Le '''satanisme LaVeyen''' est une philosophie qui se distingue du culte de Satan ou l'un de ses avatars (voir luciférisme).

Cette philosophie a été développée par Anton Szandor LaVey, qui est l'un des premiers à prôner la totale liberté des hommes de ne pas suivre les dogmes religieux ni de vénérer aucune divinité et d'être leur propre dieu. En ce sens, le satanisme se rapproche de l'athéïsme.

== Origine ==
La ''Darwin, Jung, Reich et de la philosophie objectiviste d’Nietzsche, mais il convient de signaler ici « son incompréhension totale » ou tout du moins « le fossé » entre les écrits de LaVey et ceux de Nietzsche, lequel fustige au travers de la formule "Ni Dieux Ni maîtres" (PBM) l'interprétation que LaVey en fera. Ce point n'est bien entendu qu'un exemple, et tout lecteur attentif de Nietzsche constatera que LaVey est, pour le dire en termes nietzschéens « Antipodétique » à sa pensée.

== Philosophie ==
« Le satanisme est la seule religion qui pousse à encourager et à mettre en valeur ses préférences individuelles, aussi longtemps que ces besoins sont communément admis. Ainsi, cette religion personnelle et indélébile (l'image) s'intègre dans un parfait cadre. C'est une célébration de l'individualité sans hypocrisie, de la solidarité sans pitié, de la subjectivité objective<ref>
</ref>. » Anton Szandor LaVey

LaVey a une idée précise, née de son observation des comportements humains, de la philosophie de vie qu’il veut édicter. Il récupère notamment dans un livre oublié ''Might is Right'' de Ragnar Redbeard des éléments pour ''Le Livre de Satan''.

La pensée darwiniste (brutalisée) et anti-religieuse de Redbeard convient parfaitement au point de vue satanique; cependant LaVey en expurge toutes les notions raciales propres à Redbeard et à son époque. Le Satanisme moderne base son élitisme sur l’intelligence et non pas sur une prétendue race supérieure. Il signifie une adhésion au principe que toutes nos convictions, nos buts, nos valeurs, nos désirs et nos actions devraient être fondés sur, dérivés de, choisis et validés par un processus rationnel aussi précis et scrupuleux qu’il nous soit possible, en stricte application des lois de la logique. Il signifie notre acceptation de la responsabilité de former nos propres jugements et de vivre du travail de notre propre esprit (indépendance). Il signifie que nous ne devrions jamais sacrifier nos opinions aux convictions ou aux désirs irrationnels des autres (intégrité) ; et que nous ne devrions jamais chercher à nous approprier ou à nous octroyer ce que nous ne méritons pas, ou ce qui ne nous revient pas de droit - que ce soit dans le domaine matériel ou spirituel (respect de la propriété individuelle). Il signifie que nous ne devrions jamais désirer d’effets sans causes, et que l’on ne devrait jamais donner naissance à une cause sans assumer pleinement la responsabilité de ses effets ; que nous ne devrions jamais agir comme un ''zombie'', c’est-à-dire sans connaître nos propres buts et motifs ; que nous ne devrions jamais prendre de décisions, nous forger des convictions ou nous approprier des valeurs hors contexte, c’est-à-dire sans tenir compte de la somme totale et intégrée de nos propres connaissances ; et, par-dessus tout, que nous ne devrions jamais tenter de laisser passer une contradiction. Il signifie aussi le rejet de toute forme de mysticisme, c’est-à-dire de toute prétention à une source de connaissance surnaturelle et non sensorielle. Il signifie enfin un engagement à user de la raison, non de manière sporadique ou en l’appliquant seulement dans certaines circonstances, ou dans des cas d’urgence, mais comme une façon de vivre permanente. LaVey résume ceci avec pragmatisme dans ses « onze règles de la Terre ».
 
