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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