What is Satanism – Really? And What Isn’t? An Academic Assessment

I completed and published my fifth academic paper on March 3, 2023. For some years, the subject of Satanism as a new religious movement has been one of my academic interests, and my other four papers are also on the same general subject.

My fifth paper, “By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them: A Proposed Framework By Which To Understand & Categorize Self-proclaimed Christian ‘Occult Experts’“, discusses the sort of people who build their careers on spreading slanderous and inaccurate material about Satanism as a new religious movement (NRM) – the Christian self-proclaimed “expert in Satanism”, and explorers why.

Satanism happens to be one of those controversial subjects that causes many people to recoil or to react with disgust – typically without them really knowing what it’s all about, or without them even trying to. Of course, given what little they do know about it – and what has been fed to them, how can one really blame them? After all, they only know what they’ve been told from the pulpit, or via some prattling Christian TV preacher – distilled through decades of pop-culture media disinformation, out-of-touch-with-reality law-enforcement fantasy and religious fanatic bullshit.

But they’ve read the papers, listened to those late-night Christian radio talk shows, and watched Kobus Jonker appearing on Sunday night SABC TV shows, so what more could they possibly need to know about the sticky subject of Satanism and the occult?

A lot, as it turns out.

Would you like to know how you’ve been hoodwinked and lied to for all the years of your life? Would you like to know the truth? Well, now you can.

What follows is an explanation of what Satanism is – not from a prejudiced Christian perspective, but from a factual, realistic academic viewpoint. You are free to read it without any sense of shame or guilt!

What is Satanism – Really?

For the sake of brevity, this will be the very simplest explanation of “what Satanism is” that I can give to you without writing an entire book on the subject in here! If you think I’m exaggerating, I assure you, I’m not – I’ve already written several!

In order to explain “what Satanism is” to someone unfamiliar with religious Satanism, I will very briefly discuss three groups:

1. Atheistic Satanism
2. Theistic Satanism
3. Christianity-created pseudo-satanism (CCPS)

Only two of these groups fall under Satanism, while the third does not. I will explain why at the end.

Let’s begin with the two main groups which fall under the description of religious Satanism.

1. Atheistic Satanism

All modern Satanism has its origins in the Church of Satan, founded in San Francisco in 1966 by Anton LaVey. Philosophical guidelines such as LaVey’s “The Satanic Bible” laid down the basics of atheistic Satanism in 1969, and was added to in subsequent books. Atheistic Satanists revere life above all things, and therefore beliefs that “Satanists sacrifice cats or babies to the Devil” wholly contradict the ethos and principles of atheistic Satanism.

As the name suggests, atheistic Satanists do not worship Satan in the sense of worshiping a literal deity – they don’t believe in the Devil in the Christian sense, as a literal spiritual being that exists, nor do they believe in the Christian heaven or a hell. Nor do they believe in the existence of the Christian God, or Jesus. They don’t actually believe in angels or demons either. One way to understand atheistic Satanism is to understand it as a kind of atheist philosophy of self-indulgence and self-empowerment.

Their belief structure centers around a belief system focused on indulgence and pleasure rather than piety and self-denial. As a philosophy, atheistic Satanists replace the object of worship – i.e. a god – with themselves. In that sense, they are their own higher power – and in line with that view, nobody can be blamed for their failures or successes but themselves. In the atheistic Satanist outlook, there is no “god” to be worshipped or placated other than the self, there is no demand for sacrifice, and no abdication of accountability for ones’ own actions.

2. Theistic Satanism

Theistic Satanism has its modern origins in a split within the membership of the Church of Satan (CoS), which occurred in 1975. The two divergent groups consisted of atheists on the one hand, and theists on the other. The atheistic faction retained the Church of Satan, while the theists went on to form the Temple of Set (ToS).

You will note that this segment on theistic Satanism is somewhat longer than the previous one on atheistic Satanism; this is because there is a good deal more to understand about theistic Satanism, and because atheistic Satanism is a good deal simpler and easier to understand.

Theistic Satanists, as the name suggests, worship a deity. In general, while this deity is often referred to as “Satan”, theistic Satanism takes on different forms. Because they are theistic, their beliefs are more complex to explain and abbreviate, precisely because as a sub-group they are so diverse. According to Diane Vera, a theistic Satanist and a prolific source of information about theistic Satanism,

“Theistic Satanists hold a wide variety of different beliefs as to who and what Satan is. Some are pantheistic, some are polytheistic, and some are Gnostic-based, among other possibilities.”

 “Our god, Satan, is really Set, Enki, or some other ancient pre-Abrahamic god, but was called ‘Satan’ by Christians and/or by the ancient Hebrews. So, ‘Satan’ is the name by which He is best known today. (Theistic Satanists who answer the question this way usually stop calling themselves ‘Satanists’ at some point, in favor of calling themselves Setians, Enkians, etc.)” – Diane Vera.

