User:WerewolfSatanist/Sandbox

'''THIS IS NOT THE REAL SATANISM ARTICLE. JUST MY SANDBOX FOR DRAFTING IMPROVEMENT! Intro Paragraph

Satanism is a term that is widely applied to either certain religious philosophies, horrible atrocities, or rebellion against society. There is currently a lot of contention about what the term really stands for. The conceptions of what Satanism is range from devil worship to some groups that reject the idea of God completely.

==History==

Satanism was a term originally used as a perjorative. The Roman Catholic Church used it as an accusation against people who opposed them, including Martin Luther and the Knight's Templar. It was believed at the time that there was a large group of Satanists that lived in the countryside, cursing and murdering innocent people using powers that were given to them by demons.

After the Middle Ages, many people were considered satanists, often mistakingly. Aleister Crowley is often considered one of the world's best known satanists because of the phrase from the Book of the Law, "Do what thou Will shall be the whole of the Law." However, Crowley never claimed to worship the devil, venerating the Egyptian god Horus, though he did adopt the nickname "The Great Beast" in defiance of Christianity.

In 1966, Anton Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan, the most prominent and the most well known Satanic organization. He is often considered the founder of Satanism, though there are those that disagree. Since then, many groups have taken up the name satanism or else referred to themselves as satanic in nature, each claiming various philosophical ideas. Aside from the Church of Satan, the most well known is the Temple of Set, though they have long since attempted to distance themselves from that label.

==LaVeyan Satanism==

The most prominent and widely known Satanist in recent years (as of 2007) is, and was Anton Szandor LaVey, who founded the Church of Satan in 1966. LaVey wrote The Satanic Bible (1969) and other works which remain highly influential, though controversial, among avowed Satanists. LaVey rejected the Black Mass, cruelty to animals, or a literal deistic belief in, or worship of Satan, instead considering Satan as the human instinct within ourselves, which is what LaVeyan Satanism celebrates. He supported a view of human beings as animals, and rejected many social structures that he believed inhibit natural human instincts. Has over 100,000 members world wide

Equally celebrated within certain, though not all, Satanic and occult circles would be ritual magician Aleister Crowley, who referred to himself as "The Great Beast 666." Though not a worshiper of any deity known as Satan, his severe disdain for Protestant Christianity and his occult activities have been confused and conflated into his fame as a "Satanist".

==Notes==

==See also==


 * Cultural Satanism
 * Hellfire Club
 * LaVeyan Satanism
 * Luciferianism
 * Setianism
 * Theistic Satanism

===Churches===


 * The Church of Satan
 * Temple of Set
 * First Satanic Church

=== Books on the history of Satanism ===


 * Considered the first modern work to discuss Satanism.


 * Summary of the history of Witchcraft, Satanism, and Devil Worship in the last part of the book.


 * Translated from the German by Christine Trollope