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Religion is the most important thing in a person's life. If electric
trains are the most pervasive thing in one's life, that is his religion.
Anything can be a religion if it means a lot. If your present religion
isn't the most important thing in your life, then skip it. Find whatever
impels you most and make that your religion.
Religions are easy to invent. Most traditional religions have little
or
nothing to do with reality, are dependent on obfuscation, interpretation,
guilt, and unreasoning faith--some more than others. Since Satanism
is
essentially a religion of the self, it holds that the individual and
his
personal needs comes first. If that means playing with trains or
spike-heeled shoes or singing in the bathtub, those are its sacraments
and devotions. Taking inventory of old comic books is counting beads
on a
rosary, each book being a station of the cross.
Before I codified Satanism, thus enabling me to integrate everything
of a
personal meaning into a suitable forum, I first considered the religion
of Dogism. The belief system made sense, but was too limiting. Dogism
holds that if you can't eat it, and you can't fuck it; piss on it.
Much
as I respect dogs and their gods, I could relate more to Catism, the
principle religion of cats. The Five Commandments of Catism are: (1)
Don't run, if you can walk. (2) Don't walk, if you can stand. (3) Don't
stand, if you can sit. (4) Don't sit, if you can lie down, and (5)
Don't
stay awake, if you can take a nap. Catism counsels: "He who sleeps
the
day away / lives to sleep another day," or, "Respect the friend who
brings your food, for he has been your choice / Or go and catch it
for
_yourself_, and have a louder voice," and other such homilies.
Freud's "pleasure principle" should be known to be the highest motivator
for any religion. The significance of any fetish is a yardstick for
its
priority. When a fetish transcends all else, including survival needs,
religious fanaticism is the result. When the audio equipment takes
priority over the music, the way the music _sounds_ is more important
than the sound of the _music_. The act of falling in love can be more
important than one's choice of a mate. If the size of a screen is more
important than what's on it and the latest hardware and software eclipses
the quality of the product entered--fetishism is the result.
All activity that consumes, therefore, should be recognized as being
both
religious and fetishistic. A Satanist whose hobby or fetish is Satanism
_per se_, is no more of a Satanist than one who, realizing the indulgence
advocated by Satanism, accepts the Name. The difference between the
man
or woman who's a _practicing_ Satanist, from an _identity_ Satanist
is
that the practicing Satanist looks at the picture, while the identity
Satanist studies the frame.
Those who disparage and belittle the Church of Satan to an obsessive
degree reveal their fetish. In reality and practice, by their consuming
interest, they reveal their true religion to be-- the Church of Satan.
Otherwise, they would turn on their heel, walk away, and refuse to
subject themselves to that which they need not. Clearly, they need
us. We
don't need them.
Never underestimate the sexual corollaries to fetishism/religion. It's
too easy (and convenient) to dismiss covert arousal. Just as there
have
been foot fetishists who work in shoe stores, there are masturbationist
writers and artists who have nothing to say and write nothing worth
reading. Their output amounts to one stroke or rub per line of type,
using their typewriters or computers as sex toys. This can lead to
sexual
dependency upon the computer. Far-fetched? Things have changed since
monks illuminated manuscripts and suffered ecstasies.
Varieties of religious experience can be as interesting as varieties
of
fetishism. Though there may be many kinds, overall, each disciple has
his
or her rigid set of preferred and obligatory devotions. Each has personal
words of power as a result of distillation. All roads lead to Rome
for
the serious practitioner. It is Spare's principle of reduction, Pavlov's
bell. The devout Catholic crosses himself and murmurs "Saints preserve
us." The Pentecostal shouts "Hallelujah!" The Jew says "Mazeltov."
A more
potent manifestation is possible, when one considers the true nature
of
religion. They might instead say: "I need a drink," "My niece with
the
fine ass...," "Is she a disciplinarian?" Every fetishist/religionist
has
sacred buzzwords: "tickle," "Cherry '65 Mustang," "stinky socks," and
millions more. Sexual fetishes are probably the most epicurean preference
of the human animal. The smallest detail is of great significance and
there is little margin for error. In fact, _there is less room for
deviance in deviance, than in any other human endeavor_.
If certain words and phrases keep reappearing, it's because they're
never
tiresome, always fresh. Uncle Louie's favorite musical composition
may be
the same old tune to others, but to Uncle Louie, it improves with
age--which is more than can be said for Uncle Louie. It is his _Ave
Maria_.
Satanism is the only religion which serves to encourage and enhance
one's
individual preferences, so long as there is admission of those needs.
Thus, one's personal and indelible religion (the picture) is integrated
into a perfect frame. It's a celebration of individuality without
hypocrisy, of solidarity without mindlessness, of OBJECTIVE SUBJECTIVITY.
There need be no deviation from these principles. They should summarily
negate internecine strife and bickering. Any attempts at Satanic
"reformation" should be seen for what they are: creating problems where
none exist. There should be no place in any religion for reformers
whose
very religion is the fetish of reformation. There is even a place and
title for compulsive dissidents, and if they can wear the mantle, they
are welcome. They would delude themselves to be revolutionaries. In
our
camp, they are called "House Masochists."
Contributed to the Internet with permission. Copyright Year XXXI A.S.
by
Anton Szandor LaVey. Originally appeared in _The Cloven Hoof_, Issue
#127.