The Temple of Set II
Page 44
To meet this goal I have analyzed hundreds of volumes of archæological journals as well as the complete files of
Nature and Science. The result is an incomparable collection of information on the frontiers of archæology.’
Chapters on engineering structures, tools & artifacts, graphics & symbols, geology, anthropology, biology, and
mythology. 800 pages of small print! Altogether a refreshingly reliable text after one has endured the
sensationalistic stuff of van Däniken and his many imitators for so many years.” DW: “If you write to Corliss, get his
catalogue. Its well-researched title stock will challenge you in many ways.”
5H. Atlantis of the North by Jürgen Spanuth. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1979. [Deutschland: Die
Atlanter-Volk aus dem Bernsteinland. Grabert Verlag, Tübingen, 1985.] (TOS-4) (TRP-1) MA: “This is a rather
deceptive work. Although published as a book in 1979, it is a revised and expanded treatment of the author’s earlier
work Atlantis (1965). But as you examine the dates in the footnotes and the 16-page bibliography, it begins to dawn
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on you that Spanuth has taken massive amounts of material from the archives of the prehistorical research elements
of the Ahnenerbe-SS [see #14M]. In fact it is rather amusing to see how ‘startling’ everyone finds this book - as
though this is all ‘breakthrough revelation’ in archæology. It is more correctly the unveiling of source material that
has lain under an emotional and political taboo since 1945. To be fair to Spanuth, he has done a good job of
integrating and analyzing an enormous amount of data whose processing under the Nazi regime was inhibited by (a)
wartime pressures and (b) the ideological constraints of Nazi politics. Spanuth’s thesis is that the royal island of
Atlantis (Basileia) was located in the area of Heligoland, and that the Platonic accounts of Atlantean history are
essentially accurate. He - and the Ahnenerbe - make a good case.”
5I. Plato, Prehistorian: 10000-5000 B.C. Myth, Religion, and Archæology by Mary Settegast. Cambridge:
The Rotenberg Press, 1986. (TOS-3) DW: “There’s a more recent trade paperback of this book from Lindisfarne
Press. Settegast looks seriously at Plato’s Timæus and Critias as a remembrance of the spiritual awakening in the
mid-seventh millennium from Persia to north Africa to the Greek peninsula, which created certain links in these
cultures with the practice of mystery religions.”
5J. Forbidden Archæology: The Hidden History of the Human Race by Michael Cremo and Richard
Thompson. San Diego: Bhaktivedanta Institute, 1993. ISBN: 0-9635309-8-4. (TOS-4) MA: “A gigantic compendium
of all sorts of ‘inconvenient’ archæological data that conventional archæology has preferred to ignore or ‘fast-
forward’ through. At the end of this tome the authors blithely propose the significance of this data: that ‘beings
resembling anatomically-modern humans were present in the Early Pleistocene (1.7 million years ago) and Pliocene
(3.5 million years ago)’. Furiously denounced by conventional archæologists [see Scroll of Set, April 1996], this book
still, well, exists unrefuted. A year later C&T followed FA with a less-technical, abridged version entitled just The
Hidden History of the Human Race (Badger, California: Govardhan Hill, 1994), which could be considered TOS-3.”
* * *
F5A. Atlantis, The Lost Continent. MA: “Despite the power of the Atlantis legend, it has not been an object of
much interest by filmmakers. One exception was this 1960s-vintage fantasy film by George Pal. Beginning the film
with a recitation of ‘Atlantis-proofs’ from #5A, Pal set his Atlantis in the time of Classical Greece and decorated it
with Nautilus-like submarines, crystalline death-rays, and mad-labs in applied lycanthropy. Interesting for the
‘flavor’ it creates for an Atlantis like yet unlike the known ones of the Mediterranean.”
