Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail From: boboroshi@satanservice.org (CoE SOD) Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,talk.religion.misc,alt.christnet,alt.satanism Subject: Re: Just How Does One Become A Satanist? Followup-To: alt.magick.tyagi,talk.religion.misc,alt.satanism Organization: Sonoma Interconnect,Santa Rosa,CA(us),http://www.sonic.net Lines: 127 Sender: yronwode@sonic.net Message-ID: <8bn0r9$77@bolt.sonic.net> References: <38dbcb0b.2825018@news.i-plus.net> Reply-To: spam@luckymojo.com X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.4 (NOV) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 06:58:46 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.224.36 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 954140326 208.201.224.36 (Sun, 26 Mar 2000 22:58:46 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2000 22:58:46 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick.tyagi:22301 talk.religion.misc:312231 alt.christnet:510431 alt.satanism:143324 5000326 IVom Hail Satan! captaindunsell@startrekmail.com (Captain Dunsell): >Is it a concious decision, a public confession >of faith or commitment, a ritual? this is a fascinating subject of study in religion generally: WHAT MAKES CONVERSION POSSIBLE? IS IT NECESSARY? those who want to make the cult more exclusive will purport that one must be BORN into it, as a part of an elite group, either through ordeal or genetically predisposed. I don't think that most people younger than about 23 are capable of making an informed decision to enter into a religious path, though my guess is that most Satanists are between 12 and 27. the restrictions from children joining religion have always struck me as valuable and wise. On Satanic Membership the earliest possible membership would seem to extend into the reaches of pre-lifetime history for those whose believe includes the fantasies of reincarnation and continuation of personality from one form of life (or matter/energy) to another. these would seem to be the Monty Python outclassing braggarts about their Satanism beyond even the ridiculousness of the 'Generational Satanists' who proclaim a genetic inheritance to the "mantle". for the more rational, birth-entry typically infuses the elite inheritance, complete with cult-adherence, cultural lineages, and an overarching conspiratorial, mystery-laden fabrication of membership in a wisdom-cult of immense age and value. these Satanists could not help being so, they were born to it, so they say, and could not choose to be otherwise. most of these are congenital liars. childhood trauma sometimes leads individuals toward the Satanic from a young age, and these are likely to be the more believable of the serious Satanic community. conservative Christian upbringing seems to encourage in the breast of the rebel a desire to do something "bad", and this sometimes take the form of animal sacrifices in the back yard, the worship of demonic entities, the burning of bibles, maybe the desecration of graveyards or buildings associated with Christian religion, or even, gasp, sending in money for a membership card in an "official" club touting its Satanic qualifications and, choke, buying and reading periodicals and books put out by these individuals (whose quality ranges from the very literate -- few -- to the atrociously under-educated). of course some of these same youngsters also turn out to be sociopaths, carrying their blood sacrifice to the realm of murder and worse. one might say that whatever led them to their depraved crimes (genetic, child abuse, whatever) was also the "cause" of their Satanism. perhaps this is the real world correlate to "Generational Satanism"? sometimes teenagers will join high school groups of musical or occult afficionadoes, taking on dark clothing, band sigils and mottos, wearing "cool" jewelry, sporting scary tattoos, and listening to noisy macabre regurgitations amplified with the latest of technological gadgetry. intending to shock friends and parents, and perhaps slightly giddy from the sonic maelstrom pumped into their cerebral cortex, the pop-Satanist typically "converts" back to ordinary society when in need of more social goods like sex, a job, some kind of life other than skateboards, video games, piercings, recreational drugs and musical concerts. family life and compromises that allow societal climbing typically take precedence and the old school days are abandoned in a puff of marijuana smoke. round about college age Satanists start to either degenerate into cultists or serious students of the Black Art. many find succor and identity in the organized franchise clubs, such as the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set (though this latter has an identity problem where 'Satanism' is concerned and the former is occasioned by fundie fanatics). the club provides these interested individuals with some (in some cases manufactured) justification for the sorry state of their lives, the angst-ridden botch of an environment they now find themselves in, the society of normals with which they must struggle every day, and of course the numerous competing occultists and Struggling Religious who are trying to out-do one another in that favourite pastime of 'Who Is The Most Misunderstood Spiritual Path This Year?' during the twenties the real Satanists start to shake themselves off and conduct themselves with a greater degree of decorum, more often separating from the orgs or rising in the ranks by serving its membership with some skills that they have developed of their own not obscured by a flurry of obfuscations and excuses. those who convert at this point in time are often lost to begin with and struggling to piece their lives together after a confusing Christian upbringing. between the ages of 30 and 40 there are probably very few Satanist conversions (damn few Satanists at all). many of those who are so have become entrenched in a religious culture which they will not escape (and it may be quite to their liking :>). those who do convert at this time in their lives may do so in an extravagant manner, such as signing a blood pact, going through some kind of ordeal, meeting with the Black Man at the Crossroads, revealing yet another Fabulous Text Mandated By the Infernal One (tm), or just before some historical killing spree for which they are busted and wind up on death row, displaying their Satanic Pentacles as they are led off to their cells smiling. old Satanists never die, they're just taken to the Underworld. blessed beast! boboroshi Satanic Outreach Director, Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/) -- mailto:nagasiva@luckymojo.com ; http://www.luckymojo.com/nagasiva.html mailto:boboroshi@satanservice.org ; http://www.satanservice.org/ emailed replies may be posted; cc replies if response desired