Demonolatry 101

From the Greek words ‘daimon’, meaning ‘tutelary deity or lesser god’, and ‘latreia’, meaning ‘service or worship’ comes the modern word of Demonolatry, meaning worship of demons. Followers of Demonolatry are known as, if male, Demonolators, and, if female, Demonolatresses.

While their maybe a minority of Demonolators who worship demons under the transposed meaning of demons as evil entities and creatures of hell, most Demonolaters reject that meaning. This article will be focused on those Modern Demonolators, the majority, who worship demons as the ancient Greek word, and later Latinized version, meant: ‘lesser god, guiding spirit, tutelary deity’ that are ‘replete with knowledge’.

Modern Demonolatry is a polytheistic religion that worships many demons as part of a pantheon, along with associated mythology and rituals. It is not a universally codified religion where all Demonolators worship the same pantheon and follow the same beliefs, but rather a personal religion where each person or group chooses what pantheon to believe in as well as beliefs to follow. As such, there are those whose beliefs can be called soft polytheistic by believing that the demons are facets that are part of the whole; as well as those who can be called hard polytheists that believe that the demons are complete and separate entities.

Demons

The Demons worshipped by Demonolators are many times are the actual gods of the pre-Christian civilizations. They are viewed as complex entities of greater or lesser status within the pantheons. They each have their own individual skills, specialization’s and spheres of control, along with their own needs, desires and histories. Since they are ‘guiding spirits’ that are ‘replete with knowledge’, Demonolators view the demons as teachers and mentors and form relationships with individual demons as such.

There is a natural balance in Demonolatry for demons are binary opposite in nature. For every demon of destruction and fire, there is a demon of creation and water; but not all demons can be classified as extremes for there are demons that fall between, in the gray areas between black and white.

Pantheons

Of the many ‘codified’ pantheons followed by Demonolators, two of them are more widespread than others. The Richard Dukante Hierarchy, and the Goetic Hierarchy.

In 1963 Richard Dukanke released his Hierarchy, which consists of nine families of demons. He compiled it from the grimoires of Demonolator families and it is one of the few hierarchies in existence that included female demons. Dukante was still working on his hierarchy until his death so it still remains uncompleted.

The Goetic Hierarchy comes from the ‘Ars Goetia’ also known as ‘The Goetia’, the first section of ‘The Lesser Keys of Solomon, a 17th century text that is claimed to have been written by King Solomon. The Goetia names seventy-two demons and assigns them ranks and titles of nobility.

Many Demonolators follow a pantheon of their choosing that contain demons from a variety of sources, but regardless of what pantheon followed, most Demonolators also choose a Patron or Matron Demon which they worship above all others.

Practices

Since Demonolatry is not a universally codified religion, there is no ‘set’ practices that Demonolators adhere to. However, they’re two types of practices that exist: religious and magical.

Religious Demonolatry primarily deals with the adherence and observation of certain religious holidays spread across the calendar year. These are celebrations of certain aspects of life, such birth and death. Prayers for self-empowerment are also practiced religiously.

Magical Demonolatry is not something that is practiced by all Demonolators, however all Demonolators practice religious demonolatry. Those who do practice magic do so in a manner that is believed is more respectful to the demons and as such demons are never evoked, or called forth against their will, but rather invoked, or invited to be present during a magical ritual.

Demonolatry Families

They are some Demonolators who claim to follow generational demonolatry, which they first learned about from a parent or older family member and that many more in their family are also following. These demonolatry families claim to reach upwards of five hundred years into the past, with traditions being past on through many generations and though many personal journals or grimoires.

Holidays Observed

The holidays and rites observed by Demonolators vary from one Demonolator to another as the following of hierarchies vary from one Demonolator to another. However they are many Demonolators who observe the spring and fall equinoxes, and the summer and winter solstices by celebrating a rite to whatever demon they find appropriate. A celebration of a Demonolators Matron or Patron demon is also practiced.

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Ouija Board

My wife and I have used the Ouija board in the past and have always had 'fun' experiences with it. We don't put to much thought into and definitely don't obsess about it. Personally, I don't know how it works. I'm open to the idea that the board actually is a medium through which you can talk to the other side. I also don't rule out the idea that the planchette is moved by subconscious thoughts. Within a ritual space I believe that it is its most useful, but that is a post for later.

