The Satanic Chapel

From Free Encyclopedia of Thelema

The Satanic Chapel is a postmodern philosophical/religious organization based in Los Angeles, California, they practice Satanism as articulated in The Satanic Bible, written in 1969 by Anton Szandor LaVey. They have gained much popularity in 2001 and also have a large presence on the Internet.

History

The Satanic Chapel originally the East L.A. Church of Satan claims to have been founded on the night of Halloween in 1999, though its current popularity can only be traced to the publication of The Unholy Bible in 2000. The Satanic Chapel was established by Anthony Gonzales and certain members of the priesthood of the Church of Satan, who left because of administrative and philosophical disagreements with its administration involving Blanche Barton and Peter Gilmore, and, as Gonzales claims, because he was disgusted at the corruption within the Church of Satan. The Satanic Chapel is incorporated in California that same year as a nonprofit church, as time progressed they suffered many name changes until Walpurgisnacht (April 30th 2005), the church is now taken over by a new administration by "Knife" Sotelo (who was also a Church of Satan member), the church finally settled with the name "The Satanic Chapel" in honor of Anton LaVey where he founded "The Satanic Church" (which he would later rename the "Church of Satan"). The headquarters still resides in East Los Angeles and they have the support of many groups/organizations such as the Sinagogue of Satan, Cannabis Assembly, American Co-Masons, Universal Life Church, Church of Blasphemy, New Horizon Ministry and many more. Though the Satanic Chapel believes in "association by affiliation", they affiliate with none of them and show no loyalty to anyone but themselves.

There are several noticeable differences in the organization of the Satanic Chapel compared to the Church of Satan. Chief amongst them is the lack of any sort of hierarchy: the Satanic Chapel are aristocratic and believes that individuality must be encouraged. For this reason, there is essentially no hierarchy within the Satanic Chapel, though there are titles ("High Priest/ess" for the inner congregation, "Priest/ess" for the outer). Even their lack of dogma is what attracts new members stating that;

It's impossible to create a complete model of Satanism, even if using all of the information on Satanism that are in books. There will inevitably be huge variation in how different individuals practice their own variation or derivation of the satanic religion. Satanism without a doubt has changed over time and allowed a vast amount of local and/or family variation.

Thus, the Satanic Chapel lacks official dogma, although there should be agreement on some variation of the concept of Satanism. The Satanic Chapel provides a sanctuary and a voice for and on behalf of those who are persecuted, harassed, discriminated against, censored, raped, beaten, tortured, and/or killed for their sincerely held religious and/or spiritual beliefs.

"Knife" Sotelo was the first to coin the phrase, "Processive Satanism" and felt that it was a proper title for an organization that promotes absolute freedom while maintaining an attitude of sovereignty and progressiveness for all. They claim "elitism" should be determined by nature, outside the framework of a political or religious institution.

Many famous figures during "Knife" Sotelos administration have at one time or another been acquainted and associated with the Satanic Chapel, including; Lerue DeLashay, Marilyn Manson, Michael S. Margolin, Syrian metal band Absentation, Markus Mayer and DJ Clueless.

Practices/Policies

Although the Satanic Chapel are Satanic/Cantheistic/Unitarian in nature, true and dedicated members state that they truly believe in freedom of religion. In other words, they want every member to be able to pursue their own beliefs without interference from the government, church agencies, or any other outside agency. Their one main creed is;

An excerpt from the first edition (only) of the Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey:

Satan represents the spirit of progress, the inspirer of all great movements that contribute to the development of civilization and the advancement of mankind. He is the spirit of revolt that leads to freedom, the embodiment of all heresies that liberate.

Therefore the Satanic Chapel is completely free of any exclusions on the basis of race, color, sex, disability, affectional or sexual orientation, age, national origin, or adherence to any particular interpretation of religion or any particular religious belief or creed.

The Satanic Chapel acknowledges only certain books as Church dogma. Key among these is The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals. The first two can be considered canonical in their entirety. The Satanic Chapel likewise acknowledges that Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan as the first above ground Satanic religious organization in history. The Satanic Chapel does permit dual membership in other groups unlike the Church of Satan of today.

Also of note is that the Satanic Chapel does not officially endorse any political philosophy, party, or candidates. Individual members are free to hold any political philosophy, participate (or not) in politics any way they see fit, and vote or refrain without pressure from the Satanic Chapel. Individual members often hold very strong political opinions, but the Satanic Chapel itself is apolitical.

The Satanic Chapel do however have tax-exempt status, compared to the Church of Satan in which they do not desire tax-exempt status. It neither solicits membership nor offers a set course of degrees.

The Satanic Chapel also strongly supports law, but in the name of freedom if a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so, as famously quoted by Thomas Jefferson. Satanic Chapel members can be found in the armed forces of several nations, as well as law enforcement positions. Illegal activity by members is absolutely not tolerated, and criminals are universally condemned; the Satanic Chapel is very vocal in announcing its desire to see all criminals brought to swift and appropriate justice. Abusing drugs is not considered illegal activity since Satanism is not dogmatically bound to do drugs, most members uses marijuana and/or other substances as a religious sacrament. However the Church's use of marijuana/cannabis is well founded in ancient Egyptian practises involving shem-shem-tu (sm-sm-t) meaning cannabis.

The Satanic Chapel does not hesitate to expel members for engaging in "extreme" illegal activity, as far as cooperating with law enforcement to bring them to justice.

Ordination & Clergy

Actual ordination in the Satanic Chapel is done through the Universal Life Church which is completely free, and what makes the ordination complete is its registry with the home church. People are drawn to the Satanic Chapel for many different reasons. Some, including many who have already been ordained into the ranks of more traditional churches, join the Satanic Chapel in order to express their support for their mission to preserve and protect freedom of religion.

Others become ordained in order to officiate at the wedding of a friend or loved one.

Many others have turned to the Satanic Chapel for ordination after being denied by their own church due to their gender or sexual orientation.

Imitators have occasionally sprung up since our existence and charges people a fee for ordination, either selling the free ordinations to unsuspecting new converts through sites like eBay.

Unlike most spin-off churches, the Satanic Chapel holds weekly sunday services in a historic church building. Ministers are authorized by the church to officiate weddings and funerals, perform baptisms, hold services (also called meetings), and other sacraments and rites regularly performed by ordained members of clergy and part of the particular belief system the minister represents.

Trivia

The name "The Satanic Chapel" is a reference to "The Satanic Church" before Anton Szandor LaVey renamed it to the Church of Satan.

They have used the Church of MOO's slogan "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law, Unless Thou Wilt Not Follow The Law, In Which Case Don't."