"Man hs always created his own gods"
Other than yourself, what are your Gods (If any), what do they inspire in you? Do they have an image which you created in your mind? If so, please describe

The first two chapters of the book of Lucifer in LaVey's "The Satanic Bible" should give you a clue.

To quote from "The God you save may be Yourself!": "He {Man} has created an entire
system of gods with nothing more than his carnal brain. Just because he has an ego,
and cannot accept it, he has to externalize it into some great spiritual device which he
calls "God"."

I, for one, can accept the fact I have an ego and do not require the search for mythological figures or external "Gods".
I have mentors, sure - but nothing in the "guru" sense of the word.

The only Gods I call are deified-personifications of the self represented by the Infernal Names during Psychodramatic activities.

I was created from the union between Man and Woman, how about you? If you had read the Satanic Bible, you would know that, as a Satanist, I am my own "God".

Hail!

I believe that line simply means that all religions are created by man. All gods are created in the image of the man/men who create them - not that we all have our own personal gods, aside from ourselves.

>>"Man hs always created his own gods"
>>Other than yourself, what are your Gods (If any), what do
>>they inspire in you?

The full sentence in the book is "Man has always created his gods, rather than his gods creating him." It seems to me (though I could be wrong) that you just took the first half and misread it to mean "People always actively create their own gods." But as the chapter explains, deities are just a human creation, more specifically the projection of the ego (self). So worshipping deity is really just worshipping one or more people by proxy.

Other than yourself, what are your Gods (If any), what do they inspire in you? Do they have an image which you created in your mind? If so, please describe.

You may want to reword your question, and if you did, I think it could be a very interesting one. The way it is currently worded implies that Satanists do not have an active "disbelief" system. Satanists do not believe in external deities, but rather, recognize themselves as god.

When in ritual setting, these disbeliefs are temporarily put on hold to conduct a more stimulating ritual. This is a concious decision on the part of the Satanist. He decides to temporarily believe in the gods he chooses. This is so that when performing the ritual, a level of emotional energy can be reached which is conductive to the goals of the ritual. After the ritual, the disbelief falls firmly back into place.

As said before, the way your question is worded, you are addressing the Satanists of this board as being devout believers in gods 24-7.

Perhaps it would be more productive to ask:
As a Satanist, what gods do you invoke in your ritual chamber that are not readily found in TSB? Where do they come from and why? Are there any which are purely inventions of your own?

I could easily see many responding to this one with some interesting replies. Perhaps there are Satanists who have experimented or at least thought about experimenting with more modern fictional "gods". A "Hellraiser" ritual where one solves a puzzle in order to invoke Xipe Totec (Pinhead) within a square of black candles, preferably in an attic. (I know I've thought about that one.)

Perhaps for us geeks out there, maybe even a Klingon ritual invoking either Kalis (a brutal version of a once mortal deity who definitely wasn't into turning the other cheek) or Fek'lhr (the Klingon equivalent of Satan), whichever floats your boat.

Just two examples. Does anyone have any others?

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Perhaps for us geeks out there, maybe even a Klingon ritual invoking either Kalis (a brutal version of a once mortal deity who definitely wasn't into turning the other cheek) or Fek'lhr (the Klingon equivalent of Satan), whichever floats your boat.

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Okay, I have to nitpick this one. It's Kahless, not Kalis. And Fek'lhr wasn't really the Klingon version of the devil since the Klingons don't have a devil by their own admission. They did allegedly kill their gods. I'm a geek, I know. Ain't it great?

But on that Klingon vein, I used to use a bat'leth (pictured below) in rituals when in I was in High School. Unfortunately, I no longer have it.

Whatever works for a stimulating ritual, I say!

The "belief" and "use" of "Gods" during a ritual, in my opinion, is the externalisation of your own subconscious emotional energy. The ritual is just the "frame" of what you want to achieve. I made a ritual some time ago to get rid of a parasite guy who was bothering me. Actually, it was a very bad ritual, not an eloquently made. But my emotional output was sufficient and I haven't seen this guy in ages, and I am really happy about that. I did not used Enochian, but ancient Greek. Either way, you make it happen.

Let's see...

There's Rodney - the God of Turnips. I created him in the image of...wait for it..a turnip...wearing a sombrero and smoking a cigar.

