— Christopher Vogler, The Writer’s Journey
In myths, fables, and other stories from across the earth, an ever-lurking archetype is the Threshold Guardian. For as long as humans have been telling stories, our heroes have faced challenges that test whether they are worthy of passing through the gateways to special worlds. At these thresholds, menacing figures block the way, forcing adventurers to confront their fears or to turn back in shame.
Many would-be adventurers will flee from the Threshold Guardian. Others will lash out in anger to protect the walls of their ‘good versus evil’ world. To them, the guardian is a threat, and they are blind to life beyond the gate.
But an elite few will recognize something else within the snarls of Cerberus. They will hear an invitation.
In the face of the unknown, true adventurers will feel fear and fascination. Their fascination impels them to cross the threshold. Motivated by wonder, they learn that the guardian is in fact an ally. By treating the guardian as a source of wisdom, the hero can incorporate its lessons and gain a valuable mentor.
As an archetype, Satan performs many roles. For the Satanist, Satan is an heroic symbol of pride and justice. It is a symbolic mentor that helps one to exteriorize self-determination and carnality. A distillation of complex thought structures, the symbol of Satan is a bottomless well of meaning, dug ever deeper by mass culture and individual pioneers.
Through all of this, Satan is also a very effective threshold guardian.
The Book of Satan is the first and shortest section of The Satanic Bible. It also contains the most blasphemous portions of the entire work. Readers who are able to see through the vitriol to recognize the positively life-affirming messages in the same text (i.e, “make the most of life”, and “Say unto thine own heart, ‘I am mine own redeemer.’” The Satanic Bible) will continue reading. Others will turn away from the threshold in fear or disgust.
Satan’s carefully chosen words act as a threshold guardian. They intrigue the non-dualists and weed out the unworthy. Those entombed in dualism will not continue the journey. LaVey’s introduction to this section makes it clear that The Book of Satan is meant to act as purification. In this case, a discriminating purification of the reading audience.
This same introduction presents the “allegorical personage” of Satan as a figure who is finally ready to teach the Law of the Jungle. Readers who can see beyond a fear of blasphemy are beckoned to “read on and learn the law” (The Satanic Bible). This law is taught directly to the reader via Socratic questioning from the mouth of a threshold guardian who has been transformed into a mentor and ally.
Satan as threshold guardian separates Satanists from the masses. An elite few are psychologically capable of shedding the false dichotomies that encase collective thought. Curiosity impels that unusual minority to plunge into forbidden worlds. The pathways of these heroes’ journeys are paved with third side thinking. These non-mystical, carnal roads to undefiled wisdom reward the intrepid with independence and liberation from institutionalized thought — the true fount of innovation.
Some would-be explorers recognize the threshold guardian, but only appreciate its power to strike fear in the hearts of the masses. They refuse the call to adventure by stopping short at the threshold. For them, Satan is merely a tool used to obtain a reaction from the ordinary world.
Wearing Satan’s menacing visage may provide a protective barrier to one who understands the power of the archetype’s multifaceted forms. But it can also remind the individual to turn life’s other threshold guardians into mentors and allies.
After crossing the threshold into the special world of independent thought, the journey is far from over. Periodically, new tributaries to the river Styx will pour forth to block the way of those who seek personal growth and change. Seasoned adventurers may decide to remain trapped on their islands and peninsulas of safety — or, they can continue questioning all things, earning Charon’s respect and gaining passage into an ever greater unknown.
