This took me over an hour to draft :areyoucra I also hit the character limit
I assume Jason is someone who knows a lot more on this subject? I thought I would probably be 'Theistic' as I believe him as an entity but really wanted to make sure. Ok who is Lucifer?
I'm one of the common go-to persons for Theistic Satanism as I'm the most regularly active Theistic Satanist on the site since I have joined.
Satan can be a real entity, but I think you should ask what that means, and by that I mean you need to, if the question of exactly "what" Satan is to you, what that basic metaphysical outlook to you (polytheism, pantheism, ect ect). You don't have to do that per se though, you could just work with what Satan represents and how it impacts you, which is probably more applicable.
Lucifer is an old word meaning "light bearer" or "morning star". It can be synonymous with either the planet Venus when it raises in the morning, or some Promethean and/or enlightened archetype. Some say it's an old Roman god of air, but I have yet to actually run across any non-Satanic source claim that.
Really would like some help of you guys to tell me what type of Satanist I am? I believe it's between Theistic and Atheistic? Maybe more? I don't know?
An Agnostic Theist probably, unless you feel "beyond" as in either "I don't care/it's not important" or "it's neither", in which it would be transtheism.
This really may seem weird or that you might think I am a liar, but Satan came to me in my dream and asked me to worship him instead? Weird? Coincidence? So I started to look into Satanism, and it was not what I expected (for the better).
I hardly see why one would lie about a dream. If he asked for worship, your
probably a Theistic Satanist, now what kind of "theism" isn't really as important as your philosophy/outlook and how you practice, in my opinion. A belief is subjective, can't be proven and is personal. How you live your life and how you practice your religion is a much more applicable and pragmatic thing.
Anyway so yes what type of Satanist would I be? I believe Satan himself is an actual entity and not just a symbol. I believe he and the christian God both exist, but I have chosen to worship Satan/ Satan chose me?
That depends.
If you believe in many different gods as their own separate entities, you would be a polytheist, and specifically a Henotheist. From my experience Henotheism is the most popular form of Theistic Satanism.
This might be to consider if you believe in many gods and not just Satan and the Christian god (Yahweh):
"Hard" polytheism is the belief that gods are distinct, separate, real divine beings not psychological
archetypes or personifications of natural forces. Hard polytheists reject the idea that "all gods are one god." "Hard" polytheists do not necessarily consider the gods of all cultures as being equally real, a theological position formally known as integrational polytheism or
omnitheism.
This is contrasted with "Soft" polytheism, which holds that gods may be aspects of only one god, psychological
archetypes or personifications of natural forces.
source:Polytheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If you believe that all gods are different "faces" or manifestations of the same one, single God/Divine, that can be one type of pantheism, and that Satan would just be the form or face you best work with and feel a calling to worship.
If you think that God is everything/The Universe, such as is with the other form of theistic pantheism, then Satan might be a personification of the opposition, conflict, or finite aspect of reality.
If you
only believe in Satan and the Christian god, a few variants might be to see Satan as the creator and good or neutral and Yahweh (Christian god) as evil, basically swapping the roles, another might be to see Yahweh as the creator AND evil, and Satan as good, wanting to win against Yahweh and free mankind. Finally you might think that to follow Satan is to go to Hell, but that there is no suffering in Hell, but that you will get to rule there... perhaps a place somewhat like earth.
However I strongly believe and suggest against such a narrow idea of believing in Yahweh and Satan as the only two gods in existence.
Also to finish, few random maybe simple questions about Satan / Religion
Is Satan and Lucifer the same person?
Historically, no. It's a relatively recent idea (about 400 years old), most Lucifierians for example say Lucifer isn't Satan. Most Satanists I have met either say they are not at all the same thing, or that Lucifer is a "convenient" name for Satan's lighter aspects. From a more symbolic standpoint Lucifer overlays into Satan, but Satan no-so-much into Lucifer. But speaking of the vast majority of Theistic Satanism literature I have come across and from a historical standpoint.
I think it was in the 5th century that a loose association with the Lucifer in Isiah and Satan was made... and a very loose one at that. It wasn't actually until John Milton's
Paradise Lost (published in 1667) popularized the idea of Lucifer = Satan that it was taken as canon for most Christian branches.
Are the 'four princes of hell' all the same entity (Satan)?
Not historically nor in my opinion, but they might be to some people on a subjective symbolic level.
Is this true? Or can it be said? The christian God made earth and Satan..
Not in my opinion nor that of the vast majority of Satanists. If I could prove the Christian god didn't create the Universe, I can't. I can only logically prove that neither "The Fall" happened (if physical death wasn't present before it) by referring to some physics ideas about physical constants, and that if the Christian cosmology is true that Yahweh (the name of the Christian god) is evil with logical proofs.
.. and now present day, long time later, Satan rules the earth and all life?
I believe that Satan is a few different things, one of them a word for the creator/creating agent of reality. So, no. In my opinion Satan has always "ruled" everything, because he
IS EVERYTHING. However, if your looking to what is "the truth", we can't provide those answers because no religion really has it, just "best guesses" as I like to say. These beliefs and hypotheses are untestable, so we can't
know, we can only
believe what makes the most sense to us on an intuitive, logical, and rational level.
Because I asked myself the question of if I believe in both then who rules?
I don't understand the question, but perhaps an answer might be that you can believe what ever you want, but I wouldn't let another religion dictate your beliefs.
What are the next steps for me?
A lot of research:
Theistic Satanism: Diane Vera on today's new kinds of Satanists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_satanism
SpiritualSatanist.com - Venus Satanas - Homepage
https://xeper.org/
If you choose the first link I suggest to check out the variates article first and check out any of her links you might like. She also has an entire section of her site dedicated to her organization "Church of Azazel" that exists in New York City. Otherwise her site has a lot of articles, some stuff associated with Black Cabal, and a counter evangelism section (for combating right-wing politics and the religious influences that come from that demograph).
The second link is wikipedia ^.^
The third is good for beginners, especially those who might see Satan as a force or a more symbol kind of thing but still real. Though it's kind of useless after a certain point, but does have some good info regardless.
The last link goes to the Temple of Set's official website. Not Satanism, but very close to some forms and has many overlaps. Originally the Temple of Set (ToS) started with Michal Aquino who broke off the Church of Satan (CoS) in 1975 when the CoS officially became atheistic (the CoS is anti-theism today). Aquino wrote
Coming Forth by Night which supposedly brought in the Aeon of Set. For the most part the ToS is theistic but not as literally as one might think. Even if you are not a Setian there are still things one can take from their systems and incorporate into their own.
You might also look into Alister Crowley's ideas, he wasn't a Satanist but basically all occultism today can draw their line of influences back to him:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelema
I should note that those links are to get you started and give you an idea of what is sane. There are a number of groups out there that are extremists or exploit Satanism for their own goals (Order of Nine Angles, Joy of Satan, ect ect) and I would avoid their literature as for what you take influences from.