Church of Azazel > Structure > History

Church of Azazel

Our history, so far

1. Brief summary
2. Background, up to 2004
3. First attempt to build an online congregation, February 2004 to summer 2005
4. Development of the Church of Azazel pantheon, 2004 to 2006
5. Dormant period, summer 2005 to March 2009
6. Building a local in-person group, beginning April 2009

1. Brief summary

The Church of Azazel was founded in February 2004 as an online-based group. From August 2004 until April 2005 it functioned as an Internet coven, meaning we all performed individual rituals at agreed-upon common times, on agreed-upon common themes.

After 2005, the Church of Azazel was pretty much dormant, until April 2009. During most of 2005 to 2008, Diane Vera, the founder, focussed more on other Satanism-related projects, choosing to wait with any serious effort to build the Church of Azazel until enough other people showed a strong enough interest. In 2005 to 2006, she created a new website Against Satanic Panics, revamped the Black Goat Cabal website, and added more pages to her main Theistic Satanism site including a collection of pages Against neo-Nazism among Satanists. She also added more pages to the Church of Azazel site, fleshing out its paradigm (see Our beliefs and principles).

As of April 2009, a few people began to take an interest in building a local congregation here in New York City. In March 2010, we decided to create a new online congregation, intended primarily for prospective leaders of future local groups.




2. Background, up to 2004

Diane Vera, founder and coordinator of the Church of Azazel, has been active in the public Satanist scene off-and-on since the early 1990's C.E.  She is best known for her articles on Satanism addressed to Pagans, including Satanism and the History of Wicca, and a column in the occult zine Abrasax back in the early-to-mid-1990's, during which time she also co-moderated some of the world's very first Satanic E-lists, hosted on necronomi.com. She left the public Satanist scene in the late 1990's and returned in the fall of 2002 C.E.

Soon after re-joining the Satanist scene, she created her Theistic Satanism website and forums (Yahoo groups). (The latter are now defunct.)

During the summer of 2003 C.E., Diane posted on her Theistic Satanism site a section on Rites of blasphemy, including the renunciation rite. Later, in the fall of 2003, she posted a standard ritual format and a self-initiation rite. All of these were posted for the purpose of giving newcomers to theistic Satanism an alternative to the Joy of Satan dedication rite, which, in her view, called for a premature promise of lifetime commitment. (See Pacts and self-initiation.) She got good feedback on all her rituals from people who tried them.

In the summer of 2004, Diane became one of the first Meetup organizers and ran the New York City Satanism Meetup group. Hardly anyone attended at first. Since then, attendance has been very sporadic and has had its ups and downs, but gradually increased over the next several years. A steady core group of regulars finally emerged in 2009.




3. First attempt to build an online congregation, February 2004 to summer 2005

In late 2003 C.E., Diane decided to start a group of theistic Satanists who share theological and philosophical views similar to her own. She made a first attempt to launch the Church of Azazel in February 2004, with the help of Marie RavenSoul, then co-moderator of the Theistic Satanism forums.

Marie RavenSoul had returned to Satanism in August 2003 C.E. after having been away from it for nine years. (Before that, she had been a Satanist for ten years, beginning at age 14.) In late October 2003, she found Diane's Theistic Satanism website. On October 31, she wrote her first post to the Black-Goat Yahoo group, which was than a public forum. Soon thereafter, Marie began participating in some of Diane's other Theistic Satanism email groups as well. On January 3, 2004, she became co-moderator of Diane's Theistic Satanism forums, and soon afterward she became co-moderator of the new Church-of-Azazel forum as well.

At that point, the Church of Azazel paradigm was in only a very preliminary stage of development. This website contained pages advocating a cautious, non-overgeneralizing, non-cosmological approach to theology (e.g. The here-and-now principle in theology and Post-Copernican natural theology) and a page about recommended practices for new and prospective members (self-initiation rite first, then blasphemy rite after lots of intellectual preparation, then dedication only much later, avoiding premature commitments). But it did not yet contain any strong statement of positive principles for which the Church of Azazel stood, other than intellectual integrity and self-knowledge.

In late August 2004, the online Church of Azazel began the practice of holding simultaneous rituals at agreed-upon times.

Until early October 2004, the Church-of-Azazel forum was public. However, the vast majority of the people it attracted were not people who shared our particular (admittedly rudimentary) paradigm or who even had any interest in it at all. Very annoyingly, many of them insisted on trying to promulgate their own very contrary beliefs in the Church-of-Azazel forum itself rather than in the main Theistic-Satanism forum, which was our designated place for dialogue amongst different kinds of theistic Satanists.

In October 2004, we decided to make the Church-of-Azazel forum private and to use the public Theistic Satanism forums as a means of getting to know prospective members. Also at around that time, two other formerly public forums of ours, including Black-Goat, were made semi-private in order to reduce moderation hassles, also using the public Theistic Satanism forums as a means of preliminary screening.

