THE SATANIC MANIFESTO!

THE SATANIC MANIFESTO!

by Tommy Eriksson

(The text was originally written for the “Swedish Satanist Church” Svenska Satanistkyrkan)

Regardless of whether one is a chaos gnostic, a theistic Satanist, or a modern Satanist, there is something shared within Satanism: the acquisition of philosophical material and a symbolic language that distinguishes it from other modern religious formations.

The question of whether one is a theist or a LaVeyan is, in essence, merely a matter of subjective experience in relation to ritual expression. Let us take perhaps the most well-known ritual, “Invocation to Satan” from The Satanic Bible. It tends to be equally powerful in its execution regardless of whether you consider Satan to be an energy, a physical entity, or merely a symbol intended to influence the subconscious.

What appears to work for one person may be inhibiting for another, and this is the very core of individualism. Only within collective contexts is something expected to be right for everyone, whether or not that is actually the case. Satanism is an extremely individualistic religion, and as such, it would seem highly peculiar if Satanic priests were to dictate a fixed position that should apply to everyone. That said, this does not mean there are no shared preferences that extend beyond the purely personal sphere.

A person may indeed achieve success simply by briefly visualizing an object they wish to attain, while another may require more direct and external attributes to penetrate the “darkness,” such as lit candles, chanting in Latin, musical compositions, incense, and the choice of ritual garments like robes, and so on.

For one individual, it may be of utmost importance to truly believe in the forces they invoke, while for another, applied psychology may suffice. Ultimately, everything leads to the goal of self-development and the fulfillment of one’s innermost desires in order to become as happy, stable, and successful as possible (success, again, being entirely subjective).

The philosophy of Satanism—whether one immerses oneself in the traditions of the Temple of Set, chaos gnosticism, or modern Satanism—draws from sources of inspiration that tend to be the same. Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Charles Baudelaire, Ragnar Redbeard (referring to the book Might is Right), Carl Gustav Jung, and Heraclitus, as well as the entire literary branch of Romanticism and Sturm und Drang, form the philosophical soil from which Satanism has crystallized, even if few of them would have gladly accepted the label of Satanist.

It is this shared current that we wish to emphasize as the very lifeblood of Satanism, regardless of whether you believe that magic occurs in the collective unconscious or within your own personal subconscious. Therefore, the Swedish Satanist Church encourages its members to curiously explore all Satanic currents to see if there is something within them that can be used for personal growth. This does not mean that one must agree with everything Anton LaVey says, nor that one must personally adopt everything presented by chaos gnosticism—just as a rune magician does not have to accept everything written in the Eddas literally in order to benefit from practicing rune yoga, for example.

Virtually all established religions (with very few exceptions) regard drives and instincts as something fundamentally evil that must be subdued and suppressed in order to achieve reconciliation with a higher god outside the mind. Satanism, instead, views these instincts as fundamentally positive—something that can lead to the attainment of an inner divinity, that is, one’s full personal potential. In LaVeyan terms, this may be seen as individual deification, or, in chaos gnosticism, as achieving gnosis through contemplation of darkness and primordial chaos—which is essentially the same thing, merely different paths and interpretations of what occurs along the way.

Think in terms of a cat—or any animal. A cat is entirely perfect at being a cat. It does not spend much time contemplating what it means to be a cat; it simply does what its inner compass clearly directs. The better it can live in accordance with its instincts, the better a hunter it becomes, the more capable it is of attracting a mate, and the more refined and developed its offspring will be.

In essence, the same applies to human beings. We, too, have an inner compass that we should begin to listen to and follow with trust rather than suspicion. Suspicion should instead be directed outward, where it belongs—toward those who seek to suppress your natural way of being as an individual.

If you can agree with this, then you are truly a Satanist in its purest form. Regardless of whether you see it as strictly symbolic or as an external reality, you are welcome as part of the Swedish Satanist Church.

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