STS Satanism

There are two prevailing perspectives within Satanism; the spiritual and the philosophical. Also called
Theistic and Atheistic respectively.

Spiritual, or Theistic Satanism, regards Satan as an actual force or intelligence. The nature of this
intelligence differs depending on who is asked; from an energy that exists in all things to a physical-being
existing on some other plane of existence.

The theology of the adherents of the spiritual perspective also differs in the beliefs they entertain; from
the esoteric to the almost fundamentalist and Christian based. The philosophical Satanists regard Satan
as a symbol representing a set of ideals that they emulate.

The most prominent form of this Satanism was promoted by Anton LaVey, and is termed “Laveyan”
Satanism. Like spiritual Satanism, there is a wide range of variations in practices and edicts amongst the
numerous groups that practice philosophical Satanism.

Despite sharing a common mythology and often common practices and perspectives, spiritual and
philosophical Satanism are often strongly opposed to one another, with the spiritualists regarding
philosophical Satanists as pretenders and usurpers, while philosophical Satanists see spiritualists as
zealots and reverse-Christians. So strong is this mutual animosity that many organizations will denounce
a member for even considering trying to bridge the gap. Within these two disparate points exists a range
of variation on the same themes.

Gnostic Satanists support the idea that Earth is a Satanic Kingdom and debate whether or not the final
battle foretold in the Bible has already been fought and won by Satan. Theistic Satanists regard Satan as
a spiritual force and devote themselves to the exploration of this force in all its guises.

Traditional Satanists follow interpretations of the Bible and other sources with varying degrees of
strictness.

Luciferians see Satan as the ultimate truth, life as cycles of joy and pain, the expression of our urges and
desires, with any higher aspirations as delusions of the weak.

Most Church of Satan members, sometimes called Gilmoreans, regard Satan as merely an individual’s
natural tendencies toward decadence, comfort, and self-promotion. It should be noted that Laveyans
follow the edicts of Anton LaVey and the Satanic Bible, but are not necessarily always Atheistic in nature.

The Satanic Thulian Society practices a form of Satanism that is philosophically founded in the Satanism
of Anton LaVey, but recognizes a spiritual component to reality. Our Satanism regards Satan as the force
of nature in the universe, the Great Unifier and source of all things. Satan is, for us, a real force that we
seek to commune with and emulate.

It is through Satan that we believe we come to a greater understanding of ourselves and the universe. In
this way, we could be regarded as Spiritual or Theistic Satanists.

However, we do not see this force as an intelligence completely from outside ourselves, but rather that
every individual makes up a fragment of the whole being of Satan.
By understanding and exploring our own natures; our urges, aspirations, and ideals, we come to a
greater understanding of what Satan is. Through applied logic and testing the values of our society, we
work to improve our own lives and lifestyles. These ideals are considered by some the realm of
philosophical or Atheistic Satanism.

Our goal as Satanists is our own personal growth and development in all realms of our existence. We
seek to increase our knowledge, secure and improve our living conditions, expand our awareness,
indulge in our desires, and profit from our endeavors. We seek a spiritual evolution within the self and
from without, doing so with LaVey’s iconic tongue in cheek humor when possible. The term then that
best refers to this version of Satanism is “Pre-1975 Laveyanism”.

The Satanic Purging

As Satanists, it is our drive to improve ourselves, to discover that which drives us and become more
perfectly what we already are. Society’s demands on the individual forces us to take on roles and even
personas that are not our natural selves. Who we are is often very different from the roles we fulfill for
our employers, in our dealings with the public, sometimes even with our own friends and family.

To fulfill these roles, we often have to deny ourselves, sometimes even abandoning the things that we
would be and the things that we find most satisfying. Satanism teaches us to embrace the things we
dream of, and to strive to make them reality and integrate them into our actual lives.

In the myth, Satan himself abandons the role thrust upon him for one of his own design, and is the God
that looks upon himself with his own eyes to discover the truth. This process begins with a deep and
honest examination of the self.

We must evaluate not only our strengths and weaknesses, but our goals and desires, as well as our
ability to achieve them. Through this process, we come to a decision about what is truly worth our
continued effort, and what behaviors, and people, should be either reduced or eliminated from our lives
to promote the changes we desire. This process is ongoing, with the self-examination and re-evaluation
being a continuous part of the entire Satanic evolutionary development. We call it “The Purging”.

