Behemoth - Hebrew personification of Satan in the form of an elephant

Beherit - Syriac name for Satan

Bile - Celtic god of Hell

Chemosh - national god of Moabites, later a devil

Cimeries - rides a black horse and rules Africa

Coyote - American Indian devil

Dagon - Philistine avenging devil of the sea

Damballa - Voodoo serpent god

Demogorgon - Greek name of the devil, it is said should not be known to mortals

Diabolus - (Greek) "flowing downwards"

Dracula - Romanian name for devil

Emma-O - Japanese ruler of Hell

Euronymous - Greek prince of death

Fenriz - son of Loki, depicted as a wolf

Gorgo - dim. of Demogorgon, Greek name of the devil

Haborym - Hebrew synonym for Satan

Hecate - Greek goddess of the underworld and witchcraft

Ishtar - Babylonian goddess of fertility

Kali - (Hindu) daughter of Shiva, high priestess of the Thuggees

Lilith - Hebrew female devil, Adam's first wife who taught him the ropes

Loki - Teutonic devil Mammon - Aramaic god of wealth and profit

Mania - Etruscan goddess of Hell

Mantus - Etruscan god of Hell

Marduk - god of the city of Babylon

Mastema - Hebrew synonym for Satan

Melek Taus - Yezidi devil

Mephistopheles - (Greek) he who shuns the light, q.v. Faust

Metztli - Aztec goddess of the night

Mictian - Aztec god of death

Midgard - son of Loki, depicted as a serpent

Milcom - Ammonite devil

Moloch - Phoenician and Canaanite devil

Mormo - (Greek) King of the Ghouls, consort of Hecate

Naamah - Hebrew female devil of seduction

Nergal - Babylonian god of Hades

Nihasa - American Indian devil

Nija - Polish god of the underworld

O-Yama - Japanese name for Satan

Pan - Greek god of lust, later relegated to devildom

Pluto - Greek god of the underworld

Proserpine - Greek queen of the underworld

Pwcca - Welsh name for Satan

Rimmon - Syrian devil worshipped at Damascus

Sabazios - Phrygian origin, identified with Dionysos, snake worship

Saitan - Enochian equivalent of Satan

Sammael - (Hebrew) "venom of God"

Samnu - Central Asian devil

Sedit - American Indian devil

Sekhmet - Egyptian goddess of vengeance

Set - Egyptian devil Shaitan - Arabic name for Satan

Shiva - (Hindu) the destroyer

Supay - Inca god of the underworld

T'an-mo - Chinese counterpart to the devil, covetousness, desire

Tchort - Russian name for Satan, "black god"

Tezcatlipoca - Aztec god of Hell

Thamuz - Sumerian god who later was relegated to devildom

Thoth - Egyptian god of magic

Tunrida - Scandanavian female devil

Typhon - Greek personification of Satan

Yaotzin - Aztec god of Hell

Yen-lo-Wang - Chinese ruler of Hell

The devils of past religions have always, at least in part, had animal characteristics, evidence of man's constant need to deny that he too is an animal, for to do so would serve a mighty blow to his impoverished ego.

The pig was despised by the Jews and the Egyptians. It symbolized the gods Frey, Osiris, Adonis, Persephone, Attis, and Demeter, and was sacrificed to Osiris and the Moon. But, in time, it became degraded into a devil. The Phoenicians worhipped a fly god, Baal, from which comes the devil, Beelzebub. Both Baal and Beelzebub are identical to the dung beetle or scarabaeus of the Egyptians which appeared to resurrect itself, much as the mythical bird, the phoenix, rose from its own ashes. The ancient Jews believed, through their contact with the Persians, that the two great forces in the world were Ahura-Mazda, the god of fire, light, life, and goodness; and Ahriman, the serpent, the god of darkness, destruction, death, and evil. These, and countless other examples, not only depict man's devils as animals, but also show his need to sacrifice the original animal gods and demote them to his devils.

At the time of the Reformation, in the Sixteenth Century, the alchemist, Dr. Johann Faustus, discovered a method of summoning a demon - Mephistopheles - from Hell and making a pact with him. He signed a contract in blood to turn his soul over to Mephistopheles in return for the feeling of youth, and at once became young. When the time came for Faustus to die, he retired to his room and was blown to bits as though his laboratory had exploded. This story is a protest of the times (the Sixteenth Century) against science, chemistry, and magic.

To the Satanist, it is unnecessary to sell your soul to the Devil or make a pact with Satan. This threat was devised by Christianity to terrorize people so they would not stray from the fold. With scolding fingers and trembling voices, they taught their followers that if they gave in to the temptations of Satan, and lived their lives according to their natural predilictions, they would have to pay for their sinful pleasures by giving their souls to Satan and suffering in Hell for all eternity. People were led to believe that a pure soul was a passport to everlasting life.

Pious prophets have taught man to fear Satan. But what of terms like "God fearing"? If God is so merciful, why do people have to fear him? Are we to believe there is nowhere we can turn to escape fear? If you have to fear God, why not be "Satan fearing" and at least have the fun that being God fearing denies you? Without such a wholesale fear religionists would have had nothing with which to wield power over their followers.

The Teutonic Goddess of the Dead and daughter of Loki was named Hel, a Pagan god of torture and punishment. Another "L" was added when the books of the Old Testament were formulated. The prophets who wrote the Bible did not know the word "Hell"; they used the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades, which meant the grave; also the Greek Tartaros, which was the abode of fallen angels, the underworld (inside the earth), and Gehenna, which was a valley near Jerusalem where Moloch reigned and garbage was dumped and burned. It is from this that the Christian Church has evolved the idea of "fire and brimstone" in Hell.

The Protestant Hell and the Catholic Hell are places of eternal punishment; however, the Catholics also believe there is a "Purgatory" where all souls go for a time, and a "Limbo" where unbaptized souls go. The Buddhist Hell is divided into eight sections, the first seven of which can be expiated. The ecclesiastical description of Hell is that of a horrible place of fire and torment; in Dante's Inferno, and in northern climes, it was thought to be an icy cold region, a giant refrigerator.

(Even with all their threats of eternal damnation and soul roasting, Christian missionaries have run across some who were not so quick to swallow their drivel. Pleasure and pain, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. So, when missionaries ventured into Alaska and warned the Eskimos of the horrors of Hell and the blazing lake of fire awaiting transgressors, they eagerly asked: "How do we get there?"!)

Most Satanists do not accept Satan as an anthropomorphic being with cloven hooves, a barbed tail, and horns. He merely represents a force in nature - the powers of darkness which have been named just that because no religion has taken these forces out of the darkness. Nor has science been able to apply technical terminology to this force. It is an untapped reservoir that few can make use of because they lack the ability use a tool without having to first break down and label all the parts which make it run. It is this incessant need to analyze which prohibits most people from taking advantage of this many faceted key to the unknown - which the Satanist chooses to call "Satan".

Satan, as a god, demi-god, personal saviour, or whatever you wish to call him, was invented by the formulators of every religion on the face of the earth for only one purpose - to preside over man's so-called wicked activities and situations here on earth. Consequently, anything resulting in physical or mental gratification was defined as "evil" - thus assuring a lifetime of unwarrented guilt for everyone!