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To: alt.magick.tyagi,talk.religion.misc,alt.christnet,alt.satanism
From: boboroshi@satanservice.org (CoE SOD)
Subject: Re: Just How Does One Become A Satanist?
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 06:58:46 GMT

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/ 
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