The most well-known theistic Satanist church or organization is the Temple of Set, founded by Michael A. Aquino in 1975. This group was formed by a split within the Church of Satan, resulting from divergent views on who Satan was (“metaphor” versus “real”), and how it ought to be worshiped, or at all. Unlike their atheistic counterparts at the Church of Satan, Aquino and his Setians did not revel in the open association of their faith with Christian imagery – and also adopted Set as the origin-figure of the Satanic myth, and belief in it as a real extant supernatural being. The image of Set as a deity has also evolved from that of “Satan” as represented by Christian doctrine.

I’d like to make a quick mention of Luciferianism. Luciferianism is often included with Satanism because the figure or deity after which it takes its name is often associated with Satanism, and typically because of the Christian view that Satan and Lucifer are one and the same thing, but this view is not generally shared within theistic Satanism.

Luciferians generally don’t view their religion as being part of Satanism, and maintain their own distinct identity. This view is supported by the fact that like Satanism, Luciferianism also comes in atheistic and theistic forms, which also serves to complicate understanding for the layman.

To quote Diane Vera again,

“Lucifer is typically seen as both a bringer of spiritual enlightenment and a champion of individual liberty. Some Luciferians are also strongly influenced by LaVeyan Satanism or by the Temple of Set paradigm, though most are not.”

There is some level of overlap then, between atheistic and theistic Satanism, not the least of which seems to be a bleed-through of LaVeyan philosophy and references to “The Satanic Bible”. While this is so, the other commonality between atheistic and theistic Satanists is their rejection of Christine doctrine and scriptures (The Bible).

1a & 2a. Types of Satanists

It is important to mention that, like Christians (or indeed adherents of any religion) there are different types of Satanists. By that, I refer to differences between individuals and how best they feel they could or should exercise their beliefs.

Satanism is not designed for collectives, but rather more for individuals. Although there are philosophies or views within the broader Satanic community which suggest group identity and group opinions and even occasionally, group activities, the core philosophy of Satanism (NRM) is introspective and focuses on the good of the self. This makes belonging to organizations or even little groups superfluous and unnecessary to the Satanist. A solitary practitioner can achieve the same level of gratification on their own, without assistance, as they might in a group – if not more so.

Nevertheless, there are still those who would prefer to participate in groups, be led, for example, in rituals and so forth, and feel drawn to join local organizations for that purpose. Some view Satanic religious organizations (such as the CoS and ToS or Satanic Temple et al) as being useful or satisfying to belong to, even at long distance – as one might find solace in belonging to an association or union of some sort.

Note: These two groups, as I said earlier, form part of religious Satanism, representing the two main paths or philosophical systems under the umbrella term of Satanism – theism and atheism.

This brings us to the third group, which does not form part of Satanism as a religious movement, and the reasons why this is so will become apparent in the process of the explanation of the beliefs and practices of Christianity-created pseudo-satanism.

3. Christianity-created pseudo-satanism (CCPS)

This group will bear the most explanation, because it and its implications are so convoluted and complex.

What this group is, is a stereotype – one that has been generated by years and years of negative reinforcement within the Christian church as a whole – which presents Satanism as the biblical antithesis of Christianity, in effect literal Devil worship.

In this perspective, Satanism is the enemy of God, Christ, churches, Christians, and all that is good; it is the classic stereotype of the tabloid prophecy fulfiller and reverse-Christian.

The term “reverse Christianity” implies that Satanists are people who worship and follow the Devil as an actual entity working for the downfall of humanity in the Biblical notion of the celestial warfare portrayed as taking place between God and Satan. According to this view, the Devil’s followers partake in all manner of bizarre and even criminal behavior, such as sacrificing animals and children to the Christian idea of the Devil, indulging in cruelty and wanton destructiveness. This trope also contends that Satanists spend their valuable time infiltrating Christian churches and conspiring to bring down Christian clergy.

This all forms part of the larger stereotype which portrays Satanists as criminals, who commit both abominable (ritual) crimes and secular crimes such as murder, kidnapping, illegal drug use, etc. as part of their Satanic worship or faith, and so on.

“Reverse Christianity” then, is when people believe in the exact same religious framework (God, Jesus, the Bible, angels, demons, the Devil, heaven, hell etc.) as Christians do – but from the opposite direction, and while rooting for the alleged villain instead of the alleged hero.

As the name “Christianity-created pseudo-satanism” suggests, this archetype was created within Christianity and by Christians – and it is not Satanism, but false, imitation, symbolic, or pseudo-satanism.

