Satanism is not one single religion. Satanism is a broad category of religions, worldviews, and literature all featuring a favorable interpretation of Satan. Christians (and Muslims) regard their God as all-good and Satan as evil. But what is good? What is evil? Many of the moral values espoused in the Bible seem very strange from a modern Western point of view. In the Garden of Eden story, Adam and Eve are punished for eating from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." In other words, blind obedience to the Biblical God is considered "good," whereas independent moral judgment, based on one's own knowledge, is considered "evil." But, like many other educated people in the West today, Satanists do not agree with this idea at all. In the Book of Genesis, "God" seems to be outright threatened by human knowledge and achievement, both in the Garden of Eden story ("And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.'" - Genesis 3:22) and then later in the Tower of Babel story ("But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'" - Genesis 11:5-7).
According to traditional Christian doctrine, the main “evil” thing Satan is believed to do is simply to lead people away from Christ. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on how you feel about Christianity. From a more down-to-Earth point of view, the worst thing Satan is said to do in the New Testament is to drive people insane. (Insanity is blamed on alleged “demon possession.”) Indeed, if one is careless, one can drive oneself insane through exploring the unknown and seeking to “become as gods,” as Satan invites people to do. On the other hand, if one takes reasonable precautions in pursuing one's explorations and ambitions, one can reap great benefits. Thus, most Satanists do NOT see themselves as "worshiping evil." Rather, most Satanists associate Satan with such values as pride, independence, individuality, knowledge, achievement, thinking for oneself, and exploring unknown and forbidden realms. Furthermore, contrary to the portrayal of Satanism in horror movies and sensationalistic tabloids, the vast majority of Satanists do NOT see any need to sacrifice animals or commit violent crimes in the name of Satan. There are many kinds of Satanists. For most of the past forty years, the most public Satanist spokespeople have been atheistic symbolic Satanists, who do not believe in or worship Satan as a literal entity, but who regard Satan as a symbol of independence, pride, individual ambition, etc.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 24, 2010
Get the Satanism mug.Pan is the god of flocks, pastures, fields, and forests – often portrayed as playing the (seductive) Pan’s pipes.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 04, 2010
Get the Pan mug.Taoism (also Daoism) is a principal philosophy and system of religion of China based on the teachings of Lao-Tzu in the 6th century BCE and on subsequent revelations. It advocates preserving and restoring the Tao in the body and the cosmos. The Tao is the Uncarved Block of existence. The Tao cannot be rationally explained. Any attempt to do so only explains something other than the Tao. All things arise from it, exist within it and return to it. All things in harmony with the Tao find their truest nature. In the Tao, all things find ultimate fulfillment. If we could only for a moment be in harmony with the Tao, we could be eternal as the Tao is eternal. The problem we have is that we do not normally live in harmony with the Tao. Instead of reacting naturally as the Tao leads, we insist on explaining, categorizing and controlling the world. This leads to insufficiency, pain and trouble. This artificiality and inflexibility is the cause of all personal and social trouble. We need to learn to drop artificiality and learn to live spontaneously and naturally in harmony with the Tao. We need to learn to be natural and in harmony with our surroundings as water conforms to its surroundings. Where much of Chinese religion favors elements seen as yang, male as active, Taoism focuses on qualities often seen as passive and female. Recall this in itself can be a dangerous categorization.
Thus Taoism is path of clearing the mind and its preconceptions. By natural meditative focus on the Tao, we find harmony, equanimity and fulfillment. The key guide to this is No-action (Wu-wei). It makes it possible to achieve all things without doing anything. This requires a neutral and natural meditative attitude. When we understand wu-wei, we learn to do things naturally as they need to be done, not when we think they should be done. Thus all things are done as required by the Tao. Philosophical Taoism is Tao-chia (Dao-jia). It is the introspective and philosophical approach based on the teachings of the Tao te Ching of Lao-tzu (Lao-zi). Popular or Religious Taoism Tao-chiao (Dao-jiao) uses many of the same concepts but melds them with traditional religious and magical beliefs from the past. These work in very different ways but are still referred to as Taoism. Zhuang-Zi (Chuang-Tzu) was the he most influential philosophical Taoist after Lao-Tzu. He wrote a book known by his name. His original name is actually Zhuang Zhou, but he is known as Master Zhuang. His book develops concepts of the Tao and wu-wei beyond those of the Tao te Ching along with teaching using witty stories, anecdotes and allegories.
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Get the Ares mug.Among the many dance forms that became popular among Cubans and their tourist visitors between World War II and the Cuban Revolution, the Mambo was arguably the peppiest. During the era of Latin big bands in the 1940s and 50s, Mambo artists such as Perez Prado and Machito and his Afro-Cubans were similar to and influenced by American Swing orchestras with their swollen brass sections. In fact, Mambo is named after the instrumental break when horn players would trade licks and push the dancers into a frenzy. Like the Cuban cha-cha-cha, it became popular in New York City with non-Cubans and was quickly adopted into the repertoire of the popular big bands.
Mambo: Xavier Cugat, Perez Prado, Israel "Cachao" Lopez, Tito Puente, Tito Puente Jr., Tito Rodriguez, Machito, Orlando Marin, Benny Moré
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ September 15, 2010
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Outlaw Star is an awesome 26 episode anime series. It aired in the U.S. on Toonami in 2001 and was also shown on Adult Swim in 2002.
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