Using the DICTIONARY to discredit Satanism? To that I say: Fine, let’s play the dictionary game. And I’ll show you why this tiresome argument fails.

I’ll also answer some questions on from the listeners on Satanic altars and selectively dealing with trolls on-line.

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Magister Bill M. here with Satansplain. As I record this now, last WEEK was Thanksgiving. Personally, I’ve always liked Thanksgiving. If this offends anybody…tough shit. Anyway, I view Thanksgiving as a day of gluttony and sloth, two of the wonderful seven deadly sins. Also a time to stop and be THANKFUL. So I will take a moment now to say I am thankful that people check out and support my work, whether it’s Satansplain, The Devil’s Mischief, Dr. Schitz, or they’ve watched me as a musician, or read one of my essays. There are MILLIONS of other things you could be checking out right now from the internet, and for the moment, you’ve chosen Satansplain. So let me fulfil MY end of that, and go on with the show.

Several years ago I wrote an essay titled “Fine, Let’s Play The Dictionary Game”. This was posted straight to Church of Satan dot com, where you can read it. Maybe it was somewhere on Facebook first, but it wasn’t long before it hit the website. As with most of my essays, or for that matter most episodes of Satansplain, this essay addresses a problem I’ve seen happen over and over again. Namely in the form of one particularly BAD argument some people try to make about Satanism. So I figured it would be appropriate for Satansplain, to READ it here on the show, and maybe throw in some extra side notes. Let’s get right into it.

“Fine, Let’s Play the Dictionary Game”, an essay by Church of Satan Magister Bill M.

As the Church of Satan has been explaining for over half a century, Satanism is not devil worship, but rather a non-theistic religion which utilizes the mythological Satan as an apt metaphor for its carnal philosophy. This can come as surprising news to people whose only prior exposure to supposed “Satanists” consisted of seeing crazed devil worshipers on sensationalist talk shows, or the “Satanic” cults depicted in horror movies, or stories from Christian propaganda tracts, or perhaps that one rebellious kid from back in middle school who embraced whatever devilish aesthetics his favorite rock bands were using, and either CALLED himself a Satanist or WAS called a Satanist by other students.

Now many people, to their credit, will accept our corrections to these misconceptions they may have had. They will read or hear the Satanism 101 explanation [whether it’s the one you hear at the beginning of Satansplain, or something similar], and they’ll say, “Hmm, OK. I get it now. You don’t actually do that sort of crazy stuff in the horror movies.” Other people unfortunately wish to remain willfully ignorant. They’ll still cling to their incorrect views on what Satanists believe and do, even after they’ve been corrected.

One of the most tiresome forms of this argument is, what I call, the dictionary game. This is when somebody tries to argue, “I just looked up ‘satanism’ in the dictionary. And it defines it as ‘innate wickedness’ or “obsession with or affinity for evil; specifically: worship of Satan marked by the travesty of Christian rites.’ So, you’re wrong about what Satanism is!”

Before explaining why this argument is a fallacious one, it’s worth noting that Satanists aren’t the only people who would find a disagreeable description of themselves in the dictionary. Consider the following:

• The word PAGAN. Dictionary entries for the word PAGAN include, quote, “an irreligious or hedonistic person” or even, quote, “an uncivilized or unenlightened person.” The reality is that there are many humans today who identify as pagans, and I doubt they would find these to be accurate descriptions of themselves.

• How about atheism? How does the dictionary describe atheism? Some dictionaries describe atheism as “the doctrine or belief that there is no God.” Atheists themselves however overwhelmingly describe atheism as simply the absence of any belief in deities (“a” + “theos” + “ism” = “without” “deity” “belief”). I’ve explained this in some several past episodes of Satansplain. You either believe in a deity or you don’t. If you’re NOT a person who decidedly believes in God or some other deity, you are an atheist. REJECTING the notion that there IS a God is not the same as positively asserting that there is NO God. You don’t HAVE to positively assert deities don’t exist in order to be an atheist. And also thoroughly explained, no, I’m not describing agnosticism. “Agnosticism” is not some sort of halfway point or third choice between theism and atheism. Again, see Satansplain episode number 16.

• Now who are some other groups of people who show up in the dictionary? Well I know Wiccans tend to identify as witches and practitioners of witchcraft. But I don’t think they would be too happy to open up a dictionary and see witchcraft described as, quote “communication with the devil or with a familiar.” Nor would they take too kindly to the word WITCH being described as a woman practicing “black witchcraft” or as “an ugly old woman; or hag.”

