In his 2014 book Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic that I wrote about last time, author Matthew Stewart is keen to trace a latter-day Epicureanism that he argues provided “heretical origins” to our own nation’s struggle for independence. He follows this tenuous thread as it weaves in and out of European [...]
Tag: #anton lavey
“The Devil’s Fane” origin story: The phrase, dummy, not the website
In case you missed the memo, the phrase “the devil’s fane” is kind of important around here at—well—The Devil’s Fane. I all but fetishize these words because they encapsulate the heart of Satanic religion for me. Yet the true nature of this connection should be pretty non-obvious to those unfamiliar with the character of much [...]
I am who I am: The essential non-truth-conditionality of identity-claims as pure expressives
“Nothing is true; everything is permitted.” William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch “But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I [...]
Satanism, Evil, Universal Freedom of Will and Bodily Autonomy
At the International Conference of the Center for Studies on New Religions, or CESNUR, held in Palermo, Sicily, in early June of 2005, Dutch scholar Reender Kranenborg posed a seemingly simple question to the audience of his presentation: “How ‘Satanic’ is Satanism?” As Kranenborg made clear in the introduction to his paper, by ‘Satanic’ he [...]
Declaration, Part 2
I know two fellow self-identified Satanists from conservative religious families whose Facebook posts inadvertently outed them to kith and kin as Satanists. One of these friends was already using a pseudonym for his Facebook account and merely fell victim to his homophobic brother’s attempted smear campaign after he had chosen to come out to his [...]