A revealing characteristic of Christianity-created pseudo-satanism is that pseudo-satanists – those who were fooled into believing that they are Satanists because according to the mythos, Satanists believe or do a, b, c – use the Christian Bible and Christian dogma as a basis for their beliefs, albeit in reverse: they refer to Christianity in the process of forming their ideas of “Satan” and “Satanism”, and to discern or divine “what Satan wants”.

A clear example of this can be found in the trial of Kirsty Theologo’s murderers, in which pseudo-satanists used a Christian bible as a prop in a made-up ritual in which the teenager was tragically set alight by her friends in a misguided and pointless ritual.

Despite the fact that this tragic exercise in ignorance had nothing to do with Satanism proper, as it was purely based in the myth of Christianity-created pseudo-satanism, SA law enforcement treated it immediately as though it were “Satanic” – closely followed by barrage of claims of “Satanism” in the press coverage.

The crux of the matter is, the definition of a pseudo-satanist is someone who identifies with and acts out what they believe is Satanism, based on what they’ve been told (by the Christian Church) Satanism is.

What this describes, in essence, is Christian Devil-worship, or “reverse Christianity”, not Satanism.

You see, Satanism originated and operates OUTSIDE of Christianity, while pseudo-satanism is operated entirely from within Christianity. I say this because in spite of efforts to educate Christian scholars and clergy on the errors of their assumptions, they persist in stoking the fires of Christianity-created pseudo-satanism.

In fact, when confronted by the fruit of their own labors in the form of pseudo-satanists setting fire to children or killing cats in graveyards, they double-down on their claims because it is evidence to support their fallacy! It’s real, they cry – and intensify their preaching of the lie, in so doing, inspiring the creation of yet more pseudo-satanists.

Christianity-created pseudo-satanism, you see, has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and in their minds it is real because people damaged by their CCPS experiences keep coming forward to tell of their experiences – which remarkably resemble everything the source of the self-fulfilling prophecy has said “Satanism” is.

When it comes to the differences between atheistic Satanism and pseudo-satanism (what Christians believe Satanism is) these are fairly clear and relatively simple to understand – if anyone influenced by the CCPS myth spares the time to listen with an open mind – but the water gets somewhat murkier when it comes to the differences between CCPS and theistic Satanism. Even so, in brief, there are significant differences between how Christians perceive Satanism and how actual theistic Satanists do.

For theistic Satanists, the distinction between being genuinely separate from “devil-worshipers” or “reverse-Christians” often is why many of them prefer to identify themselves as “Luciferians” or “Setians” instead, because that falls more in line with their views of who their god is, in contrast to the Christian connotations.

It’s worth mentioning that this sort of separation from the Christian notion of “Satanism” seldom occurs among tabloid prophecy fulfillers or pseudo-Satanists. They readily identify themselves as “Satanists” based on the delusion that the Christian Devil is the “Satan” which they have been worshiping, and that this is what they have been practicing.

Pseudo-Satanists (the people who kill cats and kidnap babies to sacrifice to the devil) don’t mind being associated with the Christian idea of Satan and the Devil, because this falls in line with their perception of Satanism – that of “reverse-Christianity” – which has been created, ultimately – and ironically, by Christians.

I can say with confidence that both theistic and atheistic Satanists generally view pseudo-satanists or “devil-worshipers” with distaste. Why? Well, because they give both groups a bad name – they commit crimes out of their distorted understanding of Satanism and attract the negative attention of the media and law enforcement, add to the “tabloid prophecy fulfiller” myth, and invariably cause the real, religious Satanists to be tarred with the same brush.

The last group are not viewed as genuine Satanists by theistic or atheistic Satanists – instead, they’re viewed as “reverse-Christians” and frauds, fakes and pretenders who just don’t “get it”.

Even so, in South Africa (and in some places abroad) this absolute misrepresentation of “what Satanism is” – in the form of the “reverse-Christian” myth – continues to be kept alive and spread by Christian activists in spite of any attempts to correct them. In my experience, they either don’t know any better – or don’t want to. Which says a lot about them as people.

In Conclusion

In closing, if you enjoyed this article or found the subject to be of interest and would like to explore the academic angle of discrimination against minority religions further, I’d like to suggest that you read the following of my articles as well:

• “Satanism: The Acid Test” (2013)
• “Satanism vs Pseudo-satanism: Disambiguation And Argument Against Conflation From Within Religious Satanism” (2021)
• “A Date With The Devil – Occult & Satanic Calendars Debunked” (2021)
• “Devil’s Advocate: The 666 Gangs – Why They Aren’t Satanists, How They Distorted South African Law Enforcement’s Perception Of Occult Religions, & The Consequences” (2021)
• “By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them: A Proposed Framework By Which To Understand & Categorize Self-proclaimed Christian ‘Occult Experts’” (2023)

If you want to know more about Satanism as a religion, then get EDUCATED – and by that I mean don’t waste your time reading Christian material on the subject because it is biased and full of misrepresentation.