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Actually Satanism in its purest form has nothing at all to do with the Christian concept of Satan. Magus Peter H. Gilmore of the Satanic Church writes:

"As you can see, there are no elements of Devil worship in the Church of Satan. Such practices are looked upon as being Christian heresies; believing in the dualistic Christian world view of "God vs. the Devil" and choosing to side with the Prince of Darkness. Satanists do not believe in the supernatural, in neither God nor the Devil. To the Satanist, he is his own God. Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates. The reality behind Satan is simply the dark evolutionary force of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things. Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshiped, rather a reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will. Thus any concept of sacrifice is rejected as a Christian aberration-in Satanism there's no deity to which one can sacrifice."

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Satanists, in fact, do not like to be compared in any way to Wiccans. Even though they may share the same common belief or disbelief in the Christian concepts of God and Satan as conflicting deities, there is little else that they have in common.

Satanists believe in magic as do Wiccans. While Wiccans main rule is "harm none" in word, thought or deed, Satanists believe in the rule of "do as you will" even though what they are doing may harm another in the process. Wiccans believe that harming another results in the "law of three," which is that the harm that you cause another will come back at you three times. Satanists do not believe this to be true.

Wiccans celebrate the Wheel of the Year, honor and respect the Earth, and are generally gentle, nature loving individuals. Their celebrations are based on harvest rituals and the cycles of the Earth. They believe in a higher power, and see that higher power reflected in the God (Sun) and the Goddess (Earth).

Satanists also have a set of values which includes, never harm a child, and never harm an animal unless it is attacking you or you are using it for food. They do not do blood sacrifice, and they basically only want to be left alone.

Now, as in any type of religion, you will have those Satanists and Wiccans who abuse the principles around which the religion is formed, and call themselves followers. This also holds true for the many different forms of Christianity which have sprung up from the original Christian Church. The followers of what are claimed to be the teachings of Christ cannot even agree on what he said or what he meant.

Personally, I don't find either the teachings of Satanism or the teachings of Wicca offensive. I tend to follow the more positive principles of Wicca, but I can also see the inherent truth in the darker principles of Satanism.

In all honesty, we live in a world that is much more apt to follow the principles of Satanism than the principles of Wicca. Much of our world is being steadily destroyed in the pursuit of the "I want more" syndrome. At least Satanists are honest about who they are and what they are doing.

Learn more about this author, Linda Paul.
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