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Category 6: Satanism
as of February 26, 2003
Satanism is the “Blackest” of the Black Arts and until the North Solstice X encompassed the most
advanced - and the most dangerous - school of religion and magical knowledge. Because its doctrines
are intensely personal, hence asocial, conventional societies have tended to regard it as a threat to the
docile, cooperative obedience of the citizenry. This bias against Satanism as something “necessarily
criminal” will be evident in some of the following accounts, and it frequently resulted in persecution
that drove Satanists even farther from the social mainstream. In 1966 CE (the year I of the Æon of Set)
Anton Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan, an institution designed to translate the philosophy
of Satanism into a socially- acceptable form. In 1975 the Church of Satan evolved into the Temple of Set,
at which time the philosophical inconsistencies and anti-Judaic/Christian orientation of the older
organization were eliminated. The Black Art has now been raised to its highest form.
6A. La-Bas ( Down There) by J.K. Huysmans. NY: Dover Publications, 1972. [Deutschland: Tief unten.
Diogenes Taschenbuchverlag, CH-Zürich, 1987.] (TOS-3) MA: “This is the classic of late 19th-century French
Satanism. It contains detailed accounts of the old 17th-century Black Mass as later practiced in ‘underground’ Paris.
The book evidences a strong Christian moral bias; hence it is historically unreliable. Nevertheless it became a model
for subsequent efforts at anti-Christian ceremonies. ‘Devil-worship’ sequences from most contemporary films, for
example, can be recognized as variations on the La-Bas account. [Appendix 64 of #6N reprints the Black Mass
sequence from La-Bas.]”
6B. The Satanic Mass by H.T.F. Rhodes. London: Jarrold’s Publishers Ltd, 1968 [available in the U.S. from
Citadel Publishers]. (COS-3) (TOS-3) AL: “A non-hysterical account by a criminologist who has researched his
subject well.” MA: “This book, whose emphasis is criminological, traces Satanism from an underground French
revolutionary movement to organized crime to decadent burlesque to modern cultural offshoots and influences
[short of the Church of Satan, which had not yet been founded when the research for this book was completed].
Principal emphasis is on the French tradition and the Dashwood Hell-Fire Club. This was one of the basic
sourcebooks for the Church of Satan during its formative years.”
6C. A Razor for a Goat by Elliot Rose. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962. (TOS-3) MA: “This book
was begun as a good-humored effort to debunk the neo-witchcraft theories of Margaret Murray and Gerald Gardner
[which it does rather conclusively]. Rose went a good deal further and straightened out many misconceptions
concerning medieval witchcraft accounts as well. Yet he argues for the essential value of the concepts of ‘pure’
Satanism. This was another book of prime importance to the original design of the Church of Satan, and it helps to
explain the strong anti-neopagan/Wiccan attitude of that institution. It says something for popular tastes [and the
memory of P.T. Barnum] that Wiccan literature continues to flourish while #6C is usually found only in university
libraries.”
6D. Seven Footprints to Satan by A. Merritt. NY: Avon Books #28209, 1942 [reprinted 1976]. (TOS-5)
(LVT-5) MA: “Written ca. 1928, this novel contains many passages describing the central philosophies of Satanism,
as well as many episodes exemplifying them. Since the book was ostensibly fiction, Merritt did not have to mince
‘Satan’ in the story bears a remarkable resemblance to Anton Szandor LaVey ... in more than one way.” JL: “The
image of ‘Satan’ in #6D is very like that of Anton LaVey during I-X AES. His expertise as a magician surpasses even
Ayesha’s best efforts and is more believable because of the novel’s contemporary setting. Although he uses highly
sophisticated LBM exclusively, his designs far exceed the grasp of the other players who, despite their efforts,
continue dancing to the tune played by ‘Satan’ almost to the end. #6D portrays a world in which the present and
future are both controlled with admirable precision. The acts of theft and violence in #6D may be deplorable, but we
can admire the mind which created and mastered a universe designed for its exclusive pleasure.”
