Religion or Cult?

Throughout this blog we have looked at what devil worship is and what it entails and what others have to say about it. I shall conclude this blog and leave you now with my thoughts on devil worship. 

Throughout my research I have tried to keep an open mind and be objective as possible when writing about what I found out. But now I would like to give my personal opinion on the matter. What should we categorise devil worship under? Is it really a religion or a cult? I think those who are of the theistic devil worshipers sect actually believe that they are following the religion of satan, though I don’t think satan ever asked them to. Where are they getting all this? What do they have to base their beliefs on? I know the same could be said about other faiths in the world, but they do have something concrete in their beliefs in which the being they are worshipping has in some form or another asked them to follow them.  Where do devil worshippers get the idea of worshiping the devil from? In all of my research I have not come across once that satan has asked people to follow him.

Moreover, Anton LeVay’s take on it is totally something made up, that people have hyped up too much. It is a cult which nicks all its ideas off the major religious traditions already out there. Well then again what can you expect from those who have set up a cult based around the ideas of satan, which are all about stealing, lying and hypocrisy. I feel they are not only making a mockery out of major faiths but of themselves too. To think they are actually taking all this seriously, it feels like it is something taken out of an urban cult fantasy movie. It is so simple to join, all you have to do is fill out a form online, to me it seems like it is just a way of making easy money (I do not mean to offend any devil worshiper who takes all this seriously it is just my personal opinion on the matter.) 

Devil worship vs Major world faiths

We have looked at throughout this blog of what devil worship is, the different sects, its rituals, and ritual abuse. I think it is time now to take a look at what major religious traditions have to say about the devil.

It is explicitly expressed in Islamic and Christian scriptures for people not worship the devil and the devil is the enemy of mankind and God. The Quran as well as the Bible have many quotes highlighting how evil, treacherous, rebellious and ungrateful the devil is.  Judaism however does not view Satan as an opponent of God rather as a challenger of good with evil to call him an opponent would for Judaism mean referring to Satan as a demigod which is big no no.

The following video is of a lecture explaining what the Quran says about the Devil:

Sikhism does not have the same concept of the devil as in Christianity and Islam. Sikhs believe that demons or the ‘devil’ are entities which are driven solely by the ego. Sikhism teaches that ego is the prime cause of evil doing. Ego has five basic components:
1. Pride -Ahnkar
2. Lust - Kaam
3. Greed -Lobh
4. Attachment -Moh
5. Anger -Krodh

Sikhs believe that involvement with ego creates a state of duality. The soul experiences a sense of separation from the divine, which causes all suffering. Hinduism also does not believe in devil worship. 

Some researchers from the Universiti of Malaya argue that devil worship is a threat to Muslim youths which deviates them from their faith. One of the researchers is a lecturer in the Islamic Studies Academy, Assoc Prof Dr Che Zarrina Sa’ari felt that the society they live in was quick to pick up on drugs as being a problem but fails to pick up on the dangers of Satanism which involved polytheism, a notion Islam is one hundred percent against. The researchers have even gone on to suggest that the syllabus for Islamic studies include certain elements to prevent students from being misled by satanic worship. 
That is a bit much don’t you think? I don’t think the researchers are giving their students enough credit, surely if they are taught the basic tenants of Islam in an Islamic studies course they would kind of pick up on that polytheism and devil worship fall out of the boundaries of Islam. Plus if you include a crash course on how to stay away from devil worship, I’m sure it would just prompt those who did not really care about it much to start off with to find out more, the idea of teaching them to stay wary of satanic worship could backfire.

One website I came across went as far as blaming the misfortune of Haiti due to the wrath of God descending upon those who claimed to be Christians but indulged in devil worship and voodoo dolls and black magic even though many Christian denominations believe one should stay away from the devil.

