Chapter 64: SATANISM

Many of the young people who spent entire afternoons forcing acetate records to play backwards, while squinting vainly, trying to understand some of the hidden messages in the songs or looking for the image of Lucifer in the reflection of the covers, saw their efforts frustrated. Even so, music inspired by his image continues to be composed and the horned finger salute has gone international across multiple music scenes. And this is no longer seen as satanism. Satanism took a more egregious turn. In January 2014, The Economist newspaper published an article entitled What do Satanists believe (in what do Satanists believe), on the occasion of the request by the Satanic Temple to put a statue of the Billy Goat next to the monument of the Ten Commandments that lies in the Oklahoma State Capitol, USA. The argument of this institution, which had previously gone unnoticed by public opinion, is that its order promulgates the defense of basic individual rights. And indeed it does. The history of the Satanic Temple grows parallel to that of rock. Precisely at that time the existence of a Black Pope, vicar of the Antichrist, was rumored in some circles. The so-called Black Pope was called Anton Szandor LaVey, an American occultist who had based his studies on the writings of the famous Aleister Crowley. The work that positioned him in different esoteric circles was the Black Bible, published in 1969, where he recorded the philosophical principles of the Church of Satan. The work remained more of a myth than a bedside book, and its slogans were relatively relegated. But in the 1970s, small circles of activists and fanatics in incense-drenched bookstores gained access to the Black Pope's magnum opus, and a not inconsiderable congregation of Satanists was created. Now, what do satanists believe? A chapter of the Black Bible is titled “Of Hell, the Devil and how to sell your soul”. It can hardly be suggested that Theophilus the Penitent or Tartini followed similar rituals in order to summon the Fallen Angel. Whoever reads it will not find the formula to make pacts with the Devil. You will only find postmodern ideas, worthy of the time, about individual liberties outside the parameters of the prevailing society, supported by vague allusions to Nietzsche, combined with rituals that involve yoga positions and salutations to the Sun. Suffice it to say. that another of the chapters is titled "The God you worship could be yourself." Interesting reflections on how to be happy, yes, but not a single clue on how to invoke Satan. Covens and witches, moonlight orgies, human sacrifices before the lord of darkness. Satan continues to be revered and worshipped. His followers number in the thousands and the dark sects have found a new way to expand him: the Internet. In the Middle Ages, Lucifer's followers were persecuted and his witches were burned at the stake. Today, some of these sects are made up of characters who are part of public life, with money and a lot of influence. no longer. children. Lectures were given in schools and documentaries were projected on the subliminal messages on the covers of records and various products, no longer being the Nazis the protagonists, but the Angel of Darkness. It was even speculated that Xuxa, a famous Brazilian children's presenter, was hiding satanic messages on her records by means of backmasking, a technique that Alice Cooper was supposed to have used for the first time to worship Satan following the instructions of a witch. From a more conventional perspective, it could be said that it was a collective hysterical reaction (not hysteria) in the face of the bombardment of countercultural products that took advantage of the growth of the cultural industries to position themselves. It seems almost obvious to say that Satanism is a product of popular culture during the 1980s and 1990s. It is common to consider that its figure was (or even is) just a marketing strategy. A similar analysis can be used for other contexts in which the Devil played an important role. From this point of view, for example, the extirpation of idolatries in the New World is interpreted, where it is supposed that the cult of the Devil was an excuse for the Spaniards to plunder the gold of the continent; or also the case of the Inquisition in Cartagena de Indias, in which the accusations of witchcraft are interpreted as an excuse to abolish the rituals of blacks, mulattoes and Jews, in order to subdue them. Does it mean, then, that no one has ever believed in Satan? That those who condemn or support his cult are puppeteers who plot the fate of people for their convenience? Does that mean that it is not possible to sell your soul to the Devil to get earthly glory? Many of the young people who spent entire afternoons forcing acetate records to play backwards, while squinting vainly, trying to understand some of the hidden messages in the songs or looking for the image of Lucifer in the reflection of the covers, saw their efforts frustrated. Even so, music inspired by his image continues to be composed and the horned finger salute has gone international across multiple music scenes. And this is no longer