Manny the Satanist

Technically this happened this past April, but as of this third week of May, I have finished my graduate program and I now have my Master's Degree in Library and Information Science.  By all intents and purposes and consideration by my librarian peers, I'm now considered a librarian. I have Satanism to thank for this.  Why?  I'll try to explain this the best way I can. As some of you may know, I grew up going to the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall.  This is a religious Christian organization that suppresses individual freedom and they expect you to dedicate your whole life to Jehovah, the Kingdom Hall, and to gathering more members for the Kingdom Hall until the day you die. One of the topics of sermons that I would keep hearing over the years is about how one should basically avoid going to university because it was considered the "Devil's Playground of Sin" (well, they didn't use those exact words but that was basically the idea they were trying to co...

I still see this on the Church of Satan's Twitter's comments sections but it's also been showing up A LOT on my personal Instagram's post's comments section in the last several weeks.  I'm going to settle this once and for all and I'm staying silent on the matter from now on unless someone really pushes my buttons. "Why is (The Satanic Temple/literally any other organization that claims to be Satanic or that claims to be theistic Satanism) not a legitimate Satanic organization just like the Church of Satan?" I'm going to try to explain this in the simplest way that I can. Prior to the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966, there was no evidence of the existence of any above/below ground Satanic groups.  The term "Satanic" was/is used by Christians or any other ignorant groups and individuals that describe things and people they considered "evil" or things they plain don't like.  Many people who went along with being ac...

It seems that Roe Vs. Wade and abortion have come up again in this country.  So people wonder sometimes where Satanists stand on the issue of abortion. (A couple of things I want to make clear before I delve into this: 1. I don't represent the Church of Satan or anyone but my individual self.  I'm not even a member of the CoS at this time of writing.  Yet!!! 2. If you've seen self-proclaimed "Satanists" who are from The Satanic Temple in discussions about Satanism and abortion, they don't speak for us real Satanists, either, since they're not a legitimate Satanic group.  I said what I said.  Bite me, pseudos! Moving on...) When it comes to the issue of politics and issues like this, Satanists usually are apolitical.  However, we are pro-anything that defends our personal freedoms.  It's not to say that we are all libertarians or anything.  I personally say that individual freedoms cover all political spectrums.  We're also not required to agr...

Alrighty, I have not written anything in this blog for a little while.  Happy Belated New Year.  Time to kick things off where I left off with the first blog entry of 2022. Most of us already know what goes through many people's heads when the name "Satan" comes up: a scary-looking red guy who is the cause of all the bad things that are wrong with this planet.  He's responsible for all the evil caused by human beings, at least according to other people. However, many people have not bothered to look further.  In this blog, I want to discuss what I learned about Satan and what he means to me. Satan means many things but I want to go over some of the core basics. In Hebrew, the name "Satan" means Opposer, Adversary, and Accuser.  So when we call ourselves Satanists, that means that we are the opposers, adversaries, and accusers of all spiritual religions, religious hypocrites, and philosophies that would get in the way of our carnal pleasures and personal phil...

Earlier today as of this writing, I just read the chapter “From Hallowed Halls” in Blanche Barton’s We Are Satanists: The History and Future of the Church of Satan .  In this chapter, there’s a section (pg. 339-40) where Barton discussed that when talking about Satanism, using the term “LaVeyan” is basically giving acknowledgment and equal leveling of other pseudo-satanic groups as also being Satanists. Anton LaVey himself said that that “there are Satanists and there are nuts.”  Magus Gilmore has also stated in his book that no other groups can be acknowledged as Satanic. I wholeheartedly agree with this.  If an individual or group isn’t abiding by the principles of The Satanic Bible , they’re not Satanists.  There were no Satanic groups prior to 1966.  Anyone else after that isn’t a Satanic group or individual, either.  Anton LaVey’s bible is the one sole authority on Satanism. So why do I personally keep using the term “LaVeyan?” I mainly do this on soci...

As many Satanists know, our religion symbolizes freedom.  However, some people have some screwed-up ideas as to what this freedom means. In the dictionary, hedonism is defined as “the pursuit of pleasure, sensual self-indulgence.”  According to my recently acquired We Are Satanists , Satanism isn’t just uncontrolled hedonism. The pursuit of pleasure shouldn’t be without lack of control or logic.  Doing whatever the heck you want doesn’t mean that very thing in the literal sense.  Obviously there are limits, especially within the context of the local laws that you have to follow. For instance, you can’t just do things like rob a bank or smoke in places you’re not allowed to do such things at, as exemplified by this guy I saw at the train station I just left as of this time of writing.  It doesn’t mean forcing your way into businesses without a mask on and acting like a Karen when someone calls you out on it. There are a few main things to remember as a Satanist: ...