What really gets me though are the people who believe that the Ouija is dangerous, that there is a slew of demons just waiting for someone to pop open a Parker Brothers board so they can jump all over them and cause evil things to occur. These people acknowledge that these so called demons have some type of higher power to be able to possess them or haunt them. This, to me, is a very pretentious view point. Why would a higher being even notice you if you were not actively seeking them? And how do they benefit from this possession or haunting?

I think all the problems people claim to have experienced with the Ouija comes down to this: they are mentally deranged. Maybe this is caused by a deep guilt imparted on them by their religion or maybe it is a desire to be a victim. Whatever it is, I find it pathetically amusing! It is a self-fulfilling prophecy: If you think bad things will happen to you if you use the Ouija, they will; and not by anything supernatural.

The Ouija is a like a telephone: most of the time when you use it you are just dialling random numbers. The person on the end is as likely to cause you harm as if you did it in real life. If you use the Ouija in a ritual space or meditation, you are just calling someone specific.

Beginning Blogging: Advice

I've learned a few things about blogging, stuff I wished I knew before I began. I thought I'd write some of it down and share it with you.

1. Find a home for your blog

There are many different blog hosts out there, each with their own special features that other hosts don't have. No host is better than any other so it ultimately comes down to preference on which one you choose to use. Here are the three well known blog hosts: Blogger/Blogspot, LiveJournal, Wordpress.

2. Decide what your blog is about

While it might be easier said than done, the best thing to blog about is something that you are interested in and want to blog about; BUT it should also be something that you won't burn out blogging about. If the subject is too narrow and specific, chanced are you won't have a whole lot to say after a few months worth of posts. You'll have said it all. On the flip side, your blog shouldn't be so broadly categorized that it can only be summed up as a blog about everything. Choose a definable subject. If you fancy blogging about more than one subject, then don’t be scared to create more than one blog. It is ok to have more than one interest that you want to post about. It is just easier to partition them into different blogs.

3. Post something

Now that you have your blog and know what it is about, it is time to get down to busy and start posting. Hopefully you will have picked a subject that you know well enough and your mind is full of ideas of what to talk about. Great! Start posting.

If you find yourself drawing a blank, don’t worry you can overcome it. If you don’t know what to post for your very first post then why not just post a little about yourself. Who are you? Why are you blogging? What do you hope to achieve with your blog? Just let it all come out.

Ok, what if you’ve already been posting for a while and are now drawing a blank? Again, don’t worry. Read back over your old posts for some ideas. Maybe you could expand on something you’ve said earlier. See what other people are saying about the subject that you want to write about, maybe you can say something different or expand on it more. Do a news search about your subject. An idea will come.

4. Update Often

If you ever hope that people will become regular readers of your blog then you will have to become a regular poster to the very blog you hope they will read. You need to update often. A good target to shoot for it at least one post everyday. Not only do this create more content on your blog, it also helps to keep your blog relevant, attract more readers, and makes your blog feature higher on searches.

If you find that you are brimming with ideas for more and more posts and can’t wait to write them, the go ahead and write them. You don’t have to post them today, you can save them for a later day when you might not have any time to post or find yourself experiencing a writers block. You mother might have told you that it was good to save you money, well I’m tell you that it is good to save your posts too.

5. Find some friends

I’ll bet dollars to donuts that you are not the only person blogging about a specific subject (unless that subject is you). By finding others that are blogging about the same thing you are, linking to them and asking for the favor returned, you are creating and also become part of a larger blogging web. It makes it easier for readers of one blog to find another blog and maybe become a reader of that one too. By being part of a community of like-minded bloggers, you can gain ideas from each other, share readers and maybe even build deeper and more meaningful content.

6. Find some readers

This is what it is all about. I don’t know any blogger who writes just for themselves, it is all for the reader. If you have followed the above steps and created some content worth reading, then the reader will start finding you. Of course you can make it a lot easier for them!
Search for blog listings and submit your blog to them. Technorati is a great resource. Look on other blogs and see if they have any tags for blog listings you didn’t know about. Follow the link and submit there too.

