r/TheisticSatanism • u/TheAfraid1520 • 4d ago
Discussion I need help
17nb I’ve been a theistic Satanist for maybe over a year now. I am currently trying to devote myself farther and educate myself more about our deities, history of this religion and such.
Ive looked around online but I was unsuccessful in finding anything helpful.
Does anyone have any recommendations on website, books, etc.?
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u/Natural_Sundae2620 Satanist 3d ago
circleofthefallen.org has a bunch of materials in their library, there's also spiritualsatanist.com
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u/controversiusmax 4d ago edited 4d ago
Christianity is basically the root of the religion. Jews don't believe in the devil in the same way. Islam has an equivalent, Iblis (Or Shaytan) but if you want to go back to the root then Christianity came many centuries before Islam. Though Jewish mysticism does touch on the concept of demons, and many of the names of famous demons are from Jewish lore. Id start there if you want to get to know the deities. As far as what's expected of you, that's the beauty of Satanism it doesn't require anything from you
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u/Mikem444 3d ago
Christianity didn't invent Satan, nor were they the first to have the concept of Satan as an opposer of Yahweh (as the devil), they just took it and ran the furthest with it.
Most Jews don't as you stated, but some do, even if they're a minority. The book of job in the Hebrew bible/"old testament" could easily be interpreted as Satan being an enemy of Yahweh rather than a subordinate angel. There's a great article on this that mentions the tone of Satan not matching one of someone who is "in allegiance" with Yahweh and other things related to this.
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u/TheAfraid1520 3d ago
Ive been doing a lot of research in the past few hours and I feel more grounded now.
At the moment I am focusing on the different deities. Ive run into a road block. Are Satan and Lucifer recognised as the same being, or seperate?
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u/Mikem444 3d ago
I just copied/pasted my answer from a similar question asked by someone new. I typed it out in advanced because I see this question so often and I got tired of typing it out every time.
FAQ for beginners:
What are the rules? Are there any sins?
As a Satanist, do I have to...(insert verb)?? - Or - Can I...(insert verb)?
Why so many different types/beliefs?
1.) Satanism (as a whole or even just theistic Satanism specifically) is a sort of "umbrella" religion. A religion being decentralized and having many variations/traditions/types is not unique to Satanism; Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Paganism are some examples off the top of my head of religions that have tons of different traditions/denominations/ideologies. Then again, thinking about the more "centralized" religions, do they not have different denominations and traditions? For Christians: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant. - For Muslims: Shia, Sunni, Sufi - For Jews: Orthodox, Reform, Conservative. How "centralized" are they really?
2.) This is usually more common with occult-based religions such as (Theistic) Satanism, Paganism, Neo-Paganism/Wicca, Thelema, Vodún, etc.
3.) While this isn't a universal view, it seems to be a common and unifying one that so many of us intuitively have: With Satan embodying freedom/liberation and rebellious heroism (among many other things), it would kind of be hypocritical and contradictory to this if we tried to make anyone/anything some kind of central authority on this, and who would have the right to such a claim? LaVeyans attempted this and even many outsiders (LaVeyans are also outsiders IMO) criticize their contradictions and hypocrisy. We, on the other hand, did this the right way. We have different covens/sects/branches that have theif specific views, and if you agree with any one of them, great. If you don't, there's no obligation to, but you can still learn and adopt whatever you agree with if you'd like. Whether you agree with any branch/coven or not, you can also be totally solitary in your beliefs and practices, many do this also. I should also mention that even between these different branches/covens, some of them may have more/less in common with one another than they do with others, so not all of them are always completely distinct and may share common elements.
What books/sources are there?
One thing to keep in mind, is while there are plenty of books by (theistic) Satanists for (theistic) Satanists, none are law. They are tools/aids, not something divine and from a different plane of existence. They're books written by a person and they may assist with one's philosphical views, beliefs, and practices. Nothing more, nothing less.
Not everything in this list is written specifially for theistic Satanism, but have been a common staple for many Theistic Satanists, Demonolators, Diabolists, Dark Pagans, general occultists, etc. I personally don't agree 100% with any source/group/person, not even with the one I was most influenced by and most associated with (but was never a member) and that's perfectly fine, but I don't let that distract me from what I find to be valuable in these sources.
Satanism: A Beginner's Guide To The Religious Worship Of Satan And Demons, by Nero (Now more commonly known as RJ Womack)
The Devil's Bible, by Myrmydon - Founder/Leader of Cathedral of The Black Goat
The Complete Book of Demonolatry - S. Connolly
The Lesser Key of Solomon (Ars Goetia) - Medieval Grimoire listing 72 chieftan demons, their ranks, planetary associations, planetary days/hours, appearances, best purposes for contact
Grimorium Verum - A classic grimoire that The Lucifer Sigil (less commonly known as The Seal of Satan) originates from
Oberon - Another great medieval grimoire that expands on the Ars Goetia
Additionally, the cirlce of the fallen library has a decent little collection as well: https://circleofthefallen.org/library.html