6E. Asimov’s Annotated Paradise Lost by John Milton and Isaac Asimov. NY: Doubleday, 1974. (TOS-4) MA:
“The creative aspects of Satanism are beautifully portrayed in Paradise Lost, and this edition has the added
attraction of extensive notes by the brilliant and witty Asimov. [Missing, sadly, are the famous Dore illustrations,
which enthusiasts will have to seek in other editions.] Milton, who lived and wrote during the Cromwellian
Commonwealth, observed due subtlety in his portrayal of the virtues of Satan and the vices of YHVH. Asimov is
under no such constraint, and he overlooks no opportunities to identify and explain the hidden material.”
6F. The Unholy Bible by June K. Singer. NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1970 [Harper & Row paperback edition
available]. (TOS-4) MA: “This is a psychological interpretation of the Satanism of William Blake, prepared for the
C.G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology. Included are plates, quotes, and detailed commentary on The
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Marriage of Heaven and Hell and The Bible of Hell, as well as a short biography and psychological profile of Blake
himself.”
6G. The Hell-Fire Club by Daniel P. Mannix. NY: Ballantine Books #01625, 1959. (TOS-3) MA: “This is an
extensive, sensationalistic account of 18th-century England’s notorious Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe, a Satanic
society organized by Sir Francis Dashwood and including such prominent personalities as the Prime Minister and
the First Lord of the Admiralty. Benjamin Franklin was a noted visitor from the Colonies. [The Dashwood estate is
open to visitors.] See also #6T & #6AC, which are progressively less colorful but probably more accurate.”
6H. Witchcraft: Its Power in the World Today by William Seabrook. NY: Lancer Books #78656, 1968.
(COS-3) (TOS-3) AL: “Witchcraft discussed in terms of suggestive psychology.” MA: “Originally published in 1940,
this book was the forerunner of the occult revival of the 1950s. Although personally a skeptic, Seabrook admitted the
psychological effectiveness of witchcraft. He was among the close friends of Aleister Crowley at the time of the
latter’s attainment of the grade of Magus. This book is now somewhat dated, but it may be acquired for its
scholarship and its value as a classic.”
6I. The Magus by John Fowles. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1965 [revised edition 1977]. (TOS-4) MA: “A
novel of an arrogant/selfish/ sensitive/intellectual British schoolteacher who becomes enmeshed in the schemes of
a modern magician. An excellent illustration of the use of psychological magic as a control device [as opposed to a
mere research tool]. The characters of Nicholas (the schoolteacher) and Conchis (the magus) exemplify aspects of
the Nemo and Aristos, principles in Fowles’ own brand of existentialism as set forth in his incisive theoretical work
The Aristos (NY: Signet Books #Q4280, 1964). Fowles describes the revised edition of The Magus as less fantastic/
more realistic than the original edition, but after several readings of comparing the two I am inclined to favor the
revised edition as a richer experience from which the magic has definitely not been excised. The Magus is one of
those books whose every re-reading brings new impressions and adventures. I was strongly tempted to rate it
TOS-1, but feel that greatest benefit will be derived from a reading of it when the Setian has first mastered the basics
of the included philosophical concepts and of Lesser Black Magic. See also #F6J.”
6J. The Powers of Evil by Richard Cavendish. NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975. (TOS-3) MA: “While preparing
#4C and editing #4E, Cavendish was intrigued by certain recurring themes relative to the notion of ‘evil’ in cross-
cultural contexts involving death, darkness, sex, disorder, etc. This book is his effort, as an acknowledged skeptic
and agnostic, to deal with these themes. The result is not a full survey of the philosophy and theology of ‘evil’, but it
is a good introduction. The book’s defect is that Cavendish, as a consequence of his detachment, is forced to rely
upon second-hand sources for his data and so can only report others’ direct impressions [which can be somewhat
less than objective]. Much of the book’s 300 pages are weighted down with the usual, tiresome collection of occult
anecdotes and mythological stories.”