One of the first things we strive for is personal stability. Having begun with ourselves, we work
outwards, attempting to effect order in more and more of our environment in an ever wider sphere of
influence. Too often are we the products of our immediate environment, which is ironic since the
majority of us define that environment. We essentially establish a viscous cycle; we are disgruntled by
our positions in life, with our dissatisfaction being reflected in our immediate environment, and the
people within it, which in turn increases our dissatisfaction.

By understanding this cycle, and choosing to actively change it, we begin to take real control of our lives,
and truly begin to emulate the Satanic example. From this new stable foundation, we then begin to build
ourselves into our ideal.

In this process, we take advantage of occult and psychological techniques, methods that most others
would either refuse to use for fear of violating some social taboo or they are not even aware of. We seek
the advantage that will allow us to further our goals and move more easily through society, privileges
befitting those of our personal awareness. We look for personal growth, material and intellectual
increase, and spiritual conviction and awareness. These are the goals which are truly emulating the
Satanic ideal, and will lead us to the truth of ourselves. There are some who would suggest that
Satanists believe themselves to be gods, but this is an oversimplification to those who follow
Evolutionary Satanism. We believe in a higher force, the binding force of the universe, the source of all
things to which all things return. Quantum physics shares in this unified theory, but what they approach
from a mathematical direction, we attempt to understand from a philosophical and metaphysical
perspective. This higher force fulfills the claim of the Hebrew God when he claimed “I am that I am”.
This force does not judge, question, bless, curse, condemn, or redeem. It simply is, and even more, is the
very act of being. This is the force we emulate, the universal urge to change and become more than
what we are. With that is the recognition that we each are a part of that whole, that we each can draw
upon that force to fulfill our wills in reality. In this, we are 59 each potentially gods, if we can find a way
to get past the doubt and denial that is built into our minds by our educations and socially enforced
experiences. Perception defines the nature of the universe for each individual; thus if a person knows,
with every fiber of his being, that he can walk on water, he will. But, this kind of faith in one’s own
abilities is difficult to achieve even under the best of circumstances, and our social programming actively
eliminates that kind of self-assurance. That is why religions have gods outside the self to begin with; we
can all believe in the power of a thing outside ourselves, but few can imagine their own potential
realized. Evolutionary Satanism is the ongoing process of breaking that programmed mentality and
achieving control of our personal reality. One could discuss this particular view of reality in both
objective and pragmatic terms. The objective perspective suggests that all things are absolute, having
defined and measurable limits, while the pragmatic perspective says that all reality is in a constant state
of transition, and that the definition of a thing one moment may be different the next. Our position is
that while most things in our experience can be measured and defined, there exists numerous
components and concepts in reality which defy definition and limitations. Furthermore, something that
can be defined and limited in one state will have its definition change when interacting with another
object as well as when measured against the experiences and expectations of the observer. In other
words, reality is in a constant progression that shifts based on the perceptions of the observers of that
reality. The color blue, for example, can be measured as a certain wave length of light, but the individual
perception of that wave length of light will vary from person to person based on the physical structure
of their eyes, the way their brain processes the information, what we have been taught about colors,
etc. Aspects of reality may have measurable and defined limits, but since a key component to reality is
an observer to acknowledge it reality takes on a plasticity based on perception. In the Baphomet Codex,
Baphomet is described as the primary being, and as such can not be fully comprehended by the limited
human mind. Baphomet must then be approached through lesser symbols describing its composite
parts. From Baphomet, we extend into masculine/active energies and feminine/passive energies. The
active masculine is Satan, 60 both an overtly generative and destructive force. He is paired with Lucifer,
the masculine guide and initiator. Opposite this pair is Lilith, the feminine energy of subtle action and
passive erosion, and Tiamat, the feminine force of power, limitation, and change. These divisions of
concepts and energies help to create a framework for interacting with and understanding an otherwise
unlimited and indefinable reality. Evolutionary Satanism uses the elastic aspect of reality through
individual perception to give the Satanists the ability to manipulate reality by manipulating those
perceptions, both internally and externally. As reality has a constant progression, Evolutionary Satanism
addresses ways to use that momentum to the Satanist’s advantage. Evolutionary Satanism also
acknowledges the spiritual component to reality, providing a conduit for the exploration development of
the self, merging both the philosophical aspects of LaVey’s Satanism while using the spiritual aspect of
reality to the practical advantages of Satanism.