It is a difficult theology to explain but you are correct. Very rarely does an actual "Satanists" worship the devil or participate in acts that are thought of as (the movie version) of devil worship, such as sacrificing, etc... Your best resource for learning about the ideas and practices behind Satanism would be to check out any literature by Anton Szandor LaVey. Hope this puts you on the path to answering your questions about the theology in question.

G'day Cyndi, Thank you for your question. I have attached some information which will help you. It seems that it is more a rejection of Christianity than devil worshipping. Regards Wikipedia Satanism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism Religious tolerance http://www.religioustolerance.org/satanism.htm Yahoo! Directory http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Religion_and_Spirituality/Faiths_and_Practices/Satanism/ Answers.com http://www.answers.com/satanism&r=67

Having read Anton LaVey's "Satanic Bible" I have concluded that Satanism is a general "I believe the opposite of whatever the Judeo-Christian Bible says, and I'm the most important person in the world. My goal in life is to make ME happy and comfortable, and if that makes anyone else uncomfortable and unhappy, too bad" sort of belief system It does seem very selfish and childish, in all honesty.

You should go to the Official Website - www.churchofsatan.com, where LaVeyan Satanism is fully explained. This is the theory and practice page: http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Theory.html Satanism is about challenging status quo and herd conformity. It is about self-empowerment...finding the solutions, strength, and means within yourself. The ideals of LaVeyan Satanists are best shown through the 9 Satanic Statements, 11 Satanic Rules of the Earth, and the 9 Satanic Sins. These are all copyrighted by the Church of Satan: *** 9 Satanic Statements *** 1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence! 2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams! 3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit! 4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates! 5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek! 6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires! 7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all! 8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification! 9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years! *** 11 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. *** 9 Satanic Sins *** 1. Stupidity—The top of the list for Satanic Sins. The Cardinal Sin of Satanism. It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable. Satanists must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid. 2. Pretentiousness—Empty posturing can be most irritating and isn’t applying the cardinal rules of Lesser Magic. On equal footing with stupidity for what keeps the money in circulation these days. Everyone’s made to feel like a big shot, whether they can come up with the goods or not. 3. Solipsism—Can be very dangerous for Satanists. Projecting your reactions, responses and sensibilities onto someone who is probably far less attuned than you are. It is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy and respect that you naturally give them. They won’t. Instead, Satanists must strive to apply the dictum of “Do unto others as they do unto you.” It’s work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you. As has been said, certain utopias would be ideal in a nation of philosophers, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from a Machiavellian standpoint) we are far from that point. 4. Self-deceit—It’s in the “Nine Satanic Statements” but deserves to be repeated here. Another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it’s fun, and with awareness. But then, it’s not self-deceit! 5. Herd Conformity—That’s obvious from a Satanic stance. It’s all right to conform to a person’s wishes, if it ultimately benefits you. But only fools follow along with the herd, letting an impersonal entity dictate to you. The key is to choose a master wisely instead of being enslaved by the whims of the many. 6. Lack of Perspective—Again, this one can lead to a lot of pain for a Satanist. You must never lose sight of who and what you are, and what a threat you can be, by your very existence. We are making history right now, every day. Always keep the wider historical and social picture in mind. That is an important key to both Lesser and Greater Magic. See the patterns and fit things together as you want the pieces to fall into place. Do not be swayed by herd constraints—know that you are working on another level entirely from the rest of the world. 7. Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies—Be aware that this is one of the keys to brainwashing people into accepting something new and different, when in reality it’s something that was once widely accepted but is now presented in a new package. We are expected to rave about the genius of the creator and forget the original. This makes for a disposable society. 8. Counterproductive Pride—That first word is important. Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The rule of Satanism is: if it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you’ve painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow, then do it. 9. Lack of Aesthetics—This is the physical application of the Balance Factor. Aesthetics is important in Lesser Magic and should be cultivated. It is obvious that no one can collect any money off classical standards of beauty and form most of the time so they are discouraged in a consumer society, but an eye for beauty, for balance, is an essential Satanic tool and must be applied for greatest magical effectiveness. It’s not what’s supposed to be pleasing—it’s what is. Aesthetics is a personal thing, reflective of one’s own nature, but there are universally pleasing and harmonious configurations that should not be denied.

