What is a Satanist?
Modern Satanism is generally (though mistakenly) regarded as a creation of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). Aleister was in fact a very prominent ceremonial magician who based his rituals partly upon Judeo-Christian principles. He was raised in a Plymouth Brethren family, but developed an early dislike of organized Christianity. After university, he joined the Order of the Golden Dawn, which practiced ceremonial magic based on: • the Kaballah (or Cabbalah), a Jewish mystical tradition, • Rosicrucianism (a mystical blend of alchemy, Judaism, etc.), • Freemasonry (a men’s fraternal organization), and • Theosophy (a Gnostic tradition believing in a common thread that links all religions). He resigned from the Golden Dawn and later was appointed chief of the British section of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), which blended ceremonial magic, sex magick and Freemasonry. He later left the OTO and formed a schismatic branch of the order, based on the Law of Thelema. Crowley’s story was picked up b
