Greetings!
I would like to welcome everyone here to the GateWalker’s Info Page. Today, we have a special fuest-Venus Satanist. She is the author of http://www.spiritualsatanist.com/ I was very happy that she agreed to do an interview, as I thought that it may help our readers learn a new perspective.
Warlock Asylum: For our readers here on the GateWalker’s Info Page, Who is Venus Satanas? What is your spiritual path? And what links or media have you organized to reach people?
Venus Satanas: See, I found Satanism accidentally when I was browsing the bookshelf in the public library. It was a hardcover edition of the Church of Satan by Blanche Barton that introduced me to some of the LaVeyan perspectives in Satanism. This was in 1992. I created a pact with Satan that same year.
I dedicated myself to Satanism once again, years later after leaving the path for seven years to work on a failing relationship. In this relationship I had to give up my practices of Satanism. After seven years I knew that things weren’t going to work out and it wasn’t the life that I wanted to live anymore.
After I left that relationship, I worked and saved to get my own place. I was alone and living in a new apartment. To me it was a second chance, my opportunity to return to Satanism and magic, to finish what I started years ago. I created a new altar and dedicated my time to studying magic. I saved a black cat from the shelter (Shadow) to be my familiar.
At my apartment doorstep was a pink rose that took a long time to grow. To me that rose was a symbol of my new life. It was a symbol of the goddess Venus. At my own ritual of Magical Naming, I used that rose as an offering to the goddess Venus. After this, the name ‘Venus Satanas’ became my magical name. I also rededicated to the path of Satanism, offering my service to Satan once again.
Through this I created my website, spiritualsatanist.com to share my ideas and experiences with others. It started out as a small collection of articles that grew over the years into what it is today.
And, in 2007 I created my you tube channel so that I could make educational videos on Satanism. I also researched the al-jilwah in 2008, and wrote a book in ’09 called ‘The Al-Jilwah for Satanists’, to expose the origins of this (supposedly) Satanic document. It is my interest to inform people about my ideas in Satanism and to debunk the myths that some believe, through education and resources.
I was also invited to write for the upcoming anthology book, ‘Woman’s Voices in Magic’, where I described my experience of being a woman on the path of Satanism. It seems that the majority of Satanists are not women, but I think this is changing though as more people learn about Satanism.
Warlock Asylum: How did you discover “spiritual Satanism?” And why Satanism?
Venus Satanas: It was through my experiments in magic and Satanism that I discovered that there really weren’t many good sources for Satanism available. One source did inspire me though and that was Diane Vera’s Theistic Satanism site.
I loved the style of her writings. Her website was easy to understand and full of common sense advice and excellent research. From reading her writings I began to understand that there were essentially two types of Satanists out there – the atheists or symbolic Satanists, and the theists or spiritual Satanists. My experiences with Satan as a god allowed me to see what I really identified with, that being a spiritual belief in Satan. So, it was easy to identify with
Theistic Satanism because of my spiritual experiences.
When you ask, ‘Why Satanism?’ – I think that answer would be different for every Satanist that you ask. Satan represents many things to me, and it is from these understandings that I have come to have a relationship with Satan as a god.
My reasons for being a Satanist have changed over the years, but the focus has always been identification with the qualities of Satan. I suppose that Satanism allows me to be what I like to identify with, but that would be a really simple answer to a very complex question.
It is through the experiences that I have had with Satanism that I have seen Satan as a force that has moved through my life and shaped it in many different ways. This force has allowed me to achieve what I want in life, mostly through thoughts, actions, desires, and situations that manifest. I am a very artistic person and Satanism is a system of spirituality that allows me to be individual, unique and expressive. Satanism is a benefit to me and my spiritual relationship with Satan is beneficial as well.
Warlock Asylum: How has this Path helped you?
Venus Satanas: The Path of Satanism has helped me in many ways. In my youth Satanism allowed me to break free from all of the things about life that I believed to be true. It allowed me to stand on my own and to have the courage to be myself. Later on in life, Satanism helped me to help others to find what Satanism is and what it is not.
What really helped me in Satanism was my meeting with nocTifer (nagasiva) in ’07 in a chat channel. We had so many good discussions on the history of Satanism. nocTifer is very educated in occultism and his website, satanservice.org is a huge archive of Satanism that he has collected for many years.
Through our many discussions he has definitely helped me to shatter some of my own beliefs that were not necessary, and I am a better person because of this. My perspectives changed for some very good reasons. It is also because of this that I have come to know Satan as God of this World, and a god of wild nature!
In Oct. 2008, We created The Horde of Independent Satanists (HISS) to help independent Satanists with resources and writings on Satanism. Where most Satanists are generally distrustful of others and battle with each other, I believe that nocTifer and I are able to work together to manifest something great for other Satanists.
Warlock Asylum: What are some things that you feel you still need to explore?
Venus Satanas: Learning never ends, it is an ongoing process. The more that I learn in Satanism and occultism the more I realize that I actually know very little. I suppose that is the idea of spirituality, it is a never-ending mystery. Achieving the answers isn’t as important to me as discovering the questions.
While standing in line at the store the other day I saw a man with a t-shirt that said in bold letters ‘The journey is the destination’. I said to myself, ‘yes that’s it! Now that’s the truth.’ Satanism is like that, it’s not a goal to be achieved it is something that is built along the way through years of study and understanding and practice.
Warlock Asylum: What advice would you give to the Gate-Walking Community and Keepers of the Simon Necronomicon Tradition?
Venus Satanas: I think in my first intro post on the Papers in the Attic blog, I discussed my own experiences and perspectives on the Necronomicon tradition. I will explain here briefly. I do not accept that the Necronomicon or its sources are ancient. However, I do accept that there is some kind of practical use for it as a modern grimoire for modern magic.
From my understanding of the Gate-Walking method, the closest that I could compare it to as a magic system is the Chaos magic movement. I think it takes years of work to make a tradition take hold. If there is something good and useful that can be gained from it, then that’s great. That’s what makes it work.
But, my advice is this. I know what it is like to be a minority in the occult. Satanism is in many ways still an underground movement; you have to search into it to find resources and knowledge. The answers aren’t always apparent.
I also know what it is like not to get respect from other occult communities. Sometimes I wonder why people, who claim to have an open mind, can be so upset when they are in the presence of a Satanist. I see the anti-satanic propaganda put forth by Wiccans and pagans. I have seen personally how some in ceremonial magic have laughed at the ideas of Satanism as if it were a joke. They have many misconceptions and assumptions. Satanism is very real, and while it is not the path for everyone, it is something that will appeal to a certain few who identify with its concepts.
I have also seen another side to my experience in the occult community. It is through social networking sites and YouTube that I’ve had the opportunity to reach out to many different kinds of people. I have had people from all paths write to me and tell me that although they aren’t Satanists they appreciate my writings and perspectives. This tells me that there is hope, that Satanism can coexist alongside other kinds of spiritual and occult paths.
So my advice to others who are on a unique and not well-known path is this: do what you love to do because you love to do it, and that’s it.
~ Venus Satanas ~
I would like to welcome everyone here to the GateWalker’s Info Page. Today, we have a special fuest-Venus Satanist. She is the author of http://www.spiritualsatanist.com/ I was very happy that she agreed to do an interview, as I thought that it may help our readers learn a new perspective.
Warlock Asylum: For our readers here on the GateWalker’s Info Page, Who is Venus Satanas? What is your spiritual path? And what links or media have you organized to reach people?
Venus Satanas: See, I found Satanism accidentally when I was browsing the bookshelf in the public library. It was a hardcover edition of the Church of Satan by Blanche Barton that introduced me to some of the LaVeyan perspectives in Satanism. This was in 1992. I created a pact with Satan that same year.
I dedicated myself to Satanism once again, years later after leaving the path for seven years to work on a failing relationship. In this relationship I had to give up my practices of Satanism. After seven years I knew that things weren’t going to work out and it wasn’t the life that I wanted to live anymore.
After I left that relationship, I worked and saved to get my own place. I was alone and living in a new apartment. To me it was a second chance, my opportunity to return to Satanism and magic, to finish what I started years ago. I created a new altar and dedicated my time to studying magic. I saved a black cat from the shelter (Shadow) to be my familiar.
At my apartment doorstep was a pink rose that took a long time to grow. To me that rose was a symbol of my new life. It was a symbol of the goddess Venus. At my own ritual of Magical Naming, I used that rose as an offering to the goddess Venus. After this, the name ‘Venus Satanas’ became my magical name. I also rededicated to the path of Satanism, offering my service to Satan once again.
Through this I created my website, spiritualsatanist.com to share my ideas and experiences with others. It started out as a small collection of articles that grew over the years into what it is today.
And, in 2007 I created my you tube channel so that I could make educational videos on Satanism. I also researched the al-jilwah in 2008, and wrote a book in ’09 called ‘The Al-Jilwah for Satanists’, to expose the origins of this (supposedly) Satanic document. It is my interest to inform people about my ideas in Satanism and to debunk the myths that some believe, through education and resources.
I was also invited to write for the upcoming anthology book, ‘Woman’s Voices in Magic’, where I described my experience of being a woman on the path of Satanism. It seems that the majority of Satanists are not women, but I think this is changing though as more people learn about Satanism.
Warlock Asylum: How did you discover “spiritual Satanism?” And why Satanism?