• And if there are any CHRISTIANS listening who think the examples I’ve given so far: Satanists, pagans, atheists, witches, all don’t really count because these are just the WEIRD EVIL people, then let’s look at dictionary entries for the word CHRISTIAN. Yes, even the word Christian can have entries in the dictionary which many Christians would reject as inaccurate. For example, quote “a member of any of certain Protestant churches.”  I’m sure that Christians of the non-Protestant varieties, such as those in the Catholic and Orthodox denominations, would have objections to that exclusionary description. Some dictionaries also describe Christian the ADJECTIVE as quote, “acting in a kind or generous way”. To which I know some Christians will say, “No no no, merely being a kind person does not make you a Christian. Because my God will still send you to hell if you haven’t been saved.” We’ve ALL heard that. Or for that matter, this dictionary I have here describes Christianity first as, quote,  the religion derived from Jesus Christ. But I’m sure you’ve heard some Christians claim, “No! No! Christianity is not a RELIGION. It’s a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus!”

So my point, which I hope I’ve made abundantly clear now, is that it’s not Satanists who are objecting to how the dictionary describes their religion. But let’s take a step further back and try to understand what’s going on here.  Are all of these people INCORRECT about their religion? Are all of these people: Satanists, Pagans, atheists, Christians, Wiccans -- are they all just basing their religious identity on the incorrect meanings of words? Or -- taking the other extreme here -- are the DICTIONARIES just completely incorrect, and meaningless, and their definitions arbitrary?  To paraphrase a Lewis Carol fable, are we free to make any words mean anything we want them to mean? No, of course not. No, to all of the above.

Here is the key point which many people miss. Dictionaries do not give DEFINITIONS of words. Dictionaries give USAGES of words.
Let me repeat that. Dictionaries give USAGES, not definitions.
Dictionaries are not absolute authorities on objective truth. Dictionaries are reference books.  Much like encyclopedias, they are handy, but not meant to tell you everything you’d ever need to know about a particular topic.
Now some of you listeners may remember that there was a past pair of Satansplain episodes on the topic of logic and fallacies. I gave examples of various logical fallacies. And when you tell a Satanist “Well you’re not practicing Satanism because the dictionary says it’s something else”, then I would say you’re using a logical fallacy known as the “argument from authority”. In this case, you are saying the dictionary is the authority. Well, hate to break it to you, but one line from Webster’s dictionary doesn’t erase the fact that a thoroughly-established, non-theistic religion called Satanism has existed since 1966. If a page in your dictionary describes people one way, and reality shows them behaving otherwise, um…I’m sorry, but reality wins.

In fact, I will go you one further. About a month ago I was in an antique store, and I found a book on logic. It was a nice little hardcover book, printed in 1896. Needless to say, I bought it. Yes, I do buy and read books on topics like logic and mathematics in my spare time. This one was titled, “Logic: An Introductory Manual For the Use of University Students”. And I bring this up because chapter 6 is about definitions, and it essentially makes the same point I just made. Quote, “By definition we mean, ‘the explicit statement of the connotation of a term’,” then later it goes on to say, “The EXPLANATION of a word does not necessarily involve giving its proper definition. Dictionary quote-unquote ‘definitions’, are usually only explanations, in which some partial synonym of the word is given, or a description of the thing to which the name applies. They usually give the popular connotation, the rough, current meaning, but not the exact list of attributes, all of which must be present, and none of which must be absent, if the name is to be given.”

And the book goes on, of course, but hopefully you get the point.

Back to the essay.

Furthermore, a closer look at these dictionary entries for “Satanism” show that they include old usages of the term “satanism,” with a lowercase “s.”  Now this WORD “satanism” itself existed before the Church of Satan. We have never denied this. But just because the WORD existed, doesn’t mean a religion of the same name has always existed. I’m sure I could find some book from the 1800s that used the word COMPUTER, or MACINTOSH for that matter, but obviously that doesn’t mean Abraham Lincoln had a laptop. So if the word “Satanism” didn’t refer to an actual religion, what did it refer to? If you look at how the word was USED, it was a pejorative term. An insult term, essentially. “General wickedness”, it was sometimes described as, again according to the dictionary. Or in even MORE archaic cases, it was used to describe a sin itself, as in “homosexuality is a satanism”. Notice tn this last example, the “ism” suffix doesn’t mean a belief system or ideology, like the “ism” does in words like “Buddhism” or “Marxism,” but rather a specific sort of act, like the “ism” in words like a “colloquialism”, or a “baptism”, or a “truism”, or a “criticism”. So at best, the word “Satanism” back then was used to describe a blasphemous sort of BEHAVIOR, not an actual religion; not a full-fledged belief system.

