Commies and vampires and Satanists, oh my!  I’ll be answering some questions from listeners about Satanism and communism, as well as questions about Temple of the Vampire. And in answering these, first explaining the difference between Church of Satan policy, and personal opinions of Church of Satan members. Also, a reminder that explaining what Satanism is and isn’t, is NOT the same thing as telling you how to live your life.

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Magister Bill M. here with Satansplain. When it comes to the sub-topics that I talk about on this show, or answering the questions I get from listeners, I find that sometimes there’s both a short answer and a long answer. And, time permitting, I think it’s good to present both. It’s good to have a short answer that answers the question directly. But sometimes that short answer can be easily misinterpreted, or perhaps it does answer the question, but the answer is so short that it brings up MORE questions than it answers. So…trying to find that balance between being direct and being thorough is a challenge I find myself having when I create new episodes of Satansplain. It can be a lot to take in, so I also try to make it all easier to take in by splitting parts into chapters at certain timestamps, and putting a break in between, and all that. So, as with every Satansplain episode, feel free to skip around, but I do think you’ll get more out of this episode if you give it at least one full listen from beginning to end.

Contrary to what Christian propaganda claims, animal sacrifice is NOT part of Satanism. We’ll explore rule number 10 of the 11 Satanic Rules of the Earth and what it means for Satanists in this episode of Satansplain.

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Magister Bill M. here with Satansplain. At the time of this recording, it is the week of Thanksgiving, 2024. As with any cultural holiday, it’s up to the individual Satanist to decide what holidays they want to celebrate, and how. Personally, I love Thanksgiving. I’m a life-long New Englander, so it’s always been part of my family celebrations. In the previous episode of Satansplain I talked a little bit about the so-called seven deadly sins, and talked in particular about two of them, anger and envy. But when it comes to Thanksgiving, two OTHER sins of the seven come to mind: gluttony and sloth. So I shamelessly celebrate both of those in my celebration of Thanksgiving. As for the remaining 3 sins, there is lust of course, which I think I covered well in Satansplain episode number sixty-nine. Yes, I took advantage of that episode number for that topic. So maybe we’ll do episodes on pride and greed in the future. We’ll see.

Envy and anger: two of so-called seven deadly sins. But for the Satanist, they can be gratifying virtues when played properly. We’ll talk about that, and Satanic Statement number 3, in this episode of Satansplain.

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Magister Bill M. here with Satansplain. Let’s get into today’s topics by reading some listener mail.

Janina wrote to me and asked if I could explain the meaning of Satanic Statement number 3, in my own words. In Satanism of course, we have the 9 Satanic Statements. And Satanic Statement number 3 is, "Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit".