Just because I'm a Satanist doesn't mean I have no morals. I have tons of morals. My moral code is just simply not conventional and I have accepted that many may not see eye to eye with me on my system of ideals and personal beliefs. For some moralistic ideas I might even be in a societal minority. We do not have to accept what other people say is right as right, or as wrong as wrong. Satanism is an enlightenment path to me. It teaches us to recognize the divergent morality systems with which we must exist as members of society. Within politics we see people battling different sides of the morality coin all the time making decisions about what is important and which things are the sacrificial lambs.
As Satanists we are self worshipping. This doesn't mean we are a bunch of self-centered, narcissistic people who think we are gods. We think we are OUR OWN gods. I am not my neighbour down the street's God and I possibly can't do much of meaning for their very different life
Helping doesn't always help. We want to help people so we feel good about ourselves. We help them in ways which empower them. Telling them 'You wanted to get into pottery? There's a free course I heard about.' Not, going over to their homes with a bag of clay, showing them how it's done, and telling them they're doing it all wrong and will never get it right. People have many odd ideas of what is helpful. I often have non-artists who think paints grows on trees, canvases pop into an apartment, time is always available, and energy absolutely boundless offering me ideas of what I 'should' do. Usually I want to crack these people in the nose, as they frustrate the hell out of me, but that's my personal thing.
In this world people have different sets of priorities. You can't tell someone whose first priority is a romantic relationship to stop trying to patch things up with their lover and go take acting classes. We need to stop thinking other people are like us. Some people absolutely love sitting in an arena, squinting their eyes, to watch a bunch of drabbly dressed figures swinging a bat to try to hit a ball. Do I understand why they enjoy that? Not exactly. I can make a few guesses and compare it to following a favourite artist or writer's career. Maybe it's like how I like to purchase any art magazine which mentions an artist I like to read every word of what's said about them. People are very different and some people care about some things that many of us think are dull as dirt. I hate noisy rock concerts, I will admit like the secret geek I am. Nothing I hate more than being in a noisy place, standing on my feet, with noise blasted in my ears, and people moving around me in all directions. I feel more at home sitting in a symphony hall in a seat with everyone sitting still around me and listening to the myriad of instruments played on a stage. Many people see it as an elitist thing and boring, but it has a different connotation to them. I see magick, where they see snobbery and pretension. Can't say I blame them.
So when someone does some shit to us, we need to realize that our anger might baffle them. 'I did something wrong?' they might think. They did and they didn't. Within our set of priorities they may have, and their's they didn't. Some of us see raising our voices at someone as something morally wrong and disrespectful. Other people see it as expressing their feelings.
As Satanists we chould try to figure out our morals. They are there inside us and they aren't neccessarily what we want them to be. Just because a woman has been promiscuous doesn't mean she feels comfortable about it. She might be fighting against her values in order to prove herself modern and not a prude. It would errode her sense of dignity if she were to continue behaving in a way which inwardly seems wrong to her... Or someone who is working in a very capitalistic setting who believes in social ideals. There will likely be a major internal conflict.
Sitting down with a pen and paper and figuring out your morals can help alleviate guilt. Figure out the hidden reason for why you did whatever you did that you feel guilty about. After examining these things they tend to make a lot more sense. I ran myself into debt because I wanted to look strong and able to take care of myself. I don't feel guilty about my debts anymore. I made a bunch of bad decisions because I was afraid of something and was trying to correct it by creating an illusion of having money. This sort of financial guilt I believe causes debt for a great number of individuals.
My moral code embraces myself as my god. I am most important and I take care of myself first. When I get sick I take care of my illness first and don't worry about the consequences. When I am painfully sad I comfort myself first and don't worry about being a companion to my friends. Intaking care of ourselves first we won't get any lingering resentments started. At least not inside ourselves.
Sure, some unreasonable friends will start wanting us to take care of their needs first. Recognize their use of you as the form of co-dependency it is and send them trucking. You are doing them a favour, though likely they will be off to the doorstep of some other numbskull who is also a co-dependent.
We do not need to mix ourselves in this destructive dance of enabling each other. Listen foremost to your mind, body, and emotions. Your mind should always be taking a backward seat to your emotions due to the fact that we will often second guess ourselves and rationalize some very bad ideas.
Is your wallet suffering? Don't go out drinking with your friends when they call. They are not your friends when they are harming your body and financial picture. True friends care about you being able to take care of yourself and being in tip top health. Treat yourself like you would treat a young kid you care about. Don't date people you wouldn't want your closest friend seeing. Don't go out and do things you wouldn't want to see your closest friend go through.
Care about yourself first and fix your problems. You will find that things you thought you used to enjoy were really quite nothing in the first place and begin to feel naive about stuff you just accepted as being normal and 'cool' before.
Don't do 'cool'. Reinvent cool for yourself. Cool can be being a health nut with a mildly rebellious streak. There are tons of healthy ways to rock the boat and be a healthy kind of rebel.
High Infernal Priestess Lydia Workman
bravenet.com