You Shall Not Speak Unless Spoken To!

(This was my first Satanic-themed essay. It was written years ago on the Letters to the Devil forums. I decided to share it with all of you today. As always, although I am a member I do not speak for the Church of Satan)

I know that rule number one of the Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth state that a Satanist must not “give your opinions or advice unless asked.” However, since you—dear reader—are now perusing this essay, I am going to make the assumption that you have now given your consent to my opinion, so here goes.

I have had to learn the hard way about the importance of the rule above.

Yes, this has been one of the harder rules for me to follow. To give an idea as to how much I struggled with this while growing up I was, to paraphrase one of my middle school teachers, “ the opinionated kid with the high IQ.” I developed the custom of always speaking my mind, much to the chagrin of my mother and others around me. If I had an idea—I usually would spout it, and with little-to-no regard for whether it would help me in the long run. If I thought it to be true, it was said. This was the source of much trouble for me and sometimes attracted bullies. It was not until I found that oh-so-special-little-black-book that this bad habit was (for the most part) smashed into a million irreparable shards. Sometimes that desire to blurt out my opinion comes up, but then I think of the principles of lesser magic as described in The Satanic Bible, and my lips magically seal themselves.

The wisdom imparted by the first rule is that keeping silent is an essential tool in lesser magic. The ability to know when to speak, and to recognize when to remain quiet, is key to keeping those around you guessing. If—as the adage states—knowledge is power, then why would you give your enemies said strength by imparting knowledge for them about yourself? It's like handing them a weapon to use against you! By keeping your foes in the dark, you now can strike when needed so that you may come out victorious. Maybe, if I knew about the writings of Dr. Lavey during my formative teen years, I might have been saved from the ubiquitous swirly, or (insensitively named) Indian burn.

Also, since I am fond of old sayings, I will conclude my little essay by paraphrasing one: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies guessing!”