The Church of Satan or C.O.S as it is abbreviated was founded legally in the year 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey. Many of it's teachings focus around theories put to use, but many times not created by, LaVey. It is to my knowledge the biggest Satanic organization in the United States, and possibly the world. It focuses on worshipping the symbol of Satan, or Lucifer, through manifested characteristics in oneself. To the C.O.S Satan stands for many things, but one of the more important is indulgence instead of abstinence. These are the main facts about the C.O.S and you can consult any of LaVey's books or the C.O.S web page for more information. Now for a little personal breakdown of the C.O.S by me. The C.O.S is defiantly an organization to be admired if for nothing else but the fact that they continue to clear up myths about Satanism as some evil devil-worshipping religion. The only thing that bothers me when dealing with the C.O.S is their devotion to silly group rituals. It seems that so much time is spent dressing up in costumes that, after you stopped laughing, the ritual would be over. I personally am a strong supported of the solitary witch, or ritualist and feel that this can be just as effective if not more than any group activities. I do not mind if other people participate, but pre-written rituals (by not exactly the most credible of sources) can be bogged down with "Hail Satan" and blah blah blah. The $100 membership fee is no help to the appeal of it either, but if you're really serious about it it's not all that bad. All in all, the C.O.S is a credible satanic organization which deserves respect for what it does. Just remember to look into all it's about before diving into membership. You may find yourself regretful. For more info or questions concerning this, just e-mail me.
The Temple of Set or T.O.S as it's abbreviated was founded by people who used to be in the C.O.S but for some reason or another got mad and left. This reason has been the topic of many a boring debate between members of both the T.O.S and the C.O.S. Personally, I don't think it truly matters why the organization split from the C.O.S, it's only important that it did. The T.O.S follows a tradition set more so by the ancient Egyptians following the form of Satan known as Set, the Egyptian devil. (at least that's what he turned out to be, but not originated) Many of the T.O.S teachings deal with things written by Michael Aquino. One of the main books, which is claimed to be inspired by Set himself, is The Book of the Coming Forth of Night, which I must admit I have not read. Set's earlier stuff didn't impress me. Anyway, the Organization does have quite a well organized structure involving things such as Pylons and Orders. They also have a ranking system which I can't help but compare to the boy scouts of America. Anyway, I would say that this organization is a little bit odd in that most members truly believe in Set as some sort of entity. This, and the ritual thing that the C.O.S has, makes the T.O.S somewhat silly to me. It's a matter of personal preference, but it also produces very interesting and helpful material on many subjects dealing with The Left Hand Path. It's definitely worth checking out if for nothing more than to read some of the literature and theories. For info/comments once again, e-mail me.
The Temple of the Vampire or T.O.V is an organization devoted to vampirism and, according to itself, it houses the only "real" vampires in the world. Now, of course they have a Satanic flair to them (an ego that big HAS to be included in the Satanism section). As far as teachings go, they seem pretty normal, I mean, other than the fact that they worship "Those Who Have Risen", probably better known to all of us as "The Dark Undead Gods". Actually they seem to be a decent organization structure-wise, and the membership fee is only 25 bucks, which beats the CoS's fee of 100, plus the ToV gives you a book to go along with it. They're very secretive and don't really publically release any documents, so I can't tell much about them than what's on their website. I'm actually in the process of ordering the "Vampire Bible" right now, so I'll wait until I've read that to do any furthur obnoxious commentary.
Unfortunatly the Nexus has changed gears (for reasons I am aware of and respect), but I have found a very well designed site that offers good insight to the satanic realm, be sure to check out The Satanic Dimension.
