So... I'm writing up another post in notepad with a lot of Reddit comment formatting code and whatnot as a starter for creating quality stickies. Here's what I'm working with currently. There will be more to come. Feedback is welcome:


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Link to previous Q&A sticky: Sticky 1, Sticky 2

Unlike many other subreddits, we at /r/Satanism enjoy nearly complete freedom of speech. The tradeoff for that free speech is that sometimes you will be exposed to ideas or opinions that you don't agree with. Keep in mind that bad behavior and not bad ideas will get people banned from this subreddit. As Satanists most often believe in stratification, the voting buttons in /r/Satanism can be used to that end. Because of this, moderators like myself likely will not remove links to sites that you would expect to be removed from other subreddits.


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FAQ:

Note: This FAQ is written by moderator of /r/Satanism and member of the Church of Satan, /u/modern_quill. I am trying to remain unbiased and fact-based in these Q&A responses, so if you feel that I have somehow misrepresented your organization or philosophy, please let me know and we can work together to make the appropriate corrections.





Q: What is Satanism?


A: This is a simple question, but it has a complex answer because it depends on who you ask. Satanism as a philosophy and religion was first codified by Anton Szandor LaVey in his 1969 publication of The Satanic Bible. Some people refer to this secular Satanism as "LaVeyan Satanism" as a nod to Anton LaVey. The Satanic Bible borrows from the works of Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard, Ayn Rand's Objectivism, and Frederich Nietzche's Der Wille zur Macht. This is the most widely practiced form of Satanism and is championed by the Church of Satan (CoS) to this day. At its most basic definition, "LaVeyan Satanism" is about living the best life that you want to live, and bending the world around you to your will to achieve that goal. A Satanist sees themselves as their own God. There is, of course, much more to Satanism than that very basic definition, but we expect people to do their own research as well. Most LaVeyan Satanists will simply call it Satanism, as there is only one form of Satanism from the Church of Satan's perspective. Members of the recently formed secular organization called The Satanic Temple (TST), by comparison, see Satanism as political activism. The Satanic Temple often makes news headlines with their efforts to establish a separation of church and state and do not include The Satanic Bible as part of their organization's canon, but rather The Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France. There are also theistic Satanists, some believe in a literal Satan and some do not. Ask a theist like /u/Ave_Melchom what they believe and they'll likely share their thoughts with you, but you probably won't find very many theists that share the same philosophy. There are also more esoteric organizations such as the Temple of Set (ToS), which was formed by former Church of Satan member Michael Aquino after infighting within the organization in 1975 caused many theistic members to split away and become Setians. /u/Three_Scarabs and /u/CodeReaper moderate /r/Setianism subreddit and are a wealth of information on the subject. There are also organizations that fall into a more neo-nazi ideology such as the now defunct Order of Nine Angles (ONA or O9A) and self-stylized "Spiritual Satanists" of the Joy of Satan (JoS), which are often not tolerated by other members of this subreddit. The words, "Fuck off, Nazi!" have become somewhat of a meme on /r/Satanism.





Q: If Satanists don't believe in Satan, why call it Satanism at all? Why not Humanism?


LaVeyan A: Modern secular Satanists see humans as just another animal within the greater animal kingdom, no better than our avian, reptilian, or mammalian friends. Our technology and our intellectual advancements may have placed us at the top of the food chain, but it has merely encouraged humans to be the most vicious animals of all. To us, Satan is a metaphor that represents our strength, our pride, our intellect, our carnality, and all of the so-called sins as they lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification. The Hebrew word Satan simply means adversary, and Satanists take that adversarial stance to a great many things in their lives; the way we approach an issue, the way we tackle a problem, the way we overcome an obstacle. While Humanists may try to live like Bill & Ted and be excellent to eachother, a Satanist recognizes that emotions like anger, even hate are natural to the human animal and we shouldn't feel guilty for such natural inclinations. While Christians may turn the other cheek when wronged, you can be sure that a Satanist will have their revenge, with interest.


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Q: Do you sacrifice or molest children/animals? Do you drink blood?*

LaVeyan A: No. Sacrifice is a Christian concept that was projected on to innocent Satanists during the "Satanic Panic" of the 80's and early 90's by charlatan law enforcement "consultants" and Christian religious "experts". One trait common to Satanists is their love of life as Satanists view life as the greatest of indulgences; children and animals represent the purest forms of life and imagination that there are. In fact, the abuse of children and animals is forbidden by the Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth. Also, why would we want to drink blood? Christians* are the ones that (symbolically) eat the flesh and drink the blood of their savior. I'd rather enjoy a nice scotch.

Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth

1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
   
   
2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
   
   
3. When in another’s lair, show him respect or else do not go there.
   
   
4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.
   
   
5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
   
   
6. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved.
   
   
7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.
   
