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The 4 pillars

The Four Pillars of Traditional Satanism

by Jason King, Cathedral of the Black Goat Council of 6 member

On what grounds do we claim the title, Traditional Satanist?

What traditions do we indicate by such a designation? There are minimally four such streams oftradition, which though each may provide only a partial picture, when combined, act to define what itmeans to be a Satanist in the truly traditional sense of the term.

We feel at liberty to define neither Satan nor Satanism by recourse to our own fanciful notions, for both

of these ideas have been in use for literally centuries, and are not disputed terms, except paradoxicallywithin the so-called "Satanist scene". Everybody knows who Satan is, and Satanism is simply the religionwhich declares Satan for its God. We don't get to rename him as we see fit, or redefine him according toour own neurotic needs. Satan is simply Satan, period.

If one desires to flesh this out a bit more, and get to the real meat of what Satanism entails, then oneshould look to history, and recognize the four streams of living tradition from which we can synthesize acoherent framework which underlies any true devotional and practical Satanism. There are two generalobservations at the outset.

1. First, and foremost, Satan is a real supernatural being. Anyone who says different may callthemself a Satanist, but they have to bend over backward on a daily basis to try and explain whythey insist on using a word outside of all proper historical context.

2. Second, and perhaps of equal importance, due to the vast inequity between men and gods, eachtradition received bears fundamental limitations, or in other words, paints a necessarilyincomplete, and often misleading picture of the gods, angels, and demons.

We use each tradition to reinforce and correct the inadequacies of the others, but we are still in therealm of, at best, partial knowledge. With this important caveat in mind, let us indicate the four pillars ofTraditional Satanism.

The First Pillar: The Al-Jilwah

The most pure of the traditions of Satanism is a revelation from Satan delivered to the person of SheikhAdi in the 12th Century entitled Al-Jilwah, or The Revelation. What separates this tradition from theothers is that the first person "speaker" is Lord Satan Himself. Key understandings drawn from the Al-

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Jilwah include the power and providence of the Master, as well as His promise to reward those who arefaithful to His dictates.

The Second Pillar: First Century Gnosticism

Early Christianity was far more eclectic than the garbage we are left with today, all of which owes its

origin either directly or indirectly to Roman Catholicism. In the First Century, what would eventuallybecome Catholicism was only one of many sects. Among this myriad of Jesus-worshippers was a groupthat had achieved a partial understanding of the Master, which was remarkable for that era. Today wecall these ancient proto-Satanists "gnostics", after the method of their enlightenment. What the gnosticChristians were able to key in on was the fact that although the god of the Hebrews was in fact the

demiurgos, or "fashioner" of the world of matter, he is neither supreme nor the true benefactor of

mankind. It was instead the serpent of Eden (read: Satan!) who was the ally of mankind.

Although we can credit these ancient people with such an understanding, we must keep in mind thattheir overall worldview was still "Christocentric", and hence flawed, but given the time and place of theirsubsistence, no less remarkable. The stream of tradition we trace back to these people is given a moreproper systematic placement relative to the other three pillars.

The Third Pillar: Elizabethan-era Black Witchcraft

There have always been those brave individuals who have dared the flaming pyres of the Christianchurches, and bonded their souls in the service of Satan. However, in much the same way that all earlyalternative accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus were destroyed, we are left with a bare minimumof surviving documentation of their discoveries. Of the little we do have, almost all is relatively late,comparatively speaking. The primary value of such surviving texts is twofold: first to establish thepedigree of our faith, which despite what may be claimed elsewhere, is ancient; and second to illustratewhat works and what doesn't from a ritual standpoint. Deciphering such grimoires can be a challenge toeven the most dedicated servant of the Master, which is why we must affirm their meaning relative tothe other pillars - each reinforces the others, as has been repeatedly emphasized.

The Fourth Pillar: The scriptures of the enemy

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