I've decided to sign up here in an effort to be in contact with other intelligent Satanists and other LHP practitioners.
My road to Satanism was different from most that I've encountered online; I did not first read Doktor LaVey back in the 1990s and immediately see myself reflected in his writings. My own "good guy" programming was too strong. It took time, experience, perspective, and repeated readings for me to come around.
I was initially very excited when I saw The Satanic Temple rise to national prominence, but that excitement turned to wariness and ultimately disappointment when I saw that TST is simply the edgiest wing of the DNC. I am of the opinion that any Satanic group which demands political uniformity of thought is no better than a Fundamentalist Christian Church demanding that every member vote against abortion.
The main thing I like about TST is that they are, at least to a degree, filling some of the role that the Church of Satan filled when it first burst upon the scene. I sincerely wish that the CoS were more than what seems to me to be an Anton LaVey fan club. (btw, if I'm wrong about anything I say here, I invite and welcome correction)
I think that we can promote religious freethought and genuinely Satanic ideals without demanding loyalty to the platform of any single political party. I walk between worlds and blaspheme the orthodoxies of religion, political party, and "lifestyle."
I believe that the USA is on a terrible road right now, heading towards ever-increasing levels of corporate and government surveillance and control, an ever-narrowing range of "acceptable" political opinions, and greater embrace of authoritarianism by the both the mainstream Republicans and the mainstream Democrats.
Back in the 1980s we were correct to fear the theocratic goals of Fundamentalist Christians. But I believe that today we see a similar movement among the secular fundamentalist Progressives. The American Left is doing more to squelch free speech and free thought than the Xtian Fundies ever had the power to do back then. And instead of a "Satanic Panic," we are today living through some kind of "Fascist Panic" today, with the Church Ladies of the Left constantly clutching their pearls and screaming about imaginary "Nazis" around every corner, waiting to corrupt the children.
I have been a student of theology, religion, mysticism, the Occult, and ceremonial magick for a long time and I am a dedicated bibliophile. I started out extremely theistic from a devout Judaeo-Christian background, but find myself more of an agnostic these days. Any Deity as conceived by the major monotheisms, at least, seems implausible. But it also seems that reality sometimes behaves as though philosophical materialism is an insufficient tool with which to explain things. But I'm open to all kinds of explanations; even contradictory ones (such as how it might seem as though Newtonian and Quantum physics disagree with each other while each seeming "true.")
Looking forward to good discussions and ideas here.
Edited to add: I'm particularly interested in the application of Satanism, Satanic principles, and the LHP to the lives of more mature folks and particularly to folks with spouses, kids, etc.
For example, how does Satanism nurture those of us long past our rebellious teens and smexy twenties? How does Satanism prepare us for loss as we watch our parents die. How does it help us deal with the increased responsibility of parenting and of being a loving spouse? How does the Left Hand Path help the older members of our community to deal with physical decline and the reality of mortality (not the romantic mortality of heroic death, but the reality of aging, physical and mental decline, and the unavoidable realization of mortality that we tend to get at middle age).
How does our Satanism exist, not as a naughty secret like a baphomet under your button-down business casual uniform, but as a reality at the end of a long day of sales or accounting or some other necessary evil of a career?
I'll be frank: I'm no Satanic paragon; I'm not a shining example of the Satanic Ideal. Instead, the Satanic ideal is something that I see as a remedy to my many weaknesses and shortcomings; I am a work in progress and Satanism is the corrective to my flaws. Sometimes I'm weak, sometimes I slip up, sometimes I'm a hypocrite. But the one constant is that I am always striving to become more whole, more free, more independent, less conditioned, and more vital.
