Satan. No matter what way it is translated or said, it always rolls off the tongue uneasily(To those unaware of what Satan really stands for). All around the world, in every religious nook and cranny, the devil is uttered into the minds of the mass as a creature of darkness and fire, breathing its terrible breath onto the world. Hoping to destroy the lives of men, women and children. According to Christian theology Lucifer, the fallen angel, tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden to eat the apple on the forbidden tree. Lucifer presented himself as a Snake, because of course, who is going to listen to a fallen angel. Eve was punished by god for indulging in the apple and now humanity is surrounded by sin. Now In that context, every sin hence forth would send the person hell bound. Cain and Abel? I mean Cain killed Abel. Doesn’t there seem to be something wrong with this? The snake presents himself when Eve is hungry and destroys the entire human race, but Cain kills his brother and he gets off Scott free.

The biggest reason as to why Satan, himself is given such a bad rap is because of what happened in the Garden of Eden. Tempting Eve to eat the apple. An apple. Seriously He didn’t tempt her to destroy Adam, make him her b****, tie him up and choke of the blood of christ now did he? He tempted her to indulge in that which she wanted. She wanted that apple, just as you want pre marital sex or to kick the ass of the school bully. God tells us not to want things but to pray for them to happen. Satan tells us to go after the things we want, gain the satisfaction of power and triumph over our enemies and show victory towards our friends. Satan teaches self love and indulgence, not love to those who do not deserve it and those who oppose you. Chirstianity talks about temptation and how the devil tempts us. But is that really what it is? Temptation? Are we really tempted to do something or have a desire for something or is it just human nature?

Being a Satanist does not make you and enemy of the state, a terror to society. If people should be labeling anyone it should be the Christians. Those are the people that will tell you to follow blindly along with a God you will never meet and Praise a spirit you will never interact with. Being a Satanist means you praise yourself through the philosophies that are laid out by yourself. Satan represents the indulgence inside of us all. The want and desire to be someone, get something, create situations for yourself to shine your own light in. No, there are no demonic seals, no deals in the dark, no pacts with the devil himself. There is just you and the devil inside of you. You are your own God, your own Satan.

Now the Satanism that is being described as Neo-Satanism or LeVayan Satanism. There are true Satanist that deeply believe in the idea of Lucifer being the harbinger of The light and the way. And In many cases, I would give in to the ideology of Lucifer being my light and my way. But the thing is that without a belief in God, I see no reason to believe in Satan. It’s not about good and evil, or two sides clashing. It’s about how I feel about myself and what path I choose to pursue on my own. Now, I do pick to follow the morale codes of humanity intertwined with the teachings of Satan. After reading Anton Lavey’s The Satanic Bible, I concluded that It is not about believing in Satan or Lucifer, but recognizing that it is by his teachings that made me who I am today. I would also fall upon the idea that Satan Is not who made me the person I am today. Neither did God, I am the one who made me for who I am. But what I do on a day to day basis, the decisions I make are made with the influence that Satan had given me.

Now to complain for a bit. I grew up in a christian household, nothing immense but enough to make me rebel in my own ideological ways. The first time I began to fall away from “faith” was when I questioned why we would pray over meals. While growing up we would pray, then after, thank whoever made the meal and contributed toward making the meal. I didn't truly understand who I was thanking. I found myself questioning who I was supposed to thank for the things that happened in my life. And when I say things, I mean things. Not good or bad things. Just things. I have learned to stop labeling things as good and bad, but to just to see the world and my life as something that just happens. My parents wanted so much more from me, and I didn't give them what the wanted, but thinking on it now, I don’t care about what they want with my life. I should be the only one to make the crucial decisions in my life. With help and guidance I do not mind, but I take the final stab at what I want to do. And with this knowledge I began to pursue a different outlet on what I believed in and what I wanted.

People die, crops fail, empires fall. But most importantly, people make things happen. We have so much control and no control at the same time. And everyday, more and more I have come to this understanding that from a day to day basis I am the captain and commander but it ultimately doesn’t matter at all. None of it matters. What truly matters is what is happening right in front of our faces. And not what other people are doing, but what we are doing based on what others are doing. The bottom-line is: We are nothing, just specs of “important” specimens in a vast and endless universe that could care less if we want to eat at Burger King over McDonald’s. You (speaking to those who care and myself) choose it, you do it, you get it done. Plain and simple. There are no outliers, no underground truths behind it. You do what you want within the laws of nature and the laws of humanity.