And Gerald - the God of the bottle opener. I often find myself praying to him very late at night when I'm fumbling hazily around in the kitchen drawer with an unopened bottle of Shiraz.
"Lord Gerry, deliver me, thine humble servant, the sodding corkscrew. Or thy will be done! Where the fuck is it? Amen"

See now when you put it that way, that is a worthy question.
I principally associate with trickster and rebel archetypes, such as Sun Wukong, Loki, Eris, Coyote, Crow, Maui, Puck, etc.
It's an archetype which is often underrated in western cultures, and its representatives either demonised or diminshed in modern western mythology.
In a more individual sense I also focus on select powerful female figures including Babylon, Morgana La Fey, Mab, Morrigan, the bacchante, the valkyries, Macha, Erishkagal, Boudicca, the succubi, Bast etc., as required - and not the declawed neopagan versions either, the real blood-and-guts battle goddesses, whore-queens, demonesses, military leaders, psycho bitches and terrible women.
Also underrated in western cultures and either demonised or diminshed in modern western mythology
I think that the great void of these archetypes and these sorts of figures in modern western mythology and most importantly in the modern western mind lends them a great deal of power. The persistent misinterpretation of them where they do emerge even moreso.

Animals, unwary humans, each other...
The fearsome cult is in reality quite a distance from the more common image of a bunch of trampy lushes wearing vine leaves I sometimes wonder what it must've been like. Imagine the hangover

>Perhaps it would be more productive to ask: As a Satanist,
>what gods do you invoke in your ritual chamber that are
>not readily found in TSB?

Good question. I have a Thoth statuette on my altar, because he's one deity that's typically associated with both mathematics and music, my two big passions. So he's there to personify my natural drive and my talents for these things. I've also made use of "The Beast" from Clive Barker's Cabal and William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Although the two stories were completely different, they both use this concept of "The Beast" to represent what I'd interpret as man's carnal nature. I've incorporated readings from these books into ritual before.

This past Halloween, I was involved in an orgainzed group ritual. It wasn't religion-specific, and as a Satanist I just enjoyed it for the psychodrama of it all. The middle part of the ritual included a meditation on the jack-o-lantern and the Celtic deity that it's supposedly based on. I thought of it representing the spirit of Halloween as I've always known it, and tied into the trickster archetype of devils. My thoughts were that this spirit is something I symbolically "invoke" when I record my radio show every week.

I have been a trekkie since the first show in ;66. Kahless returned in Deep Space Nine as a clone and became Emperor again, Worf helped him convince Gauron it was best for the Empire.
Klingon rituals are perfect for destruction rituals if one can understand the Klingon heart .

This is interesting since I was just talking with a Wiccan supposed High Priestess about this very thing. She told me she could never use Black Magic that all she does is White Magic. Of course, this made me Laugh with the use of Black and White Magic.

As I told her, Satanists can use everything from Egyptian Magic and Gods/Goddesses all the way through to made up Gods/Goddesses. I said we do not limit ourselves to just one type or thing, which puts one into a rut. Since most of the Wicca practitioners that I know are Christians, I always point out to them that no matter what they use in Magic Lesser or Higher Magic that it all falls in the Grey area. Then I tell them to read their own Bible of 2 chronicles 33:6 and they are practicing against their own beliefs. However, I like screwing with Christians who think that by practicing Wicca they are appeasing their God.

On our Alters, we have Tutankhamun, Osiris, Nefertiti, and Isis. I have used Greek, Roman, and Celtic Gods/Goddesses depending on where I am and how I am felling at the time. When near the Ocean I once used Neptune to call my lover back to me. In a Glade once, I called up on Merlin to aid me in my ritual. Therefore, as I say we can use anything at all as long as it brings the right emotion and passion into the ritual.

I am the God of Funny.

Marc Bolan is the God of Hobbit Rock.

That is all.

I have read the satanic bible several times, and if you read my question more attentively, you would see that i am aware that you are your own god

For comedic purposes I have created the following gods in the past:

The Nine Gods of the Slipknot, whom hail from Iowa
The Messiah Glenn Danzig
The UNgodly Trinity (Consisting of Lerxst, Dirk & Pratt)
Alexi Laiho (as in - "Alexi Laiho is God")
Lord Darth Vader

none of these fictional characters, or musicians are actual gods, but they have a certain symbolism to them. strictly for entertainment though!