June is Pride Month.  On this month 6 years ago, the United States Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide.  Ever since then, every June has been Pride Month. Now, when it comes to Satanism and gay marriage, our stance should be obvious: we fully support it. Basically, our philosophy is all about individual liberty and we generally support politics that help champion our individual freedoms.  So if two adults of the same sex want to marry each other, let them be!  It’s their choice to do so. Out of many religions I’ve seen over my 30 years on this planet, Satanism is the first religion I’ve seen that actively accepts people of all sexual orientations.   The Satanic Bible  explains this stance where Anton LaVey states that “Satanism encourages any form of sexual expression you may desire, so long as it hurts no one else” (pg. 69). The following quote is the one that I feel shows that Satanism supports gay marriage in The Satanic Bible .  In this...

I read this wonderful collection of essays in a matter of five days.  And the reason for that is that this was a good collection of essays.  I normally don’t read these types of books as I prefer novels and biographies but this was solid! These essays are written by many prominent faces of the Church of Satan and by many degrees of members from 1st Degree Satanist to Magistra/Magister.  There’s also a foreword and afterword by Magus Gilmore and Blanche Barton. These essays are about Satanic Theory and how they can be applied to every day life.  There’s essays about running businesses, interacting with the human herd, applying lesser and greater magic into one’s life, raising children, dealing with death, Satanic philosophy, and many other kinds of topics.  There were two essays in particular that I really liked because they took a shot at The Satanic Temple without specifically naming them.  And one other essay inspired me to deal with people who ask me whe...

https://www.newsweek.com/decapitated-gutted-animals-found-texas-linked-satanic-ritualofficials-1590378 Recently I saw an article posted by Newsweek on 5/11/21 that reminded me of the Satanic Panic from the 80’s.  The media technology is different today but the false narratives about Satanists are the same. It irks me that even 40 years or so after the Satanic Panic was done with, people still believe in this theistic bullshit. For 55 years, the Church of Satan has made it very clear that Satanists don’t sacrifice children and animals.   The Satanic Bible  states this clearly and if people would take the time to understand our religion, they’d open their eyes.  Anton LaVey simply states in The Satanic Bible that “under no circumstances would a Satanist sacrifice any animal or baby” (pg. 89).  Clear as the sky is blue and this stance has been the same since the beginning. The explanation for why we don’t sacrifice animals and babies is because they’re the only fel...

This is another opinion blog post that I’m doing here.  I’m going to be basing this on what I’ve read in Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing The Way We Talk About Religion (2020) by Joseph P. Laycock.  I wish the TST had something akin to The Satanic Bible or The Satanic Scriptures but I couldn’t find anything like it on their website page of list of literature, so Speak of the Devil is what I’ll be going by. This is based on my best interpretation of what TST is like in my perspective, and I really tried my best to learn when I read Speak of the Devil .  Anyways, here it goes. The main thing to remember is that The Satanic Temple and The Church of Satan are not the same thing.  These two groups are often confused for one another all the time and it’s gotten a bit annoying for both organizations and its people.  The CoS was started in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey while TST was started in 2013 by Malcolm Jarry and Lucien Greaves.  While...

55 years ago today, the Church of Satan was founded.  Anton LaVey started the world’s first carnal religion and started a church in the name of Satan, thus shocking the world and bringing opposition to spiritual dogma. The CoS has survived many things during these 5 and a half decades, like the Satanic Panic and the death of its founder.  But a lot of good things have happened throughout this time.  Individuals who felt they were outsiders in their society found a religion with people who thought just like them.  They have used Satanism to be the very best versions of themselves possible. People think that the CoS and its philosophy would die out after a matter of time and that it would dissipate.  But this religion continues to get stronger each and every day.  More Satanists will continue to come across The Satanic Bible  and discover who they’ve been their whole lives.  The people who have run the organization for decades continue to do what th...

I saw this on my Facebook timeline recently and I wanted to talk about this. The mention of Ayn Rand caught my attention because Anton LaVey drew much influence from Ayn Rand.  Rand’s philosophy was all about self-interest and looking out for number one (yourself). We’re all familiar with the story of Satan’s fall.  He didn’t want to be part of the herd.  He didn’t want to conform and think just like everyone else which is why he was kicked out. That’s what we Satanists model ourselves after, especially when it comes to religion, society, and looking out for ourselves. People like the man (if I can even call him that) in my picture think that when it comes to society, we’re supposed to help and care about everyone one else and care about everything that’s going on in society, which is fine, but he thinks that that’s all your life is supposed to be about.  He thinks being selfish and looking out for only yourself is evil. I don’t like that kind of mentality.  Tha...

