The Satanic Bible

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by Michael A Aquino


  The Church of Satan has become a legend in

  an incredibly short period of time. There is good

  reason for this. It is because Satanism makes sense

  but still realizes man’s need for good, honest

  emotion.

  We Satanists are winners - not losers! The

  die has been cast. The Satanic Age is upon us; look

  around you and you’ll see! What we already are is

  what other religions are feebly pussyfooting

  around in attempts to become. Join us and be a

  part of history! I would be happy to hear from you

  in the near future.

  Most sincerely,

  Anton Szandor LaVey

  High Priest

  Plus from the Monograph you learned that at

  services you got a live nude lady as the altar instead

  - 17 -

  of a 2,000-year-old corpse on a torture machine.

  What do you want for $13?

  C. Blasphemous Book!

  As 1968 drew to a close, Roman Polanski’s film

  of Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Bab y had become the

  latest Hollywood sensation, and the fact that there

  happened to be a very real Church of Satan in San

  Francisco came to the attention of Avon Books

  editor Peter Mayer, who saw a market for a “bible”

  of this Bay Area Blasphemy. Could Anton send him

  a suitable manuscript?

  “I pounded out the Satanic Bible on a $29

  typewriter,” recalled Diane. “I edited it and added to

  it.” 13

  As even a revised and re-sectioned Monograph,

  together with expanded rainbow-sheet essays, didn’t

  meet Avon’s volume requirements, Anton added the

  “Ragnar Redbeard” tract and his own adaptation of

  Aleister Crowley’s Equinox version of the Enochian

  Keys to solve the problem.

  There wasn’t time to worry about the usual

  formalities of nonfictional book structuring, but

  Mayer liked the “free-form” arrangement, which

  added to the book’s anarchistic atmosphere.

  During the “occult revival” of the 1960s, there

  was a continuous parade of both hardcover and

  paperback books seeking to exploit the craze. All had

  garishly-sensational cover-art and lurid gush on

  both front and back, establishing them as tabloid

  trash that wouldn’t [and didn’t] survive more than a

  month on a convenience store carousel.

  13 LaVey, Diane in “What the Devil?”, Globe newspaper, Boca

  Raton, Florida, November 1, 1988.

  - 18 -

  But the Satanic Bible was different. In addition

  to its quietly-outrageous title, it featured only a

  small, pink (?!) Baphomet beneath title & author in

  unremarkable, white type.

  There was no printing on the back cover - just

  the author pinkly gazing out at you, the Baphomet

  behind him just happening to lend him horns, while

  his left hand, fingers casually in the Sign of the

  Horns, rested beneath his right one sporting an

  impossibly-large crystalline ring. Both backgrounds

  were black, but the overprinting on pink gave

  everything an eerie purpleblack glow:

  The æsthetic effect was absolutely stunning. It

  was a book equally comfortable resting on a ritual-

  chamber altar or peering insolently from between

  larger, more expensively-bound, but so drearily

  - 19 -

  ordinary tomes on even the most outré bibliophile’s

  bookshelf.

  D. 1972 PreVisions

  Burton Wolfe was a close friend of Anton &

  Diane LaVey from their pre-Church “Magic Circle”

  days: something of a “Gonzo journalist” in the weird

  mold of Hunter S. Thompson. In 1968 Anton had

  asked him to contribute an Introduction for the

  Satanic Bible, and Burton had provided a very

  serviceable one, straightforwardly explaining Anton,

  his religion, and his church to the general public.

  Perhaps it was Burton’s conspicuous effort to

  court credibility by establishing his detachment, but

  it began to bother Anton as time went on. It was

  important to him that he be taken seriously, not

  showcased as an exotic social zoo exhibit.

  By 1971, after the hardcover success of his

  second book The Compleat Witch, 14 he had invited

  me to contribute an H.P. Lovecraft essay and two

  Cthulhu Mythos-ceremonies to his forthcoming The

  Satanic Rituals, which I was pleas’d to do.

  But this “companion to the Satanic Bible” had

  refocused his attention upon that work, as he wrote

  to me:

  With each succeeding printing of the Satanic

  Bible [with hardcover publication in the offing],

  the existing introduction by Burton Wolfe becomes

  more and more obsolete, casual, and inadequate

  [especially the mealy-mouthed last paragraph!].

  In short, I would like you to write a new

  introduction. I have already spoken with the

  14 LaVey, Anton, The Compleat Witch, or What To Do When

  Virtue Fails. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1970. [Later

  retitled The Satanic Witch.]

  - 20 -

  Editor of Avon Books about your doing this, and

  he is quite enthused.

  He glanced at the Diabolicon while he was in

  S.F. earlier this week, and is especially taken with

  my plan for getting it into print as per our

  discussion in Chicago.