Just to further clarify this point, getting a little away from the essay for a moment, the bottom line is that there was no actual religion calling itself Satanism and its practitioners calling themselves Satanists until the Church of Satan. There were DEVIL worshipers. And that’s what they were called: devil worshipers. And even then, we don’t really see much of a defined religion among them. The Satanic Bible provides a brief history of some of these alleged groups, and frankly, they seem to be largely unrelated cases of people wanting to do some blasphemy for the sake of blasphemy, or a black mass for the excuse of having an orgy.  There’s still NO REAL evidence of these same people having clearly laid out philosophy for how to go about life when ritual time is over, no contemplation of how to deal with practical problems in life or human interaction, or those other sorts of things that distinguish religion from theater.  So once again, the WORD Satanism existed, and we can find some references in the dictionary using that old USAGE of the word, but to say that the old and vague usage of the term to describe general blasphemy or sinning must also define our religion as Satanists today, or that these are all just different denominations of the same religion, is just not a valid argument.

And yet, we still see idiots who do this. Recently there was this Chrstian on Twitter whose definition of Satanism kept changing. He said it was just autonomy, then he said it was general blasphemy and that ANY person who was spitefully going against his Christian religion could be accurately labeled a Satanist. He said Thelema, the religion of Aleister Crowley, was a type of Satanism. He said all ATHEISTS are obeying the will of Satan and thus can be called Satanists. And of course, at some point during all of this, he tried using the DICTIONARY as one of his authorities on the matter. Which in the long run didn’t even agree with what he was saying in the first place.

I similarly saw ANOTHER idiot back in October who argued that the root word of Satan means “adversary” -- and it’s true, it does, but then she used this to argue that therefore ANY and all acts of adversarialism could be accurately labeled as Satanism.

And I said no, it doesn’t work like that. Just because Satan means the adversary doesn’t mean that any person who is acting adversarial can just be called a Satanist. And to further drive this point home, I gave an analogy. The word CHRIST literally means THE ANOINTED ONE. As in, anointed with oil. That DOES NOT MEAN, putting vinaigrette dressing on a SALAD, makes it Jesus. 

Now back to the article. I COULD have just ended the article here, because I made my point on why the dictionary argument against Satanism doesn’t work. BUT, I decided to take this a step further. As long as we have our dictionaries open and in front of us, let’s have some fun. Let’s see if there are any words commonly associated with “Satanism”, whose many usages, upon deeper examination, DO in fact describe Satanism as we Satanists know and practice it.

I decided to take a look at words like Satan, devil, sin, witchcraft, and magic. We know that there are some SUPERNATURAL meanings of all these words, but there are many additional usages of these words which do NOT refer to the supernatural or the spiritual. 

Let’s start with Satan. As I’ve already pointed out, dictionaries note that Satan is a Hebrew word, and its original meaning is “adversary.” Satan means the adversary. Does that relate to Satanism? Of course that relates to Satanism. As Satanists, we are ADVERSARIES; we are adversarial to things supposedly spiritual. We are ADVERSARIAL to the status quo. Like I say in the intro to every Satansplain episode, we make use of Satan as mythology’s most fitting mascot for what we’re about.

How about the word “Devil”? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary describes devil as, among other things, quote “a person of notable energy” and “dashing spirit,” or “one who is mischievous.” “Oh, you got me good there, you little devil, you!” Also, it can just be a word for a FELLOW in some circumstances, as in “What a lucky devil!”. Other descriptions here for devil are, quote, “something very trying or provoking” (as in “I’m having a devil of a time trying to fix this car”), or quote “the difficult, deceptive, or problematic part of something.” Similarly, there’s the related adjective devil-ISH, described as “mischievous” or “roguish”, as in “She has a devilish grin.”

Now do any of THESE meanings I just listed relate to Satanism? You bet. Satanists are not devil WORSHIPERS, but we are devils ourselves in the sorts of ways I just described. People of notable stamina, or mischief. We enjoy not only the piety-destroying nature of mischief, but putting norms to the challenge, the power of doubt over faith, and self-serving Machiavellian tactics. As I’ve been saying on my OTHER podcast, The Devil’s Mischief, for 20 years, comedy in and of itself is Satanic. It’s devilish. Laughter, and satire, and ridicule.