After the Church-of-Azazel forum became private and many lurkers were deleted, it did not immediately complete the transition to a more focussed forum, due in part to a turnover of co-moderators. By mid-September 2004, Marie RavenSoul had drastically reduced her participation, requiring us to find and train new co-moderators for the Theistic Satanism forums. Fortunately, we did find two other co-moderators for the Theistic Satanism forums, but neither of them shared the Church of Azazel perspective, though they were fine co-moderators of the more general Theistic Satanism forums. In December, Marie left Satanism for a few months and hence also left us as a co-moderator entirely. Since Diane was also quite busy with other things (e.g. a first attempt to put together a forthcoming book, plus trying to settle some quarrels that arose in the course of gathering material for the book), the private Church-of-Azazel forum pretty much stagnated for a while, though we continued our regular rituals during this time.

In April 2005, Geifodd, one of the original Church of Azazel members, became a co-moderator of the Theistic Satanism forums. He also became co-administrator of the Church of Azazel and took on the responsibility of interacting with prospective Church of Azazel members in the public Theistic Satanism forums.




4. Development of the Church of Azazel pantheon, 2004 to 2006

Originally the Church of Azazel venerated only Satan/Azazel and no other deities. We acknowledged the likely existence of other deities as distinct entities, but venerated only one.

During 2004 and early 2005, when we had an active online congregation, several of the more active members had strong attachments to other deities, in addition to their reverence for Satan, and suggested adding them to the pantheon. One member venerated a "Lucifer" whom he insisted was distinct from Satan, but whom he associated with a Gnostic-like interpretation of the Garden of Eden myth. (Many occultists have venerated a similar Lucifer.) Other Church of Azazel members venerated Lilith, Ishtar ("Astaroth"), and Pan, among others. We did some research on and had some discussions about each of these deities - all of whom are venerated by quite a few other theistic Satanists too, either as distinct deities or as aspects of Satan.

Most of us were also very concerned about the ongoing rapid growth of the most repressive forms of the Abrahamic religions. Diane noticed that most of the deities we were considering adding to our pantheon are all associated, in today's world, with social forces in strong opposition to the religious right wing:

• Lots of feminists venerate Lilith, either literally or symbolically. Among feminists and among occultists, the veneration of Lilith is much more widespread and respectable than the veneration of Satan, even though Lilith was traditionally believed to be the wife of you-know-who. Lilith, in the modern world, is also associated with sexual liberation and nonreproductive sex generally. Hence she is a suitable Goddess to call upon to bless the gay rights movement as well as the feminist movement, and to curse the enemies of these movements.
• Ishtar/Astarte and Pan are the ancient nearest equivalents of "the Goddess" and "the God" venerated by Wiccans and by other Wicca-based modern Pagans. (Ishtar was an ancient syncretic "Goddess of Goddesses," and many modern depictions of "the Horned God" are derived primarily from Pan.) The Wiccan/Pagan community is perhaps the most significant new religious movement of our time. Though still smaller than 1% of the population, it has been growing rapidly and has a foundational myth which inherently puts it in strong opposition to the religious right wing. And it will, most likely, always be high on the religious right wing's list of villains.
• The Gnostic "Lucifer," as the bringer of spiritual enlightenment, can be thought of as a patron of the more enlightened and liberal forms of religion and spirituality in general, including even some of the more liberal forms of Christianity - which, as a general rule, do not believe in a Devil and hence are not among Satan/Azazel's avowed enemies. Among the ancient Gnostics who venerated the Serpent of the Garden of Eden myth, the Serpent was sometimes identified with Jesus Christ -- but, obviously, a very different Christ from the one venerated by orthodox Christians, just as today's liberal Christians (e.g. the Christian groups that march in the annual Gay Pride parade here in New York City) venerate a very different Christ from the one venerated by fundamentalists.

We also noticed that the strongest opposition to the religious right wing comes from the organized atheist/humanist community. It occurred to some of us to wonder: Is there, perhaps, a spiritual force that can manifest through atheists, without them knowing about it or believing in it? If so, can people other than atheists connect with that same spiritual force?

Historically, some atheist/humanists groups have used Prometheus as a symbol of human scientific and technological progress. For example, one of the leading atheist/humanist groups, the Council for Secular Humanism, as an associated book publisher called Prometheus Books. Also there have been some atheistic/symbolic Satanist groups that have called themselves the "Promethean" something-or-other.

Diane has experienced a spiritual energy that one can connect with by getting deeply into solving a mathematical or technical problem. And, throughout the ages, various mathematicians, starting with the ancient Pythagoreans, have had a sense of there being strong links between mathematics and some form of spirituality. Diane decided that "Prometheus" is at least a good symbolic name for a spiritual force associated with math, science, and technology, whether or not this force is precisely the same entity that the ancient Greeks venerated under that name. The ancient Greek Prometheus was also a god of technology, having taught humans how to use fire.

