Self Worth

This page: Nietzsche and Satanism agree on the principal of automatic self worth, self preservation as a cure for the nihilism of great minds. Pessimism, cynacism and realism make a person weary unless they affirm themselves. Physical fitness is one element, but mental self worth is another vital component of a healthily doubting mind.

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Nihilism

In many ways Satanism is nihilistic. Satanism is full of "no"s, full of reactionary criticism against religious values and the value of religion, full of misanthropic scorn for the masses of mankind and full of commentary on the negative aspects of society. Like all great philosophers and the most powerful thinkers, LaVey preached that the majority of mankind are mindless and unworthy. Hitler said "What luck for rulers that men do not think".

Nietzsche writes "Throughout the ages the wisest of men have passed the same judgement on life: it is no good... Always and everywhere their mouths have been heard to produce the same sound -- a sound full of doubt, full of melancholy, full of weariness of life, full of resistance to life."₁

However this isn't the whole truth about Satanism nor indeed about Nietzsche. Because both are pro life, both say "yes" to life, to indulgence, and to the shaking off of values that restrict mankind rather than expand it. Satanism, although nihilistic, appears to for all practical purposes to be positive. Something about the mindset of the Satanist can be explained by Nietzsche's analysis of the problem that the greatest thinkers (in all cultures) have been self destructively weary of life and especially of people:

"I myself was first struck by this impertinent thought, that the great wise men are declining types, [...] I recognized [them] as symptoms of decay [...] these wisest of men, were somehow in physiological agreement in order to have [...] the same negative attitude towards life."₂

"Nietzsche, possibly due to his own ill health, had the concept that a superman would be physically superior to those around him. That physical fitness is a precursor to mental fitness. That body and mind are intrinsically linked. I believe (it seems obvious to me) that also our mental state affects the effectiveness of our bodies, and that positive thinking is a physical boost to our bodies. Medically, psychosomatic effects are known to be especially linked to our immune system: a depressed person will become ill more often and be poorer at fighting illness.

This positive thinking and physical fitness are at the heart of most self development courses. Not one decent course will fail to instruct a person on ways to improve their physical fitness as a route to improving their mental alertness and freshness, in short their life. But without positive thinking, a healthy body is a pointless slave, herd mentality turns a fit body into a futility. Mental and physical fitness only work in combination."

""Self Development" by Vexen Crabtree 2002 Sep 02

He concludes, on the weariness of the most notable philosophers and outsiders, on their decadence as a result of them not being entirely balanced (with their absolute morals), that the self-negating judgement of mankind by these people (which drains their energy when they interact with people) must be false.

Worth

Twilight Of The Idols

"We must really stretch out our fingers and make the effort to grasp this astonishing finesse, that the value of life cannot be assessed. Not by a living person because he is an interested party, indeed even the object of dispute, and not the judge; nor by a dead person, for a different reason. For a philosopher to see a problem in the value of life is thus even an objection against him, a question mark against his wisdom, a piece of unwisdom."₂

Satanism, through love of the flesh (Belial) and affirmation of the Human spirit (Lucifer) embraces self-life. Satanists are told, and automatically find that they agree, that their own lives are worth preserving. This basic permission to say "yes" to oneself is essential for nihilistic and pessimistic minds, such as Satanists and Nietzsche.

The Outsider

In his book The Outsider, Colin Wilson traces the history of many of the great minds that he calls Outsiders. People who succumb to Nietzsche's observant statement that the greatest minds are all weary of those around them and of life. People who have, largely, gone insane with a fixation on misery and despair. These people need, as Colin Wilson concludes, the ability to give an "absolute yes" to themselves and to their life and also to their life experiences.

When a Satanist says, "Bow down before me, for I am the highest embodiment of Human Life"₃ it is an absolute yes to himself. Most people do not admit it, but most people consider themselves better and more worthy than those around them. Satanists admit it... and as a religion of the ego (the only such religion!) this kind of positive self-worth dogma is vitally powerful.

A brief testimony of worth₄
Vexen was asked by a creative person: if there are prices to be paid for everything in life, are we willing to pay the price for certain Earthly successes?
"The price of life: death, is universal, everything dies, and if that inspires horror then I will pay the price of that cycle with my life and everything I've ever had becuase it means I've led a meaningful life.

If death is no horror to young minds, then it seems life so far is judged by the self to be worthless. The Avesta teaches and I concur that consequences befall all actions so that everything created is one day destroyed. If the price of creation, agrees the artist, is the knowledge or fear that the produce will one day be destroyed, it is still worth doing.

After a party, or after socializing, there is a come down, after eating there is a lack of hunger... but after the combination of all these the result is a healthier, stronger self!

So... paint and draw the way you do, and exploit your ability to write and compose!"

The Testimony Of Flesh at a Good Party:₄

"Satan, then, represents our ties to this world, our ego, successes, the things we want to do in this world. Satan is the things that keep us tied to this world, not wanting to escape it. It represents the fact that we're not willing to give up worldly things for spiritual goals ('Spiritual pipe dreams' in the words of LaVey) attained in an afterlife."

"World Satan" by Vexen 2003 Jan 30

"Life is the one great indulgence; death the one great abstinence. To a person who is satisfied with his earthly existence, life is like a party; and no one likes to leave a good party. By the same token, if a person is enjoying himself here on earth he will not so readily give up this life for the promise of an afterlife about which he knows nothing."

Anton LaVey, The Satanic Bible: Book of Lucifer 10:para6

Despite the final and fatal come down, enjoyment is the point of life and if you have skills you almost definately enjoy using them, so the artist should express himself in art, the diabolicist should blaspheme, the singer should sing and all the while we should cultivate our strengths and mind our weaknesses in the appropriate manner of the strategist and creative self-realizer.