Temple of Set
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Stated purpose
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"The Temple of Set is an organization with one task: to provide an environment in which individuals discover, pursue, and realize their unique purpose and destiny. Our philosophy holds that excellence and creative purpose are rooted in self-awareness, self-knowledge and self-creation. We name the experience of the willed unfolding of this individual potential Xeper."
"That we pursue this task, and teach this philosophy, reflects our conviction that the individual psyche is the hidden sanctuary of something godlike—something slandered and suppressed by conventional religions that claim its powers for themselves, dismissed by others as unreal, and feared by those who would flee the personal responsibility implied."
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Date established
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1975
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Established by
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Lt. Col. (Ret.) Michael Aquino
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Membership
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200
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500
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Perceived enemies
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"The Temple of Set evaluates conventional religions as erroneous in principle and therefore unworthy of peer status. We feel no need to concern ourselves with their activities, nor for that matter to maintain any sort of "diplomatic relations" with them [as in councils of churches]. "
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"The Temple will be tolerated only to the extent that it is known to be pursuing its interests carefully, expertly, and responsibly. It occupies a delicate position in a world which is largely unhappy with itself, and which is ceaselessly searching for scapegoats. Hence the Temple must take care to maintain its social balance with prudence and dignity."
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"The minimum institutional requirements of these ideas is that it is a Duty of every Setian to publicly speak out against those groups who would lie about us by attributing human or animal sacrifice to us."
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"Descriptions of "Black Magic" as involving human or animal sacrifice, rape, or other illegal or reprehensible practices are merely Judaeo/Christian propaganda, and have no basis in truth whatever."
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Outsider views of the group
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Allegation of child molestation against founder Lt. Col. (Ret.) Aquino and his wife, Lilith; no charges were ever brought against them.
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Dehumanizing speech by group
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TEMPLE OF SET
FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
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While Judaism, Christianity, and Islam created their "Satan" distortion of the Set _neter_ of ancient Egypt in order to fashion an "evil scarecrow" to intimidate and control their societies, they could not help endowing "Satan" with such Setian attributes as independence, creativity, honesty, artistry, and intellectual genius - as these *same* attributes, except in severely controlled and approved forms, are "sins against God" in J/C/I culture."
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"It is unfortunately the case that the Fundamentalist propaganda campaign has convinced some sick or maladjusted Christians that the way to practice "Satanism" is indeed to perform the destructive and perverse outrages prescribed by the Fundamentalist propaganda."
"Authentic Satanism (i.e. the 1966-75 Church of Satan and the 1975-present Temple of Set) is emphatically non-criminal and, if anything, far more decent and socially mature than any conventional religion."
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"Since its inception, Christianity has made use of the most horrific propaganda to attack its competitors."
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Extra research note
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Noted in Foertsch (2022) that the Temple was "an incredibly difficult organization to do any sort of research on beyond what was given online..."
This item was submitted on September 7, 2022 by [anonymous user] using the form “Add data on an oppositional religious group” on the site “Empathy and the Religious "Enemy"”: https://enemyempathy.lib.miamioh.edu/s/empathy-and-the-religious-enemy
Click here to view the collected data.
A Field Study Update on Organizational Satanism and Setianism in the United States
Application for Membership in the Temple of Set
The Scroll of Set, Volume XXIII-2: 150
Why Should I Join the Temple of Set?
Pretenders to the Throne: Regarding the Temple of Set