belly all his life.

Prehistory

So, Satanism is a movement or religion, whose representatives regard as their patron the enemy of God, the rebel Satan. The birth of this, now quite a large number of currents, occurs around the beginning of the 20th century. However, a completely new doctrine of Satanism can not, of course, be considered. For example, the same humanistic revolution of the Renaissance can be imagined not only as anti-Christian in nature, but even as an anti-religious movement. To the saints of the apostle Paul for the attainment of eternal life through spirituality, its adherents counterposed the active affirmation of the interests and rights of the flesh.

There were in different centuries in different countries and all sorts of occult and magical secret societies. Actually, Satanism itself was not, as such, but some Catholic priests in the past centuries conducted a black mass and other dark rituals. From literature is known, for example, the witch-devil of the Frenchwoman La Voisin, who lived in the time of Louis XV. This woman is attributed to a large number of dark rituals, including the sacrifice of babies, as well as many poisonings.

Aleister Crowley

Devilry flourished, therefore, perhaps all the time that there is Christianity. The history of modern satanism began with Aleister Crowley. It is this man that many consider to be the ideological inspirer of the dark current. A. Crowley became famous first of all by actively propagating this religion in the beginning of the 20th century.

Modern Satanists advertise the fact that it was Crowley who "recreated" all sorts of supposedly ancient spells and rituals, do not like. Therefore today the name of this occultist is quite thoroughly forgotten. Once he was considered "the great magician of the twentieth century." A. Cowley has glorified himself not only with numerous sexual orgies using drugs and loyal attitude towards National Socialism, but also with some scientific works.

The idea of superman

In addition to Aleister Crowley, the German philosopher, the representative of irrationalism Friedrich Niesze, is also the inspiration for modern Satanism. It is his idea of the superman that in this flow is the equivalent of an individual who is able to find for himself the main goal and meaning of life.

Anton LaVey

Thus, Satanism is a dark movement, the ideological inspirers of which can be considered Aleister Crowley and Friedrich Niesze. The founder of the new Church of Satan in the last century was an American of French origin Anton LaVey. It was this man in the 60s that formulated the main provisions of the new teaching. Almost all modern Satanists are members of the Church of Satan Anton LaVey.

Commandments of Satan

People who for some reason are interested in this religion, certainly would like to know what are the commandments of Satanism. Of course, this religion has its own philosophy. There are only nine commandments of Satan. They look something like this:

• Instead of abstinence, one must indulge his instincts;
• Instead of spiritual dreams, one should choose a full-fledged existence in the material world;
• Enemies need revenge, and not substitute the second cheek;
• Instead of hypocritical self-deception, it is wise to show;
• Mercy can be shown not to flatterers, but only to those who deserve it;
• It is worthwhile to behave responsibly with responsible, not with spiritual vampires;
• Man is an animal, the most dangerous for all other animals;
• All the sins that Satan represents, lead not to spiritual death, but to physical, emotional and mental satisfaction.

The "Black Bible"

The main provisions of the dark teachings, including the commandments of Satan, were set forth by Anton LaVey in a specially written book for this purpose. It is called the "Satanic Bible" and includes four main sections:

• "The Book of Satan."
• The Book of Lucifer.
• "The Book of Belial."
• The Book of Leviathan.

According to many intellectuals, the "Satanic Bible" is a completely consistent and rational work, capable of generating interest primarily among adolescents and young people. Judging by this work, generally accepted ideas about this religion are often erroneous. After all, the ideology of Satanism is often seen as condoning irresponsible and cruel acts. However, judging by the work of the "Satanic Bible", this behavior is completely at variance with the basics of the ethics of this doctrine. At the forefront of the religion of La Vey, first of all, the individual is independent. That is, for the perfect actions a person must answer himself before himself, and not before God or the devil.

Actually, the Fallen Angel himself, according to the teachings of La Vey, is a symbol of freedom, an uprising against injustice, self-development. Status The Church of Satan in our time is official. It is allowed in many countries of the world. In our country, the Russian Satanic Church was officially registered in May 2016.

The main symbols of Satanism

Initially, this religion was designated mainly only inverted crucifixes. After the publication of the Bible of La Vey, the main symbol of Satanism was the pentagram with the image of the goat (Baphomet) inside. Of course, this pentacle was invented not by the founder of the Church. Most likely, the prototype of it is the symbol of Kozla Mendes (the embodiment of Noether Amon). The latter was called the Egyptian priests "hidden, staying in things" and was considered a kind of dark power, piercing all nature.

The inverted cross and Baphomet are thus the main symbols of Satanism. But they, of course, are far from the only ones. Includes the symbols of this religion and other signs. For example, three sixes are very common. They can be depicted as actually 666, and as FFF (F - the sixth letter of the English alphabet).

