Trinity Denied Issue 1 - The Purpose of Trinity Denied
Welcome to the first issue of Trinity Denied, a small newsletter published, written, and edited by Satanists. Still reading? Good, because I'm sure half of the people read the first sentence and 10,000 assumptions and horror stories lead to the trashing of their copy. For the rest of you, the purpose of this newsletter is to spread the truth about Satanism and other religions. Some of you might be wondering why a couple Satanists would write a newsletter direct towards *everybody* including non-Satanists, Christians, etc. Satanism has been trashed for years through religious propaganda. It's only fair that we as Satanists get our turn...And the time has come to set the record straight and correct the uninformed attitude towards our religion.
I hope through the publication of Trinity Denied to clear up the misconceptions of Satanism, and to illustrate that Satanists should not be feared nor shunned because of their religious beliefs...Forget not that I am the same person I was before I ever published this article or wore an Amulet of Baphomet. False judgement is a tool of the weak and uninformed.
The Name
If you're offended by the name "Trinity Denied", or maybe think we're your typical GOD IS DEAD LET'S GO WORSHIP SATAN types, do not fret. The title was chosen because it sounds more original and provocative then say, "SATAN'S NEWSLETTER" and a little less cliche than maybe "THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE", which incidentally was one of the possible names of the newsletter. "Trinity Denied" as I use it came from Anton LaVey's description of the symbol of the baphomet. The baphomet includes an inverted pentagram, with two points up, and three down, or "Trinity Denied".
The Authors
While I, Andrew Jones, or "ad_jones" or "Lord Humongous" or "Lord_H" will be the primary author for this issue, other writers will join the ranks in due time. This first issue was meant primarily to be an opening declaration of the purpose of this newsletter by its publisher. The main authors of this newsletter will all be Satanists, but don't immediately assume we are animal-murderers who get off on being "evil". We follow The Church of Satan's methods and beliefs, which include a wide appreciation for life, nature, and humanity. None of us are card-carrying members of the COS at the time, but that will change soon enough.
If you have any comments on the nature of this newsletter, feel free to submit letters to the editor[s]. Intelligent and thought-out letters will most likely be included in future issues. Information on E-Mail addresses or other methods of sending feedback can be found one the last page of this issue of Trinity Denied.
So What Is Satanism?
By now readers are probably wondering a)if we don't kill animals, what kind of Satanists are we or b)What is the Church of Satan, and or c)Who is Anton LaVey?... The authors of this newsletter hold similar views to that of the Church of Satan, and Anton LaVey, its founder and High Priest. The Church of Satan was founded in 1966, or year one Anno Satanas. Prior to that LaVey had been practicing magick in a "ritual group" which was a predecessor to COS. Later he wrote and published The Satanic Bible, which made clear the purpose of Satanism and the COS.
From our stance, Satanism is a religion based upon indulging one's self. If it feels good, by all means, do it. We do not believe in "Satan" as an actual being that runs around luring people into darkness, but as a set of principles, and a source of vital energy found in all living things. As far as the afterlife and "higher power" is concerned, most Satanists hold agnostic beliefs. In other words, "I'll believe it when I see it."
Satanists are very close to nature as well. "Satan" as a force exists in animals, trees, everything. "Satan" as a principle is the "King of the Earth". The name itself, "Satan" means adversary and accuser. We see this, and say "What's so wrong about that?" To us, Satan is progress and momentum towards the future. Think about all of mankind's progress. Every major change required an adversary or accuser. How would science advance without someone to question incorrect beliefs or ideas? Take Galileo, George Washington...Thomas Jefferson. Satan is a force of change.
To those who say "One cannot be a Satanist if he does not believe in Christianity's Satan", remember that the word "Satan" was around much longer than the principle of "Jehovah". Many times someone might say "Christians were first", but this is not true. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the general idea of what "Satan" looks like, a horned goat with hooves and a tail. This image came not from creative imagination, but from another religion. "Pan", the Horned God and companion to Wicca's Goddess was a "good" guy before his image became one of evil.
We believe that "Good" and "Evil" are very elastic terms that mean too many things to too many people to ever be taken into too much consideration. If what we do is considered "Evil", so be it! We believe that life should be enjoyed to its fullest extent, as long as it doesn't require infringing on another's enjoyment of life. And if someone feels compelled to bother us without end, we feel no regret in destroying him or her through ritual.
