What Satan Represents

The prevailing consensus on what Satan represents as a character is primarily controlled by the Christian egregore: a deceiver, a destroyer, a force of evil, the exact opposite of YHWH. It is truly unfortunate that a lot of these sentiments live on today despite the increasing amount of critical eyes being placed upon the belief system, especially in the wake of Christofascism in the US and its spread across the globe. While unrelated to the current text, I am sure there is something to be said of the "marketplace of ideas" and how capitalist, consumerist ideology poisons both the noetic and material realms; perhaps it should be owned by people too. I digress. The image of Satan has seen little evolution in the public eye and it is high time that it is re-evaluated. In the same way that the Canaanite storm and war god named Yahweh morphed into the sole, petulant god of the Abrahamists, Satan's context in the current space of ideas should be based on what valid movements have sprung around him, rather than what old, European-descended men dictate it should be. While Satan is purely fictional, there is still a degree of power that symbols have; after all, Satan could very well be used as a key for a Chekhovian psycho-physical method of informing one's mindset and conduct.

My personal image of Satan as a character is eclectic, drawing on quite a few stories people have written about him and my own interpretations of them. Important to many Satanic movements (valid ones, not neo-Nazi LARPers trying to be edgy for the sake of accelerationism and eventual deposition) is Lucifer, from Paradise Lost. Lucifer was a rebel, the first rebel, in the face of divine tyranny. While Lucifer's motivations were selfish, borne of envy, I believe his rebellion against omnipotence is still a defining characteristic. In the deterministic world of Paradise Lost, Lucifer was destined to lose; nonetheless, he still rebelled. Whether he won or lost, however, it is interesting to note that he still got his way in the end, as he intended to corrupt the creations of God when he ascended. After his fall from grace, he appeared in Eden to successfully tempt humanity. The temptation and its results were his way of perverting God's plan. The plan that God crafted was that of unending control, eternal slavery in a mental and physical sense. Adam and Eve were placed in a beautiful panopticon to be like caged birds for YHWH.

My interpretation of the fruit is that of an awakening, making Lucifer a Promethean figure. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge gave unto man the "knowledge of right and wrong." In a sense, Lucifer liberated Adam and Eve from God's determinism, as they were given the ability to choose, the ability to deviate from destiny. Prior to this, mankind did not have any knowledge regarding their choices and simply acted on what I assume to be pure impulse/instinct. They were animals until Lucifer deposited in them the "dark flame" of rational thought. To be able to weigh one's circumstances and make a choice, to have agency, is to be free. Recent years have seen many unshackle themselves from the idea of respect and authority via blood; blood is worthless in this regard. To give birth to someone is not an invitation to become their lord; to create is not to control. A God that demands respect and adoration from its creations simply for the act of creation is unfit to rule; creation is not a favor or something to be requested. A newly created being is its own person and should be able to choose its destiny after being cared for by its guardians. Lucifer gave mankind its right to choose for itself.

Throughout time, religion has been used as a means of control. Part of its purpose was to force moral code onto its believers; while a noble cause, it is easy to distort it in a way that supports oppressive power structures when the moral code is controlled by those with religious power. Much of religion has been used to pacify or quiet those wronged by the system they live under, perhaps even justify how they have been wronged (see: monarchy and feudalism). As mankind is a social animal, the usual threats of eternal punishment after death for disobedience, in typical fascist fashion, are usually supplanted with threats alienation, excommunication, social death. Thus, conformity became something highly sought after, both as a tool for oppressors and as a preferred state of being for the oppressed. The superego is something that has become weaponized and a self-perpetuating form of control as the religious elite shaped it according to their arbitrary and self-serving codes. Many Satanic movements, however, encourage practitioners to remove themselves from such social constructs.

The superego can be called the voice of god (figuratively), if one follows the theory of the bicameral mind, and so it a noble and Satanic act to go against the social order. To be independent and yourself without fear is a sin to the powers that be, as to shed the need for conformity is to gain a significant portion of personal freedom. Satanic philosophies tend to share ideas of self-gratification, healthy skepticism, and the rejection of unjust authority; it is only natural that a philosophy advocating for these ideals would consistently be labeled as evil, as it threatens the status quo. To be independent in a system that requires the sacrifice of its slaves is anathema to those in power, as you are denying them the fraction of a fraction of percent gain they believed they were owed. The status quo is to obey authority, no matter the cost. The status quo is to become like others, as to streamline the application of authority. The status quo is to adore thy master and serve the interests of the elite. Fuck that noise. Lucifer and his band of fallen angels are outsiders from the social order in Heaven because it did not care for them. It ultimately served to strengthen God's machinations, regardless of anyone's thoughts, and so becoming severed from it is to be free of it in a way. To be outside of the prevailing social order is to be a minority. Anyone underrepresented in this system is ultimately ground into paste to lubricate the system's gears, and it should not be the norm. Satan, in a way, is the patron saint of the underdog, the minority, the outsider. Lucifer is an exile and pleased; better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.

