Yet Another History of Satan

Magus Thomas Potter, 2003

Some years ago as I was sitting in a Christian Church (Assembly of God) the Minister said something that has had a profound influence in my life. He said, “Satan sits on the doorsteps of many a church, crying his eyes out. You see, he is getting blamed for so much he did not do.” He went on to let us know that we must take responsibility for our actions and responsibilities. It is this sense of personal responsibility that is at the heart of the Left-hand path.

Satan and devils may be the defining concept of Christianism, more so than Christ. Anton LaVey has said, “Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!” It saddens me to think that this is all too true. Yet, to make sense of such a statement would require an understanding of Satan from the Christian perspective, which is what I believe LaVey was originally arguing from.

Pagans — indeed many Cultures of Faith — do not need a Cosmic Boggie man for anything. Also, the Satan of the Islamic and Christian testaments is not the Satan of the Hebrew Testament. It is to clear this issue that I am drafting this essay. There is a great deal of intolerance in communities who have at the heart of their teaching “Love.” The Christian scripture says that love bears all things, (I Corinthians, 13.6). Yet Satan is given the roll of Azaz-el, and projected onto every group we hate (hate bears nothing) to justify that hate. Now, for this paper, I will take on the role of Satan, and either enlighten the reader as Lucifer does, or become an obstacle in the reader’s path, as Satan does. If I say nothing, I will die having not fulfilled my potential and commit a sin that Pagan and Satanist (even Christians) would agree is a grievous crime. I do not ask that the reader suspend judgment, only that the reader think through that judgment. I have said Satan is God’s attorney general. Well, I am now the deputy attorney. May Ân Mhór Rioghain have mercy upon our souls as we aggressively root out ignorance.