Editing LaVeyan Satanism

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; width:320px;"
! colspan="2" | LaVeyan Satanism
|-
! Family
| Modern / Nontheistic Satanism
|-
! Origin region
| United States
|-
! Founding period
| 20th century CE
|-
! Estimated adherents
| Unknown; organized and independent practitioners exist internationally.
|}

'''LaVeyan Satanism''' is a modern nontheistic religious and philosophical movement associated with Anton LaVey, individualism, ritual psychodrama, skepticism, and the symbolic use of Satan as a figure of pride and rebellion.

== Overview ==

LaVeyan Satanism began with the Church of Satan in the 1960s. It generally does not worship a literal Satan; instead, Satan is treated as a symbol of individual liberty, carnality, self-interest, rational skepticism, and opposition to imposed religious guilt. Ritual is often understood as psychological drama rather than supernatural worship.

== Key beliefs ==

* Satan as a symbolic figure rather than a deity in standard LaVeyan teaching
* Individualism, self-responsibility, and personal sovereignty
* Skepticism toward supernatural claims and conventional religious morality
* Ritual as psychodrama and emotional focus
* Affirmation of earthly life, desire, and personal excellence

== Practices ==

* Reading and discussion of LaVeyan texts
* Rituals of compassion, destruction, and lust as symbolic or psychological acts
* Personal self-development and aesthetic identity
* Participation in Church of Satan or independent Satanist communities
* Use of symbols such as the Sigil of Baphomet

== Places of worship ==

* No universal place of worship; practice may occur in homes, private ritual spaces, online communities, or organizational events

== Sacred texts ==

* ''The Satanic Bible'' and other writings by Anton LaVey are central to LaVeyan Satanism

== Holidays and observances ==

* Common observances include one’s birthday, Halloween, Walpurgisnacht, and solstices or equinoxes in some communities

== Branches and related traditions ==

* [[New Religious Movements]]
* [[Thelema]]
* [[Discordianism]]
* [[Unaffiliated and Secular Worldviews]]

== See also ==

* [[Religion]]
* [[Theology]]
* [[Philosophy of religion]]
* [[New Religious Movements]]
* [[Indigenous and Traditional Religions]]

[[Category:Religions]]
[[Category:New religious movements]]
[[Category:Secular and unaffiliated worldviews]]