Pre-Satanism

[Galamount]

As far as i know there were no groups that adopted the name of Satanism prior to LaVey. As far as the Christian Bible goes, they believe that if you are not of Christian you are a Satanist. That would make around 80% of the worlds population Satanic. I don't think thats the case.

The closest group that i'm aware of that practised Pre LaVeyian Satanism, or Devil-worship in their case, are the Yezidiz. They hold the belief of both the existence of God and the Devil. Yezidizm chose to worship the devil, Melek Ta'us, because they see him as the all powerful deity of the material realm, and then they change to worship who they believe is the creater when physical life is at its end. A large part of their history was communicated orally and still is today, so its hard getting any literature with any valuble content, but i do have translations of their sacred texts which are supposed to date back to the dawn of their existence, however their beliefs and values are very different from what Satanism is today.

[AZCowgirl]

No wonder we get along...I'm also in the above mentioned 80%.

Do Satanists have, like witches, a Book of Shadows? This question is due to your comments about it being an oral history and thus hard to track.