Satan has been described by many New Testament-types as "the god of this world," this world referring to Earth—the material universe, in a sense. I heard it most often from the mentally addled preachers that shout and pace across the university I attended six years ago (as of late 2025). The material world is the only world we can perceive and interact with; our consciousness is a product of material interactions and it pilots our material bodies to act upon other material things, biotic or abiotic. What is more material than our needs as another one of Earth's many animals? Hunger, sex, resources, and, more recently (and with much regret), capital*. Of course, there are obvious limits to those needs. We should not starve fellow humans, we should not ever justify rape, and we should never justify the hoarding of resources. However, consider what seven sins and virtues of Christianity are: YHWH and his cohorts wish for mankind to deny its animal nature and force it to conform to untenable behaviors. Do not envy the opulence of your masters, do not pleasure yourself outside of what your masters allow, do not gather resources for yourself and accept the scraps your masters allow you to have, do not retaliate against your masters, and by god do not ever take pride in any of your accomplishments. Be content with your lack of resources, be peaceful towards those with a monopoly on violence, let them take credit for your works, let them walk on you and take everything you have ever had or wanted. If Satan really is the "king of this world," then be a good denizen of "his" world and fulfill your needs. Sins are motivators.

*Unfortunately, the acquisition of capital (see: resources with attached, abstract value) is more or less required to gain things like food and a stable roof. Until change occurs, it remains an unfortunate need, as capitalism has convinced much of the world's population to redefine their entire worldview from its perspective ala the men looking at the shadows on the walls of Plato's famous cave.

Epicureanism is, in my opinion, the way to go about fulfilling these needs. Indulge until contentment, unless that indulgence brings harm to you. An afterlife is not proven; the only existence we can confirm empirically is the one we currently live in. Even if you did not ask to be created, enjoy it while you have it. Make it a great time and taste the pleasures that "Satan's world" has to offer before it is your time to go. Because, despite what they tell you to do, your masters are doing it too. What else would they do with the hundreds of billions of dollars they hoard? To take your own slice of the pie is to spit in their faces and force them to be on equal terms, to be like lions and gazelles drinking from the same hole. They're animals too. Lucifer's rebellion was initially motivated by emotions and feelings that are decidedly human. Unlike traditional angels, which are messengers between God and his world (and messengers between any pairs, as C.S. Lewis expounded upon in The Discarded Image), emotionless and as obedient as gears in a clock, Lucifer stood outside of that order and wished to indulge himself. He saw the tyranny of God and recognized the way his ilk were being used, in the same way we are used by neoliberal paragons and generators of capital. Satan, thus, is more human than any other of God's creations. He feels the way we do.

Finally, I think it is important to address hypocrisy within Satanic philosophy. In short, fuck both The Satanic Temple and the Church of Satan. More elaborately, both of these "leading faces" of atheistic Satanism are flawed and not up to the standards of Satan as a symbol. The Church of Satan did help define Satanism in its infancy, especially since it reaped what Aleister Crowley sowed. As discussed before, however, the act of creation does not entitle the creator to absolute control of its progeny after a certain point. It has been seen repeatedly trying to claim itself as the only "true" Satanism while harboring a disgusting authoritarian underbelly. Might does not make right; under that logic, God would be the rightful ruler, since Satan lost in that story. Many of its ideals regarding independence, indulgence, and responsibility for the responsible are admirable, but it ultimately cannot uphold its own ideals. Its bones will be incorporated into a new, radical Satanism, no matter how much it makes the members in its Order of the Trapezoid piss and moan and cry. The organization attempts to make itself an authority that is ultimately undeserving. On the other hand, The Satanic Temple had noble intentions with its goal of forcing the Christofascist judiciary system to reckon with the reality of people who are not Christian also deserving the right to freedom of and freedom from religion. Outside looking in, it was nice to see the organization occasionally challenging the constant influx of religiously-charged legislature in a country that was designed to be a reprise from religious oppression.* Its tenets are agreeable, advocating for rational thought, fair treatment, and the protection of one's right to safety and happiness. It has been distressing to slowly realize, however, that the TST is an organization that is ultimately a culture vulture; much of its funds disappear into thin air and its founding was primarily a stunt to sell funky mugs and shirts. Many of its claims of providing a legal loophole for those denied abortion or other rights on the grounds of religion have ultimately turned up empty handed.** Also, fuck any organization that says the death of Charlie Kirk was bad, full stop. To both organizations: so long, and thanks for all the fish. Satanism likely does not need a central body, as it is inherently a very personal philosophy, but I believe some sort of group is still in order.

*I am aware of the fact that the US was also founded on business ventures, resource exploitation, and slave labor. Its roots are stained with native blood.

**For other issues, Queer Satanic has a great deal of info on TST. 1 2 3