De la même façon que l'homme est un ''autodidacte'' dans le domaine matériel, il est un « ''autodidacte'' dans le domaine spirituel ». Cela signifie que l’on doit mériter le droit de se considérer soi-même comme notre plus grande valeur en réalisant notre propre perfection morale, c’est-à-dire en refusant d’accepter tout code fondé sur des vertus irrationnelles qui seraient impossibles à mettre en pratique. Il faut s’assurer alors d'user de celles qui le sont, en refusant toute culpabilité imméritée, en ne s’y exposant pas et en corrigeant promptement celle que l’on aurait pu mériter. Et enfin, par-dessus tout, la perfection morale s’accomplit en refusant de jouer le rôle d’un animal sacrificiel et en refusant toute doctrine qui prêche l’auto-immolation comme une vertu ou un devoir moral.

</blockquote>

:''For other uses of the word, see Satanism and Satanism (disambiguation).''
'''LaVeyan Satanism''' is a magic and occultists, drawing heavily from self-indulgence, and "Left-Hand Path" religion, rejecting traditional "Right-Hand Path" religions such as Christianity for their perceived denial of life and emphasis on guilt and abstinence. Unlike Theistic Satanism, which is rejected by the Church of Satan as Christian heresy rather than Satanism, it does not literally worship Satan, but rather uses Satan as a symbol for people's natural inner desires, emphasizing atheism in contrast to the other.<ref></ref>

Anton LaVey established Satanism's first and largest religious organization, the Church of Satan, in 1966, and codified Satanic beliefs and practices in the Satanic Bible in 1969. According to the Church of Satan, there are many Satanists around the world, including both members and non-members. It rejects the legitimacy of any other organizations of Satanists, dubbing them reverse-Christians and pseudo-Satanists. Although exact numbers have never been released, it has been estimated by the church that the number of adherents is in the tens of thousands.<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_581.html#3508 Adherents.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==History==
On Walpurgisnacht of 1966, Anton Szandor LaVey began the Church of Satan. Beforehand, he had given lectures from his home, the infamous Black House, charging two dollars for admittance. He formed a "Magic Circle" with his closest associates, experimenting with ceremonial magic. It was suggested to LaVey that he had enough material to start an organized religion.<ref></ref>

The Church of Satan attracted a lot of publicity. Its use of nude women as altars and performances of a Satanic wedding and funeral service brought it a lot of attention. Anton LaVey shaved his head and wore a white clerical collar, sometimes even wearing horns to complete the image of the Devil incarnate. His flamboyant personality attracted many followers and admirers.<ref></ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia
  | title =''Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology''
  | publisher = Gale Group Inc.
  | date =1996
  | accessdate =2007-05-03}}</ref>
<!--add a couple of paragraphs here on the foundation and history of LaVeyan Satanism.-->

In 1969, LaVey published the Satanic Bible, which, even to this day, remains the most authoritative literature on the subject of Religious Satanism, outlining the basic concepts, philosophy and rituals. Its companion, The Satanic Rituals, published in 1972, presents an array of rituals associated with Satanism throughout the ages, but not necessarily central to the Church's belief system. LaVey also released other literature to further expand on the ideology, namely The Satanic Witch (previously published as The Compleat Witch), and 2 essay anthologies: The Devil's Notebook and Satan Speaks!<ref>[http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Sources.html Satanic Source Sheet<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Since its inception, many individuals sought to recreate LaVey's success by founding new organizations claiming the throne of "true" Satanism, but most were short-lived and ceased to exist altogether.<ref>[http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Pretenders.html Pretenders to the Throne - Peter H. Gilmore<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Some, however, have gained remarkable success, allegedly due to the founders' previously strong relations with the Church of Satan. The reasons for the breakaway from LaVey's church were cited as being a difference in ideology, or commercialization of the institution, thus seeking to recreate its previous underground and elitist status. One notable example is the formation of the Temple of Set in 1975 by former Church of Satan member Michael Aquino, who cites disagreement over LaVey's atheism.<ref></ref> Due to the Temple of Set's belief in a living deity called Set, it is not considered a LaVeyan Satanist organization, but as Theistic Satanist.

