An Interview with Grand Master Scott Robb: Founder, Darkside International Ministry (Part One)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/07/01
Abstract
An interview with Grand Master Scott Robb. He discusses: content and purpose of Darkside International Ministries; demographics of the organization; tasks and responsibilities that come with the position of founder, grand master, high priest, reverend, and president; formalized ranking system; purpose of the priesthood, the council, and the individual priests, and the look of a wedding, baptism, funeral, and ordination through the rituals of the Darkside International Ministry; source and reason for hysteria around magic; worshiping the metaphoric representation of Satan as the “bearer of light, the spirit of the air, and the personification of enlightenment”; the self as the “highest embodiment of human life”; rational self-interest; perennial threats to the free practice of the ministry; future initiatives and areas for growth; ways to shop or donate the Darkside International Ministry, which is a registered religious charity; and final feelings and thoughts.
Keywords: Darkside International Ministry, grand master, Satan, Scott Robb, self.
An Interview with Grand Master Scott Robb: Founder, Darkside International Ministry (Part One)[1],[2]
*Footnotes in & after the interview, & citation style listing after the interview.*
*This interview has been edited for clarity and readability.*
1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: The historical roots of the Darkside Collective Ministry are from the Hermetic Order of the Knights Templar in the 14th century in France, the Hell-Fire Club of Sir Francis Dashwood in the 18th century, and, of course, Aleister Crowley’s ritual magic of the 19th and 20th centuries, among others.
Another, more modern, individual can be seen with Anton LaVey. With this eclectic history, and noble arc of black figures and orders, what is the coda statement on the content and purpose of the Darkside International Ministry (formed late March, 1999)?
Grand Master Scott Robb: The content is no different then the philosophies and practices of our pagan ancestors. The purpose, simply, is that certain circumstances over the last 60+ years have taken away from the essence of our pagan origins. Specifically, Anton LaVey turned out to be a greedy attention seeker who only formed the Church of Satan to sell ministerial degrees and ordinations to the highest bidders with no regard to the knowledge or accomplishments one has in the philosophies and practices of Satanism.
This is the reason that Church of Satan co-founding minister, Michael Aquino, left the Church of Satan to form the Temple of Set in 1975. Knowing that, at the time, the public where not ready to accept the philosophies and rituals of Satanism, Aquino opted to keep the workings of the Temple of Set secret and only known by members and supporters. I was only made aware of these facts in private dialogue I personally had years ago with Michael Aquino.
Lucien Greaves, and his Satanic Temple, however, should be praised for their taking the core beliefs and philosophies of Satanism to a higher, social justice level. He, and his groups’ members, have shown that the youth of the world are now ready for a more prosperous future for all.
2. Jacobsen: You are based in Edmonton, Alberta. Some view this area of Canada as its ‘Bible Belt’, which tends to be a title reserved for the American South. Even though you’re spread throughout “Canada, America, Australia, Europe, Asia, South America and Africa,” why headquarter with the Central Church there – irony? More seriously, what are the demographics of the Darkside International Ministry?
Robb: Heh, well, our ministry started after a conversation I had with a friend of mine from Tel Aviv, Israel back in 1998. We decided that Satanism needed to get back to its pagan roots, and that the Church of Satan’s management since LaVey’s 1997 death was getting much worse under Peter H Gilmore and Peggy Nadimira, so we decided to create our own Ministry. Since she was about to come of age for her mandatory service with the Israeli Defence Force, It was decided that Israel probably wasn’t the best place to headquarter our ministry, both because of the religious conflict already present and her service in the IDF which would have caused her undue stress. In fact, she requested that her involvement in our ministry remain a secret, so I will not mention her name here.
Barely a year after starting these discussions, in 1998, I moved to Edmonton, and by the start of 1999 we had settled on starting our ministry and the rest is, as they say, history.
3. Jacobsen: As the founder, grand master, high priest, reverend, and president for Darkside International Ministry, what tasks and responsibilities come with the position(s)?
Robb: Well, so far, I have been overseeing the administrative requirements of the ministry; with the council I oversee the application process in accepting members and elevating existing members to higher ranks when awarded. I have also been the principal spokesperson for our ministry as well, though we have had a few others speak for our ministry as well.