Satanism as a religion: the gods

In essence, there are no gods as such in this movement, of course. The main patron of the flock in this case is actually Satan himself. Also in their rituals, representatives of such currents can turn to various kinds of demons. In addition to Baphomet, the most popular are:

• Astaroth.
• The hippopotamus.
• Abadonna.
• Leviathan.
• Asmodeus.

This of course, not exactly the gods of Satanism. Demons in this religion are considered more like the different faces of Lucifer himself. Sometimes representatives of this current use in the rituals as well fictional dark characters. For example, in the book of La Vey "Satanic Rituals" describes a way to appeal to Cthulhu Lovecraft. Of course, the Satanists also believe in Jehovah. After all, Satan must be someone to resist.

Rituals

The essence of Satanism is, therefore, in the freedom of choice of a person and his independence from any Higher Forces. Of course, in this religion there are not only symbols and philosophy. Conduct, as already mentioned, its representatives and all sorts of rituals.

According to A. LaVey, fantasy in any religious activity plays an important role. It can manifest itself to the maximum only when performing special ritual actions. Therefore, the founder of the Church of Satan and has been developed several rites, which can be divided into two main categories:

• Practical effective;
• Ceremonial.

The magic of Satanism is usually based on appealing to some demons in order to achieve personal goals. Do not consider the ceremonial satanists of La Vey and the well-known to all the black mass. In their opinion, this is just an effective ritual, the main purpose of which is the liberation from the dogmas of the Christian church.

It is also believed that both men and women can conduct Satanic rites. Of course, when performing rituals, participants use all sorts of symbols of Satanism - inverted stars, black candles, crosses, pentagrams.

Satanic "sins"

The main qualities that representatives of the La Vea current do not have to possess are:

• Stupidity;
• Lack of breadth of views;
• Ignorance of the experience of generations;
• Herd conformism;
• Unproductive pride;
• Roughness of nature, lack of aesthetic, noble feeling;
• solipsism;
• Propensity to self-deception;
• Pretentiousness.

Satan and Lucifer - what's the difference?

For many people these two characters are identical. However, historically, the difference between Satan and Lucifer still exists. The most important difference between these names is age. Lucifer is a much older demon, who appeared in mythology in the pre-Christian era. For example, the Romans identified him with the morning star - Venus. From the ancient Greek name "Lucifer" is translated as "Bearer of Light." Since ancient times, this demon is a symbol of craving for freedom, an open rebellion. The same principles are professed by Satanism itself (photo rituals and symbols of this religion are presented on the page).

In the Christian sense, Lucifer is actually the Fallen Angel, who declared himself equal with God (in retaliation for the latter's love for people) and the rebellious. As a result, he and the angels who joined him (a third of the whole composition) were deposed to hell, where they remain to this day.

Satan, in comparison with Lucifer, appears somewhat more mundane character. No wonder he is considered the Prince of Peace. For the first time, Satan is mentioned in the Torah, a Jewish religious book, from which further information was drawn by Christians and Muslims. Here Satan is represented mostly simply as an accuser or witness of bad deeds of a person. Actually, in the personification of evil, the enemy of God, it was transformed only in Christianity and Islam.

Baal Zevuw

This ancient pagan god is also often identified with the concept we are considering (Satanism). The Devil and Beelzebub in some sources are the same characters. Historically, it is believed that the latter represents a transformation of the ancient Eastern god Baal-Zevuva. And this deity, in turn, was once allegedly brought numerous sacrifices, including human ones. And that put an end to it, of course, Christianity.

There are no reliable archaeological evidence that people were sacrificed in the temples of Baal, however. Actually in Beelzebub this god was transformed in the Middle Ages. In the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus, he is called the prince of the underworld, the supreme sovereign of the hellish empire. In some cases, in ancient sources Beelzebub is identified with Satan, in others - is considered his main assistant.

Lilith - the first woman

Of course, Satan, as well as practically any self-respecting god, has a wife. In general, he has as many as four. However, the main one is Lilith, the first woman who escaped from paradise. According to the Alphabet of Ben-Sira, three angels were sent to follow her after the Creator. However, Lilith flatly refused to return to her husband. For such a misdemeanor God punished her by the fact that every night her 100 demon children die.

In Jewish philosophy, Lilith is a winged monster that harms the newborn. Jews believe that at night she abducts babies and drinks their blood or replaces them with demons. She does not touch, according to the arrangement with the angels sent by God, only those children whose bed is written with her name.

In the Kabbalistic tradition, Lilith is a demon who is a man, seducing, and then killing them. It is in the literature of this trend that she is first mentioned as the wife of Samael (Zohar).

In modern Satanic tradition, Lilith can be identified with many black goddesses - Kali, Hecata, Heli, etc. It can also be about two Liliths - the eldest and the youngest. The first is actually the wife of Satan, and the second is the wife of the demon Asmodeus.

