When I decided to go back to church after becoming a Satanist, I had to think about my ground rules – what I'm willing to do, what I'm not willing to do. In general, because I'm in the choir for the purpose of singing, I will sing whatever the choir is singing. I don't say anything that I don't believe. No "Glory to You, Lord Christ," no creed, no prayers, no whatever.
I've also declined to participate in most of the sacraments of the church. Not because I think I'll burst into flame, though I've jokingly said that a time or two. Mostly because I think it's a bit disrespectful to the faith of the actual Christians to insert an unbeliever in what they consider the holiest aspects of their faith, but also because most of them entail kneeling. That's one of my other ground rules – I don't bow or kneel. Non serviam, after all.
But last week, at Ash Wednesday service, I decided that I would participate in the Imposition of Ashes. It helps that the church we attend doesn't ask people to kneel for that, but beyond that, I find it one of the Christian rituals which is best aligned with Satanism and science.
"Dust you are, and to dust you shall return." Nothing about a soul, or resurrection, or heaven, or deity. Purest materialism – our bodies are made from the same stuff as the rest of this universe, and when we're done with them, they go back into the mix. And after some contemplation about my ground rules and the meaning, I decided to go with everyone else to get a smudge on my forehead.
"It's better to be alive than dead. Though more often that not, we take being alive for granted. The question remains, if you could live forever, would you? To live forever is to have all the time in the world to do anything you ever wanted. [...] If you live forever, then what's the hurry? Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? There is perhaps no greater de-motivating force than the knowledge you will live forever. If true, then knowledge of your mortality may also be a force unto itself – the urge to achieve, and the need to express love and affection now, not later. Mathematically, if death gives meaning to life, then to live forever is to live a life with no meaning at all.
- Neil deGrasse Tyson, "Starry Messenger"
He is not, so far as I know, a Satanist. Nonetheless, Dr. Tyson's analysis captures a Satanic perspective on the meaning of life and death perfectly. As far as science can tell, death is the end of consciousness. We have an instinctive, visceral fear of death – of not existing as us any more. But it is the finite nature of life that makes each day valuable. Gold is valuable because it is rare; has any culture ever used hydrogen as a currency?
About a year ago, I encountered this beautiful poem that captures life after death so beautifully:
Is it
crossing over Jordan
to a city of light, archangels
ceaselessly trumpeting over
the heavenly choirs: perpetual Vivaldi,
jasper and endless topaz and amethyst,
the Sistine ceiling seven days a week,
the everlasting smirk
of perfection?
Is it
the river Styx,
darkness made visible, fire
that never stops: endless murder
too merciless to kill,
massacres on an endless loop,
the same old victims always
coming back for more?
Or is it the silky muck
of Wabash and Maumee, the skirr
and skim of blackbirds,
fields of Queen Anne's lace
and bumblebees? Well,
go out once more, and feel
the crumble of dry loam,
fingers and soil slowly becoming
the same truth: there in the hand
is our kinship with oak, our bloodline
to cattle. Imagine,
not eons of boredom or pain,
but honest earth-to-earth;
and when our bodies rise again,
they will be wildflowers, then rabbits,
then wolves, singing a perfect love
to the beautiful, meaningless moon.
- "Let There Be Light" by Phillip Appleman
Dust we are, and to dust we shall return. But for today, for now, we are conscious dust. Make the most of it.
Hail Satan! Amen.