What type of Satanist?

Invariably, before we can approach the subject which is stated above, we need to talk about something else. To any belief, organization, social movement, or field of study, there are four basic levels, complete with sub-levels and sub-categories we need not concern ourselves with here, that take place. Before one can state that something is "healthy" or "unhealthy", we need to figure out which level of association is being achieved. Some of these states can be mixed and matched, i.e. someone can be both a fan and a loner, a loner and a wannabe, etc. The only non-mixable state is the healthy association and any other, mainly because all three of the previous states are in some way dependant upon this person. Let's take a look.

The Fan

The fan is the heart and soul of any organization, whether they and the people they support know it or not. Without the fans of baseball, particularly the ones who rush to the games, buy the athletic sports gear, the equipment the celebrities endorse, etc., the game would crash to a grinding halt, the World of baseball would collapse, and no matter how much athletic talent was displayed, the sport itself would soon cease to exist as anything more than an antique memory in people's minds. The fan will buy all the books, buy any equipment, tell his friends and people he's only just met about whatever it is that is particularly attractive to this person, even if only having a moderate or mild grasp on the subject. Name-dropping is more important to this person than actual performance or ability, which is fine with them. They want to be whomever they are emulating and adoring, but they lack any self-discipline or real desire to achieve more than the status of a worshipper. Their function and value cannot be understated though, as the old business maxim "Sell it by the zealot" is speaking directly about these people. Their contagious desire and fevor, even if annoying, yields more gross product than any other group.

The Wannabe

The most useless of all levels of association. Unlike the fan, the wannabe does nothing to keep the organization or idea going, nor is the wannabe particularly inclined to get people to read books, go to seminars, or spread the organization/ideas in any manner. The wannabe is the type who may have read the first paragraph of the introduction to Nietzsche's AntiChrist, and now wants to be known as a foremost philosophical expert. While the fan will buy equipment, t-shirts, pens, etc. for the sake of having them and promoting the organization or group, the wannabe will not be bothered by such trivial things. They only want to be known inside their own mind. Often, they like to use catchy-phrases which evoke responses within the crowd themselves so that they often have mantra's of often repeated words which are "unknown" to the outsider. In Satanism, these are usually the people who will go on ad infinitum about "herd mentality", "Left-hand path", etc., without ever understanding the implications of these terms. A fan might progress beyond a fan into healthy association, many do, but a wannabe is usually just a wannabe. Once some particular inclination has lost their fancy, they switch to a new category to be the wannabe yet again. Since they aren't particularly fervant, but generally annoying, they will do more to drive away potential inductees to a group or idea because they misrepresent it to the potential people.

The Loner

The loner isn't quite as bad as the Wannabe, but still fairly useless. The loner is the type who wants only bare minimal effort to be put forth in order to "be" something. You know the type, the ones who graduated from high school with a 1.2 grade average, pass their P.T. tests in the Army with a 182, slide through college by sucking up and getting on the "curve". Typically, loners tend to be the biggest braggarts about their accomplishments, and a conversation between a loner and a wannabe is always a classic. Loners rarely join organizations which require effort, so to get a loner, the standards for acceptance must be as minimal as they themselves are. If you ask them to put forth real productive effort, they will complain, wail, and throw fits, complaining about the system, standards, and regulations which they themselves cannot ever meet. They can't meet this standard not because of an inability, but an insufficient drive and self-determination.

Healthy Association

The rare breed, the select few, and the ones who stick out the most. Those with healthy association tend to stick out from the pack, because they work hard and are typically more modest about their achievements. According to a Buddhist adage, hard work humbles the soul, and most have worked hard and long to get where they are. Because they have worked hard, they've seen others who have as well, and this knowledge of others who exceed or meet their abilities keeps their egos in check. The fan wants to worship them, the wannabe wants to be them, and the loner wants to be recognized as equal with them. While loners typically have to run about looking for praise, someone with healthy assocation is usually asked to become an honorary member, or receive acknowledgement for their accomplishment off the sheer face value of who they are.

Now we can ask, what type of Satanist?

