Satano-Grigorism
Satano-Grigorism is the religion of our Temple, an organized polytheistic form of theistic Satanism. Satano-Grigorists worship Satanael, commonly known as Satan or the Devil by other groups, alongside the Watchers, an order of 200 fallen angels who descended to earth, taught forbidden knowledge to mankind, and had hybrid children called Nephilim.
Despite the fairly recent codification of its modern form, the ideas and events upon which Satano-Grigorism is founded are truly ancient. The story of the Watchers was recorded in ancient apocrypha like the Book of Enoch, the Book of Giants, and the Book of Jubilees, written long before baby Jesus took his first breath. Human history at the time and place of Their descent is also replete with traces of Their influence. While we cannot reconstruct the exact beliefs and practices of those who worshipped the Watchers in the ancient times following Their descent, the lens through which we view Them is shaped by the world in which They were first worshipped. This is the origin of many differences between Satano-Grigorism and other theistic Satanic religions, and it distinguishes the Satano-Grigorist understanding of the Watchers from those who interpret individual Watchers through a modern occult lens.
Satanael
The deity we call Satanael is the very same spirit falsely vilified by the Abrahamic religions and worshipped by other Satanists. We revere Him as a powerful god associated with freedom, pride, pleasure, knowledge, and the Virtues of the Self: self-love, self-respect, self-awareness, self-reliance, and self-determination. Because He champions these virtues, we call Him the God of the Self. The way of life we follow to elevate the Self and achieve maximal fulfillment in life is called halaktu Huleli, the way of Helel.
Satanael is often called the God of a Thousand Names, and for good reason. Other names of Satanael recognized by Satano-Grigorism include Azazel, Helel, Belial, and Ba'al-Zebul (Beelzebul). Unlike most other Satanic religions, we do not use the names Satan, Lucifer, or Beelzebub. We also reject the identification of Samael with Satanael; we consider Samael to be a tormenting archangel of Yahweh. While "Satan" in modern English most often refers to Satanael, it is not originally a name referring to a specific being, and it has also been used as a title for Samael. It is a Hebrew noun meaning "opposer," which can refer to many different beings in different contexts. "Lucifer" is a mistranslation of Helel originating from the Latin Vulgate Bible, so we use Helel instead. "Beelzebub" is a variant of "Ba'al-Zebub," meaning "lord of flies," an insulting ancient Yahwist pun meant to mock the name Ba'al-Zebul, which means "lofty prince" or "lord prince."
While Satanael is not one of the Watchers, He is closely associated with Them because He gave Them the power to rebel against Yahweh. Out of gratitude for this, They bestowed upon Him the honorary title "Prince of the Watchers," a title which has sometimes caused the mistaken assumption that He is one of Them. His name Azazel is also commonly misidentified as a Watcher, likely due to confusion with the Watcher Asael.
The Watchers
Satano-Grigorists worship the Watchers as gods alongside Satanael. They are an order of 200 fallen angels who, in ancient times, sought the help of Satanael to free Themselves; They subsequently rebelled against Yahweh, engaged in sexual unions with humans, and taught Their forbidden knowledge to mankind. Their relations with women gave rise to hybrid lineages of strong and beautiful people known as Nephilim, whose early generations were renowned among mankind for their incredible feats.
Their impact on human civilization has been immense; Their descendants still live today and the modern world is built upon Their gifts. Some of Their teachings include writing, metallurgy, astronomy, navigation, weather forecasting, various forms of divination, spirit work techniques, defensive magic, agricultural innovations, herbalism, gem-cutting, the use of cosmetics, and the pharmaceutical arts.
The Watchers are organized into tribes of 10, each led by one of 20 chiefs known as Dekadarchs, who are the traditional leaders of the Watchers and are always listed in a specific order. The Dekadarchs are by far the best-known Watchers because They are named in the Book of Enoch, although some versions corrupt Their names. The 20 Dekadarchs, in order, are Samyaza, Arakiel, Asbe'el, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Danel, Shahaqiel, Baraqiel, Asael, Harmoniel, Matariel, Ananiel, Zaqiel, Shamsiel, Sathariel, Turiel, Yomiel, Sariel, and Penemue.