LaVeyan Satanists do not have actual Church buildings where people meet once or twice a week to congregate.  There used to be grottos back in the early days of the CoS but those disbanded quickly.  Having churches and places of meeting would be in contradiction to our individualistic philosophy and wouldn’t make us different than the herds and spiritual religions we oppose.  Also, because we are individuals, there are Satanists with various different outlooks on life.  Things can happen when you put those kind of people together in a building.  Individuals have different kind of opinions and other kinds of philosophies and sometimes there can be clashes.  Lots of Satanists go their whole lives without meeting another Satanist.  Some join the CoS but choose to remain alone in order to have success and peace in their personal endeavors. Some Satanists who do meet each other and become friends through mutual interests in Satanism and other activities do g...

Any real Satanist who has done plenty of study knows this: Satanists are born, not made.  Satanism isn’t for everyone. After you read The Satanic Bible , you saw a reflection of yourself, your ideas, and your philosophies that you’ve naturally had through most of your life.  You don’t just read the book and say “I like these ideas; I’m going to adopt them and ‘become’ a Satanist.” To use an example I saw on a Facebook post, it’s like saying a heterosexual person suddenly decides they are attracted to the same gender.  It doesn’t work that way.  You’re born heterosexual.  You don’t just suddenly change your attraction out of the blue.  You were born this way. So it irks me whenever I scroll through YouTube videos or news articles where the person being interviewed says they’re an “ex-Satanist.”  Now, I haven’t gone through those videos and articles because of the point I’m trying to make here.  But being a Satanist means you abide by a certain code...

King Diamond.   (image credit goes to metalsucks.net at  https://www.metalsucks.net/2013/02/04/a-metalsucks-exclusive-return-from-the-graveyard-king-diamond-on-his-near-death-and-new-life/ ) This is more of an opinion blog post for me so here it goes. People think that Rock/Metal music is Satanic or at least that certain genres of rock and metal are Satanic.  For decades, Christianity and other Abrahamic religions have tried to label rock and metal as Satanic so that people will avoid this type of music like it’s an automatic ticket to hell. Is this type of music Satanic?  Well, there’s ways that it can and can’t be Satanic, so here’s how it goes. The CoS founder, Anton Szandor LaVey, actually disliked rock and metal music.  In his biography, The Secret Life of a Satanist , Blanche Barton stated that LaVey "saw modern rock as part of the current desensitizing and de-emotionalizing trend of the country" (p. 133).  Blanche also states that "as outlined i...

When people think of Satanism, they think of a cult that worships an anthropomorphic devil.  They think of black robes, drinking the blood of babies, sacrificing animals and virgins, sex orgies.  Well, that’s all wrong.  That’s basically all the crap that’s been fed by the Christian church and entertainment outlets for thousands of years. Satanism is a religion and a philosophy.  For starters, we are atheists.  This may come as a surprise to many people.  We are a carnal religion rather than a spiritual one.  We don’t believe in a literal God or a literal Satan.  In fact, we don’t even believe in or follow the Christian interpretation of Satan.  Satan is more of a symbol and mascot for individualism, freedom, individual liberty, pride, and the dark force that exists in all of nature.  Satan is the role model for what we Satanists are about. In Hebrew, Satan means “accuser, opposer, adversary,” so in that sense, we Satanists are the accus...

What's up, fellow Satanists and others who have found this blog somehow? My name is Manny.  For now this is the name I’ll identify as. I’m a 30 year-old Satanist from the Bay Area in California.  I’ve wanted to find a platform where I can express my thoughts and feelings when it comes to the subject of Satanism, specifically LaVeyan Satanism, the one and only real Satanism as codified in 1966 on Walpurgisnacht by Anton Szandor LaVey.  Because of the current misconceptions about Satanism and due to the fact that certain family members of mine would give me so much trouble if they knew of my newly discovered identity, I could never talk about Satanism on my personal social media accounts.  For now, this blog will do.  I’ll eventually make this blog look more presentable and infernal. I guess let’s start from the beginning. My parents raised me as a Jehovah’s Witness starting around the age of three right up until the age of nineteen.  Well, mostly my mom did....