Satanic rituals

After the last post, I thought blood, gory sacrifices and sickening practices is what these rituals were all about.  After a bit more digging however I found out that in actual fact they are not as horrific as you may think, what we see in the media is satanic ritual abuse, a bit like how you would come across ‘Islamic extremists.’ The rituals are really supposed to be fairly mundane. There are magic based rituals and mystic based rituals, which the author of Theistic Satanism website compares them with Gnostic, and Sufi rituals

One of the rituals carried out by theistic satanist is black mass which entails the following steps:

(1) Incantation for focus

(2) Invocation to Set

(3) Period of meditation

(4) Act of thanksgiving or sacrifice

(5) Recitation of prayers and/or requests

(6) Adoration and re-confirmation of commitment

There is also a standard ritual format and a guidebook for the Chaplains of the Church of Satan of how to carry out the rituals. Satanism also has a ritual calendar which is an adaptation of witchcraft and celebrate eight major festivals, known as Sabbats:

February 1 – Candelmas

March 21 – Spring Equinox

April 30 – Walpurgisnacht

May 1 – Beltane

June 21 – Summer Solstice

August 1 – Lammas

September 23 – Fall Equinox

October 31 – Samhain

December 21 – Winter Solstice

Does anyone feel like Satanism /Devil worship is just a replica of other major faiths? A modern take on religion?

Devil makes work for idle thumbs...

When I searched Satanic rituals in Google the search came up with many websites highlighting crimes taken out in the name of the ‘devil’ or clearly have an underlying satanic theme. One story was of a 20 year old Satanist and a self proclaimed "Vampire" he was charged with assault for using a fork or spoon to burn the letter "V" into the forehead of a 17-year-old (ugh! gives me the creeps).

Also the search came up with a clip of 20/20 documentary series shot in the mid-80s exposing underground satanic cults:

Good old Wikipedia had a page dedicated to Satanic ritual abuse, there were even stories of it on the BBC. Also a book  dedicated to the topic has also been published, named In the Name of Satan: A True Story of Human Sacrifice, Devil Worship, and Murder available on the internet (for the unbeatable price of $5.95!).

But these satanic cults is not something which was a fad of the 80's it is still rife in this day and age too! A recent story in the telegraph about a satanic ritual abuse case, where four people were convicted of serious sex offences accompanied by satanic rituals.  The leader of the satanic cult faced a lengthy jail sentence after being found guilty of multiple counts of rape and child abuse.

                                                     Colin Batley - Cult Leader

I've given you the information about satanic ritual abuse, what is your take on it? I feel it is perverse and disgusting, just another name for peodophillic crimes that need to be stopped.



Ouija Board - Tool of the devil?

Hello again, readers, today I’m going to share with you my findings regarding the Ouija board. It is often associated with stories of summoning the devil or any other spiritual entity. Before I delve into if it really is a tool used to worship the devil or not I think it would be best to read a Ouija board personal experience that I came across just so you get the feel of how it works.The author of the testimony first describes a fairly funny, good relationship with the ‘spirit’ which he and his girlfriend’s family contacted. As the story progresses, the ‘spirit’ develops a ‘crush’ on the authors girlfriend and becomes quiet possessive, leaving claw marks on the girlfriend's brother and even locking them out of thier home. While reading this testimony I started hearing noises downstairs, little bangs here and there which is weird as everybody else was sleeping. But I’m writing it off as my mind playing tricks on me otherwise I don’t think I would sleep. Anyway, let’s move on to find out if the Ouija board is actually the ‘tool of the devil’.

According to one website the Ouija board cannot be used to summon demons or the devil but only human spirits trapped in the ‘astral’ who are deceiving those who use the Ouija board in to thinking it they are ‘demons’. However I also came across several testimonies claiming it was a devil or a demon they summoned whilst playing on the Ouija board. The Church of Satan also has Ouija Board which holds their symbol of a goats head on it which is on sale on Ebay. Although it proclaims to be an atheistic sect, does this highlight they believe in some sort of divine being?

It was primarily Christian websites claiming that the Ouija Board is in fact evil and the tool of the devil. It felt like, the website wasn’t really giving it a chance, and had a very baised opinion about it.

However some just view it as child play and just a silly board game that many do not take seriously. So much so I came across one glow in the dark Ouija board on sale online in Toy ‘r’ Us. Finding this out did make me feel a tad bit uncomfortable that it could be sold as a children’s toy. I don’t really believe in the spirit world, although being a Muslim, I am supposed to believe in the jinn which are beings created with free will, living on earth in a world parallel to mankind. I’m still quite sceptical but for someone who does not believe in the whole notion of there being another dimension I still remain somewhat uneasy at the thought of being in contact with an entity that I cannot see.

From what I can tell there are similar replicas such as the Angel board, that are apparently meant to summon good spirits rather than the evil ones of the Ouija board. It seems it isn’t specifically used to call upon the devil. It can be used to to summon any spirit or divine entity and is often used in mediumship and by psychics to predict death or even contact a loved one that is dead.

