Latent Christianity: How It Impacts Our Faith

A lot of Satanists come from Christianity; hot take, I know. Let me explain why this matters, though.

Religion is more than simply the set dressing and beliefs - it's the culture, the societies, and the relationships that we as the individual have with the greater whole beyond us. Even when we try to deny the impact that our cultures have on us, they are blatant in how we engage with other religions.

I assume that, for most people who will come to my site, they come from a sect of Christianity. And even if they/you are an Atheist, you most likely come from a society that has culturally Christian roots (think Italy, Greece, Spain; places like that). And because of that, there's certain ideas and behaviors that we will have when we first hear about "Satanism", or any other religion we're not familiar with.

If you do not, though, then hello! Hopefully I can explain my point to you, regardless.

Think about the practices and mindset(s) one has to adopt to "perform well" and "prove their belief" in Christianity. The Eucharist, weekly sermons/mass, seminary, Bible Study (alone or with family), vocal expressions of submission/fealty to God, the debates between different sects on which part of Jesus was divine and which was human, and more. Not performing these things - especially not "correctly" - would get you outed as a fake. A charlatain. A sham.

Even when we move away from Christianity, the way in which we remember and think about it remains and bleeds into how we continue engaging with other religions by way of comparing and contrasting with it. This is called "Latent Christianity", and it is common to see in both Occult and Pagan spaces.

Arguments about who is worshipping the Gods correctly, or if your ritual circle was drawn too slightly off or you didn't account for the alignment of the moon in accordance to the growth rates of strawberries all run rampant within these faiths. While yes, you should try to perform a spell or ritual the way it was written if that's what you're trying to do, there is an undercurrent to that idea that many people have in which doing the practice "wrong" means that you can't be a "true believer", whatever that means.

There's a lot of expectation put on that the believer has to perform to keep up with the demands of the religion. Though it can be a lot, there's structure, the security in not having to worry about whether or not you're doing it right so long as you go by the playbook. You get social affirmation, status, titles, even rewards and money out of these performances for the sake of faith.

Satanism doesn't have that, however, and it can be hard going from having an entire system with hierarchies and social safety nets down to rock-bottom loneliness. You don't get a single book to pull everything from, no official rituals or rites or baptisms. You could pull one from a book, but it definitely won't match what other Satanists are doing. Some prefer to dance, some drink and eat, some to sit and think. Some don't do rituals or magic. Some don't pray or worship. Some don't even believe in any spirituality and simply go about their praxis wholly within themselves and their mind.

It can seem like chaos getting through it all, and as a natural reaction, we can find ourselves seeking desperately for structure to affirm ourselves that this belief system is viable. Groups, covens, churches, a figurehead to look up to and worship as if they were the Anti-Christ themselves. Sort of as a return to Christianity, without wanting to commit to being Christian.

Structure and order in these regards aren't inherently a bad thing, but for a Satanist it can seem antithetical to the point of why they left their religion in the first place; to move away from that structure that limited them from being their complete and total selves.

For many Satanists, the heart of Satanism isn't a God - it's you, and because of that the crux of forming a sense of structure in the religion is entirely dependent upon you and what you alone want out of it.

I believe that this is both the biggest boon and the biggest detriment to the religion. When you're able to develop your faith entirely of your own volition, it can only strengthen your connection to that faith. But even knowing where to start, coupled with any Latent Christianity and desire to be affirmed by others, can put you in a gridlock that makes it difficult to take that first step.

How to Find Yourself Within Satanism

Give yourself grace - you deserve it. It's difficult making the jump from one faith to another. Don't beat yourself up for not knowing anything to start, for feeling unsure, for being scared. Even the most fearless of heroes get scared.

One thing I suggest all new Satanists do is to, at present, ignore the grandeur of rituals and spells and building favor with a God/Demon or anything like that. Ignore it all in favor of thinking about what you're trying to achieve within the religion. What do you want the most in this life? Is it a connection to "Satan"? To better understand yourself? To fulfill a need for information, or maybe find out a hidden secret about what life means? Be sure to write it down or save it somewhere.

This goal will be at the heart of your system, and of course, you can always change it. But knowing what you want is half the battle of finding and forging that path to get to it. Already, you have some sort of structure, because now you have two things: yourself, and your goal. Filling in the rest is a journey.

Give yourself time; if you need to take longer to really figure it out what it is you want and need, then do it.

How to Know When You're Ready to Convert

When you feel like it. No, really. You will convert when you are ready, if that is what you seek.

Any worthwhile commitment takes time, thought, and energy. It takes hours of ourselves pouring through books, asking hard questions, meditation, and researching.

We do this all the time with other commitments - looking for a job, college, a future partner. We weight our options - does this job pay enough? Does this college have a program to the degree I want? Do I want my future partner to respect me for who I am?

The same care must be held with religion. It may take time for you to pray, to study, to create your own praxis. Hell, you may find yourself in another religion entirely and not even realize what you were doing until months later as you crawl out of the rabbit hole.

But you owe that to yourself. You owe yourself that time to think before you take that commitment and label of being a Satanist. Whether you're a (closeted) Atheist who merely wants to adopt and adapt the philosophy, or a Devil Worshipper who wants all the power in the world, you deserve yourself the time and care to think about whether or not you really want to convert.

It's okay. You're doing great. And thank you, really, for using my site as a resource.