Click here to watch the episode.<\/p>\n
When I found out I was meeting a Satanist, the first words that came to mind were devil worshipper and evil.<\/p>\n
I had no idea what to expect.<\/p>\n
Will he cast a spell on me? Will he try to summon the devil in front of me? What is going to happen?<\/p>\n
I grew up in a Catholic household and went to a Catholic school. So, I refrained from telling my parents beforehand, for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n
My grandparents are also super religious. If they found out I was meeting a Satanist, theyd have a heart attack.<\/p>\n
I met a Satanist from Wollongong, David, while we were filming the new LIFE: Done Differently series.<\/p>\n
At first, you wouldnt think David is a Satanist. He seemed like a normal, nice man.<\/p>\n
David works in corporate finance by day and is very open about the fact he is a member of the Church of Satan.<\/p>\n
Everyone in his workplace knows hes a Satanist.<\/p>\n
I bet his employers would be afraid of firing him.<\/p>\n
I was surprised by how wrong my perceptions of Satanism were.<\/p>\n
I thought Satanists pray and worship the devil, the same way Catholics, pray and worship God.<\/p>\n
I was wrong.<\/p>\n
Satanism is a religion, a philosophy, a way of life.<\/p>\n
As David describes Satanism is, in a nutshell, a modern, rational philosophy of self-interest.<\/p>\n
Its based on the Satanic Bible written by American Anton LaVey published in 1969.<\/p>\n
Anton LaVey founded the church of Satan in 1966, formulated on his own philosophy.<\/p>\n
The Devil or Satan is not so much seen as a God to Satanists, more so, a symbol.<\/p>\n
David also tells me that satan, is just an ancient word that means in opposition to. So back in the day, if you werent a Christian, you were satan. The opponent.<\/p>\n
So the character of the Devil with the red horns as we know it, just evolved over time.<\/p>\n
And as a philosophy, it seems like, you are either born with the Satanic view of life, or not.<\/p>\n
As David says, he was already living the satanic life before reading the book. He just became aware that he was a Satanist, after reading the book.<\/p>\n
Satanism is a very self-focused, selfish way of life.<\/p>\n
Its always looking out for yourself first and acting in your best interests. Its a very egotistical way of living.<\/p>\n
Treat everyone with respect, but if someone does wrong by you, destroy them.<\/p>\n
When I asked David about Satanims magic and spells, he said he indeed cast some destructive spells.<\/p>\n
He once threw a curse on a neighbour, because that particular neighbour was making loud noises at night, while David swas studying at university.<\/p>\n
A month later, he committed suicide.<\/p>\n
David didnt feel guilty. Most people would think, what a horrible person!<\/p>\n
But did David do anything wrong?<\/p>\n
As David says, he didnt go up there and murder his neighbour. He didnt even inflict any violence. He got his anger out on his own, through a satanic ritual, and let nature take care of the rest.<\/p>\n
David just wanted the noise to stop. He got what he wanted.<\/p>\n
After hearing that, I was quite anxious when I found out David was taking me into the forest to guide me through a satanic ritual.<\/p>\n
David says satanic rituals are basically a cathartic release.<\/p>\n
Theyre melodrama, theyre a performance.<\/p>\n
The fire, the costume, the tools are all there to set a mood, a scene, an energy.<\/p>\n
But, as much as it is a performance, David believes rituals have real-world consequences. Like in the case of his old neighbour!<\/p>\n
Its like a version of The Secret - you put a wish or want out into the universe, and let nature take its course.<\/p>\n
David prefers to keep the location of where he performs his satanic rituals, a secret.<\/p>\n
I had to walk approximately 40 minutes through a forest to get to the location.<\/p>\n
I was feeling on edge, I knew how serious David takes his satanic rituals.<\/p>\n
When I finally got to the location, David wasnt impressed with me, as I was wearing a salmon pink shirt. I get where he was coming from, a man in a salmon pink shirt yelling HAIL SATAN, cant be taken seriously.<\/p>\n
Luckily, he brought along a spare black cape that I was able to wear for the ritual.<\/p>\n
There was a lot of set up and preparation involved in the ritual.<\/p>\n
Getting the fire started, setting up the altar with the flags, the chaliceI was not expecting this much effort to go into the preparation.<\/p>\n
Before I knew it, bells were ringing, and the ritual had started!<\/p>\n
There was fire. There was drinking out of a chalice. There was David yelling HAIL SATAN. So much was going on. I could feel the energy around us.<\/p>\n
The satanic ritual was a huge adrenaline buzz for me.<\/p>\n
I even got to point a sword at the altar and ask for something I want in life, which youll have to watch the episode, to find out what that was.<\/p>\n
I was so worried about my Grandma though, as I was yelling HAIL SATAN during the ritual.<\/p>\n
I can see how a Satanist might benefit from a satanic ritual. They can release their anger; they get an adrenaline rush, express themselves and forget about all their problems for that short period.<\/p>\n
We can all learn from Satanists. Instead of fuelling that anger on the person we are annoyed with, we can look at other ways to release our anger.<\/p>\n
For Satanists, thats a satanic ritual.<\/p>\n
For me, that might be simply, going for a run, or going to the gym.<\/p>\n
We can also learn to put ourselves first, more often.<\/p>\n
Next time youre exhausted and really dont want to go to that dinner party, but feel guilty not showing up, just ask yourself, what would a Satanist do?<\/p>\n
They definitely wouldnt go to that dinner party.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See the original post here:<\/p>\n
Church of Satan and Satanism in Australia explained: from rituals to religion with the controversial group - 7NEWS.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Click here to watch the episode. When I found out I was meeting a Satanist, the first words that came to mind were devil worshipper and evil. I had no idea what to expect Continue reading