Learn about ‘Search Engine Optimization’.

Comment on other blogs, especially if you can link back to something relevant on your blog. Word of warning though: When commenting on other blogs, remember that quality is better than quantity. Don’t over do it and become a ‘one line’ spammer.

7. Ping, Tag and Label

Since you are now on a few blog lists, you will need to remember to ping them to make them aware that you have new content. While most blog lists do track new content automatically, with such a large quantity of blogs to track, it will be awhile before they get to you.

Learn about Technorati’s tags. It makes it easier for people to find you when they are searching for the subject that you are posting about.

Label your posts. This helps organize you blog so that your readers can search through what you’ve written before. If you’ve been adding one post everyday, you’ll have 365 after one year. Help your reader out and make it easy for them to navigate though your content.

8. Write your pillars

Pillars are the articles that you write that hold up your blog. They are the big, juicy and informative posts that have impact. Pillars are timeless beauties that are tutorials or educational posts that are of use to your reader. Typically they are of a length greater than 700 words, if not longer.

The purpose of ‘pillars’ is to draw in more readers with some of your best work. When I say they are ‘timeless beauties’, I mean that they will be just as relevant a few years from now as they are today.

They also give you something more to advertise. Instead of just pimping your blog, you can also start pimping your pillars in places where they would be more appropriate.

9. Sticky your popular posts

Now that you’ve gotten a few pillars wrote, it is would be a good idea to ‘sticky’ them on your sidebar. While you are at it, why don’t you sticky your most favorite and your most popular posts are well. Don’t know what blogs are most popular? They are probably the ones with the most comments, or if you are tracking your blogs stats, then they are the ones that are the most viewed. This is all about creating an easy to navigate blog and making sure that your best work doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

10. Track your stats

By tracking your stats, you can learn a lot of information about your reader that can help you out. You can see where they are coming from, what they are looking at and how long they are staying. Many stat trackers will allow you to see what word searches people are finding you with.
Doing a search on ‘blog stats’ will find you a few free stat trackers. Most will tell you how to load their tracker on your blog and how to make everything work.

There you have it, start blogging, have fun!

Jason King on youtube

It has just be recently that I discovered actual 'channels' on youtube, and not long after that I found Jason King. This guy really knows his stuff and has uploaded a lot of videos talking about Satanism in some form or another. Ninety six as I'm writing this. He calls himself a 'postmodern satanist', and right on his channels front page is; 'Yes, I accept the existence of Satan' so, to me, he is a theistic Satanist. I think he accepts that label on one of his videos.

I've not got through and seen all of his videos but I have seen about ten of them. They have all struck me as well thought out and intelligent. You can tell, and I don't think it is much of a secret, that he is reading off a screen as he is making the video. With the black light in the background, sometimes in the foreground, and the fact that he is just a floating talking head, the videos aren't the best videos on youtube. However, they are so packed with information that really is thought provoking that if the production of his videos bother you, then you really need to overcome it.

Enough preamble, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/jason666king

Just an update

I have had a busy few days that kept me from posting yesterday. Today isn't shaping up to be any less hectic.

Yesterday I went and donated some plasma then turned around and spent the $20 I got on 'Demonolatry Rites' and 'Ater Votum' from lulu. Hopefully I will get them next week. When I do I'll make sure to get them reviewed.

I've been working on a pronunciation guide for some Demonic Enns that can be found at http://www.ofs-demonolatry.org/enns.htm, I need to get permission first to post them in the Hierarchy Order which I'm working on getting.

I'll leave you with this: Adrianna from OFS youtube channel

All about me

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I usually post on this blog while at work. On Wednesdays I don't work alone and to be frank, I burned myself out writing the previous two posts. Today I thought I'd take it easy and fill out one of these 'get to know me better' things you can find everywhere on myspace. Plus, it gives you a chance to get to know me (like you care!)

Name: Jeremy

Age: 26

Birthplace: Cork, Ireland

Birthday: December 31st

Current Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho

School: St. Oliver's Primary School, St. Brendan's Collage, Tralee Tuition Center

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Brown

Right or Left Handed: Right handed

Shoe Size: 12 UK, 13 American

Skin Type: Fail

Single? Nope, married the last 5 years

Pepsi or Coke: Neither, I don't drink soda.