Other wives

Besides Lilith, the spouses of Satan and the mothers of demons are also considered:

• Naama;
• Agrat;
• He's looking for Zennunim.

There are other female demons in satanism - Lamia, Mahalat, Elizadra. Lilith differs from the others in that it used to be mortal. Most other demonesses were deposed from the sky along with Lucifer. In rituals conducted by representatives of this trend, among other things, such signs of Satanism as "Black Moon" Lilith and lamen Naamy can be used.

Opinion of the Gentiles

Thus, for the Jews, Satan is a witness of man's actions, a slanderer and accuser before God. For Christians, this character is the personification of evil, knocking a person off the true path. And what do pagans think about Satanism? Christians, as you know, do not like both of these religions. And indeed, in satanism and paganism there is something in common - the rejection of God or gods as a force that must be worshiped in some way. Well, or to which you can shift responsibility for their actions. However, many Satanists at the same time consider the Creator an enemy, whom Lucifer will sooner or later win. Of the Gentiles, the gods, of course, have a slightly different attitude. Representatives of this religion consider them not as an Absolute controlling the life of a person, but rather more powerful than people, partners. Enemy representatives of this religion do not consider any god.

The existence of Yahweh is not denied by the pagans in their bulk. However, many representatives of this religion consider him at the same time rather boring, spiteful and unbalanced. Some pagans equate Yahweh and the dark beginning - the devil, explaining this, including the similarity of the names of these two characters.

Actually, the very Lucifer, the representatives of this religion is sometimes identified with the god Votan (Odin) or Russian Veles. Also, sometimes Satan in this religion can be associated with Chernobog.

Satanism in the Russian Federation today

In our country, Satanism as a religion appeared even in the times of the USSR. In Moscow, for example, the first such groups were noted in the 70s. In those days, however, they were very few. But gradually this religion was gaining popularity in the USSR, spreading to other large and small cities. In the 80 years in the country there were already quite large satanic societies. In the 90 years to be a follower of one of these groups was also very fashionable.

At the moment Satanism in Russia Is represented mainly by the religious society "Russian Church of Satan", whose members are followers of La Vey. Of course, there are other in Russia today, in most cases closed and secret currents of this kind. Among the most famous are: "Black Angel", "Southern Cross", "Green Order".

In general, the whole spectrum of adherents of the dark forces in Russia is divided into two main groups:

• The Satanists themselves;
• Demon-worshipers.

With some stretch to the followers of Lucifer can be attributed and all sorts of practicing sorcerers and witches.

Christians about Satanism

The attitude of the members of the ROC to the representatives of this trend is, of course, sharply negative in most cases. Christians are doing their best to bring this movement to nothing. And they direct their religious anger not only to the Satanists themselves, but also to all the currents that the ROC refers to, and even to the representatives of culture. For example, in 2014, in connection with an insult to the feelings of believers, the problems arose in the pro-Ossetian Polish group Behemoth. The latter, on the initiative of Orthodox activists, was even expelled from Russia (officially for violation of the visa regime).

Of course, Christian priests also express their views on this religion. For example, those who wish can read A.Kuraev's book "Satanism for the Intelligentsia". It is dedicated not only to this dark current itself. It also tells about other directions and movements that the ROC refers to Satanism.

Among such religions in the book "Satanism for the Intelligentsia" Kuraev refers, for example, "Living Ethics" of the Roerichs, excommunicated, paganism, occultism, the theosophy of Blavatsky, etc.

Light Satanism

There is a movement in the world today. It is believed that light Satanism - is primarily a philosophical worldview, based on common sense. At the top corner representatives of this trend put their own mind and life experience gained in the past. The main god of light Satanism is Satanail. Light in this flow symbolizes the human consciousness, not obscured by any dogmas. Indeed, one of the names of Satan - Lucifer - literally means "Light-bearing".

Bright Satanists, unlike the usual, do not conduct magical rituals. Representatives of this current believe that they, being, in fact, crutches, simply do not need them. In very bad situations, when you can not do anything by yourself, a bright Satanist can turn to Satanail for help. The main moral principle of this teaching is the freedom to choose one's path.

Little-known facts

In fact, almost everything is known about Satanism itself today. Most people believe that the representatives of this current cause demons, conduct a black mass, wear inverted crosses, occasionally sacrifice their dark god, etc. There are also some little-known facts about this church that the reader might want discover:

1. In order to become a member of the Church of Satan of La Vey, you need to make a pretty large monetary contribution. At one time this was a sum of about $ 2. Today, due to inflation, this church can only enter for $ 200.

2. Officially, the Church of Satan is categorically opposed to any black magic. "Evil" rituals its representatives do not practice.

3. The greatest sinners in the eyes of Satanists are people who are deprived of intelligence.

The Encyclopedia Satanica lists 16 different groups as Satanism. Their ideology is very different. In the world today there are various satanic cults - from the initiated Cthulhu to the Gnostic esoteric.