In the summer of 2006, a year after the Church of Azazel's online congregation had pretty much died, Diane suddenly envisioned a way that the above five deities (Lilith, Prometheus, Ishtar/Astarte, Pan, and "Lucifer") could be venerated together as a coherent pantheon, distinct from yet complementing the veneration of Satan/Azazel. She then wrote a first draft of The rising gods of the modern West and some other related pages on the Church of Azazel site, including A brief introduction to the Church of Azazel paradigm, Our core beliefs and their here-and-now basis, and Needed:  new kinds of Satanism.




5. Dormant period, summer 2005 to March 2009

In the summer and fall of 2005, the then-tiny online membership of the Church of Azazel got into some very unpleasant personal squabbles which made clear the need for both a better-defined membership structure and an explicit code of conduct for members. Diane began drafting these.

But, during that same time period, other projects seemed more urgent than simply building a group of likeminded theistic Satanists. Diane's main project was to research and expose a mini-resurgence of the "Satanic ritual abuse" witchhunts. At the beginning of 2006, she launched her Against Satanic Panics website and, for several months afterword, devoted nearly all her free time to building that site.

In the summer of 2006, Geifodd decided to leave the online Satanist scene entirely, for personal reasons. By then, the private forum of the online congregation of the Church of Azazel had been pretty much dead for a year, though our other, more general Theistic Satanism forums were still thriving.

During the summer of 2006, as mentioned earlier, Diane wrote some articles to flesh out the theology of the Church of Azazel, including The rising gods of the modern West, and also made some related revisions to the rituals on her Theistic Satanism site. In September 2006, she finally finished her first drafts of a membership structure and code of conduct, both of which are currently tentative.

Diane was now ready for another try at launching the Church of Azazel, this time both as an Internet-based group and as a local group to meet in person in New York City. But she was willing to do so only if and when she encountered some sufficiently enthusiastic and actively helpful prospective members, either in the Theistic Satanism forums or at the New York City Satanism Meetup. Such members did not appear on the scene until 2009. In the meantime, Diane continued to work on other Satanism-related projects, such as the anti-Nazi pages that were added to her Theistic Satanism site in November and December 2006.

In the fall of 2006, the New York City Satanism Meetup group finally began to show some signs of life. Before then, hardly anyone had attended. At most of the meetings scheduled during 2004 to 2006, Diane was the only person who showed up. Often the meetings were canceled due to lack of RSVP's. But then, in September 2006, Diane, took advantage of some then-new Meetup features. She gave the Satanism Meetup group a new name: NYC Satanists, Luciferians, Dark Pagans, and LHP Occultists, and listed it under the Meetup topics of "Occult," "Magickal," and "Luciferian," as well as its original topic of "Satanism." Seven people attended the October 2006 meeting. Attendance continued to be very sporadic, but at least the majority of meetings now began to be attended by at least some people. Many different kinds of Satanists, Luciferians, etc. have attended these meetings.

In Feburary 2007, Diane started the a local NYC Meetup group for the Church of Azazel. However, even the main Satanism Meetup group was not yet large enough to form a viable subgroup devoted to the Church of Azazel paradigm.

In fall 2007, Diane closed down the Theistic Satanism Yahoo groups. From 2003 to 2006, those forums had been among the very few places on the Internet for intelligent discussion about theistic Satanism. But, by late 2007, they seemed to have outlived their usefulness. The public forums are still there as an archive that one may view by joining the groups, but messages cannot be posted there anymore.

Throughout this time, Diane continued to run the NYC Satanists/LHP Meetup group, which had its ups and downs, but grew gradually. Not until 2009 did it finally seem to Diane like a "real group," with a stable core membership.

In March 2009, Diane met "Noelle from Hell" at the NYC Satanists/LHP Meetup, and was also contacted via Meetup by another woman with a strong desire to help build a local Satanist group. Noelle was deeply drawn to the Church of Azazel paradigm. Together, she and Diane prepared to launch the local New York City proto-ongregation of the Church of Azazel.

Perhaps the Church of Azazel's time had finally arrived.




6. Building a local in-person group, beginning April 2009

The first open meeting of the revived Church of Azazel proto-congregration was held in May 2009. At that time, we began our current schedule of holding Church of Azazel open meetings five times per year, while the more general Satanism/LHP group meets more often, almost once per month.

Unfortunately, Noelle soon had to move to New Orleans.

The Church of Azazel attracted several other very enthusiastic prospective members during 2009. It also attracted several other people with a milder interest. But not until the fall of 2009 did it finally attract a small core group of people who were both willing and able to share the work of running the group -- enough to begin a serious launch of the local group.

The January 2010 meeting of the Church of Azazel proto-congregation was attended by a total of 12 people -- the largest number of people ever to attend any of Diane Vera's Meetup group meetings up to that point.

To be continued ....

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