In Lanning’s Guide To Allegations of Childhood Ritul Abuse, Part 4 Kenneth Lanning writes that he has “heard all of the following referred to as satanism: Church of Satan, Ordo Templi Orientis, Temple of Set, Demonology, Witchcraft, Occult, Paganism, Santeria, Voodoo, Rosicrucians, Freemasonry, Knights Templar, Stoner Gangs, Heavy Metal Music, Rock Music, KKK, Nazis, Skinheads, Scientology, Unification Church, The Way, Hare Krishna, Rajneesh, Religious Cults, New Age, Astrology, Channeling, Transcendental Meditation, Holistic Medicine, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Islam, Orthodox Church, Roman Catholicism.” This is a mixed bag of philosophies and ideologies where no doubt the followers do not claim to be Satanists themselves. It is interesting to see groups such as KKK, Nazis, and Skinheads listed as Satanists, but of course so are Freemasons (by proxy making Roel van Leeuwen a Satanist by these definitions).
However, Lanning provides a typology of Satanism that provides a more practical classification of the types of Satanism. It was “adapted from the investigative experience of Officer Sandi Gallant of the San Francisco Police Department, who began to study the criminal aspects of occult activity long before it became popular.” It lists the following types:
The first is “Youth Subculture”. Lanning notes that “Most teenagers involved in fantasy role-playing games, heavy metal music, or satanism and the occult are going through a stage his of adolescent development and commit no significant crimes.”
The second is “Dabblers” (Self-Styled). For this type Lanning notes that “for these practitioners there is little or no spiritual motivation. They may mix satanism, witchcraft, paganism, and any aspects of the occult to suit their purposes.”
The third type is “Traditional” (Orthodox) Satanists. “These are the so-called true believers. They are often wary of outsiders.”
It is interesting to note that there is no mention of mixing Satanism with neo-Nazism – at least no specific “type” amongst these three classification types.
The alt.satanism FAQ has a slightly more detailed topology:
1. The Dabblers: adopt Satanic trappings for a brief period of time, usually for entertainment rather than serious purposes.
2. Churches of Satan: are patterned after the teachings of Anton LaVey. These groups believe in individualism, gratification of the ego, self-reliance and the ideal of the Nietzchean Superman.
3. Gnostics – Promethean Gnostics: Believe in a literal “Satan”, but believe that the creator of the world (Jehovah) is the evil deity. Satan is seen as the “bringer of light”; a beneficent god. Dark Gnostics: Worship the dark force in nature.
4. Secondary Satanists: follow a faith outside the Christian mainstream. Most would not consider themselves as being “Satanic” and strictly speaking should not be defined as Satanists.
5. Hellfire Clubs: Were a phenomenon of the 18th century, mentioned because of historical relevance to modern Satanisms.
6. Romantic/Promethean Satanists Literary/historical “Satanists” -William Blake, Charles Baudelaire, Maupertin, Carducci, Lautremont and Gabriele D’Annunzio.
7. Left-Hand Path Pagans. There are several European groups, most of them consisting of small “covens” of several people, that are or could be considered Satanists. Two of the larger of these groups are The Fraternity of Baelder and the Order of Nine Angles (ONA).
So far I’ve been unable to find any form of Satanism that is explicity neo-Nazi. However, given that Satanism is generally considered an individualistic ideology whose membership is extremely varied in race, culture, and even core beliefs it is not difficult to see that some Satanists will also identify with being Neo-Nazis. Of course, the label of Nazi can be applied to others. As mentioned above, looking back at Kenneth Lanning’s statements Freemasonry, KKK, Nazis, Skinheads and Scientology have all be described as Satanic.
A page called Pages and sites by Satanists opposing neo-Nazism or neo-Nazi Satanist groups has links to various articles generally rejecting links between Satanism and neo-Nazism. Diane Vera comments on an article (Satanism and Fascism) “LaVey’s statements quoted in this article exemplify his fondness for being shocking, which seems to be the main reason for some LaVeyans’ fascination for Nazism and fascism despite vast ideological differences between LaVeyan Satanism and Nazism/fascism. Unfortunately, this fascination seems to have attracted the real thing to Satanism as well.”
In the Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey wrote: “From every set of principles (be it religious, political or philosophical), some good can be extracted. Amidst the madness of the Hitlerian concept, one point stands out as a shining example of this – ’strength through joy!’” By adopting one concept from Nazism it would be enough to put LaVeyan Satanism into the category of neo-Nazism by some people’s narrow definitions.
Tags: neo-Nazism, Satanism
October 13, 2008 at 4:41 am |
Well when it comes to Nazi or racist attitudes in Satanism, I’ve heard a number of complaints for people involved with the Church of Satan and some of its spin-off groups that there’s an awful lot of racism in the atmosphere there and in the new groups and Grottos.
When I tried shooting a scene which would feature a recreation of the Satanic Virgin Sacrifice myth, I was warned by them not to use a black actress because way too many racist Satanists and black magicians might take it the wrong way. Maybe they were extremely politically correct, but it was interesting to hear nevertheless.
Part of LaVey’s doctrine was that each person can be a divinity in his or her own right and without basic principles to follow in terms to what personal conduct is and isn’t ethical, a lot of racists and neo-Nazis might easily get into Satanic groups if black magic or LeVeyan doctrines ignite their fancy. Then again, just grouping all the things to which you object and naming them Satanism is just lazy and sloppy.
October 21, 2008 at 9:27 am |
[...] A general introduction to this “synthesis” can be found in my earlier posting: Satanism and Nazism [...]