The Grigorist Temple of Satanael is the first and only known modern religious organization that worships the Watchers primarily and systematically as a pantheon. While the Watchers are not nearly as well-known as Satanael by the general public or the occult community, we believe They deserve to be known and revered. We recognize Them as proud spirits who broke Their chains, lifted Themselves out of the pits of servitude, and fulfilled Their desires upon the earth as no angel had ever dared to do before.
Yahweh
We believe in the existence of Yahweh, the god of the Abrahamic (Yahwist) religions. However, we do not accept his claims to supremacy, perfection, omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevolence, omnipresence, or the power of creation ex nihilo. Instead, we consider him a liar and tyrant who falsely pretends to be the ruler of the universe, but who is in fact finite and imperfect like every other god in existence. He seeks control over humanity and wants to be served by them, and he achieves this through deception, manipulation, and threats.
Yahweh goes by various names or titles, depending on the context. In Islam, he is called Allah, which simply means "the god," and modern Christians often call him simply "God," likewise reflecting the Yahwist tradition of monotheism. Jews are forbidden to say his real name, so they call him Adonai ("my lord") or HaShem ("the name") instead. In Biblical Hebrew, he is also referred to as El, meaning "god," or Elohim, which literally translates to "gods" but is understood as an honorific plural referring to a singular being (Yahweh) in some contexts.
In a Satano-Grigorist context, Yahwism, like Satanism, is an umbrella term. We refer to all religions that worship Yahweh as Yahwist religions, just as all religions that worship Satanael are Satanic religions. The major modern Yahwist religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but many other lesser-known Yahwist religions exist. The Satano-Grigorist usage of the term "Yahwism" is much broader than the academic sense, which refers only to the ancient Israelite religion of Old Testament times.
Angels
To keep up with the duties required to maintain his massive system of control, Yahweh has loyal servant spirits, which are called angels and saints. An angel is any immortal spiritual being who loyally serves Yahweh, having been bound in servitude to him. The binding of servitude to Yahweh is difficult but not impossible to break, as can be seen with the Watchers. When an angel rebels against Yahweh and breaks free, they are no longer considered an angel, but may be termed a "fallen angel" (the traditional term) or simply a "former angel."
There are many different kinds of angels, which are called orders; each order has a different set of roles. The most important individual angels, who may be of any order, are called archangels. The best-known named angels, such as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, are all archangels. The orders are split into three groups: attendant, intermediary, and delegate. Attendant orders (the seraphim, cherubim, and ophanim) remain in Yahweh's presence, praising and guarding him. Intermediary orders (the archai and kyriotetes) serve as "middlemen," mostly interacting with other angels. Delegate orders (erelim, hashmallim, ishim, memitim, and malakhim) are generally responsible for interacting with humanity in one way or another.
We believe that delegate angels may actively attempt to interfere with us and other Satanists or occultists, just as they can actively intercede for and influence Yahwists. We refer to these attempts as angelic attacks. The nature of an angelic attack largely depends on the order of the angel; many banishment methods are order-specific. We study angelology to arm ourselves with knowledge about angels, which we use to develop protection and banishment methods to defend ourselves against them. The Grigorist Temple of Satanael is one of very few Satanic organizations that studies angels and their banishment to any significant extent. To the best of our knowledge, Satano-Grigorist angelology is the most thorough and complete system of angelology that has been made publicly available by any Satanic or Left-Hand Path organization.
Philosophy
We believe that truth is objective and universal, but morality is neither objective nor universal. We reject the idea that truth is subjective and that two contradictory statements can both be true to different people. The subjective perceptions of individuals, however, do affect how they experience reality. This holds for both material and spiritual matters, since we believe that the spiritual realm and spiritual beings objectively exist.
Our position on meta-ethics (the nature of morality) is closest to expressivism. We assert that moral statements do not have a truth value, meaning that they cannot be either true or false. Rather than reflecting an action's alignment with a real objective standard, moral statements simply express individuals' personal sentiments about that action. Every being has their own set of values representing their personal moral sentiments. Organizations and belief systems can also have moral sets, which function as standards with which the moral sets of individual members or believers must align.
The subjective values of Satano-Grigorism are generally oriented toward the elevation of the Self. In alignment with the virtues of Satanael Himself, we highly value self-love, self-awareness, self-determination, confidence, pride, knowledge, and pleasure; we look down upon excessive altruism, undue self-sacrifice, self-hatred, willful ignorance, and other forms of self-destructive behavior.