  The new intro for the Bible should bear your

  name if possible, but if not you may use a

  pseudonym.

  The biographical sketch of myself should be

  basically the same, but in your own words, of

  course.Less space should be devoted to the types of

  rituals we were doing (psychodrama, etc.), and

  more emphasis should be placed on what is

  happening now: how we have become a force to be

  reckoned with, our organizational maturity, the

  various levels of involvement, our magical

  influence in the world outside the Church, our

  growing acceptance and legitimacy, our elitist

  principles, our seemingly paradoxical support of

  law and order and refutation of the drug scene, our

  objectivistic outlook while placing great emphasis

  on ritual and ceremony of the most secret nature -

  in short, a projection of enough awesomeness to

  thrill and scare the reader, yet not allow him any

  avenue to which, as a “red-blooded, law-abiding

  American”, he could possibly object!

  Because of your writing ability, combined

  with your PSYOP training, I feel that you alone

  could do the right job. It appears that the Satanic

  Bible is going to be around for a long, long time,

  and I want you to have a hand in it.

  The Diabolicon can either be re-set in

  available text-type print or photo-offset from your

  original hand printing. It has been decided that it

  should definitely be presented as apocrypha, a la

  the Necronomicon or Book of Mormon. I will

  present it as having passed into my hands, and you

  will be credited with the transliteration and editing

  for publ
ication. We envision it as a perfect follow-

  up for The Morning of the Magicians and the

  Satanic Bible. 15

  15 Letter, Anton LaVey to M.A. Aquino, April 1, 1971.

  - 21 -

  My 1972 Introduction (Appendix #2) was more

  complex than expected, because it was difficult to

  write about Satanic philosophy while not intruding

  into the prominence and thrust of the book itself.

  Furthermore, in my zealousness to write a truly

  enduring and profoundly sophisticated piece, I

  plunged into language so abstract and academic that

  I daresay some readers had a rather difficult time

  understanding it.

  But I would never have the chance to redo it,

  unless of course this entire book is a sort of meta-

  Introduction!

  E. 1975-2018: NonSatanic NonBible

  The authenticity of the Satanic Bible, as indeed

  that of the Church of Satan itself, rested upon

  acknowledgment of and allegiance to Satan - not as

  a mere symbol or metaphor, but a real, sentient

  being. Otherwise both the Church and the Bible

  would have been nothing more than deceptive

  fictions of meaningless “priesthoods”, play-acting

  rituals, and invocations to thin air.

  During 1966-75 this sincerity, and therefore

  authenticity was never in the slightest doubt. Indeed

  its contrast to the hypocrisy, the tacit phoniness of

  conventional religion, was a point of especial pride

  among Satanists, most vehemently Satan’s High

  Priest concerning pretenders & poseurs:

  They play at the games which caused our

  forebears to be slaughtered and tortured as agents

  of Satan.

  And what do they do, now that it is safe to

  use His Great Infernal Name? They deny him!

  They have the very opportunity to cast the

  very creed of defamation, which killed their

  brothers and sisters of the past - cast that creed

  - 22 -

  before the world in triumphant mockery of its age

  of unreason!

  But no! They do not thrust the bifid barb of

  Satan aloft and shout: “He has triumphed!”

  His Art and Works which brought men to

  the rack and thumbscrew can now be learned in

  safety.But no! He is denied! Denied by those who

  cry up His Art and ply His Work!

  Satan’s Name will not be denied! Let no

  man shun or mock His Name who plays His

  winning game - or Despair, Depletion, and

  Destruction await!16

  Tragically, however, that’s exactly what Anton

  himself did in 1975, to the stunned surprise and

  shock of the Church:17 “The titles ‘Infernal Empire’,

  ‘Exarch of Hell’, etc. are symbolic, not literal.” 18

  Where the Satanic Bible was concerned, this de

  facto invalidated the Books of Satan, Belial, &

  Leviathan, and the metaphysical contents of Lucifer,

  reducing the book to the secular social criticisms in

  those essays. It was no longer a bible, e.g. a

  supernatural religious statement, but a work of

  occult fiction.

  But this didn’t matter, because the Church of

  Satan had simultaneously ceased to be a religious

  institution. Religious Satanists resigned to found the

  Temple of Set, while individuals who remained were

  those with no interest in rituals or sacred texts, but

  just in Anton’s 1940s noir-nostalgic image and

  lifestyle. A new Burton Wolfe Introduction appeared

  16 LaVey, Anton in Cloven Hoof, March 1970, page #2.

  17 These events are detailed & documented, and speculation

  concerning their pressures & causes offered in my The Church

  of Satan (2013).

  18 LaVey, Anton, June 20, 1975.

  - 23 -

  in 1976 to restore his original picture of a skilled

  con-artist and his colorful social impact.

