Thursday, April 9, 2009

Update

For anyone interested, this is what I'm up to:

I'm currently reading 'The Egyptian Book of the Dead' by E.A. Wallis Budge, I started with a print out of a PDF that I had but I discovered a hard copy at Barnes and Noble and switched to that. My interested in Kemeticism has been aroused and so I've been doing some research into the subject, I've even been putting some of my other studies on the back burner. Shame on me.

The people over at Kemet.org offer a beginners course on Kemetic Orthodoxy and so I decided to apply for that. I haven't heard back from them yet but then I only applied yesterday.

I'm taking a workshop on Working the Tree that Adrianna from OFS is running. That is making me think all kind of things about the Tree of Life, and Qabalah, that I would probably taken my sweet time in thinking. It is great being forces to think about things that you usually wouldn't. I won't get into it yet but I'll say that I'm having fun with this workshop. I've been using Qabalistic Concepts by William Gray as a guidebook. I really should be reading more of the book but I've only been using it as a source when I've had questions. It got bumped by The Book of the Dead.

On my stack of books to read is Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo DuQuette and The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need by Joanna Woolfolk. DuQuette is fast becoming one of my most favorite occult writers and to be honest, I need help understanding Crowley. I've dreams of actually knowing more about Tarot, especially the Thoth deck, and being able to read the cards without constantly referring to a book. While I'm dreaming, I also want to be able to read a natal chart without a book too. I've lots of dreams!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Satan in Satanoltry

The Satan of Satanolatry may not be the Satan you think he is. He is not a red-faced man with a pitchfork, nor is he a conniving little trickster whispering bad things in your ear. In fact, he isn't a man at all nor is he male. I only use 'he' as a convenience in writing the same way I conveniently use proper grammar so that you can conveniently read what I'm writing!

Satanolatry's Satan is everything that is, the whole universe and more, the entire kit and caboodle. He is, what Hermeticists call, The All. Everything you see, everything you know, everyone you know - is Satan.

So, why call him Satan? Why not just call him what he is - The All. We could, it would be valid but it is also valid to use the name Satan. The name Satan denoted an adversarial force and since Satan is the universe what could be more adversarial than that? Our mortal bodies, despite being part of The All, are constantly being one step away from demise. Every force has the potential to kill us, we are at odds with our environment, our lives will only end in death. Yet we fight to live, we have a deep instinct to survive. For our brief moral existence we live, we learn and we succumb to death. The Great Adversary will claim us and if we have learned enough and lived enough then we will have done what we were meant to do - which is to know ourselves.

Just like how muscle tissue breaks down against resistance only to grow back stronger, so does our lives. The Adversary is that resistance, the force that makes that which is truly worth having difficult to attain. Satan is the reminder not to lay down and give up but rather to keep on living and to keep on reaching for our highest goals.

What opposes also encourages. Satan does not beat us into submission with unbeatable odds. The simple fact that we can overcome the challenges we face is encouragement enough to overcome these challenges.

It is by being adversarial that Satan completes his finest creation. He created us in his image, with the capacity to know him and then challenges us to do so.

That is why Satanolatry is the worship of Satan.

Blogger Profiles

Did you know that everything you list in your Blogger profile is a link? Seriously, it is. Go check it out.

Every link in your profile links to other people who listed the same thing you did. Everything from your occupation to location to favorite movies to interests. This can be a great tool to find people who are also interested in the same things you are, live in the same locations, or work in the same jobs.

So, I ask you to think twice about what you list. If you want someone to find you through your listed interests, then please list those interests. Same with location, occupation, and favorite... stuff.

I'm only mentioning this since it is how I find others that share my interests. I'm hoping that people will make it easier for me to find them. If I do find you, I'll at least take the time to read your blog. I might even follow it.

Go on, make me your fan.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Satanolatry

The thought just occurred to me that there is way to much baggage associated with the term 'Satanism'.

On one side there are those people who view Satanism as a bad thing. Their religion (whatever it may be) has a big bad nemesis that they call Satan, or the Devil, who seems to have all these magical powers that he can use to make them do bad things. Anything that has to do with this bad guy is, well... bad. Somehow they have associated the Satan of Satanism to the Satan who hates their god. Shame of them.

On the other hand as they people who follow Satanism - the Satanists. This lot (myself included) comes in such a wide variety that is seems like there are more types of Satanism than they are Satanists. The term has gotten confused with too many adjectives around to better define it - Theistic Satanism, Modern Satanism, LaVeyan Satanism, Spiritual Satanism, Traditional Satanism, etc.

I've grown tired of all this baggage, all these preconceived notions of what Satanism is supposed to mean. So I'm going to make a stand once and for all, and distance myself from all the baggage of Satanism. As of right now I am no longer a Satanist. I now longer follow Satanism (whatever that may be).

From now on I shall be a follower of Satanolatry, a Satanolator if you will.

Google results as of 4/4/09 at 2257 MST - Results 1 - 9 of about 7 for satanolatry

Bingo! I got myself a term that I can make my own. Those 7 other results can just fuck off or conform since I'm about to redefine Satanolatry forever!

Satanolatry
-noun
The religious worship of the deity know as Satan, as defined by Satanolators, who is not the same spirit as mentioned in the Christian and Jewish religious texts.

Satanolator
-noun
A follower of Satanolatry

Ok, when I said forever what I really meant was until myself or the Satanolator community at large defines it properly. Maybe the above definition will work, maybe it won't. This is my in-case-it-doesn't clause!

Come on, lets start a revolution! Post a comment, let me know you are out there...