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256 The Temple of Lylyth
The Temple of Lylyth
In Lylyth we see a true individualist, who refuses to
be what her own husband expects her to be. She
becomes a wicked evil character simply because of
this act of defiance in the eyes of “good” people
everywhere, but when examined by the Satanist, she
is merely a kindred soul, who has experiences very
much like our own.
—From the unpublished manuscript
The Book of the Black Flame
The feminine aspect of deity is something that
is, for the most part, lost to the Western religious
tradition. American Satanism is no exception to
this general rule. Historically, different world
cultures have vilified both females and goddesses,
especially chthonic goddesses. Foot binding, witch
burning, and suttee are the legacies of such
cultures. Zeus the rapist, the celibate Jesus, and
female bodhisattvas transformed into men are all
mythic-religious examples of male dominance
and power reflected in the religious realm.
The Temple of Lylyth stands in contrast to this
tradition. The Temple of Lylyth recaptures the
ancient tradition of Shekenah—the feminine
aspect of God from Jewish cabalah (called Shakti
in Shaivite Nagism).This part of the Divine, vilified
and demonized, is a natural part of the vilified
and demonized religion known as Satanism.
Members of the Temple of Lylyth feel the dark
force in nature, which Anton LaVey called “Satan,”
as a maternal force. The Temple of Lylyth serves
the need of its members to give praise to the Dark
Mother of All Life.
In line with the trend in Satanism toward
humanism and human potential, the Temple of
Lylyth places its emphasis not on the worship of
gods or goddesses, who are metaphors at best, but
rather on the worship of self. Rather than narcissism,
the temple defines self-worship as indulgence,
intelligence, and individuality.
The Temple of Lylyth was formed October 31,
1999, in Portage, Wisconsin. More information
may be found on the Temple’s website.
—Kaiden Fox
For Further Reading:
Temple of Lylyth website: http://www.lylyth.org
Temple of Set
The Temple of Set (ToS) is a contemporary LHP
(left-hand path) group that was birthed within
Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan (CoS). Because of
its descent from the Church of Satan, the Temple
of Set is often portrayed as “Satanic.” However,
while maintaining interest in the Satanic tradition,
members of the temple typically emphasize that
they are not Satanists, particularly not in the
Christian understanding of the term.
By the 1970s, the Church of Satan had become
a rich source of splinter groups. In 1973, the
Church of Satanic Brotherhood was formed by
group leaders in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. The
church lasted only until 1974, when one of the
founders announced his conversion to
Christianity in a dramatic incident staged for the
press in St. Petersburg. Other members of the
Church of Satan in Kentucky and Indiana left to
form the Ordo Templi Satanas, also short-lived.
As more schisms took place, LaVey disbanded
the remaining grottos, the local units of the
Church of Satan, and decided to reorganize the
church as a fellowship of individuals. This action
prompted the formation of the Temple of Set. The
temple was established by Michael A. Aquino, a
Magister Templi with the Church of Satan, Lilith
Sinclair, head of the largest of the grottos in
Spottiswood, New Jersey, and other CoS priests.
The Temple of Set is a group dedicated to the
ancient Egyptian deity believed to have become
the model for the Christian Satan. In sharp
contrast to LaVeyan Satanism, the temple affirms
that the Prince of Darkness is a real being.
At the time of the schism, Aquino was the
editor of the Church of Satan’s periodical, The
Cloven Hoof. Aquino was particularly upset by
LaVey’s practice of bestowing priesthoods upon
individuals only nominally associated with
Satanism. For his part, LaVey dismissed Aquino as
a self-promoting power grabber, and for his
“supernatural” view of Satan/Set.
In 1975 Aquino (b. 1946) invoked Satan to
receive a new mandate for continuing the Church
of Satan apart from LaVey. According to Aquino,
Satan came to him as Set, giving him the content
of a book, The Book of Coming Forth by Night.
Originally incorporated in the state of California,