  During 1966-75 the legal status of the Church

  of Satan had never been of concern beyond Anton

  and Diane LaVey. In 1971 Anton had incorporated it

  in California as a nonprofit church, 19 but to my

  knowledge there are no corporate records or tax-

  filings20 that it ever functioned as such.

  In 1988 Diane swore under oath that the

  Church had been operated as her and Anton’s

  business partnership, never the corporation, and

  that following 1986 Anton had taken total control of

  the partnership. 21 In his sworn response Anton

  denied such partnership; neither mentioned the

  corporation. 22 The court found the Church to be a

  partnership and ordered it dissolved:

  A receiver will be appointed by the court, at

  defendant’s expense, to prepare an accounting and

  inventory of all partnership assets, and upon

  completion of such accounting a dissolution of the

  19 Articles of Incorporation, Church of Satan, Filed 9/20/1971,

  California Secretary of State.

  20 On 9/16/1971 a California tax-exemption was issued for the

  Church, conditional upon a federal exemption. When this was

  not granted, the California exemption was revoked in 1973. It

  was reapplied for in 1975, then revoked again in 1985.

  Thereafter the “church” has claimed that it qualifies for

  exemption but refuses it on principle!

  21 Superior Court of the State of California, City & County of

  San Francisco, First Amended Complaint, Hegarty v LaVey,

  Case #891863, 12/7/1988.

  22 Ibid., Answer, Anton LaVey, 6/1/1989.

  - 24 -

  partnership will occur and all partnership assets

  will be divided 50-50 between the parties. 23

  Hence any personal/for-profit business using

  the name “Church of Satan” has no legal connection

  to the 1966-1975 religious institution of that name.

  Reportedly Anton willed his copyrights and

  book-ownerships to his live-in companion at the

  time of his 1997 death, Sharon Densley, who in 2001

  designated Peter H. Gilmore “high priest” of a

  “Church of Satan” New York atheist business

  venture. In 2005 Gilmore, now styling himself a

  “Magus”, replaced the 1976 Wolfe Introduction with

  his own.

  Otherwise the Satanic Bible has remained

  unchanged since 1976, when the “Inspirations” page

  was permanently deleted.

  F. Like Grandfather, Like Grandson

  This Preface would not be complete without a

  very special acknowledgment and appreciation:

  Occasionally over the decades since 1972, I

  would make notes to myself about eventual updates

  to the Satanic Bible - originally against a time when

  Anton might decide to undertake that project, but

  after 1975 as well, on the possibility that an eventual

  reconciliation might occur and the book project be

  revived.

  I never mentioned this “hobby” to anyone, well

  aware that most acquaintances had a less-charitable

  opinion of Anton than mine.

  After Anton’s bodily death in 1997, the “hobby”

  also died. Until 2018, when I happened to mention

  23 Ibid., Judge Mari
e-Victoire, Ollie, Supplemental order after

  trial, Case #891863, 10/28/1991.

  - 25 -

  it to Anton’s grandson by his daughter Zeena,

  Stanton Zaharoff LaVey.

  Stanton and I had corresponded occasionally;

  he had read my Church of Satan history and was

  intensely interested in his grandfather and his

  works. He asked if he might see some of my notes,

  so I sent him a sample. After reading them, he

  encouraged the project. “If you can’t update my

  grandfather’s book, just do a completely new one.”

  Intriguingly Stanton had a point. A book title

  cannot be copyrighted, nor would there be any other

  grounds for objection if the subtitle, author, and

  contents are all different. What initially sounded like

  madness coalesced into a very real possibility. So

  like that other mad Baron, Frankenstein, I began

  stitching things together to see what might sit up on

  the table. I sent progressive drafts to Stanton and

  his grandmother Diane for their information and

  comments as the body began to take shape.

  And now:

  “It’s alive ... It’s alive!”

  Rege Satanas!

  San Francisco

  North Solstice LIII ÆS

  - 26 -

  - 27 -

  Introduction

  - by Lady Diane LaVey

  High Priestess

  Church of Satan

  July 10, 2018 CE24

  Michael’s audacity is breathtaking. 25

  24 The High Priestess’ birthday.

  25 “De l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace et la

  Patrie sera sauvée!” - Georges Danton. Speech, Assemblée

  legislative, Paris, 9/2/1792, reported in Le Moniteur 9/4/1792.

  - 28 -

  - 29 -

  Table of Contents

  Dedication: Anton Szandor LaVey

  5

  Foreword - Satan

  7

  Preface - Michael A. Aquino

  9

  A. ReVision Golden Jubilee

  9

  B. Before the Bible: Monograph &

  “Rainbow Sheets”

  14

  C. Blasphemous Book!

  16

  D. 1972 PreVisions

  18

  E. 1975-2018: NonSatanic NonBible

  21

  F. Like Grandfather, Like Grandson

 

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