“I had taken the name Baphomet as my motto in the O.T.O. For six years and more I had tried to discover the proper way to spell this name. I knew that it must have eight letters, and also that the numerical and literal correspondences must be such as to express the meaning of the name in such a ways as to confirm what scholarship had found out about it, and also to clear up those problems which archaeologists had so far failed to solve … One theory of the name is that it represents the words βαφὴ μήτεος, the baptism of wisdom; another, that it is a corruption of a title meaning “Father Mithras”. Needless to say, the suffix R supported the latter theory. I added up the word as spelt by the Wizard. It totalled 729. This number had never appeared in my Cabbalistic working and therefore meant nothing to me. It however justified itself as being the cube of nine. The word κηφας, the mystic title given by Christ to Peter as the cornerstone of the Church, has this same value. So far, the Wizard had shown great qualities! He had cleared up the etymological problem and shown why the Templars should have given the name Baphomet to their so-called idol. Baphomet was Father Mithras, the cubical stone which was the corner of the Temple.”
LaVeyan Satanism is an atheistic form of Satanism centered around the symbol of “Satan” utilized to represent pride, passion, rebellion, independence, etc., i.e. man’s carnal desires. It was founded by Anton Szandor LaVey in 1966, making it a very new religion, in the grand scheme of religious history. It was founded in San Francisco, which is also where the Church of Satan is headquartered. Its sacred text, if you will, is The Satanic Bible, also written by LaVey and published in 1966.
Anton LaVey was an occultist, and encouraged the use of magic to aid one’s own selfish ends. In fact, the seventh of The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth says that one must “acknowledge the power of magic if [they] have employed it successfully to obtain [their] desires. If [they] deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, [they] will lose all [they] have obtained”. In saying this, LaVey does not explicitly require a belief in magic to be held to be a LaVeyan Satanist, but many are. I am not one of them.
LaVey often emphasized that in his own tradition, he practiced two forms of Satanic rites, though neither of these were acts of religion. “Rituals” are intended to beget change; three types have been described by him: sexual rituals intended to attract a desired mate, compassionate rituals intended to help people (including oneself), and destructive rituals seeking to harm another. These were often considered to be magical acts meant to be carried out alone. “Ceremonies” are held to celebrate a specific occasion. LaVey’s entire teachings on rites and practices are enclosed within The Satanic Rituals, another book he authored intended to act as a companion to The Satanic Bible.
I hope I’ve been able to provide a small introduction to the religion, and that any confusion has been cleared up!
Diagrams from the “Philosophus Lecture” of the Golden Dawn. The numbered green text in the second image refers to each diagram.
“Whatever the etymological origin of the word ‘magic’ may be, the mage is the finder and founder of images. Magic consists in fathoming the great Imagination”.
Images and text from “Mage and Image: An Essay on Hermetic Mutation with Coloured Reconstructions of G. … D. … Wands and Sceptres“ by Steffi Grant (1963). Reprinted in “Hidden Lore: Hermetic Glyphs” by Kenneth and Steffi Grant (2006).
LaVeyan Satanism is an atheistic form of Satanism centered around the symbol of “Satan” utilized to represent pride, passion, rebellion, independence, etc., i.e. man’s carnal desires. It was founded by Anton Szandor LaVey in 1966, making it a very new religion, in the grand scheme of religious history. It was founded in San Francisco, which is also where the Church of Satan is headquartered. Its sacred text, if you will, is The Satanic Bible, also written by LaVey and published in 1966.
Anton LaVey was an occultist, and encouraged the use of magic to aid one’s own selfish ends. In fact, the seventh of The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth says that one must “acknowledge the power of magic if [they] have employed it successfully to obtain [their] desires. If [they] deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, [they] will lose all [they] have obtained”. In saying this, LaVey does not explicitly require a belief in magic to be held to be a LaVeyan Satanist, but many are. I am not one of them.
LaVey often emphasized that in his own tradition, he practiced two forms of Satanic rites, though neither of these were acts of religion. “Rituals” are intended to beget change; three types have been described by him: sexual rituals intended to attract a desired mate, compassionate rituals intended to help people (including oneself), and destructive rituals seeking to harm another. These were often considered to be magical acts meant to be carried out alone. “Ceremonies” are held to celebrate a specific occasion. LaVey’s entire teachings on rites and practices are enclosed within The Satanic Rituals, another book he authored intended to act as a companion to The Satanic Bible.
I hope I’ve been able to provide a small introduction to the religion, and that any confusion has been cleared up!
Occult Aspects 