6K. The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. NY: Avon Books #NS44, 1969 [hardcover edition from
University Books, 1972]. (COS-1) (TOS-3) (TRP-1) (LVT-1) MA: “This book summarizes the social and magical
philosophy of the Church of Satan at the time of its writing, but it is not a compendium of all C/S doctrines of
subsequent years. LaVey was the founder and High Priest of the C/S and Magus V° of the Age of Satan (1966-1975
CE). Included are instructions for a ‘basic’ Satanic ritual, as well as LaVey’s ‘Satanic’ version of the Enochian Keys of
John Dee [see category 11]. Introduction to the hardcover edition by M.A. Aquino, then IV° C/S. Introduction to the
most recent Avon edition by Burton Wolfe, author of #6M. Chapter 4 of #6N reviews #6K in detail.” JL: “Although
research by the Temple of Set has shown that the ‘Book of Satan’ section was plagiarized from Ragnar Redbeard’s
Might is Right (1896), the ‘Nine Satanic Statements’ from Ayn Rand, and the ‘Enochian Keys’ from Ipsissimus
Crowley’s Equinox, #6K was the leading reference volume for Satanists during years V-5/X of the Age of Satan. Just
as Ipsissimus Crowley was faced with opposition from the momentum from the Æon of Osiris, Magus LaVey boldly
confronted society with a Church in honor of the Devil. Without the dramatic impact of the Age of Satan, the Æon of
Set would have been longer coming into being.” DW: “This book is one of the most effective workings in the English-
speaking world. It set up the path of Satanic initiation, which utilizes the forces of the world as the resistance
necessary for the individual to gain power. It was designed to produce a solve, a dissolving of the world. As such it
will remain a powerful force in the world; as long as there are 17-year-olds, it will be in print. It failed to provide a
new vision directly, but it is the nature of works of destruction that they carry the seeds of a new creation. The Æon
of Set is that creation. This book isn’t here for inspiration, but as a model of how to shake things up, if that is what
you want to do. But you’ll have to come up with a new figure to shake things up with: Satan now sells T-shirts and
music albums.”
6L. The Satanic Rituals by Anton Szandor LaVey. NY: Avon Books #W359, 1972 [hardcover edition from
University Books, 1972]. (COS-1) (TOS-3)
(TRP-1) (LVT-3) MA: “Companion volume to #6K, this book contains a
discussion of ritual theory and a selection of rituals (French, German, Russian, Persian, and Church of Satan)
adapted and/or written by LaVey for the Church. The historical claims for the texts are improbable, although each
text does incorporate ethnic and/or historical images of interest to the magician. A theoretical essay on H.P.
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Lovecraft and two accompanying Lovecraftian rituals were contributed by M.A. Aquino. Chapter 21 of #6N reviews
#6L in detail, and #6N also contains uncensored/original/authentic versions of some of the rituals published in
#6L. Performances of early (ca. III/1968) versions of a C/S Black Mass, the Stifling Air, and other ritual sequences
may be seen in the film Satanis [see comments under #6M]. See also #6AA & #6AB.” JL: “In the Æon of Set our
Understanding and application of ritual magic have evolved substantially since the Age of Satan. And yet the rituals
created and collected by the original Church of Satan deserve preservation [and application as appropriate] rather
than neglect. Rituals of any religion are an expression of the magical and philosophical trends of the host society.”
DW: “A good source of ritual texts to be reworked and redesigned in a Setian context. Of particular importance are:
(1) the ‘ Vorspiele’, which demonstrates that the laws of consciousness evolve through time and culture - an excellent
reworking of the Eighth Precept of the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus; (2) the ‘Ceremony of the Nine
Angles’, which demonstrates the GBM principle that one may attain inner psychic order, the existence of the Xeper
of mankind’s most noble heritage [If they did it, I can do it.]; and (3) the ‘Adult Satanic Baptism’, which establishes
control of the psyche as the key to power.”
6M. The Devil’s Avenger by Burton H. Wolfe. NY: Pyramid Books, 1974. (COS-1) (TOS-3) (LVT-3) MA: “A
biography of LaVey and an account of the Church of Satan’s San Francisco operations from I/1966 to III/1968,
including profiles of some early C/S members. The book brings out the impressive scope of LaVey’s exposure to the
art, history, and institutions of occultism and to many colorful personalities on the fringe of contemporary society.