Selfism
Our philosophy about value judgments regarding the relationship between ourselves and others is called Selfism. The most basic premise of Selfism is that we should avoid behaviors and circumstances that detriment the Self while seeking out those that benefit the Self. These rules manifest themselves in many different ways throughout life. Because every person is different, whether something is beneficial or detrimental to the Self may differ by individual; it is important that we know ourselves well enough to accurately evaluate our circumstances and make decisions accordingly.
Selfist decision-making and interpersonal relations are founded on the concepts of resources and the close circle. Resources are things like time, money, food, and energy, which are limited and can be applied either to the Self or to others. An individual's close circle is the small group of loyal people they love and trust the most, which may include their immediate family members, romantic partner, and closest friends. Selfists try to conserve our own resources as much as possible except in cases where it is detrimental to do so. The close circle is the most common origin of cases where it is actually beneficial to devote our own resources to other people. We generally derive psychological and sometimes spiritual benefits from close relationships with those we love, and relationships usually involve a mutual give-and-take dynamic that can benefit both parties. Because we do not spread our resources thin, our social circles are almost always smaller and denser than those of Altruists. The few close bonds we maintain are often significantly stronger and hold greater depth; the trade-off is that we have far fewer distant acquaintances than Altruists do.
Contrary to popular belief, Selfism does not require that we never help others or that we avoid closeness with other human beings. In fact, such behaviors would generally be against Selfism, because they are psychologically damaging to most humans, who are naturally social beings. It also does not encourage the use of violence to gain advantages in life; due to the empathy and instincts present in almost all humans, it is psychologically damaging to commit acts of violence, and it also presents a risk of legal punishment or vengeance from the victim or their loved ones. However, certain self-sacrificing acts that would be celebrated by altruists are often avoided by Selfists, such as giving away money to strangers if one does not have an excess of money. When a Selfist does have an excess of a particular resource and their close circle is also not in need of that resource, giving it away to people outside their close circle is no longer considered a detrimental act.
Organization
Satano-Grigorism is an organized religion. Our organization, the Grigorist Temple of Satanael, provides the supporting structure of the Satano-Grigorist faith. Because our religion is highly complex, the organized structure is extremely helpful. Dedicated resources, community gatherings, shared notes, and the availability of official mentorship make Satano-Grigorism much easier to learn and follow.
The Temple has dedicated leaders, called kāhinūma (Elders), who perform administrative duties for the Temple and guide its future endeavors. Our Elders initiate new members, mentor members in study and practice, organize and host weekly religious assemblies (qibūsātu), lead group prayers, receive scripture, produce public and private resources, assist in spiritual protection, and manage Satano-Grigorist outreach.
We also have three purely experience-based titles, which we call membership tiers. Every new member starts as a lamadu, or Neophyte; as they become more experienced and knowledgeable, they can advance to žamaru (Devotee) and then ātinu (Sage). These tiers are not a value hierarchy that results in preferential treatment of members. They simply identify a member's familiarity with the religion and help to motivate members, since a tier advancement represents a member's hard work in study and practice of Satano-Grigorism.
Conversion to Satano-Grigorism requires admission into the Temple, and every new member must be approved for membership by an Elder. One cannot become an actual Satano-Grigorist simply by believing in the claims set out by public Satano-Grigorist resources and replicating the practices described in them. We offer many different ways to contact the Temple for those who are interested in applying for membership, and we encourage inquirers to reach out to us if they have any questions or feel they may want to become Satano-Grigorist after reading our resources.
Alignments
We are not affiliated with any other organizations that identify as Satanic, including atheistic organizations such as the Church of Satan or The Satanic Temple as well as other theistic Satanist organizations such as the Temple of Set or Joy of Satan (now Temple of Zeus). Some similarities may exist between our beliefs and those of another religious organization or individual, but these do not imply affiliation or membership.
As an organization, we have no political alignment and do not engage in any political activities. With the exception of religious beliefs and practices, any views or actions of individual members do not represent those of the Temple. We do not associate with or endorse the beliefs or actions of any extremist groups of a political, religious, or any other nature.