We now come full circle so that with the definitions above provided, we can ask what type of Satanists are really out there. I include Luciferians in this list along with calling them Satanists because most Luciferians are really Satanists who have just become ticked off at Lavey. Many just substitute the word "Lucifer" for "Satan", while still paying lip service to the same ideas that Lavey did. Some have deviated from Lavey, but many have not. This is a condensced list, but fairly comprehensive:

Archetypical Satanists: An archetypical Satanist is someone who sees Satan as an archetype of a higher ideal or order. Archetypical Satanists are not just symbolic, they may also be literal Satanists who believe that Satan is both a real principle and an archetype.

Symbolic Satanists: Symbolic Satanists see Satan as purely a symbol of something. He may be a Promethean symbol of learning and knowledge, the catalyst symbol of questioning all causes and bringing forth knowledge, or he may be the symbol fo the undertrodden, those whom do not have a voice.

Pantheistic Satanists: Pantheistic Satanists tend to see Satan as the Universe in and of itself, or as a dark force which pervades the Universe unintelligible to the human knowledge. Most pantheistic Satanists "feel" Satan and have experiences outside the range of human perception as their proof of Satan. Pantheistic Satanists may or may not be literal Satanists, some are symbolic Satanists who feel that the "All is One", and thus Satan and God are both equally part of this one, which is the Universe.

Literal Satanists: The better term used by Priest Geifodd is "Diabolists". This term was used to describe the simple people of the Middle Ages who may have or have not actually believed in a literal Satan. Most evidence points to the negative of this, and that the belief was manufactured by scared Church theologians who realized that both the Church and the people were starting to disbelieve in core tenants, (i.e. the literal existence of a devil), of the Catholic Church, and thus literally invented a religion. As such, the former term used to convey this idea, "Traditional Satanism", is highly erroneous. Since even if it existed we have almost no information about it, there's no tie-in to any "tradition". Diabolists or Literal Satanists applies to any group which believes in the metaphysical existence of a being that is called Satan.

Setians: Setians believe that this metaphysical being is called "Set". This is named after the Egyptian God who lost his place in Egyptian mythology to another rival God worshipped with him named Horus. The goal of Setians is largely derived from Aleister Crowley to have K&C (Knowledge and Coversation) with Set, and thus "enshrine consciousness". Some Thelemites have had very strong objections to the teachings of Acquino, the founder of the Temple of Set.

Evil Satanists: Yes, they are around now, much to my extreme dismay. I do have to mention them. Evil Satanists are a term I gave to them, (one Christian called them "Psychotic Satanists", and the defintion would certainly fit), who see Satan as pure evil. They worship this pure evil, and want to become one with the pure evil. (Which asks that age-old philosophical question, if something is pure evil can it exist? Is existence a good thing? Existence can be argued as being good because non-existence does not have the possibility of having a good life, while existence does, whether or not it is achieved, thus, between non-existence and existence, existence is good. That's not necessarily my take on it, but it matters little). Unfortunately for them, as Milton found out, the real Satan of the scriptures serves little purpose, he's a horrible literary character. Ack, what to do? Draw upon the Universal Man of Evil, none other than Hitler. Typically, these Satanists will have altars with Hitler on them, attend Neo-Nazi meetings, and have "invocations to Hitler". They haven't really encroached the United States, (thankfully), but are prominent in Europe. Of their claim to fame, they like to burn FreeMason lodges, Jewish synagogues, and Christian Churches. No religion deserves discrimination against it, but if that organization encourages actions which are harmful to fellow human beings, then they are guilty of nothing less than conspiracy to commit felonies. Thus, my personal view is that these idiots should be branded and labeled for the trash they are, and persecuted to the extent of the law unless they decide to quit engaging in criminal behaviors and encouraging the behavior in criminal activities. Also, don't believe them when they claim "linages" going back hundreds of years, the vast majority have only been around for less than five years now, (2002).

Gnostic Satanists: Gnostic Satanists tend to view Satan as a literal hero. It is directly from Gnosticism where the God of this World is an evil ogre who causes suffering. Rebelling against him, though weaker, is an Angel or God whom wants to restore order to the World. This may either be Satan or Lucifer.