Satanism is basically a collection of common sense elements denied by modern Christianity. What Satanism preaches and encourages is what makes you human, and you should embrace it, apparently. Sounds all good, but one of the reasons I don't think Lavey was taken seriously by many is because his entire thing about human nature is pretty contradictory in the sense that accepting human nature may be fine, but what constructs Christianity and conformity IS also human nature, most probably at its best. It doesn't help Satanism's social stature that half of what it talks about is how much Christians suck. It's almost as if Satanism exists merely to thwart Christianity, and that all the common sense and accepting of the self stuff is secondary. There's a lot I admire and respect about Satanism, but it seems to boil down to individualism, decency and common sense, and I don't really think you need an entire philosophically oriented organization to see and practice this. Also, a lot of what Anton talked about and hoped for is as much a pipe dream as the idea of Heaven is. It's a good concept and idea, but the approach was all wrong. Look at Satanism today. What is it? Social shock value. Sad. Weather Lavey took the wrong approach or it was his followers who didn't understand, it's not for me to judge, but there's a lot of confusion about it because it evidently presents something other then what it really means, not to mention that it has the name ''Satan'' in it and already, that automatically dismisses the whole thing by like, 70% of humanity.

Like Christianity, there are a few different sects. Are we talking Theistic? LaVeyan? What sort of Satanist do you want to know about? * * * * * * EDIT - 1130 EDT, 31 AUG 08 - Response to Cyndi Ninja Christians are at least unified in their belief that Jesus was the son of God and died for our sins. Satanism is diverse enough to lack even that small bit of unity. The only real unifying factor is freedom. Okay, we have the LaVeyan Satanists who are detailed many places here. They use Satan as a symbol of individualism. Then there are the Theistic Satanists who see Satan as a deity, though they also have a bit of diversity to them, much as the Protestants and Catholics. They value gaining knowledge, self-development, and making the most of what little time they have on Earth. There is a general anti-Christian bent to them as they believe that the Bible lied, and that God sought to keep Man from having knowledge. God wants to be man's master, making us bow down before Him, while Satan does not seek to impose his will on Man the way God does; Satan didn't like being repressed, so he doesn't repress his followers. Then there are your Modern Satanists who merely use Satan as an excuse to live in materialistic hedonism. Pretty uncommitted if you ask me, but there are enough of them to be considered at least semi-valid. Lastly is Luciferianism, which worships the Lightbringer, Morning star aspect of the angel that would eventually be commonly known as Satan, though there is some debate over whetehr Lucifer actually is/became Satan. Unlike Anakin/Vader, the story isn't quite as clear.

The best way I could explain it, is that you worship yourself as your god. You are the master of your universe and you are the one who makes the decisions. All the technicalities though, I can't elaborate on.

According to the current leader of the Church of Satan, Peter Gilmore, (who I heard speak in an interview with "Point of Inquiry" last year) "Satanists" don't even believe in a literal Satan, tending to be agnostics or atheists. It's sort of a mock religion, more to get a rise out of Christians and give an excuse to party than anything else. He says that typically people who belong to the Church of Satan are people who are into spooky theatrics (probably a lot of goth kids and Dungeons & Dragons fans, I suspect). But it is important to remember that they don't take their religion to be literally true. I know from having read a bit of the Satanic Bible that the core values are based on the pagan character, Satan, who was a worldly and carnal god. Essentially, a Satanist might believe that recognizing, understanding, and allowing one's self to experience their desires and impulses will keep that person spiritually healthy. Christianity, of course, offers the precise opposite view, wherein one is asked to suppress any natural tendencies (we've seen the effect this has on celibate priests). Satanism and Christianity pose as stark contrasts of one another, both in philosophy as well as in literalism, and either philosophy can exist on its own without the other... Devil worship, on the other hand, is pure Christianity. Where Satanists worship the pagan god, Satan, Devil worship refers to people who worship the Christian Satan, who is the source of evil and seeks the destruction of men. Without Christianity, there could be no such devil worship...actually, I sincerely doubt that there is much devil worship in the world.

