Satanism!? I don't quite understand....

These are not "belief's" as such.
Some appear to think that satan was God's no.1 pupil who became a fallen angel. If so, satan is good by nature, like ourselves, but has taken a wrong turn at some point, perhaps not that long ago either. Perhaps what satan wants most of all is to be worshiped, name and fame.
Satan may even have an important role to play in these times of transition, untill a certain point in time.
On another/general level, the devil may be considered as our own natural spiritual qualities and virtues transformed to their negative end of the spectrum. (entropy)
peace Al

Like somebody else said, it depends on what type of satanism you're talking about.

There is "Traditional" or "Theistic" Satanism - which is the actual religious worship of Satan, as in the ruler of Hell, which ironically obviously is part of Christian "mythology". But these Satanists are normally againse God's morals and do not accept traditional ideas of good or evil. So many don't view Satan as evil. Many of these choose to be Satanists because they identify with Satan as a rebel.

Then there's "Modern" or "LeVeyan" Satanism - after Anton LaVey who wrote a book titled The Satanic Bible. These Satanists do not believe that Satan exists in a literal way but is a positive symbol of LaVey's/a Satanist's view of the world. They also do not aim to be "evil". LaVey started the Church of Satan in 1966 shortly before writing the Satanic Bible and his philosophy was extremely egoistic. The Church of Satan does not have tax-exempt status and doesn't seek it. LeVay originally wanted to change the world with his philosophy but came to realise the only way to do this would be through a religion.

LeVayan Satanism does not encourage cruelty as such. He took on Frederich Nietzsche's idea that an individual must "enforce his own meaning on life and rise above the perceived conformity of the masses". It stresses individuality and diversity, discovering ones own sexuality, personality and ambitions. They believe that man's nature is not something to be tamed or inhibited but rather it should be celebrated and indulged. Animals and Children are celebrated because they are so instinctive and apparently self-indulgent. LaVey certainly did not advocate ritual slaughter of either of them. He also said that guilt was only for people with weak minds. He coined the phrase "Do unto others as they do unto you" - i.e. only give respect, kindness, etc, to those who give it to you. "LaVey felt that intelligent and strong people spent too much time caring for "psychic vampires"

Yay!!

I wonder if one of our Hindu friends could give a breif outline of the story of Sita.I am wondering if they are one and the same.
peace Al

Interesting points jaded melody. It sounds like the LeVayan philosophy is similar to the 13th age of awareness, just before collapse back to the peace the 14th level of awareness. We are in the 7th age (mayan belief and Jesus both state this) of balance at the moment so it difficult to comprehend an awareness in which there is such a level of love and trust that anything is acceptable to everyone, or to put it another way that the great spirit is reconciled to the perfect unity of itself. We all seem so seperate at the moment, we cannot see that we are just different aspects of the same thing, and even if we can accept this it is difficult to believe it enough to accept that what would appear to be hurtful is in fact a necessity in the journey towards the final awareness.

Originally Posted by AL

I wonder if one of our Hindu friends could give a breif outline of the story of Sita.I am wondering if they are one and the same.
peace Al

Hi Al,

Sita is the wife of Lord Ramachandra (Rama), who according to Vedic (Hindu) scripture is an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Both Sita and Rama descended to Earth in a previous age, playing the parts of The Perfect King & Queen. The story is told in detail under the title 'Ramayana' if you want to search it out. So nothing really to do with 'Satan'.

If you meant to say Shiva, then Shiva is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam as the greatest devotee of God (Krishna) who has the role of 'looking after the mode of ignorance' in this material world. He does carry a trident, but always plays a positive role - I wouldn't personally compare him to any Satanic figure either.

Maya (illusion) would be the nearest you could get from Hindu scripture, but then she is also a devotee of the Lord. Just doing her job

Your servant,

Das

If you are talking about Satanism, in my experience, people use it as an exuse to carry out sexual perversion.

Getting something in reward? I don't know about that one. I mean, if you practice White magic you can draw material things to you - but it's all about intent. If you did a money spell, for instance, you would ask that no harm come to anyone and that anything you received you would gladly share - and MEAN it. You also have to ask out of need rather than greed.

Black Magic however, would direct negative energy at people and involves Greed rather than Need.

Of course, the law of three-fold return tells us everything we do comes back to us three times.

I don't really think the "devil" is involved.

Sue x