McDonald's or Burger King?: Arby's

How many pairs of shoes do you own? 5... I think.

Do you smoke? Nope, unless I was set on fire.

Have you ever stolen from a friend? Nope

Do you do drugs? I do ibuprofen

Do you drink? Yes, water.

Do you shower daily? Yeah, what type of questions are these?

Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate

Do you want to get married? I already am

Do you want to have kids? More? No, three is enough

Future Job: I like my current job and will probably stay for a long time

Favorite Sport: Combat sports, mainly medieval combat

Do you get sea sick? Sometimes

Do you believe in yourself? Absolutely

Do you think your attractive? I'm not that bad

Do you like thunderstorms? Sure, unless my power goes out when I don't want it to.

Do you sing? To myself and very badly

Do you play an instrument? Does guitar hero count?

Are you a health freak? Not really, but I do like keeping in shape

Are you scared of the dark? No

Do you get along with your parents? Most of the time

Siblings? I got a sister

Pets? 2 dogs

Number of Tattoos: 1

Number of piercings: 4

Number of Cd's I own: CD?! I have over 5k songs downloaded

Style: Casual

Fruit or Vegetable: I like them both

Short or Long Hair: I have short hair now, I used to have long hair and I probably would grow it back if I could

Best Friend: Corny as it may sound, but my wife Andi is my best friend

Coolest Friend: Scott is probably the coolest

Prettiest Friend: Andi!

Weirdest Friend: I don't know anyone weirder than myself, but Pink comes closest

What would you like to get pierced? My tongue, but I can't due to work regulations

Have you ever stolen from a store? I don't think so

Have you ever been kicked out of a store? No, and strangely I wouldn't be proud of it either.

Have you ever cheated on your boyfriend? I'm straight and never have had a boyfriend, but I've never cheated

Have you ever turned down a dare? Yeah and I'm sure everyone has. "I dare you to kill yourself"...

Have you ever kissed a boy on the lips? Yeah

Own a stuffed animal? I bought stuffed animals, but I don't think I own any

What grade are you in? Ok, that is telling of who this questionnaire is designed for

Number of past things your regret: I try not to regret anything. Everything I have done has made me the person that I am today. I like who I am today.

Demonolatry Vs. Demonology

Demonolatry and Demonology are often misunderstood and mistakenly confused by those who don’t know the difference. Hopefully, this article can correct that. While one deals with the study of demons, the other deals with their worship. Before we delve into the meanings and differences of the two words, lets take a deeper look at their root – Demon.

Demon

In many religions, popular folklore and mythology, demons are seen as supernatural entities that are often thought of as evil and malevolent. In the Abrahamic faiths, demons are fallen angels of their god that reside in hell.

From the Ancient Greek word of ‘daimon’, which meant ‘lesser god, guiding spirit, tutelary deity’, came the Latanized spelling ‘daemon’ (plural – daemones) which were seen as ‘supernatural beings between mortals and gods’ that could be both lesser deities and ‘ghosts of fallen heroes’. These daemones (‘replete with knowledge’, ‘divine power’, ‘fate’, or ‘god’) were not necessarily evil but rather intermediates between the ‘divine and mortal’.

The Christian’s ‘New Testament’, being originally written in Greek, caused the usage of the word ‘daimon’ to be applied to the Judeo-Christian idea of evil spirits and their gods enemies that were cast out of heaven and into the abyss. By the 4th century, with the establishment of Christianity, the transposition of the word, from the ancient Greek meaning to the modern meaning we know to today, was complete.

Demonology

Demonology is the study and classification of demons and/or the belief about demons. It is a branch of theology that deals with the ‘supernatural entities that are not gods’. It does not just deal with the malevolent entities that the word demon has come to mean but rather both malevolent and benevolent entities.

Often times referred to with negatively, demonology was not always seen as evil or sinful as the modern terms connotation would have one believe. Greek philosophers, ancient Babylonians, Zoroastrian mystic and many early Christian writers wrote about the subject.

