Gnosticism and Satanism

One of the oldest known forms of theistic Satanism is Gnostic-based Satanism. It's is not my cup of tea, but it's worth taking a look at, as one of the many varieties of theistic Satanism.

The ancient Gnostics were a religious movement, back in the days of the Roman Empire, that overlapped with Christianity. Scholars disagree on whether it originated as a Christian heresy or whether it was an older religious movement, with origins separate from Christianity, but which then both influenced and was influenced by Christianity.

One subset of the ancient Gnostics, known as the Ophites, venerated the Serpent of the Garden of Eden myth. They did NOT venerate the Biblical god Yahweh, whom they regarded as the Demiurge, the evil creator of a very imperfect universe for the purpose of trapping human souls in matter. They regarded the Serpent as the bringer of wisdom and an emissary of a deity higher than Yahweh. See the Ophite Gnostic scriptures referenced in the following article: The Genesis Factor by Stephan A. Hoeller.

The ancient Ophites weren't "Satanists," in the sense that they didn't identify their venerated Serpent with Satan. Nevertheless, many theistic Satanists do have a similarly favorable interpretation of the Serpent of the Garden of Eden myth. And some theistic Satanists have adopted other aspects of the Gnostic worldview as well.

According to the book Satan Wants You by Arthur Lyons, there was a pre-LaVeyan Satanist group, the Lady of Endor Coven, that existed from the late 1940's to the early 1970's, founded by Herbert Sloane, whose theology was based heavily on Ophite Gnosticism. The Biblical God Yahweh was identified with the Demiurge, and Satan was identified with the Serpent as the bringer of wisdom.

Earlier, Aleister Crowley, who either was or was not a "Satanist" depending on precisely how you define the term "Satanist," also had a worldview strongly influenced by Gnosticism.

I personally reject Gnostic theology, on grounds stated on the following pages: Post-Copernican natural theology and The here-and-now principle in theology. But I would not claim that Gnostic Satanists aren't or can't be "true Satanists." They are one of the many types of theistic Satanists and are, as far as I can tell, the oldest known type.

An interesting religious studies course website

Shortly ago, I happened to come across the web page for a course called Rel 361: A Social History of Satan, taught by Dr. Adam L. Porter at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL.

The web page lists lots of interesting and worthwhile stuff. However, it leaves out what I consider to be an important bit of history: The various famous writers, in the 1800's, who spoke favorably of "Satan" or "the Devil." These included:

• William Blake - wrote "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell."
• Mark Twain - wrote Letters from the Earth and A Pen Warmed in Hell
• Giosue Carducci (who is considered to have been one of Italy's greatest poets) - wrote a "Hymn to Satan"
• Charles Baudelaire - wrote "The Litanies of Satan"
• Matilda Gage (leading 19th century feminist) - referred to Satan as the "God of Freedom" in her book Woman, Church, and State, echoing the French historian Jules Michelet's favorable portrayal of a hypothetical Satanic ceremony by medieval peasants.
• George Bernard Shaw - wrote The Devil's Disciple and Man and Superman

On the plus side, it appears that the course will devote some attention to the Satanic panic of the 1980's and early 1990's.

These days, ever-growing numbers of "conspiracy theorists" are working hard to revive the panic. So, it's good to see college students being taught about the historical reality. Thank you, Dr. Porter, for including it in your course.

Exorcism, Satanic panic, and a sex scandal involving a Catholic exorcist and anti-abortion activist

Given the popularity of the latest exorcism movie The Rite, and given all the talk about how the exorcism trend is scaring people back into the Catholic Church, I've written several posts about exorcism and related topics on various blogs:

• Exorcism and religious intolerance, Talk To Action, February 1, 2011


• Catholic exorcism and NYPD “experts on occult crimes”???, LiveJournal, February 6, 2011


• The Catholic exorcism trend and Italy’s Satanic panic, Wordpress, February 9, 2011.


• Bill Donohue boasts: exorcism now mainstream, LiveJournal, February 11, 2011


• Preliminary response to Michael Cuneo on exorcism, Wordpress, February 12, 2011

Self deception

In a comment in in the General Feedback Thread, louis syfer asked, in reply to my page "About the Joy of Satan system of respectful demon evocation": "HOW CAN YOU DECEIVE YOURSELF, OR HARM YOURSELF IF IT IS YOU THAT YOU ARE ESSENTIALLY WORKING WITH?"

First off, the Joy of Satan people do not believe that "it is you that you are essentailly working with." They believe that they are having 2-way conversations with the Demons/Gods -- who are seen as advanced anthropomorphic space aliens who are believed to have a genetic relationship to humans and who are believed to spend a lot of their time astrally projecting themselves to Earth and talking to humans.

Second, people deceive themselves all the time -- even in the mundane world. See the list of cognitive biases in Wikipedia. And much of magick is essentially self-hypnosis, which can be a valuable mental discipline but can certainly also be used in ways that deceive oneself.

"Days of Satanism" in Egypt, mid-to-late 1990's C.E.