seen as satanism. Satanism took a more egregious turn. In January 2014, The Economist newspaper published an article entitled What do Satanists believe (in what do Satanists believe), on the occasion of the request by the Satanic Temple to put a statue of the Billy Goat next to the monument of the Ten Commandments that lies in the Oklahoma State Capitol, USA. The argument of this institution, which had previously gone unnoticed by public opinion, is that its order promulgates the defense of basic individual rights. And indeed it does. The history of the Satanic Temple grows parallel to that of rock. Precisely at that time the existence of a Black Pope, vicar of the Antichrist, was rumored in some circles. The so-called Black Pope was called Anton Szandor LaVey, an American occultist who had based his studies on the writings of the famous Aleister Crowley. The work that positioned him in different esoteric circles was the Black Bible, published in 1969, where he recorded the philosophical principles of the Church of Satan. The work remained more of a myth than a bedside book, and its slogans were relatively relegated. But in the 1970s, small circles of activists and fanatics in incense-drenched bookstores gained access to the Black Pope's magnum opus, and a not inconsiderable congregation of Satanists was created. Now, what do satanists believe? A chapter of the Black Bible is titled “Of Hell, the Devil and how to sell your soul”. It can hardly be suggested that Theophilus the Penitent or Tartini followed similar rituals in order to summon the Fallen Angel. Whoever reads it will not find the formula to make pacts with the Devil. You will only find postmodern ideas, worthy of the time, about individual liberties outside the parameters of the prevailing society, supported by vague allusions to Nietzsche, combined with rituals that involve yoga positions and salutations to the Sun. Suffice it to say. that another of the chapters is titled "The God you worship could be yourself." Interesting reflections on how to be happy, yes, but not a single clue on how to invoke Satan. Covens and witches, moonlight orgies, human sacrifices before the lord of darkness. Satan continues to be revered and worshipped. His followers number in the thousands and the dark sects have found a new way to expand him: the Internet. In the Middle Ages, Lucifer's followers were persecuted and his witches were burned at the stake. Today, some of these sects are made up of characters who are part of public life, with money and a lot of influence. no longer They need to be hidden and celebrate their black masses on the Internet. They have abandoned the gloomy forests and exchanged the moonlight for fiber optics... Even the 'ultimate pact', the sale of the soul to the devil, is possible on the Internet. If someone is fully determined, if he has renounced the god of his parents and is totally willing to start the dark path, he only has to browse a few pages on the Net. In any case, such a radical decision is not necessary to approach the Dark Side. A search with terms like Satan, Beelzebub, satanism... gives access to thousands of references. The number of sects that proselytize through the Internet is very numerous. Some, upon payment, allow the user to join the worshipers of Evil In this confession, it is clear that charity begins and ends with oneself, love is first towards one's own person and then... it will be seen! In the same line of this Prophet of Evil are the World Church of Satanic Liberation, founded by Paul Valenti, and the Temple of Set, created by followers of Alton S. La Vey, present since the beginning of the Internet. It is also noteworthy The Church of the Virus, which has a very unique idea about God, since it considers him a disease (exactly a virus) that attacks and makes his beliefs be followed; the Ordo Sinistra Vivendi is an elitist group made up of philosophers and occultists who say they do not belong to any sect or follow any dogma. They maintain that they only seek to enhance the self of each of the initiates and develop hidden powers; and the Grotto of the Wolf, which was born with the Internet boom and its presence is reduced to this network of networks. There are many more satanic sects and churches (almost all of them American) that have a presence on the Internet, either with their own website or through an email address. Denial of God. The common characteristic to all of them is their worship of Satan, the practice of black magic and the occult, and their denial of any kind of heavenly god. In almost all these directions it is possible to establish a conversation with its members, even with its founder, express an opinion and participate in a colloquium. There is also an address that explains what this doctrine consists of and allows dialogue and resolve doubts about what satanists think and feel. Satan, the black masses and the sale of souls is a business of yesterday and today. Or perhaps something more than business: "O Lord of Darkness, we pray to Thee. Receive and accept this sacrifice that we offer Thee. So that we may bear Your sign and Your desires and may you fulfill our prayers and destroy our enemies." .