The other major organization affiliated with LaVeyan ideology is the First Satanic Church<!-- Bot generated title --></ref>

Today, the Church of Satan is still viewed as the ''de facto'' representation of LaVeyan Satanism in the public eye, and fresh publications are released, applying Satanic philosophies to topics of contemporary interest.<ref>[http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Satanism:_An_interview_with_Church_of_Satan_High_Priest_Peter_Gilmore Interview with Peter H. Gilmore], David Shankbone, ''Wikinews', November 5, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Sources.html Satanic Source Sheet<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Beliefs==
In the Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey describes nature and even, metaphorically, with certain conceptions of a supreme deity or God.

In his most important essay, "Satanism: The Feared Religion", the Church of Satan's current leader Peter H. Gilmore states:
<blockquote>
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 worshipped, 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.<ref>http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Feared.html Satanism: The Feared Religion</ref>
</blockquote>

Satan is said to appear in mythology and literature around the world as a trickster, rebel, and hero. Figures such as the Greek Prometheus are said to perfectly exemplify the qualities of Satan, the prideful rebel.<ref>{{cite book
  | last =Cotterell
  | first =Arthur
  | title =''A Dictionary of World Mythology''
  | publisher =Oxford University Press
  | date =1990-04-19
  | location =USA }}</ref> Satan is seen as the powerful individual who acts regardless of what others might say.<ref></ref> Also, the word ''satan'' is derived from the Hebrew for "adversary" or "accuser" (''ha-satan''). Thus, combining the traditional rebellious imagery associated with Satan and other relative deities, together with  the etymological aspect of the word itself, Satanists claim to be adversaries of mainstream behavior which they define as "herd conformity", seeing it as stifling to individuality, creativity, and progress.<ref></ref>

Satanists do not believe that Satan is a god; rather, the function of God is performed and satisfied by the Satanist him/herself. That is, the needs of worship, ritual, and religious/spiritual focus are directed, effectively, inwards towards the Satanist, as opposed to outwards towards a God.

LaVey proposes, instead, that if all gods are creations of humans, worship of an external deity is worship of its creator by proxy. He suggests, then, that the rational Satanists should instead internalize their gods and therefore worship themselves; hence the Satanic maxim, "I am my own god."<ref></ref>

It follows that Satanism shuns the idea of belief in all other deities as well. Belief in any such externalized deities is generally considered grounds for excluding someone as a Satanist, and devil worship in particular is considered nothing more than a misguided inversion of Christianity, and often dismissed as a Christian heresy.<ref>[http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Satanism:_An_interview_with_Church_of_Satan_High_Priest_Peter_Gilmore Interview with Peter H. Gilmore], David Shankbone, ''Wikinews', November 5, 2007.</ref>

==Philosophy==

===Fundamental individualism===
Satanism is often mistaken as being a religion that encourages sexuality, chart their own personality, and decide their own ambitions in life. In this stress on individuality, Satanism is considered a "Left-Hand Path" religion.

===Satanism and self-transformation===
Adherents to "life-denying" religions are often regarded as self-abnegating in their devotion to their own servility. LaVey's Satanic creed viewed religion as promoting an impersonal relationship with what the churches referred to as "God". Satanism was presented as an opportunity to self-identify with one's own concept of God. Great attention was paid to details gleaned from The Big Sleep in creating one's ideal Self from deliberately invoked forms. Satanism encourages a follower of the religion to grow throughout their life as they see fit.

===Law of Satanism===
Lex talionis, the Law of Retaliation (lex/legis f. nom, "law" and talio/talionis f. gen, "retaliation, returning like unto like") informed much of LaVey's Satanic formulation. "Do unto others as they do unto you" supplanted the directive to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", so that you are only to give compassion and sympathy to those who deserve it. It is a reactive rule, compared with the Christian proactive rule; by the rule, love, compassion, and sympathy are not to be wasted upon "ingrates"; these are to be given only to those who the practitioner feels deserves them. The religion of Satanism, as LaVey espouses it, is centered almost exclusively upon the concept of being one's own god; as such, values and attachments such as love, affection, and caring, along with opposing concepts such as hate and wrath, are to be disseminated at the discretion of the individual Satanist. LaVey felt that intelligent and strong people spent too much time caring for psychic vampires &mdash; weak individuals who always demanded attention and care, yet would never give any back. He taught that Satanists should strive to remove themselves as much as possible from such people in order to live in accordance to their instincts and individual wills.