I really hate the way today Pagans use their gods. Most of the times they are just a pretty drawing who "answers their prayers". In this sense those "gods" are just something like the Judeo-Xtian god/protector over those lazy and worthless enough to achieve anything. A "god" is an archetype, it has certain features and characteristics, which are those aspects that people identify themselves with. For example, in times when Pagans ruled the earth, and Yahweh was just a criminal razing cities in the Middle East, then people used to invoke those "Gods" in order to take some of those characteristics and apply them in their lives. When they were successful, then they offered something as a token of appreciation.

So does it really matters if your "gods" are recognized by the legal authorities? I really like and dislike what Chaos Magicians do. They can use anything as god, and invoke that creature in order to change aspects of their personality, that they do not like. But those Chaotes I have personally met, are too lazy to achieve any change in them, an their spend their time ritual after ritual hoping to change.

The Satanist holds himself as God and acts like one, therefore the Satanist achieves.

I'm the highest God on my own pantheon, but when I need some imaginary friend to give a hand for ritual purposes I call my good old friend Cthulhu.

Also, traditional Egyptian gods like Anubis and Osiris are always part of my decoration.

Mmm...gods are like imaginary friends taken to the extreme, or characters in old books that many worship blindly and foolishly.

My favorite characters are Anubis and Bastet from the Egyptian chapter and Camaxtli and Metztli from the Aztec chapter. Ofcourse, I don't go so far as to worship them, as you would imagine.
I am my own goddess and need no others.

I dont even like to consider myself a god because alot of "Gods" in the past and present require ritual sacrafise of animals or humans plus they make you pretty much give up your life so you can do certain things and obstane from things.

In the Norse Eddas, Odin is said to have "sacrifised himself to himself", it is some mystery for a few neopagans out there.

"The God of Visions" It inspires me to have no limits to creativity on my artworks.

My God is inside myself and in everything...its the all ecompasing energy that lets everything excist.....i see it as a Bright light and call it satan

There are no gods other than myself.

But if you mean "ritual chamber intellectual decompression zone" then there are a few mythical figures that I am fond of.

Kali is wonderful and my home has many images of her, her image and metaphors are very good at destruction rituals. Not only that but reverance for life and respect of how fragile it can sometimes be.

The Levi style Baphomet has become a symbol of creative and fertile forces in my mind. If I were to do a lust ritual I would use it. Otherwise it is primarily an artistic avatar.

Morrigan is a good one to pump myself up, and get ready for a battle or hardship of some sort.

Lucifer has a special place as the resident intellectual. Very good at writing term papers.

Of course there are more, I even have a personal snake system and other "devices" for the chamber. And all of these are open to more of my own personal interpretation than anyone elses, but was that answer along the lines of what you were asking for?

I must say that I will always worship myself first, however, in one term or another, I would like to say that I worship the perfection of myself; mind you, not perfection in the Christian aspect, but rather in my own. I believe that I can constantly reach a better form of myself everyday, and thusly I persue it. I constantly educate myself, try to get in as much work as I can, and have as much fun as I can all in the same day. IN some way I could say that I worship the days that I spend on this earthly plane.

But adressing others comments, one can worship a god if it is in your own design. As long as you do not fall into self-denial or stupidity, you should have lots of fun and enjoyment from the gods of your own creation. If anything, I like to think that all other gods (the made up ones) serve me. Just their names are words of power in which I can evoke to greater ends in which result in me making money, having fun, etc.

Whatever you do, never warp your own moral code to adapt to a life you do not want to live.

I picked up a pure black lion statue a good few months ago at a garage sale for my ritual chamber, and as it went, I used it in part to represent a diety of my own making that represent dominance, strength, and sexuality. I named him Kahn. Now a days, I try to keep the statue somewhere where I can see it so it can always remind me of the strength of body, will, and mind that it took to create that image. I originally got the idea when I read the phrase "Be as the lion in the path of your enemies." in the SB.

