Satanism

[Hermit]

Yeah, I started it (to borrow the title of a thread a few blocks over. ).

For the record, right at the start, I'm going to ask the moderators of the forum that if this thread starts to take off in the wrong direction energetically to please close it. Tight.

So a few things you need to know before I continue. I'm discerning a vocation to the priesthood in the Catholic Church in a Franciscan Order based out of Toronto. I'm exchanging e-mails regularly with a priest, a good man who's a member and helper of the LGBTQ community. Oh...this is an Old Catholic Church Community, so at the end of the day there are a lot of things about the Church which are very Latin Catholic and very un-Roman Catholic.

That being said, today I received a message on one of my little chat apps from someone...who claims to be a Satanist, or wants to know more about Satanism. Normally I'd shake it off as just something weird and out of the ordinary, an attention grabber...but this guy started the voices outside my head talking. I had to tell him that he can go that road if he wants to, but that he would find a lot more power and a lot more authenticity going another completely different road (yes, I'm self editing, no I did not attempt to convert the guy...just share my own experience with the black arts and the struggle I had walking away).

I'm not interested in a discussion of the left hand path or the right hand path.

I offered the kid some sweetgrass.

What would you do in this situation?

[heyokah]

Yeah, I started it (to borrow the title of a thread a few blocks over. ).

For the record, right at the start, I'm going to ask the moderators of the forum that if this thread starts to take off in the wrong direction energetically to please close it. Tight.

I would say that our energy level should be high enough to to cope with any energetic direction this thread would take.

I offered the kid some sweetgrass.

What would you do in this situation?

I don't know what I would do, as I'm not a specialist in satanism.

Sweetgrass..... Not a bad idea for now

[Naga_Fireball]

No one asked me directly but i might have to take the Ozzy option, Don't ask me- I don't know. Lol.

Just kidding. It does sound like the original guy may have been chain jerking.

I think some people get into religion in general because they perceive a relationship with a supernatural entity to be more stable than depending on flesh and blood people.

In this way it could be said that they are seeking self sufficiency in the wrong places.

However miracles do sometimes happen, so there has to be some sort of agency (logic) guiding these events... IMO of course

[Eelco]

Well as it happens I do listen to a lot of black sabbath lately.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lVdMbUx1_k[/youtube]

If I recall what they did when confronted with so called satanists was sit down, blow out the candles and start singing happy birthday.


Joking aside.
The satanist church is nothing more than a desire based way of directing energies to get what one wants.. As in there is no satan or god, just human desire. I wouldn't be that bothered to be honest. You just talk to him about how to direct energy and maybe the law of three if he starts to dabble in magic.

With Love
Eelco

[Phil]

I like that answer Eelco, and to add: at least they are attempting to be honest with themselves, or at least brave enough to explore ideas widely thoughtlessly demonized...though the reason that they are (demonized) is that the experientially evident path that the truth of the idea inevitably leads always seems to be somewhere far from what is intended, and more often than not leaving lots of pain and harm and destruction in its wake.

So the only real answers hermit require empathy with individual and as full of an understanding of the individual's intent with TELLING you about the choice, before you can even explore why the individual is leaning toward making it (if it turns out he was being truthful to you...and himself). I don't think taking a "general advice" approach will be particularly productive, we all have our own shit to deal with and it's rare it ever fits very cleanly into any sort of mold.

So what would I do? I would figure out if I want to try to empathize (thus giving the person more of my energy) or whether it's not my circus, so walk away...which is what you seem to have done. I think every time you face this type of situation it will be so completely individualized that it will be a brand new choice, square one with the scenario.

Though I like the idea of any time ANYONE drops on me they're looking into Satanism to drop them some sweet grass and be on my way (I definitely tend to overcomplicate in attempting to break them down)...you may be on to something there

[Hermit]

Here's what I ended up doing. My impression was this guy, 19 years old, was trying to shock/impress me into how cool he was. He spent a great deal of time explaining to me the philosophy and his reasons. I then asked him, did he think it was mere chance that he was having this conversation with someone considering entering a Franciscan order? He stepped back. Literally stepped back. I then told him what I was being told, like with the cards but without the cards. And giving him sweet grass was part of that.

He wants to meet for a more in depth conversation. I intend to listen and be as uninvolved as I can to keep an open mind. My experience of what text book Satanism is, and what actual Satanism is, however, show me two very different things.

And as a kind of creepy aside...I find it very bizarre that the word Satanism autocorrects to having a capital letter. **insert twilight zone music here!**