Demonologists have made many attempts to classify demons into certain categories based on the nature of the demon, the sin with which it is believed they tempt morals, the month which their powers maybe strongest, the office or ranking which they hold, and many other characteristics.

In 1589, Peter Binsfeld classified the demons according to the one of the ‘seven deadly sins’ which he believed they corresponded to:

Lucifer: pride
Mammon: greed
Asmodeus: lust
Leviathan: envy
Beelzebub: gluttony
Satan/Amon: wrath
Belphegor: sloth

During the 16th century is was believed by Demonologist that each demon has more strength to accomplish certain tasks during the month that they corresponded to:

Belial in January
Leviathan in February
Satan in March
Belphegor in April
Lucifer in May
Berith in June
Beelzebub in July
Astaroth in August
Thammuz in September
Baal in October
Asmodai in November
Moloch in December

Demonolatry

Demonolatry (pronounced by the author as demon-All-O-tree) is the worship of demons and is seen as a religion by those who follow it. Demonolators do not accept the modern transposition of the word ‘demon’ to mean evil and malignant spirits but rather the older Greek and Latin meaning of ‘replete with wisdom’ and ‘tutelary deity’.

Modern Demonolatry is a polytheistic religion that worships demons as part of a pantheon. As a polytheistic religion, there are those whose beliefs can be called soft polytheistic by believing that the demons are facets that are part of the whole; there is also those who can be called hard polytheists that believe that the demons are complete and separate entities.

What demons make up the pantheon is completely up to the individual Demonolator or Demonolatry group, but there are many common ones in usage. Those demons found the Lesser Key of Solomon are often times followed as well as those laid out in the hierarchy of Richard Dukante. Many Demonolaters dedicate themselves to the worship of one demon over all others while still worshipping those others but just not to the same extent as their primary demon.

Rites, those both religious and meditative, are practiced as part of the worship of demons which also includes days that are holy to certain demons. Magic is also an important aspect within Demonolatry, however every Demonolator does not practice it. Those who do practice it do so in a manner that is believed is more respectful to the demons and as such demons are never evoked, or called forth against their will, but rather invoked, or invited to be present during a magical ritual.

Conclusion

While many today see demons as evil spirits and fallen angels, it was not always the case. The ancients saw them for what they were – divine entities that were replete with knowledge. There are people today who also see them as such, those people who worship them are called Demonolators and practice Demonolatry. Those who just study them, either as the modern ‘evil spirits’ or even the ancient ‘lesser deity’ are Demonologist and practice Demonology. Congratulations, you now know the difference!

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Theistic Satanism 101

Theistic Satanism is not an easy thing to define since it means different things to different people and different groups, but lets give it a try:

Theistic Satanism, also called Traditional or Spiritual Satanism, is the belief that Satan is a god, deity, or higher power, and is worthy of worship and respect. It differs from atheistic Satanism, also known as symbolic or modern Satanism, such as that followed by Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan, which believes that Satan is a symbol of a mans true nature to satisfy his desires and urges, and not an actual entity.

There are many different viewpoints and many different groups that can claim the title of Theistic Satanism but none of them have exclusive use of that title. Regardless of this, many use their own definition and their own meaning and so can cause confusion amongst people who only know of that one kind of theistic satanism. Since it is possible to have views and beliefs so divergent and still remain within the definition, given about, of theistic satanism, this confusion is understandable. Hopefully this article can bring some enlightenment.

Reverse Christianity

One of the first to come to mind and most ‘infamous’ type of theistic satanism is "Reverse Christianity", sometimes known as devil worship. It is the belief in the Christian concept of Satan that is described in their bible. While the title is used pejoratively by some Satanists, those who label themselves as such usually assume it with pride. It is the belief that Satan is warring against the Abrahamic god and His victory is desirable. They see Satan as a champion for the freedom of humanity, but not necessarily a god but rather a fallen angel who is rebelling against the Creator. This form of theistic satanism is probably the form that most people who do not know much about Satanism think about when they think about Satanism, as well as what some Satanists think about when they think about theistic satanism.