I am my own God. Without being of a nacissic type, I can say that I celebrate my accomplishments and worship my body in multiple ways. This satisfies my spiritual needs. Others may find it outside themselves but not me.

raven

I would say that most of my Rituals I use different Archetypes for the Ritual at hand. For something very primal and powerful in nature I will usually use our oldest known reflection of "The Prince of Darkness" in the essence of Tiamat from Ancient Sumer. For Rituals of Isolating and focusing my intentions I will use Typhon-Set. When I look for reflection or insight into a particular situation or want to delve further into understanding I would use Lucifer. These are just a few that I use mainly...though I am looking into the use of Kali and more Eastern Tradition God/Goddess for energy connections of explorations in my work.

IgaNinja

I am the God of Thunder. And Rock n' Roll. And also my own little world, or total environment, over which I rule, like Lisa Simpson.

...and the more i read Star Wars novels, the more i respect Siths like Vader, Maul, Palpatine and Dooku and Dark Jedi like Luke & Mara Jade and to a degree the Jedi themselves.

So I have this respect for these characters that do not exist (they could exist actually in an infinite universe somewhere, uhh, far far away) because they are the embodyment of human perfection. So in a way, i wouldn't have a problem serving under a sith master, provided it was like Vader's, NOT like Maul's (where he would die for him and do his bidding without concern for his own self-interests)

Well, honestly, I do have heroes, but as far as "Gods" go, I would say it lies within my cranium.
I used to study physics, and I had a theory that whatever you can think of is a reality on another plane....but that's just theory.

THE MASKIM: Terrible, undescribely horrible creatures, the creators of pain, only terror, destruction and lots of pain can come of Them, for They are pain..
.
HUMWAWA: Lord of Abominations of the South Winds, whose face is a mass of the entrails of the animals and men. His breath is the stench of dung, and no incense can banish the odor from where Humwawa has been.

PAZUZU: Lord of all fevers and plagues, grinning Dark Angel of the Four Wings, horned, with rotting genitalia (and a sort of green breathe, but transparant).

AZAG-THOTH: My Master and Master of all. Rendered sightless in the Battle, he is Lord of Chaos. (very B.I.G.)

TIAMAT: (I already created a topic about Her), the Dragon/Serpent...

LALASSU: Haunt the places of Man, seeking also to become like Man. Causes only terror and no good can come of it.

LALARTU: Lived once but was caught between the Worlds, seeking Entrance into one or the other.

LAMASHTA: the Queen of Sickness and Misery, slays mothers at birth.

GELAL: invades the bed of Woman, Gelal's offspring are workers natural of the Ancient One, having His Spirit, Gelal rides upon the wind.

LILIT: invades the bed of Man, the children of Lilith are likewise Gelal's, but are born in secret places which may not be perceived by Man, Lilit cometh of the Water (represents herself as some kind of bird)

XASTUR: a foul demoness who slays Men in their sleep, and devours that which she will.

KUTULU: The sleeping Lord...

BAPHOMET: Actually He doesn't belong to this pantheon but as I owe him much I shall record Him here, Baphomet represents Himself as a Great Demon, too big to explain, I think he is as powerfull as Azag-Thoth...

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Other than yourself, what are your Gods (If any), what do they inspire in you?

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Umm, I don't like the term "Gods". How about simply those I look up too. I have found that I look up to several senior members of the CoS, an some I would rather just crawl in a hole an die. An of course some of my close freinds. An my GF who I have always admired greatly for her social ability an intelligence. Based on her reaction to my new found faith, I will determine exactly how big of a role she will play in my life if any.

Keeping with the idea of most other concepts of religion, a follower of a particular god would die for that god if it were required. Therefore I would say that my god is my house, my guitar collection, my music, my Quentin Tarantino autographed Kill Bill Vol.1 poster ,.... BUT, I wouldn't die for my guitars, I can get another guitar. I can write more music. I can buy another house. Certain people, however, cannot be replaced. (No, I don't have an autographed Kill Bill poster, but that would be really cool)

God is something you would place before yourself. Before me comes almost no one. If I consider another person "God", I would sacrifice a little of my own happiness in order to make them happy. Sacrifice is normally undesired, but in such a case I would consider it of little consequence to do such a thing.

