It seems the newcomer's intro is a recurring topic here. I'll throw mine into the cauldron as well. I'm sure the more seasoned of you have read this "testimony" in the words of countless others. As the old preface goes: Stop me if you've heard this one.

I'd read bits and parts of the Satanic Bible years before, with a closed mind, just looking to find flaws. Ignorance is it's own lesser magic and of course I was able to find what I was looking for, thus deciding that LaVey and his teachings were a waste of time. My own nature kept drawing me back and it was recently that I decided to abandon my raging skepticism to really understand what Satanism was about.

Upon suggestion, I obtained The Satanic Bible, The Satanic Rituals, and The Devil's Notebook. I started with The Satanic Bible, deciding not to look for anything, letting the words speak for themselves. In a day I'd finished the book, and turned to the other books with the same enthusiasm, unable to put them down. The effect of what I was reading, was highly unexpected. As a pessimist, one who challenges everything to find his own way of thought, it was the first time I read something that even I couldn't dispute. Truth is undeniable and has a way of sinking into even the most headstrong nonbeliever.

It was as if all my thoughts and ideas had been taken from my head and put into words. Learning more about LaVey spawned a respect for the man that I'd never think I'd have. He was no longer just a mirror version of the Crosstitute world complete with his own brand of irrational insanities, but a deeply interesting and worldly individual whom from which a revolution in the before desolate field of common sense had been spawned.

The books I read just made sense, and it occurred to me that I'd been living as a Satanist in some fashion or another, even as a child. I was born a Satanist and through Crosstitution and Societal spellcraft I'd temporarily lost that way during my younger years. As I grew out of it, much like a snake shedding skin once too large to it, those Satanist views were brought to the surface, stronger than before. It wasn't until a deep study of LaVey's three literary offerings that I grew to understand that Satanism was the name for it. That revelation brought a clarity I'd never known before. I could always "see", but with the knowledge I obtained, I could see more clearly and understand what I was seeing. The Satanist was reborn, and once the demons have opened the gates there is no turning back....

That wasn't skepticism you were operating from then.

It was the assumption that you already knew everything about "life, the universe, and everything" (to quote from Douglas Adams).

Now you are operating from a more legitimate skeptical perspective.

You are looking at what is as opposed to what you or others think should be.

Welcome to reality as it is.

Don't assume you already fully understand it.

Any honest physicist out there will tell you that you don't!

And that is half the fun!

Welcome!

I have recently been re-shifting a lot of things in my life as well. Really I do not think there is ever a moment one can come to a conclusion of being "finished" while still breathing. Life is an on going process and the moment we decide to stop changing as need be is the moment we stop living life. Some people are content with the way things are for them but being content does not exactly mean stopping. By nature the Satanist seeks out pleasure, the indulgences of life.

So in closing I had a dream two nights ago and someone very close to me appeared in my dream and he said something that I think is very appropriate for what we are discussing here. The reason why there is adversity in life is because of our poor choices and the lack of change. So if Satanism is what works for you then great! If you find yourself consistently making bad choices even after the fact then maybe it is time to move on.

Welcome!

Congratulations on your return to sanity. May you embrace the life-affirming power within, and destroy all those who would seek to drain it from you!

Hail Satan!

As long as you don't actually believe in the demons opening the gates, then I welcome you. Nice outro!

If I did I certainly wouldn't be here