   
8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
   
   
9. Do not harm little children.
   
   
10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
    
    
11. When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.
    
    
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    More FAQ Below - (10,000 character maximum per post.)

Esoteric religions/philosophies/whatever believe the human spirit has a divinity of some form or fashion that can ascend or transmute themselves into communing with ordinarily invisible parts of the cosmos. However, to do so, requires symbols and paradoxes and lots of mediating initiations to prepare the mind to see that stuff.

Part of what distinguishes 'esoteric' stuff from 'mystic' stuff is that esotericism is modern - it is invented during Late Antiquity and its formative years are the Renaissance. Most esotericists claim their traditions have roots in much older and mostly forgotten traditions. Most of these claims are baseless. In fact, I've never seen one that isn't at least willful distortion, except maybe for those offshoots of Kaballah. The other distinguishing feature is that mysticism may use symbols to access the divine, while esotericism finds it absolutely necessary.

For example, Tibetan Buddhism and Zen are highly symbolic and believe the human can achieve the divine, but they don't hold that initiation is necessary at all, and generally agree you can be born enlightened, or that non-Buddhists can be enlightened. Kaballah is very close to being esoteric, but it isn't, because there's some debate over whether true communion with god is actually achievable, and they also hold that Kaballah itself isn't necessary but rather useful.

I wouldn't belabor this distinction if it wasn't rather important. Western mystic and esoteric sect make many claims about foreign religions without any solid evidence, and it is key to examine them closely, because there are historians and analysts in that field who will debunk half or more of those claims.

Antoine Faivre is the foremost scholar in studying esoteric religions, he's not a bad place to get an understanding of the trend. If you're looking for an intellectual 'in,' I find Carl Jung's work more accessible than most. Aleister Crowley's Thelemic writings aren't bad either. The trick is to assume you're not supposed to understand half the things going on until the third time you read it, and then it's less frustrating.

A man I looked up to was a Satanist.

A decade later, I was thinking about how in Christian mythology Lucifer was essentially Prometheus, and in the same way that fire literally and figuratively enlightened Mankind, Old Nick gave us the gift of knowledge.

I did some cursory research about Lucifer, and the guy seemed right up my alley. I'd always enjoyed his portrayal in various forms of fiction(my absolute favorite being Job: A Comedy of Justice; if you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it. Let me know what you think!), so I picked up a copy of The Satanic Bible. I read it, and re-read it, then picked up a few more books.

The absolute best Satanic book, by the way, is Peter H. Gilmore's The Satanic Scriptures.

I love that Satanism actually is for everyone, except perhaps the most ascetic, devout monks! Do you care about your worldly existence more than some nebulous post-life existence? Well then. Hail Satan!

The most common way that I "use" it is... well, you know how in old cartoons, characters would get a little devil on one shoulder telling them to do something naughty, and a little angel on the other shoulder telling them to be righteous? Well, I just have that little devil on one shoulder telling me how best to be the person I want to be. Turns out I don't need an angel.

My number one piece of advice, though, is very easy to remember:

You have to have a sense of humor to be a Satanist.

No excuses, no exceptions.

• Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People
  
• The 48 Laws of Power
  
• How To Win Friends and Influence People
  
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
  
  ​
  
  Edit: Added titles

Really? Well the blade I have is cheap and not sharpened. Mainly got it because like you said it looks good. Perfect as a ceremonial blade in my opinion. If you actually want a sharp blade this isn't for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Shelter-6898-Collectible-Stainless-Dagger/dp/B00FRG1SGW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487571863&sr=8-3&keywords=shelter+steel+dagger

I absolutely loved reading king Jame's Demonology. I have this copy and the author does an outstanding job verbally eviscerating king James in the introduction. For those who are not aware King James (yes the one the bible version is named after) spent his entire life studying and persecuting witches. Demonology is the dissertation of his studies and is an excellent glimpse into the delusional realities these people where and very much are still living in today.

I own this necklace and its very well made

this is probably the most accurate and satisfying Baphomet statue appearance, tho I have not ordered it yet as it's quite expensive

Here is a satanic pentagram ring, or alternatively, here is a Baphomet ring

here is a Baphomet Jewelry Box, and here is an incense cone holder where the smoke comes out of Baphomet's mouth

Heres some extra stuff:

mortar & pestle

satanic bedtime stories

Baphomet Wall plaque

Baphomet Poster

pentagram ritual bowl

ritual knife, do not cut anything with it

Hope this helps

>actually

probably*

That's the best we can do, since the evidence is suspiciously lacking and internally contradictory.

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Happy Ēostre, and happy reading!

It seems that your comment contains 1 or more links that are hard to tap for mobile users.
I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!


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^Please ^PM ^/u/eganwall ^with ^issues ^or ^feedback! ^| ^Delete

https://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Scriptures-Peter-H-Gilmore/dp/0976403595

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Metal-Sitting-Baphomet-Necklace/dp/B01M29Q18B