According to Nader Sadek, Let the Egyptian Uprising Set the Country's Artists Free, on artinfo.com, February 2, 2011:

The biggest conflict between the realm of art and the government in Egypt transpired in the mid-to-late 1990s and was known across the Middle East as "the days of Satanism." Thousands of heavy metal fans had formed a subculture that was perceived, and treated, as a threat to the Egyptian government. Long hair, loud and incomprehensible music, and a rebellious attitude echoed society's repressed demand for self-expression and liberation. Thousands of metal fans, from rich and poor families alike, were arrested and faced the possibility of execution under charges of apostasy, as converting from Islam to another religion (Satan worship!) is punishable by death. The metal-fans-cum-prisoners were finally freed after approximately three months. One of the victims of this event joined the growing community of bloggers committed to exposing government corruption and police brutality. While his blogs have been read internationally, more importantly he has helped build local networks intent upon raising awareness and mobilizing the dissent visible in the streets of Cairo today.

P.S., February 8, 2011: More news stories on the same topic are linked in this Facebook note.

P.S.

Jared Lee Loughner

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the following on the group blog Talk To Action, about suspected mass murderer Jared Lee Loughner, who is believed to have shot Arizona Congress Representative Gabrielle Giffords:

• Jared Lee Loughner and the "sovereign citizen" movement - Tue Jan 11, 2011


• More about Jared Loughner's politics, plus some conspiracy debunking resources - Tue Jan 18, 2011


• Religious right wingers blame Jared Loughner's actions on atheism and occultism - Tue Jan 18, 2011

In the first two posts I discuss what is known about Jared Loughner's political beliefs by people who are actually knowledgeable about various fringe political beliefs -- solid information which did NOT get much attention in the mass media, being drowned out by ill-informed debate over whether he was a leftist or a follower of the likes of Sarah Palin and Glen Beck.

In the third post, I discuss the background of the claim, by many right wingers, that Loughner is/was a Satanist or Pagan.

Talk To Action is a group blog for people who oppose the religious right wing. If you choose to post a comment there, please be sure to read their Guidelines first. (In particular, note that the majority of the people who post on Talk To Action regularly are liberal Christians. Do NOT post anything there that is disrespectful toward any of the Abrahamic religions in general, as distinct from the religious right wing in particular. And, even regarding the religious right wing, what's desired at Talk To Action is solid news and analysis, not name-calling.)

Business Insider - favorable references to Satan - wow!

On the Business Insider website, the blog post Is Satan a Good Investor by James Altucher, Jan. 28, 2011, contains numerous favorable interpretations of Satan as portrayed in the Bible.

I wonder what kind of a reaction this will provoke, if any, from the more conservative and/or fanatical believers in the Abrahamic religions.

Business Insider is published here in New York City.

New York Daily News and CBS News websites quote me on Christine O'Donnell

I got quoted on the New York Daily News website just now: NYC Satanist: O'Donnell Isn't One of Us by Kenneth R. Bazinet, September 21, 2010. NYC Satanists, Luciferians, Dark Pagans, and LHP Occultists got mentioned too.

P.S.: Later today, we also got mentioned -- and in a much better, less condescending way -- on the CBS News site: Christine O'Donnell's "Witchcraft" Comments Rebuffed by Satanist by Stephanie Condon.

P.S. (9/23/2010): Today, the above CBS News story was linked to by Christine O'Donnell's Younger Years: Forget Witchcraft, Think Media Goddess by Suzi Parter, Politics Daily.

P.S. (10/30/2010): My press release was mentioned in Crying Witch: Learning From the O’Donnell “Dabbling” Debacle by Spencer Dew on Religion Dispatches, October 28, 2010.

Christine O'Donnell's alleged "little midnight picnic on a satanic altar"

Lately, quite a bit of mass media publicity has been given to Christine O'Donnell's claim to have "dabbled into witchcraft" and "had a little midnight picnic on a satanic altar" on one of her first dates.

It is clear that the "witch" she allegedly dated was not a serious practitioner of either Wicca or Satanism. As far as I am aware, no serious practitioner of any variant of Wicca or Satanism would have a picnic on one's altar.

To put her claim into context, we should note her tendency to confuse Satanism with not only Wicca but also rock fan culture. Back in 1997, in the Washington Post (15 June 1997), Christine O'Donnell made some pretty far-fetched claims about the alleged mass popularity of Satanism among young people. (See Remembering Christine O'Donnell: Praising Helms, Missing Lenny and Squiggy, and Worries of Rampant Satanism, Right Wing Watch, September 15, 2010.)

See also more about Christine O'Donnell on one of my other blogs.

P.S.: I just now posted comments (here and here) in reply to some nonsense about Satanism in the comments area of this page about Christine O'Donnell on Crooks and Liars.

The Devil's Blood

Some good news for a change:

On August 25, 2010, the Baltimore City Paper published a favorable news story about a musician who is a theistic Satanist: Hail Satan: The devil made Dutch musician SL turn his life around—and forge a strangely moving band by Ian Grey, about “SL,” the "man behind" a Dutch band called the Devil's Blood.

I've posted my thoughts about this news story on another blog of mine.