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The Holistic Limbic System and Social Memes are looked at in this more esoteric text, in relation to what is considered sacred within an autophanic and profane religion of the ego.
This essay appears in Rule Satannia Issue 2, click the graphic to purchase the magazine! The online version of this text is cut down and shortened, the full version contains additional explanatory text
Autophany
An epiphany is an appearance of the sacred, an experience to a person. An autophany is a profane, powerful and strong experience of the self as divine, immortal, sacred, untouchable and almost transcendental to the world. It is the experience of the self as God. As a religion that encourages us to experience the sacred in an autophanic and profane way, I here describe Satanism in terms of two faces. The first is Satan as the Limbic Demon of our Ancient Emotional Center, a bridge between our primitive self and our intellectualism. The second is Satan as a Social Demon of Dead Cultures, who utilizes symbolism from failed theologies and reuses them. This reuse of old emotional and social wreckage is representative of the way Satanists are self-empowering as opposed to pursuing guilt complexes. The use of our carnal side, and of dead/death symbols is therefore an instrument of autophany. In trance states1, these symbols assert themselves as representations of the self.
Limbic Demon of our Ancient Emotional Center
Materialistic and spiritual epiphanies are the same: They both have a fundamental cause that resides in biochemistry and cognitive psychology. Their source is our subconscious, our ancient and primitive brain. Satanism is a limbic2 religion: a holism that combines our primitive instincts with our intellectual minds. Satan represents Humanity as a whole. The carnal and the super-ego3 are combined and neither is rejected. Many other religious traditions reject part of Humanity... they reject our senses and become austerics and monacists, or they reject sexuality and become perverse, or they reject the ego and become uncaring about their own self. Satan represents carnal man combined with intellectualism4. Our greatest Human Potential is realized through the utilisation of all of our nature, turning outdated parts of our body and instincts into things that are useful. By turning primitive instincts to powerful use and not denying our Human nature and the mature way we need to deal with our emotional and physical needs Satanism is Humanistic. Intellectualism and emotional strength allows us to reuse old instincts and redirect their energy to good use. This is first half of the Holistic, Limbic System of Satanism.
Social Demon of Dead Cultures
The second face of Satan is a consumer and regurgitator of useless demonic memes. These are ancient demons, satanic symbolism and demonized gods that we find in history. Past religions have had their gods demonized by newer religions, and newer religions have contributed to the rich symbolism of culture with their own interpretations of what evil is. Satanism takes these concepts and empowers the Satanic celebrant with them: The Satanist chooses from these ancient taboos and shunned symbols and finds the ones with which he resonates. The cause of this is rebellion, search for knowledge and the wilful disregard for stifling religious tradition. This is a symbolic destruction of those religions, a symbolic resistance. Socially, the exaltation of these evil symbols causes unease amongst those who still believe in the religions in which the symbols are used to represent 'evil', this unease can only be reconciled with reality when the symbols are not taken so literally by the believer: Ie, when they become more relativistic or intellectual about such matters. Which is the aim.
In the Book of Lucifer 4 of The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey expands on the idea that old gods were demonized. "Whenever a nation comes under a new form of government, the heroes of the past become villains of the present. So it is with religion. The earliest Christians believed that the Pagan deities were devils" [TSB Book of Lucifer 4:4]. Lavey lists many examples of such entities, including concepts such as demons and devils and half animal beings that were all changed from a position of good into one of evil. Seventy seven of these Infernal Names are listed in The Satanic Bible.
"The semantic meaning of Satan is the "adversary" or "opposition" or the "accuser". The very word "devil" comes from the Indian devi which means "god". Satan represents opposition to all religions which serve to frustrate and condemn man for his natural instincts. He has been given an evil role simply because he represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life"Anton LaVey, The Satanic Bible Book of Lucifer 4:2
Satanists employ the use of many symbols, many embodying concepts from other religions such as Hell.
Conclusion
Satan allows us to bear the full power of our own nature to bear on the world. No part of ourselves goes repressed or made perverse through neglect or hate. The Limbic System, even its most ancient and primitive parts, are carnally accepted and reused. Where it is archaic, it is consciously re-expressed. Unlike many anti-Human moral systems, Satanism actively encourages healthier methods of self control than self denial: Our instincts cannot be suppressed, their expression can only be changed. The former is the pious way, the latter is the Human and healthy way. Socially, the old dark symbols are re-used and re-employed to their best affect in the same way as primitive emotions. Nothing is sacred.