Next dictionary word. SIN. How about the word SIN? How does the dictionary describe SIN? Sure, there’s the stupid religious usage of the word, but how about the rest? Or for that matter, let’s look at the related adjective, sin-FUL! Some dictionaries point out that the word sinful is sometimes used colloquially to mean something quite indulgent, as in “This chocolate cake is sinfully delicious!” In fact I recall a brand of cookies that was around back in the 1990s called Sinful Selects. Speaking of food, there is of course “devil’s food” cake, along with the American brand dessert cakes known as “Devil Dogs”.

Now to me, this is reflected in Satanic Statement number one: Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence! On the other hand, we see devil show up in foods like “deviled eggs” and “deviled ham”, because they’re spicy. Not unlike the uncomfortable truth of Satanism to the people who only have a taste for the SAFE.

I mentioned “witchcraft” earlier. Dictionary entries for witchcraft include not just mentions of sorcery and supernatural powers, but quote, “an irresistible influence or fascination.” Now THIS usage of the word witchcraft is nothing new. One of the most famous examples is the SONG, Witchcraft. Almost a decade before the Church of Satan was founded, Frank Sinatra sang his rendition of the song “Witchcraft”. I’m sure many of you have heard it. Is it about devil worship or the occult? Noooo, it’s about a beautifully alluring woman. (Sinatra’s record, by the way, received four Grammy nominations, but I digress.)

And gee, wouldn’t you know, this is the sort of witchcraft we describe in our book The Satanic Witch! Lesser magic. Those of you who’ve read that book, know that this isn’t the sort of witchcraft based on faith in supernatural forces, but rather the psychological and supernormal art of seduction. Again: “irresistible influence or fascination.” From a Satanic standpoint, that Sinatra song has far more to do with witchcraft than anything you’ll read in a Silver Ravenwolf paperback.

Which brings me to ANOTHER word from the dictionary with some interesting descriptions: MAGIC. How does the dictionary describe MAGIC? Is it all necessarily supernatural? Of course not. In fact, when most people use the term magic, they DON’T mean something supernatural. Magic can mean, quote, “the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc.” This is sometimes more specifically called “stage magic.”  That’s ONE description of the word magic, but the word is also used to refer to things that are quote, “mysteriously enchanting”. For example, you may hear somebody say, “Gee, I went to Julie and Bob’s wedding this weekend, and…it was simply magical!” What does that mean? It means it was something mysteriously enchanting, or otherwise so emotionally-moving, it’s hard to put into words. 

Hmm, so let’s look at this. Magic, as a theatrical art form, producing illusions as entertainment, in a very subjective setting, AND/OR creating an event that is mysteriously enchanting. Hmm. Well gee, that sounds a lot like what we in Satanism call GREATER magic, or ritual magic.

So in summary, dictionaries are reference books that catalog word USAGES, not authoritative definitions. The fact that dictionaries may catalog arcane or ignorant misuses of the term Satanism does not change the fact that we were the ones who established a definitive religion, calling itself Satanism, and still practice it today. Likewise we see there are OTHER religions whose practitioners would object to one or more usages or MISusages of their religion’s name; hence, they object to dictionary entries reflecting that. But lastly, even if we DO decide to play the dictionary game, we find that many other emotionally-charged words ASSOCIATED with devil worship or the darkly supernatural, also have ADDITIONAL meanings in general English, some of which DO in fact nicely line up with Satanism as we Satanists know it, and show once again, why our name and our metaphors are apt ones.

Satan is the adversary, and as Satanists we are ADVERSARIES to the spiritual and the status quo. We ARE devils, in the mischievous, Machiavellian, or even skeptical way. We enjoy those indulgent things that people playfully call sinful. We have witchcraft in that Sinatra sense, detailed in our book The Satanic Witch. And not unlike stage MAGIC, with no stupid little letter “K” at the end, we recognize the emotionally-moving power of theatrics in the form of psychodrama, and experience those emotionally-moving events in life that aren’t supernatural, but also are sometimes too profound for words or worth trying to rationalize to ourselves with mundane explanations.

And I finish my article with this: Words can be slippery at times, but we know who we are. We are Satanists. We’ve chosen that name because, at the end of the day, it’s the most apt and stimulating one, and it has served us well. But as the saying goes, “the Devil is in the details!”

That concludes the essay, “Fine, Let’s Play the Dictionary Game”, and my additional commentary on it. Let’s take a break. You are listening to Satansplain.

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Magister Bill M. here with Satansplain. Visit the official website of the show, Satansplain dot com. There, you can listen to episodes of Satansplain. You can also listen to Satansplain on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Audible, and other places where most podcasts can be found. Please like and follow Satansplain on YouTube, Facebook, and X. For all correspondence, email me directly. Bill at Satansplain dot com is the email address. 

And with that, let’s get to some listener emails.