As I understand it, The CoS and its philosophy, considers Satan to be nothing more than that a symbol of man, or to be pc, mankind. or something more akin to a hidden force which drives or compels man to act. I have read that Dr Lavey would, at times, refer to Satan as "the man down stairs" giving me the impression that perhaps maybe he did feel that there was some sentience to this Image we call Satan. may I have some of your thoughts on this for clairification?
I tend to think of Satan as an Idea, a concrete noun that, whether sentient or not - doesn't really matter, because the Idea itself has a powerful effect upon the minds of poeple, even more so, the use of this Idea by an individual can greatly influence the minds and actions of others. Yet, sometimes I get a strong feeling that there is some kind of conscious life behind this Idea. Does this become "theistic" Satanism, and is it incompatable with the CoS and it's members?
Thank you,
Paul

What was so unclear about this? I suspect you are reading what you want to read into the words of Anton LaVey.

Satanists do not believe in any external deities. No Satan, no demons, no Make Make the bird god. Nothing. Nor do we take some Hobbesian Leviathan view of Satan as a self-conscious memetic being living in the minds of millions of people yet possessed of a will.

If you believe in any such thing you are not a Satanist. End of story.

What about the Temple of Set, I know of some religeous Satanists with it's walls. Although not all are such, some have chosen that path and still co-exist amongst those of us who follow the CoS path. Just a question.

Go here , read High Priest Gilmore's article "Pretenders to the Throne" found in the Theory-Practice section.

Read this.

Good clarification, I hadn't read that article.

Why tolerate bullshit?

Why "co-exist" with clueless fools who potentially devalue the name by applying it to themselves without any coherent appreciation of its meaning?

I don't tolerate it, as long as they don't burden me with thier fairy tales then I'm not worried about it. Step to me and try to impose your crap on me and I will politely ask you to stop, then if you refuse to stop, I will destroy you. Plain and simple, I do find that Diabolicon thing entertaining though. That took some imagination.

After reading the replies and the materials in the links provided, I suddenly feel like the poster boy for the stupid person of the year award. It's been a good seven years since I've read the Satanic Bible. I should have re-read it and the materials on the CoS website before asking any questions. I can see now that I seriously need to un-learn all the 'satanic theology' I've been filling my head with the last few years - much of coming from the temple of set. And it is true, they claim to be the continuation of the original Church of Satan, and that they are "the Church of Satan grown up." The decision I now have to make is do I want to give up the gods and the religious dogma that has been ruling my life and start rule it myself, or do I want to to continue letting this crap cloud my mind as well as empty my wallet. Hmmm..... An interesting choice indeed. Reminds me of the red and blue pill in the Matrix.