Salutations! Let me start by saying that until today, I actually believed that Satanists worshipped the Judeo-Christian devil. I now know that this is quite laughable. However, my misconception was due to both media portrayal and vestiges of my own enforced "Holy Roller" roots, so I hope you can forgive my ignorance.

Anyways, I was quite surprised by what I've read about the COS on Wikipedia and several other places. The general philosophy doesn't appear to differ much from my own, and I love the unabashed stance on stupidity. Making it the #1 cardinal sin was truly a stroke of genius. Also I love the dark and gritty vibe that the religion (more of a philosophy?) gives off as a whole, it's much darker than Atheism or even Nihilism.

My research has been admitedly quite limited though, and I had some questions. I figured it'd be best to ask actual practicing Satanists to see if I'm compatible with Satanism before I invested too much time and money into books and whatnot. I apologize in advance if any of my questions are ignorant or offensive, I truly do want to learn more about Satanism though.

1. About the whole magic aspect, what is the general belief as to its efficacy? I mean, I can completely understand the value of ritual, and the curses seem like they'd be a great way to let hatred run its course or even revel in it without breaking any laws. I simply cannot bring myself to believe that it actually has supernatural reprecussions though. I'm totally on board with what little I know of "lesser magic", it's just the "greater magic" that troubles me.

2. Exactly how many Satanist's are there? I apologize if this is general information that I didn't bother to look up, but I'm just trying to get an idea of how lonely I'd be. Being the only one in my area sounds like a rather depressing experience.

3. What would my monetary compulsions be (if any?). I was a Christian for most of my life, and their standard is 10% as well as guilt induced offerings. However, from what little I understand about Satanists, it seems to me that if someone demanded 10%+ percent of their income said person would be promptly bitchslapped

4. Is LaVey pronounced Lah-vey or Lay-vee, I only ask because my last name is spelled the same but pronounced in the second way. Every time someone googles me they always get pictures of Anton!

Thank you in advance for the help!

First and foremost, have you read The Satanic Bible? If you haven't, begin there. If you see yourself reflected in those pages, you may well be a Satanist if you do.

There is no compatibility test. Either you are one, or you aren't.

As to your other questions:

#1 - Satanists do not believe. Satanists know. And Satanists know by testing and doing. Explore this "Questions" area of the LTTD for queries on Magic; you are not the first to ask. If you have read The Satanic Bible, you would know there is nothing supernatural about Greater Magic. Do your homework first.

http://www.satannet.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showthreaded&Number=401490

#2 - No one knows. And The Church of Satan does not reveal membership numbers, nor does it automatically place members in touch with each other. Satanists do not congregate. Once in a while some may decide to get together, but for the most part, Satanists are on their own. If you are looking for a congregation, a place where weekly meetings are held, this isn't the place.

#3 - Have you visited the Church of Satan website? Membership in the COS is a one time $200.00, and that's it. Membership is not required in order to be a Satanist.

#4 - The first one.


You admittedly know little about Satanists. So, first order of the day, read The Satanic Bible. Then, everything at the Church of Satan website. You should then comprehend your questions aren't new and have been asked countless times before by people who just didn't bother to research and study first.

Thank you very much for the timely and informative response. You are correct in surmising that I have not read the Satanic bible. While I'm certainly not averse to reading, I do try to avoid reading that I feel is a complete waste of my time. For instance, I wouldn't go buy a Book of Mormon or a Quran or anything written by any of the various political pundits out there. However, it seems to me that the Satanic Bible has many intriguing philosophical concepts that warrant further investigation on my part.

I am aware that Satanist's don't have churches or that sort of thing, and I believe I understand the rationale behind it. I really do have to applaud the lack of fundraising on your part though. It seems like most religions stress money (and recruitment, which is often equivalent to it) above all other things. I've already been witnessed to twice this week by Christians of differing denominations. The optional, one time $200 payment really lends to the credibility of the organization as a whole.

I greatly admire the pragmatic approach that seems to be taken by Satanists with regards to doing things that work and not doing things that don't work. You would not believe the number of times people relying on faith pray for people with terminal illnesses, watch them die, then rationalize it in their minds and do it again. I apologize in advance if this question is offensive, but would you mind sharing with me a time when greater magic worked for you? I assume it must have many times already for you to know that it works, and I find the topic extremely interesting.

I regret being so poorly informed and will definately take a look at more material. I suppose the only thing I can say in my defence is that I was attempting to do some "preemptive research" by getting a response from one of you before I really commited to hours of bookworming. Thank you again for your time!

You are most welcome.

Once you have done more reading, especially The Satanic Bible, many of the questions you have will be answered, and if you still require clarification, you may ask here - as a better informed person.

The Satanic Bible is very affordable and does not take long to read.

Doing that is the minimum required to understand Satanism.

You may surprised at how much you enjoy it.

But until you have read it, answering questions beyond what Magister Phineas has already answered becomes a waste of time for us.

The archive of questions and official answers in this forum is extensive - at least read those till you have that book in your hot little hands.

I can honestly say my opinion of any group of people has never increased so rapidly in a single day. I woke up thinking you killed babies and drank goat blood, as I had for most of my life. Needless to say, you aren't half bad

If, upon reading the Satanic bible, I have more questions, I'll be sure to post them in OTHER threads in this same forum. After reading some questions, and some of the many posts about the subject, I can see how much you Moderators love that Hopefully I'll have more than an inkling of knowledge about what's going on next time we converse, the advice is much appreciated.

I would just add that whilst the Satanic Bible is indeed not a difficult read, one does find that subtle complexities are revealed to us upon repeated readings over many years.