That of course brings up magic, or magick. ("Magick" is used to differentiate between card tricks or "rabbit in a hat" type magic) Satan, as was stated, represents a pool of energy found everywhere in nature, and through ritual, we use that energy to further indulge our lives. There are three main rituals, one is to attract out of lust, one is to assist someone in a time of need, and one is to destroy an enemy. Magick should not be abused, and a "real" Satanist should realize that magick is merely an element of Satanism, not Satanism in its entirety.
Pseudo-Satanists
And then there are those which give us a bad name. These people, termed "Pseudo Satanists", or more often, "Christian Satanists" are the types you'll read about in the paper or see on TV trash talk-shows. These are the types that believe in both God and the "Devil", and "choose to side" with "darkness". These are the people that believe in the Christian Heaven and Hell concept, and believe that they will go to hell and be "The Dark Lord's" assistance. They believe that hell will invade and take over heaven.
Whenever you hear about ritual abuse, sacrifice, molestation, etc, these are generally the types involved. Do not chastise us for their activities, we are of a different belief and practice entirely.
However...The Use of Imagery
However, we will often use "Christian" metaphors. Why? Magick includes the use of energy, the power of suggestion, the power of the human brain, and imagery. Therefore, we use symbols such as the baphomet in ritual and in life as a way to illustrate the power and energy that Satan represents. So when and if you read the Satanic Bible, and see references like "The Gates of Hell", remember that imagery is one of the most powerful factors in magick. This is what threw me off at first as well. Once a person can "get over" and understand the use of Satanic imagery in speech, ritual, and the like, they can accept Satanism in a much more positive light.
The Nine Satanic Statements
As a way to wrap up our general beliefs, here are Anton LaVey's Nine Satanic Statements.
[The 9 Satanic Statements are omitted, check out the links in the main page]
Notice how every statement uses the word "represents", except statement number nine. This is an example of the imagery used in Satanism, a way of putting him in another perspective if you will. Without this, the power of the statement would be compromised.
For further reading, check out The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals from Avon Books. The Devil's Notebook is also an excellent and enjoyable book, available from Feral House. The Satanic Witch is another Feral House book that focuses on Satanism and its relationship with women. In other words, it's written for Satanic Women. All of these are written by Anton Szandor LaVey.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading this issue of Trinity Denied. Remember, questions, comments and suggestions are all welcome. Apologies to my three other potential writers, who may have wanted to write for the first issue. The next issue should be available very soon, but there are no actual fixed deadlines. The purpose of this issue was to identify our stance, further issues will focus on other aspects of Satanism and religion in general.
Credits
Trinity Denied Issue #1: The Purpose of Trinity Denied
All articles in this issue were written by Andrew Jones.
All articles in this and future issues belong to their authors.
The Nine Satanic Statements were written by Anton Szandor LaVey.
Distribution
Trinity Denied is currently distributed by hand. If you wish to help the editors/authors, contact them regarding permission to distribute. If you would like to "subscribe" to further issues, contact me. E-Mail is preferable, as issues can easily be saved to a plain text format. As further issues are printed, back issues will be available by request of the authors. I keep all issues saved on disk and hard-copy for future need.
Reaching Trinity Denied
Trinity Denied's dedicated E-Mail address is TDenied@hotmail.com. Suggestions, criticism, questions and the like should be sent here, or given to the editors/authors. As further authors arrive, you may feel the need to send questions/comments directly to them, and so if they have one, their individual E-Mail addresses will also be available. Letters that are printed in future issues of Trinity Denied(if we get any) will not be modified in ANY way except to fit them to the margins of the newsletter. Anonymous letters are of course accepted, and feel free to use a handle if you don't like using your real name.
Quotes
Thanks go out to DisordeR's issue of FUCK Magazine, Issue #210, where I found this powerful quote.
"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must approve the homage of Reason rather than that of blindfolded fear."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Definition of Good and Evil: Good is what you like. Evil is what you don't like."
"Control, religious or political, must exist because the populace demands to be enslaved. Only when it feels sufficiently enslaved can the dissenters produce their collective grunt. Dissention is a weak form of assertion. Assertion is a weak form of creation."
-- Anton LaVey, From The Devil's Notebook.
Rege Satanas!