Pantheistic/Panentheistic Satanism

Pantheistic Satanists believe that Satan is the sum of the universe, the force permeating nature and is deserving of their reverence and worship. Satan is seen as the ‘dark force of nature’ and the personification of the cosmic principle. They also believe that since Satan is ‘The All’ and since we are part of the all, then we too are part divine. Closely related to Pantheistic Satanists are Panentheistic Satanists (notice the ‘en’ between ‘pan’ and ‘theistic’) who believe that the whole of the universe makes up part of Satan but Satan is not the whole of the universe but rather more than the universe.

Polytheistic Satanism

Polytheistic Satanists worship Satan as a god but not as their only god. He is one of many in a pantheon that can be as unique as the individual believing in it. Some polytheistic satanists may not even worship Satan as the primary god in their pantheon. The polytheists overlap greatly with pantheists/panentheists as seeing the universe as part/whole of the gods. Polytheistic Satanism can also be subdivided as soft polytheists or hard polytheists. Soft Polytheists see the gods as facets of the whole, each god a part, or personality, of the whole. Hard Polytheists see the gods as separate entities from each other, distinct beings in their own right.

Theistic Satanists as a whole tend to agree that Satan wants a more equal relationship with His followers. One of a mentor/student than like that of the Abrahamic gods relationship with its followers; which is seen as one of control and repression. As such, self-development is important to theistic satanists who see it as Satan’s will for us to exercise individuality and freedom of thought.

Theistic Satanism, united in a belief of Satan, do not all adhere to the same system of morality. It is believed that Satan does not dictate rules and behaviors for His followers other than that of person responsibility, everything else is for the individual to decide for themselves. Without personal responsibility, no one can lay claim to their victories or failures and can’t be rewarded or punished accordingly and so will not grow as Satan wills it.

Like any believe system, theistic satanism is complex and is diverse as its followers so this is by no means a complete definition of theistic satanism, but hopefully it can serve as a basis for understanding for those who need it. As an often-misunderstood path, it behooves all who call themselves Satanists to be educated on the subject and to educate others who are not enlightened on what exactly theistic satanism entails.

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The Complete Book of Demonolatry

The Complete Book of Demonolatry marks my first order from http://www.lulu.com/, and I have to that I am satisfied with their service. I've mentioned elsewhere that lulu is a print of demand (POD)publisher so I was expecting a delay in getting the book since it had to be printed first. I ordered it on a Thursday night and it arrived a week later on Friday morning which made me quite happy. Anyway, onto the review:

Positive: The title of this book did not lie, this really is the complete book of demonolatry. It doesn't take it for granted that the reader knows anything about demonolatry so it starts from the beginning with a definition of demons and demonolatry, walks you through the history and then plunges right into the good stuff (not saying that the definitions and history isn't any good!) - the meat and potatoes of demon worship. The practicality of the book was quite amazing; an example - the book has a ritual where it has the practitioner sprinkle sand at the cardinal points and mentions that if you have carpet in your ritual chamber that it would be best just to sprinkle the sand into a bowl set at those points. I love it when the author of magical tomes live in the real world!

Neutral: The book delves a bit into Hermetics. While the author mentions that Hermetics is important in demonolatry, it still left me a little perplexed. I didn't quite get it but it wasn't too put out since the book directed me towards some good resources to learn more.

Negative: I don't have the book in front of me as I write this review so I can't give specifics, but I'm pretty sure I spotted one typo somewhere near the end of the book. If you are like me and are not bothered by one typo then just forget about this section.

Overall, this title was a great read packed with more information that I thought possible.

I rate it 9.5/10

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Religious Freedom

I thought I'd mention religious freedom today since it crossed my mind when I was talking to Magistra_Y over here. Too often I see or hear of people of a Left-Hand Path leaning attach and ridicule others of the same leaning. This is upsetting when you think of all the other religious paths that attack us. There are too many people who see us as evil and wrong as it is and would happily see us not be 'allowed' to practice our faith.

The good people over at OFS-Demonolatry have a great page all about religious freedom that you should really check out: http://www.ofs-demonolatry.org/religiousfreedom.htm

This is a short post today since I got 'The Complete Book of Demonolatry' in the mail yesterday and I want to get back to reading it. A review will come in the next few days!