This is the simplist, easy to understand explanation of satanism that I have found.

You.

A Satanist is a Realist. Someone who recognizes that everything Christianities "SATAN" stands for the "Sin" that makes life worth living. We do not recognize an opposing being to god, a demon frozen in the center of hell, punishing sinners. We accept the name of Satan as the scapegoat of religion and proudly wear that name. We are the intelligent; knowing that we are carnal beasts of nature. Animals of evolution and intellect. We are not spiritually driven, but more instinctually driven. We are just smart enough to not be self-deceived. Stupidity is the first satanic sin, and it is this that makes us truly unique and special over all other religions. We promote Truth, not delusion, and independent thought, not mass -herd mentality & stupidity.

To explain it very simply... Satan is not, as the other religions would believe, a anthropomorphic deity, but merely an idea. We aspire the idea, learn the lessons from it. Satan is a symbol, not a being

Atheists who want to offend Christians.

Satanism is represented by two separate groups, secular and traditional Satanists. The secularists do not believe in in a literal, personal, spiritual being called Satan, but rather consider Satan to be an archetype or symbol that represents the ideas of Satanic philosophy. Various satanic ideals include self-interest, indulgence, an anti-herd mentality, and an emphasis upon rational self-interest. Examples of modern Satanism include The Church of Satan founded by Anton LaVey and now led by Peter Gilmore as High Priest, Michael Aquino's Temple of Set, and Lord Egan's First Church of Satan. Traditional Satanism, which involves the worship of the Satan of the Bible through a perversion and parody of Roman Catholicism, appeared in the fifteenth century coming out of the Inquisition. Contemporary expressions of traditional Satanism are rare, and popular elements of it, including the testimonies of alleged former Satanists and Satanic Ritual Abuse have been discredited.

It's about hedonism. Plain and simple.

These toasted nuts have no idea what they've got going on. The concept of Satan come from a Nubian tale of 2 brothers. One named Ausar & Set. Or light & dark forces in reality. Set, Shetan, Satan. Where the human sacrifice part comes into play is mainly population control today. Just with a blessing in ceremony. A typical misconception made by westerners. Anyway, Satanist are worshipping a false image of the true face of the dark force. His name was Set! This is written on one of the oldest in a set of documents known to man. With the exception of one other. Which is also in the possession of the same people who gave the west knowledge of the 1st set. There's a lot more to know but it's to late for those fake western Satanist. The dark period of the Yuga is in its final days & the light is returning sooner than u think (2013). They will be like dogs underground dying from mal-illumination or lack of melanin. Then it'll begin again. The use of false images & ridiculous ceremonies no where near places with the proper energies. Makes it all laughable. Like i said melanin. Osara Osara

You know what fact I never understood? That all these people worship Satan but claim God does not exist. Very odd.. However there is a difference between worshipping Satan (as in the devil) or be a satanist. Without knowing it a lot of people could fit in the picture. Satanists are in fact just the opposite of Christians/Godists. They do not care for others and are very materialistic, egocentric. That is what it is all about. I think it were not the Satanists who gave themself the name Satanists. I believe church pointed them out being Satanists because they just did not love/believe in god. Maybe if we would go back a in time even a todays atheist in churches view would be a Satanist. I do not know. But I think it is highly assumable.

It is the seeing of the Self as the God head. Worshipping the flesh, nature and life through the self being as and behaving as the one true God. They are anti the Christian God so adopt Satan as their anti diety. Doing most things the opposte way as it is in Christian ideology. But SOME people do actually WORSHIP Satan... Don't kid yourself...