Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...

4 Ahriman
chip cookies. He then opens a large refrigerator
full of milk cartons—empty milk cartons, as it
turns out. Turning to the television audience, he
cries,“Where am I” Hell, it turns out, is being able
to consume cookies without the milk that should
invariably (according to our cultural tradition)
accompany such consumption. The camera fades
from the commercial’s protagonist as flaming
letters proclaim the message, Got Milk Viewers
are then advised to go out and stock up—while
they still have the chance!
See also Humor
For Further Reading:
Baddeley, Gavin. Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship
and Rock’n’Roll. London: Plexus, 1999.
Scott, Miriam Van. Encyclopedia of Hell. New York:
Thomas Dunne Books, 1998.
Ahriman
Ahriman (or Angra Mainyu) is the Zoroastrian
Satan, and the prototype of Satan for the Judeo-
Christian-Islamic family of religions. The central
theme of Zoroaster’s religious vision is the cosmic
struggle between the god of light, Ahura Mazda
(“wise lord”) and his angels, and the god of darkness,
Ahriman (“evil spirit”) and his demons.
Unlike Zoroastrianism’s sister/brother religious
traditions, in which the outcome of the war
between God and the Devil has already been
decided, Zoroastrianism portrays the struggle as
more or less evenly matched (though many
strands of the tradition would assert that Ahura
Mazda’s triumph is inevitable). Individuals are
urged to align themselves with the forces of light,
as they will be judged according to the predominance
of their good or evil deeds. Eventually there
will be a final battle (a Zoroastrian Armageddon)
between good and evil in which it is anticipated
that Ahriman and his hosts will be defeated. The
earth will then be renewed, evil people will be
destroyed, and the righteous resurrected.
One of the points on which Zoroastrianism
differs from the other monotheisms is in its
conceptualization of the genesis of Satan.
Mainstream Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all
view Satan as a fallen angel who was cast out of
heaven, either for disobeying God or for rebelling
against God. By way of contrast, Ahriman is
believed to be very much on par with Ahura
Mazda. They even created the world together,
which explains why the world is such a mixture of
good and bad. Later thinkers speculated that the
two beings were twins, both fathered by Boundless
Time (Zurvan). Ahriman is, however, not very
creative in the sense that his evil creations are
always responses to his brother’s good creations.
Thus, for example, when Ahura Mazda created
life, Ahriman responded by creating death.
Ahriman also formed an infernal host as an
inverted mirror image of the celestial host. For
instance, in opposition to Asha, the archangel of
Truth, he created the archdemon Druj, the Lie.
See also Demons; Satan; Zoroastrianism
For Further Reading:
Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas. Vol. 1.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
Noss, John B. Man’s Religions. 1956. 4th ed. New
York: Macmillan, 1969.
All Dogs Go to Heaven
Charlie, this 1989 film’s animated canine protagonist,
gets killed by a big bad dog. After spending a
short time in heaven, Charlie becomes bored, and
wants excitement and challenges again. He also
wants to get even. He is warned that if he sneaks
out of heaven he may not be allowed to return.
Charlie, however, goes ahead and does just that,
slithering past the gatekeeper. Later, Charlie is
fighting for his life as evil dogs attack him and a
little orphan girl, and he dies again. The moment
the devil dog in charge is about to claim Charlie as
a permanent resident in canine hell, heaven’s
emissaries reclaim him for his heroism in giving
up his life to save the orphan girl.
Amulet
Amulets are special objects or symbols often worn
as medallions for the purpose of warding off evil.
Amulets differ from talismans in that they
passively protect their wearer from evil and harm.
They are protection devices. Talismans, on the
other hand, possess magical or supernatural
powers of their own and transmit them to the