===The Nine Satanic Statements===
# Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!
# Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
# Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
# Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!
# Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!
# Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires!
# Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!
# Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!
# Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!<ref>[http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/NineStatements.html The Nine Satanic Statements<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

===The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth=== 
# Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
# Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
# When in another’s lair, show them respect or else do not go there.
# If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat them cruelly and without mercy. 
# Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
# Do not take that which does not belong to you, unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.
# Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.
# Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
# Do not harm little children.
# Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
# When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them. <ref>[http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Eleven.html Eleven Rules of the Earth<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

===The Nine Satanic Sins===
# Stupidity — The top of the list for Satanic Sins. The Cardinal Sin of Satanism. It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable. Satanists must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid.
# Pretentiousness — Empty posturing can be most irritating and isn’t applying the cardinal rules of Lesser Magic. This is on equal footing with stupidity for what keeps the money in circulation these days. Everyone’s made to feel like a big shot, whether they can come up with the goods or not.
# Machiavellian standpoint) we are far from that point.
# Self-deceit — It’s in the “Nine Satanic Statements”, but deserves to be repeated here. It is another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred vows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it’s fun, and with awareness. But then, it’s not self-deceit!
# Herd Conformity — That’s obvious from a Satanic stance. It’s all right to conform to a person’s wishes, if it ultimately benefits you. But only fools follow along with the herd, letting an impersonal entity dictate to you. The key is to choose a master wisely, instead of being enslaved by the whims of the many.
# Lack of perspective — Again, this one can lead to a lot of pain for a Satanist. You must never lose sight of who and what you are, and what a threat you can be, by your very existence. We are making history right now, every day. Always keep the wider historical and social picture in mind. That is an important key to both Lesser and Greater Magic. See the patterns and fit things together as you want the pieces to fall into place. Do not be swayed by herd constraints: Know that you are working on another level entirely from the rest of the world.
# Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies — Be aware that this is one of the keys to brainwashing people into accepting something new and different, when in reality it’s something that was once widely accepted but is now presented in a new package. We are expected to rave about the genius of the creator and forget the original. This makes for a disposable society.
# Counterproductive Pride — That first word is important. Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The rule of Satanism is: If it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you’ve painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, I’m sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow, then do it.
# Lack of universally pleasing and harmonious configurations that should not be denied.<ref>[http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Sins.html The Nine Satanic Sins<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Magic==
Magic, as defined by Satanism, is "the change in situations or events in accordance with one's will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangeable." This definition incorporates two kinds of magic: Lesser Magic (manipulative) and Greater Magic (ritual). Satanism, however, draws no distinction between White and Black magic which correlates with its view of an impersonal universe.<ref></ref>

===Lesser Magic===
Lesser Magic is a system of manipulation that mainly involves three main themes of sex, sentiment, and wonder. On this point, Anton LaVey seems to take inspiration from a book on photography called ''The Command to Look.'' Lesser magic capitalizes on these themes, prompting Satanists to expand on whichever themes they naturally fall under.

LaVey later expanded his system of manipulation in ''The Satanic Witch''. The book was written from the woman's perspective because LaVey believed that women could more fully apply his concepts, but much of the book can be applied by men also. He relates ideas worked out from watching the proprietors of carnival stalls and fortune tellers in their manipulation of customers. The Satanic Witch also proposes The LaVey Synthesizer Clock, a form of soma typing that adds a fourth body type, the "feminine." The synthesizer is used in identification of personality in order to know how best to manipulate a person through traits often associated with their types and what LaVey referred to as their "demonic" personality, or their opposite on the clock.