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

APPENDIX I: Sample Documents
A religion, by its very nature, involves both mythology
(or ideology) and ritual (or some other sort of regular
practice). Modern Satanism is no exception to this rule,
although, as a decentralized movement, there is a
tremendous diversity on the exact nature of these components.
Although some Satanists are content to reinterpret
traditional mythology, and others have selectively
adapted some of the compositions of the Romantics
(e.g., Anatole France’s, The Revolt of the Angels), some
have created new narratives.
In particular, the success of Anton LaVey’s Satanic
Bible has inspired other Satanists to author new scriptures.
One of the more interesting and revealing is “The
Gospel According to Rino.” It is reproduced below with
permission of the author. Like the sacred stories of other
traditions, the author of this document sets the stage
with a creation story—in this case, creation by Satan and
his consort Lilith. Although the creation events as well as
the other mythological aspects of the narrative are clearly
not meant to be taken literally, the values and viewpoints
expressed throughout the document—such as,
for example, the negative evaluation of other religious
traditions—reflect those of most modern Satanists.
This story is followed by the text of the marriage ceremony
used by the Church of Satan.
The final piece reproduced below is a different kind
of document, namely a commentary on public education
and a discussion of homeschooling by Blanche
Barton. This essay provides an insightful glimpse into
how the Satanist perspective is brought to bear on larger
social issues.
The Gospel According to Rino
In the midst of infinite existence Satan and his
beloved wife Lilith created the universe. He made
the heat and the cold, the light and the dark, and
everything that defines itself by its opposite, using
the sacred law of TETRAGRAMMATON, that is
0=(+1)+(-1).
After Satan and his beautiful wife Lilith sired
countless galaxies with infinite varieties of life, He
placed stars in the heavens and created signs,
symbols and numbers to represent the cycles
throughout the material world. Then the secrets
were locked with the key of knowledge, that His ways
would not be revealed to the ignorant or worthless.
Satan fashioned a gift for his perfect universe—
life—to enjoy His world and be eternal like He is.
Through Satan’s will and magical arts were made
simple creatures on this earth, and extensive
pleasures to delight them—a paradise for his sons
and daughters whom he loved. The earth was
Satan’s gift to creation, and all that happened therein
was decided by the living ones. Satan made the
living creatures master of their physical world, and
the ruler of all that is material.
Satan gave all his terrestrial creation to his wife
to care and tend, and made her queen of life’s
domain. Their success was governed by Lilith, or
Nature—the mother of all creation and everything
that is material. Nature caused justice and harmony
in the beginning, for before Her all was chaos.
Nature now attends to the physical world ensuring
it does not destroy itself before its time has come.
Through the will of true magic, the living could
control their own environment with Her and
Satan’s help.
Lilith soon realized that since creation knew of
its beginning, it could not comprehend the idea of
not having an end. Therefore Satan fashioned his
creation to cycle through death and life periodically,
and die only to be reborn once again into Lilith’s
empire. All that would survive its conclusion would
be those who were in harmony with the Law of
THELEMA, which states: “Do what thou wilt shall be
the whole of the Law.”
The earth evolved as it pleased, to adapt to the
changes it caused in its own environment. Some
began to stray from the ultimate Law: LEX TALIONIS,
or, the Law of the Jungle. Those who followed their
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