4. Jacobsen: There is a formalized ranking system:
Grand Master International Leader (only one in the Ministry)
Lord Templar Senior Council members (along with the Grand Master, the Lord Templar make up the ruling body of the Darkside Collective Ministry)
High Templar Council Members (determined regionally; Lord Templars nominate Senior Templars in their region, nominees must be approved by Grand Master)
Senior Templar Highest general membership (there may be an unlimited number of members in this level)
Templar Member for nine years or more (there may be an unlimited number of members in this level)
Squire Member for three years or more (there may be an unlimited number of members in this level)
Initiate Member for less then three years (there may be an unlimited number of members in this level)
Does this structure mirror another organizational hierarchy such as the freemasons? Also, why this structure? Why these titles?
Robb: Again, we chose a throwback structure to our pagan ancestry, the Hermetic Order of the Knights Templar, until they were nearly eradicated in 1307, were among the last above-ground pagan (and in all likelihood, Satanic) order. They performed rituals, some of which were similar to the Freemasons of today, were performed under a statue of the Baphomet (statue descriptions were recorded in Catholic records before they were destroyed, Eliphas Levi’s famous sketch of Baphomet was based on those descriptions). Satanists since the end of the 19th Century have also used the Baphomet in some orientation or other. Many unknowingly think that the Church of Satan started the use of the Sigil of Baphomet in Satanic Rituals, but the Sigil of Baphomet had been used long enough before that it was published in a French publication in 1961, and later translated into English in 1963, the book is entitled “Magic and the Supernatural” by Maurice Bessy.
I have a copy of the book myself, there are images throughout that depict the Baphomet figure, not just the Sigil of Baphomet, some are strikingly similar to the Eliphas Levi sketch, all of which relates the images to Satanism, according to the book.
The similarities with Freemasonry are simply because the origin of Freemasonry, according to their own members, is from Ancient Egypt, another well-known pagan civilization.
I wouldn’t doubt that there are many other pagan religions out there that have similar organizational hierarchy. I don’t know about the organizational structure, but Wicca is also very similar to Satanism, as well as other pagan religions, because we all have a common ancestor in Ancient Human History.
5. Jacobsen: With the priesthood, the council, and the individual priests, what is the purpose of each? What does a wedding, baptism, funeral, and ordination look like through the rituals of the Darkside International Ministry?
Robb: The Priesthood and Council serve as the core administration of the ministry that makes the final decisions on choosing members out of all the applications we receive as well as choosing which members are elevated and when. The individual priests can serve as spokespersons as the ministry whenever the need requires it. They also can sponsor or refer people to wish to join our ministry.
As for our rituals, that is something we prefer to keep secret. Intrusion of videos/photos being taken can deflect from the concentration of emotion on the focal point of our altars, which would takeaway from the effectiveness of the rituals. I can, however, assure you that animals and minors are never present in any of our rituals at any time. Everyone present during our rituals are always present by their own free will. In most cases, we suggest our members to perform rituals completely alone in a private room whenever possible in order to ensure their concentration of emotions on their altars.
In the case of Weddings, the only real difference between a Satanic Wedding and any other religions weddings is that the couple being married is urged to write their own ceremony, not just their own vows. Funeral rituals are really up to the surviving members of the family of the deceased, usually a remembrance of their life and a send-off of the remains to their final resting place. Generally speaking, Satanists believe that the dead will live on as memories in those of us who continue on living, immortality then only can occur if the person’s memory will live on forever, regardless of what it is they will be remembered for.
6. Jacobsen: I suppose ritual magic comes more naturally to people than science. It has been around longer. People have conducted rituals for far longer than science. Crowley defined magic as “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.” In general, in Canada, there can be, presently and historically, a hysteria (as with elsewhere) around magic. What seems like the source and reason for the hysteria?
Robb: The source and origin of the hysteria regarding magic is simply the lack of understanding of magic. What we call “sympathetic magic”, the most commonly used by Satanists and some Wiccans (and likely most other pagan religions) is simply using emotion to influence actions/behaviours. After my many years of studying psychology, I have found it best to describe magic as the application of basic psychology. Making science very much real magic.
The general public hears terms like “magic”, “Satanic Ritual”, etc. and seem to automatically think of the movie portrayals of these things, which are very inaccurate at best. The fact our rituals are largely secretive will obviously play up to the Christianized interpretations of what these words mean, but that’s not really our problem.