Therefore, God is my family (the few members I view as being worthy of the breath in their lungs), and my closest friends. No one else. Why? Because I know that each of these people feel the same way about me. That's what love is, wanting good for another to the point that you would burden yourself to secure it.

That's why the Satanist abhors the idea of "love your neighbor". If your neighbor would not reciprocate such feelings and actions, he isn't worth loving. It lays out the welcome mat which reads, "Walk on me, I'm YOUR victim!"

I'm no man's willing victim. I might occasionally be considered prey by some, but I usually never allow anyone to ever even consider me an achievable target.

I respect spirits but I dont worship them. I feel that way because I am the being living in an imperfect world and in an imperfect body, I am not a spirit. I am a spirit given flesh.

You respect spirits? As rightly so it should be! The second you forget to respect their power, you'll find that you've finished off your 16th shot, punched your best friend in the face, puked in your shoes, and passed out in a puddle of your own urine.

But seriously, explain to me what part of any part of Satanism says that your flesh is given a spirit? You weren't reading the holy bible upside down again were you?

Post deleted by PanzerWolf

No part if I can recall, I dont remember everything only what I needed to get out of being brainwashed by the evil christians. Anyway it's just a belief of mine nothing more nothing less........That reminds me, when I was a kid I always thought satanists would read the bible backwards....you know
" Nekcihc ruoy llik ot t'snaw dog."

I strongly suggest you complete your introduction if you wish to be able to continue here. See my reply there for a better grasp of the reasons why this is required.

I think if you do some serious contemplating and thinking upon events which have taken place, you'll see that no one is brainwashed against their own will. So few people take responsibility for what poisonous ideas they allow to be planted in their minds. Salvation may have been offered, but you didn't have to accept it.

I am the only God i will ever know.

I am, however, quite fond of the symbolism surrounding Asmodeus.

In the Christian mythology, not only did he represent lust and carnal desire, but self deification and the power of leadership.

They called this demon "Asmodai" or "Asmoday".

He appears in many tales of folklore. Some claim that he was the demon who lured Eve into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There also was a prophecy that he would be the only one capable to de-throne King Soloman, "the wisest king".

He was said to be the guardian of wealth, which was obtained through trickery of false services, and taking spoils from foolish gamblers.

I agree with the mythos here -
Those people dont deserve their money if they can't respect it.
I'd be happy to take it off their hands.
I do every day.

Twiggy has always been a goddess to me in as much as anyone can be. She makes me happy and I can't help but raise a smile every time i see a picture of her. She has an other-worldly quality to her which sets her appart from other humans.

Some people seem to have this, a kind of natural charisma, they are not like the rest of us. Perhaps gods DO exist and the ones which have been usurped by the abrahamic imposter are biding their time and hiding their essence within a few chosen mortals. Maybe their time is closer than we think?

I whole heartedly agree with this and feel it sums up my own views on "God" nicely.

"I worship my Ego and I worship my Life, for I am the only God that is."--quoted from TVC

I find myself attracted to the hindu-gods Shiva and Kali. I remember seeing statues of them when I was very young and they freaked me out so much I was actually afraid of them for a long time. They were probably in my closet or under the bed...
When I got older it was time to confront 'them' and what scared me as a child is now a nice tool in my rituals.

Sigh…my silence has to be broken on this one.

Y’see, as the God of my universe, there is NO ROOM for a single other…but…When I was a little boy, from my mind I created a God…and by the age I really understood that ‘all gods must be defiled by me’, I still couldn’t destroy this mighty self-born God I had birthed in my younger years.

His head sits high above my speaker to the north corner of my room. He is an iron-ram-headed Gollum-esk thingy guy, who eats with a bulldozer-like jaw that swing on mechanical hinges. The God has much depth in my imagination, and has been granted total freedom in my head more then a thousand times.

His name is “Moo”…The God of Meat.

His bible fits here easy…I will write it for you.

“If it is made of meat, it is made to eat.”

Its simple…and its divine. So yeah, I gotta God I really wanted to honor in cyber-public, and I just did it…for Moo.

Heres to you Moo, cheers!

I worship at the altar of Ronald McDonald, his golden arches adorn a chain around my neck. His burgers and fries they comfort me and fill my belly with eternal sustencance.