Venus Satanas: It was through my experiments in magic and Satanism that I discovered that there really weren’t many good sources for Satanism available. One source did inspire me though and that was Diane Vera’s Theistic Satanism site.
I loved the style of her writings. Her website was easy to understand and full of common sense advice and excellent research. From reading her writings I began to understand that there were essentially two types of Satanists out there – the atheists or symbolic Satanists, and the theists or spiritual Satanists. My experiences with Satan as a god allowed me to see what I really identified with, that being a spiritual belief in Satan. So, it was easy to identify with
Theistic Satanism because of my spiritual experiences.
When you ask, ‘Why Satanism?’ – I think that answer would be different for every Satanist that you ask. Satan represents many things to me, and it is from these understandings that I have come to have a relationship with Satan as a god.
My reasons for being a Satanist have changed over the years, but the focus has always been identification with the qualities of Satan. I suppose that Satanism allows me to be what I like to identify with, but that would be a really simple answer to a very complex question.
It is through the experiences that I have had with Satanism that I have seen Satan as a force that has moved through my life and shaped it in many different ways. This force has allowed me to achieve what I want in life, mostly through thoughts, actions, desires, and situations that manifest. I am a very artistic person and Satanism is a system of spirituality that allows me to be individual, unique and expressive. Satanism is a benefit to me and my spiritual relationship with Satan is beneficial as well.
Warlock Asylum: How has this Path helped you?
Venus Satanas: The Path of Satanism has helped me in many ways. In my youth Satanism allowed me to break free from all of the things about life that I believed to be true. It allowed me to stand on my own and to have the courage to be myself. Later on in life, Satanism helped me to help others to find what Satanism is and what it is not.
What really helped me in Satanism was my meeting with nocTifer (nagasiva) in ’07 in a chat channel. We had so many good discussions on the history of Satanism. nocTifer is very educated in occultism and his website, satanservice.org is a huge archive of Satanism that he has collected for many years.
Through our many discussions he has definitely helped me to shatter some of my own beliefs that were not necessary, and I am a better person because of this. My perspectives changed for some very good reasons. It is also because of this that I have come to know Satan as God of this World, and a god of wild nature!
In Oct. 2008, We created The Horde of Independent Satanists (HISS) to help independent Satanists with resources and writings on Satanism. Where most Satanists are generally distrustful of others and battle with each other, I believe that nocTifer and I are able to work together to manifest something great for other Satanists.
Warlock Asylum: What are some things that you feel you still need to explore?
Venus Satanas: Learning never ends, it is an ongoing process. The more that I learn in Satanism and occultism the more I realize that I actually know very little. I suppose that is the idea of spirituality, it is a never-ending mystery. Achieving the answers isn’t as important to me as discovering the questions.
While standing in line at the store the other day I saw a man with a t-shirt that said in bold letters ‘The journey is the destination’. I said to myself, ‘yes that’s it! Now that’s the truth.’ Satanism is like that, it’s not a goal to be achieved it is something that is built along the way through years of study and understanding and practice.
Warlock Asylum: What advice would you give to the Gate-Walking Community and Keepers of the Simon Necronomicon Tradition?
Venus Satanas: I think in my first intro post on the Papers in the Attic blog, I discussed my own experiences and perspectives on the Necronomicon tradition. I will explain here briefly. I do not accept that the Necronomicon or its sources are ancient. However, I do accept that there is some kind of practical use for it as a modern grimoire for modern magic.
From my understanding of the Gate-Walking method, the closest that I could compare it to as a magic system is the Chaos magic movement. I think it takes years of work to make a tradition take hold. If there is something good and useful that can be gained from it, then that’s great. That’s what makes it work.
But, my advice is this. I know what it is like to be a minority in the occult. Satanism is in many ways still an underground movement; you have to search into it to find resources and knowledge. The answers aren’t always apparent.
I also know what it is like not to get respect from other occult communities. Sometimes I wonder why people, who claim to have an open mind, can be so upset when they are in the presence of a Satanist. I see the anti-satanic propaganda put forth by Wiccans and pagans. I have seen personally how some in ceremonial magic have laughed at the ideas of Satanism as if it were a joke. They have many misconceptions and assumptions. Satanism is very real, and while it is not the path for everyone, it is something that will appeal to a certain few who identify with its concepts.
I have also seen another side to my experience in the occult community. It is through social networking sites and YouTube that I’ve had the opportunity to reach out to many different kinds of people. I have had people from all paths write to me and tell me that although they aren’t Satanists they appreciate my writings and perspectives. This tells me that there is hope, that Satanism can coexist alongside other kinds of spiritual and occult paths.
So my advice to others who are on a unique and not well-known path is this: do what you love to do because you love to do it, and that’s it.
~ Venus Satanas ~