Unlike other religions, we don’t force our views, philosophies, beliefs, etc. on to others. If they wish to live in fear of things they know nothing about, that’s their choice. Most Satanists are willing to teach others about us, but only if 1) people actually want to know, and 2) they actually listen and try to comprehend the facts. There is nothing more annoying to the Satanists who are willing to teach these people then the people forcing circular arguments without any attempt to learn something.
7. Jacobsen: As worshippers of the metaphoric representation of Satan, or the Roman god Lucifer, who is the “bearer of light, the spirit of the air, and the personification of enlightenment,” what makes this metaphor the best representation of the Darkside International Ministry’s ideals? What other philosophical and ethical worldviews most parallel its own views and central metaphor?
Robb: Satan, being the Hebrew word for “Adversary, Accuser, and Opposer” and the legends of the Satan character representing the downtrodden who make themselves, in a sense, a king in their own lives, or as Milton put it in “inferno”, “it’s better to rule in Hell then to serve in Heaven”. Satan becomes the ultimate archetype for the average person to rise up and be leaders, making it the best icon for social justice causes.
Lucifer is the Latin word for “light bearer” and “enlightenment”, a beacon for enhancing knowledge, both personal and human knowledge. If anything else it is an icon for all the sciences to rally behind in understanding all things.
8. Jacobsen: With the self as the central or the “highest embodiment of human life” and as “sacred,” does this make collectivists natural enemies with the individualists of the Darkside International Ministry?
Robb: I wouldn’t say that, no. The self is not literally only one person against the world. Like in society as a whole, those closest to us, as individuals, are often taken on as part of ourselves. As such the individual being the highest embodiment of human life includes those what are an integral part in that individual life. I think anyone who is a parent can relate with the fact that your child is part of your life, such an important part, in fact, that the parent is willing to kill/die for his or her child.
The same concept is found among close friends, recall cases of a brotherhood of soldiers in a platoon, a grenade is thrown into the group and a member of the platoon instinctively sacrifices themself to save his friends, it is not a lack of one going against their sacred individuality, it is them exercising it! Furthermore, by doing so they ensure that they will be remembered forever, not just by his friends he saved, but also because of the act being recognized by military superiors and your nations government for bravery and valour.
9. Jacobsen: What differentiates the rational self-interest of the Darkside International Ministry from general selfishness or non-rational self-interest?
Robb: I think the simple answer is in the question. Our self-interest is rational.
Our self-interest, being rational, understands that there is a time and place for everything, including a concern for others. As I responded in the last question, an individual is not always literally the individual. There will always be a rational reason to consider others on occasion, but benefits to the individual will always be paramount.
One who is generally selfish, the non-rational self-interest, cannot bring themselves to do anything that does not benefit themselves alone.
10. Jacobsen: What are perennial threats to the free practices of the ministry?
Robb: General ignorance of the public is really the only threat to the free practice of our ministry. This is why we believe strongly in attempting to educate anyone who shows any interest in learning about us. Most Satanic organizations are not openly willing to do this.
11. Jacobsen: What are some future initiatives and areas for growth of the ministry?
Robb: I think we are planning to become a little more involved in social justice areas, we have been proposing partnerships with Lucien Greaves’s Satanic Temple, and we’ve also been discussing our own social justice endeavours as well.
12. Jacobsen: People can shop, even donate. Also, the Darkside International Ministry is a registered religious charity. How else can individuals become involved with the ministry?
Robb: We accept members who are knowledgeable of the philosophies and practices of our religion, the more knowledgeable and active they are the higher they will rise in our ministry. We also accept supporters of our philosophies and practices who do not want to be attached to any organizations. Suggestions of social justice causes, or even events, from supporters as well as members are considered.
13. Jacobsen: Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the conversation today?
Robb: I hope more interviews like this and the discussions they will inevitably spark about Satanism and the Occult will eventually lead to an understanding not seen in centuries. Things are definitely improving since the discussions started nearly 70 years ago. But we, as a civilization, have a long way to go before we will understand each other to the point we can all peacefully co-exist as a result of our differences, instead in spite of those differences.
14. Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Scott.
Appendix I: Footnotes
[1] Grand Master, High Priest, Founder, and President, Reverend Scott Robb, Darkside International Ministry.
[2] Individual Publication Date: July 1, 2017 at http://www.in-sightjournal.com/an-interview-with-grand-master-scott-robb-founder-darkside-international-ministry; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2017 at https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.
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