The Ouija board is more a tool used in witchccraft and seldomly used by devil worshippers.

For those more curious about how to make and use a Ouija board and what it entails I am posting some YouTube videos I think might be useful in explaining the concept of it.

The Mystery Of Ouija Boards.

 How to make a Ouija Board.

How to use a Ouija Board.

You can also Play it online for free....Good Luck!

The Satanic Bible

Following on from the last post, I came across ‘The Satanic Bible’ which was created by Anton LaVey in 1966 the founder of the Church of Satan, which started off as a group called Magic Circle. Today, however the ‘Church’ has various levels of membership and authority, this notion of authority and membership can yet again be comparable to institutionalised religions of today, which kind of defies the purpose of the so-called atheistic followers of the Church of Satan.

There is a website titled Church of Satan (how creative), dedicated to this particular sect of Devil worship.  I have come to find that the Church of Satan sect is the one that is most easily researched compared to other denominations.

On this website you can download applications to become an

 active member of the 'Church' of Satan. I was so tempted to join but you have to pay a registration fee of $200 and in return you get an embossed crimson card declaring you are a member (and before you ask, no it’s not made out of gold, not even plated with it). I’m not sure I’m quite ready to break the bank just yet to become a registered member of  the Church of Satan. There were also links which lead to forums where you could write letters to the devil, a bit like prayer requests forms on websites of Christian doctrine.

Satan Worship – The Satanic Bible

 Here are the foundation tenants laid out in this book:

1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence.
2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams.
3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit.
4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates.
5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek.
6. Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires.
7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all fours, because of his "divine spiritual and intellectual development," has become the most vicious animal of all.
8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification.
9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years.

These tenants or ‘commandments’ as such confirm what I talked about in the last post about this atheistic form of Satanism being totally hedonistic.

Diabolatry

Hello readers, I am researching Devil worship and writing my third post. It is steadily getting dark outside as the day is reaching its close. Therefore I am effectively staring at the laptop screen in semi-darkness...and to top it off I am watching a clip on YouTube about Satanism. The clip starts with eerie music...then the clip just stops (with the resounding sound of the eerie drums in my ears) refusing to load up...OK that is enough to freak me out. Just thought I’d set the scene there.

Anyway enough of the ‘eerie-ness’. Carrying on with my search to finding out what Devil worship really is? I have found, like other religions such as Christianity and Islam, Devil worship also consists of different sects and denominations. A quote from All About The Occult website sums up quite well the varying beliefs throughout Satanism/Devil worship:  

“Beliefs of these Satanists vary; some accept Satan as a god, or as a demon. Some accept him as a father god, replacing the role of god with Satan and inverting the values of good and evil, light and dark. Some choose to believe that the Christian god does not exist and that Satan created the earth. Others believe that Satan was not the bringer of evil, but instead he was a bringer of enlightenment and knowledge."

Anton LeVay

The main Schools of devil worship are Theistic/Traditional Satanism otherwise known as Diabolatry (First century to present) and the Church of Satan (19^th century to present).
Both schools are distinctively different from one another. Diabolatry is the spiritual worship of the Christian Satan whereas the other is based on an atheistic view. The atheistic sect does not believe in God nor Satan but worships the notion of evil on its own merit, something which is disassociated from religion. In this school of Satanism hedonism is key. Ironically, one organisation of atheistic Satanism names itself; Church of Satan, a name which associates itself with being some form of religion.
When I came across the notion of two opposing views in devil worship, I instantly compared it with the Sunni and Shia sects in Islam. In the same way these two groups are seen as rivals, there is also a constant rift between both ‘schools’ of Satanism. Traditional Satanism arguing that LeVay the founder of the Church of Satan held the same views as them originally before turning to hedonism:
“As a Satanist he does believe in the God of the bible but he refused to worship him and made a conscious decision to worship Satan instead.” (sataniccults)

More information about different types of Devil worship or Satanism can be found on the website: The Description, Philosophies and Justification of Satanism. I shall leave you this time with a video of what can be be described as Modern or Philosophical Satanism which is all about ‘recognizing your sovereignty as an individual.’ The video at the same time criticizes the Church of Satan. I came across this Video on YouTube (it did work in the end) which attempts to explain Modern Satanism: A failed religion, by first talking about the ‘pecking order’ between hens. Yes you read that right, ‘hens’. Have a watch for yourself. I hope it does not confuse you too much.