I'll try again, then start kicking things. Is never-fail method
Edit - *evenbiggerheaddesk* who is the right kinda mod to ask for help?
I'm sure Richard can fix it, maybe Russ. (Esplin, or whatever his current account name is. Can't keep track with that one.) Feel free to ask, our admins don't bite.
Really.
I ... obsess over werewolves,
Nice to meet you.
My heroes are Anton LaVey,
Well, I can't resist saying something about
that, now can I?
Stan Winston,
meh, don't really know him.
and Edgar Allan Poe.
Mmm. Poe. One of my favorite modern poets, though T. S. Eliot and G. K. Chesterton (a Brit, by the way. Do you like
epic poems?) both surpass him.
I'm new here and suitably scared and confused.
Please, don't worry about it. You'll fit in fine.
How're you?
Fine. Itchy. That mood that descends the afternoon before a full moon, anticipating the hunt. (Slightly strange because it's a little past full, and I hunted well.) And you?
Aye, Satanist here. Been one for yonks. I am still reluctant to say it out loud because, as you said, 98% of the population don't know the difference between a Satanist and a Devil worshipper.
Well, as far as I know the distinction lies as follows:
Devil-worshiper: one who worships a eldil (a supernatural being capable of reason--by the way, did you know that Christianity lacks a good "official" word for this. We have "angel" and "demon" but nothing for both, so I'm borrowing C. S. Lewis's.) who opposes divine law.
Satanist: a mystic in the religious tradition of Pragmatism, one who sets reason in opposition to all other things. Satanists in this age often do not believe in the existence of eldils, or anything supernatural for that matter, thus "satanic devil-worshiper" is usually a contradiction in terms, at least in modern times.
Pragmatism (religious thread): one of the four threads of human religion (the others being Trancendentalism, Paganism, and Charismaticism). Pragmatism is generally focused on the pursuit of happiness through sober realism and rationality. "God is dead," proclaims Nietzsche, and offers that humans have always sought power, and "ought" (if that word can be used outside of morality) to do so through the most effective means: rationality, scientific engineering, etc.
There are two distinctions that distinguish Satanists from other pragmatists. First, they embrace the title "Satanist" explaining it as meaning "one who is opposed." Second, they accept the human need for ritual rather than repressing it. Is that about right?
Anyway, the werewolf community has occasional problems with
furiosaj, those who refuse socialization. Quite a few
furiosaj are quite literally devil-worshipers, since when one myth intrudes in your life, it's hard to dismiss others and next thing you know, some demon is materializing and demanding fealty (since he can). For the same reason, Satanism proper is rare ("There's nothing but the material word." Sure a werewolf can believe that--for the three and a half weeks a month you
don't feel the moon's call.) Ugly business, since by treaty, we're supposed to police our own kind with rather
harsh penalties if we don't.
