I've been exploring the occult for a long time. Today, I noticed the post, "Everyone I Hate is a Satanist" on the Church of Satan's official website and it
inspired me to revisit LaVey.
I might have a few things to say about my own, highly individualistic
take on Satan and Satanism as this blog continues. But here's
to the good folks over at the CoS for staying consistent.
The only thing preventing me from affiliating with them is that they are 100% atheists and I can't be. I've had subjective experiences that deviate from their brand of symbolic practice enough to at least keep me open to the supernatural. But I admire their humor and ability to get traction from a world indifferent to and sometimes actively hostile to their beliefs and iconography.
I think of LaVeyan Satanism as "social Satanism." In other words, it doesn't claim to transcend social psychology. It uses psychodrama as a form of inner therapy and takes the figure of the social nonconformist as an ideal.
Most of the LaVeyans I've met have had a dark sense of humor, a willingness to think for themselves, and more than a slight magical gift; though, I think it's de rigueur for them to downplay the role of Greater Magic in their system—a deep contradiction in LaVeyan initiatory thought that has existed since the beginning of the CoS and still has not been resolved. But that is subject matter for a different post.
I think my point here is just to note that there's a lot of value in what the CoS has to teach if you can get past the reflexive social stigma attached to satanic aesthetics (and maybe even learn to use that as a way to inspire and power your efforts).