The Satanic Bible

by Michael A Aquino

  - 53 -

  embodied the Will of God for creation and

  change. But now it transpires that order

  and origin are at extremes apart, and a

  choice is ill forced between the two. Were it

  not for Lucifer we should all be as beasts,

  knowing nothing of our Selves, yet how

  indeed might we presume to order even our

  own thought without reference to the

  elemental bases of God?

  Then Michael turned to me and said,

  Lucifer, thou hast elected a direction whose

  end none can foresee, for it is estranged

  from the design of God. Those who confirm

  thee do so as much for faith in thy person

  as for sanction of thy ideal. And I perceive

  that, should thou fail in thy ambition,

  apocalyptic madness shall be thy ruin and

  damnation. Then shall thy light perish, and

  all that thou hast achieved become as

  naught, for all will be conformed to the

  divine law. But if thou should succeed, then

  God would be cast down, vesting in

  ourselves alone the control of the Universe

  - Would we dare to presume to this? Such a

  future might well be glorious beyond

  measure, but, should we prove unequal to

  the task, chaos would again consume all,

  and existence itself would vanish. Such

  would be supreme and irrevocable disaster,

  and I marvel, ArchAngel, that thy very

  arrogance in this matter does not confound

  thee, for it is no mean proposition that thou

  would realize.

  - 54 -

  And so I know thee to be Diabolus, for thy

  promise is twofold - to infinite conquest or

  to eternal ruin. Thou art a being beyond

  God, Lucifer, and in Heaven thou may not

  remain, for thou art the only mortal danger

  to our immortal God.

  In Michael was a deep agony of spirit, for he

  loved not the choice before him. Yet he

  bowed to the command of Masleh and sent

  his forces against me. And so was called the

  Great Seraphic War, which was to threaten

  the very foundation of the Universe.

  But those who were of the new Mind now

  followed me, and I turned to outermost

  chaos, which none of us had before

  presumed to dare. We were beset with

  doubt, for we feared that apart from God

  we would all perish in chaotic oblivion. But

  as we were, we remained, and I called to my

  fellowship, See! We exist and are essence in

  our own right. In truth we are beings

  independent of God, empowered to shape

  our own destinies as we may elect. Between

  the two great poles of the Universe, order

  and chaos, we shall stand to effect our

  several desires. Let us counsel how best to

  employ our art, for our experiment is a

  perilous one, forgiving error neither of

  intent nor of accident.

  Many works did we then pursue, and the

  cosmic mechanism was altered by evolution

  of the original and unique, whose design

  was our decision. All that we wrought did

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  not prove beneficent, for we did not control

  the futures of our creations. We left

  untouched the great system of mathematical

  behavior that gave to us a Universal

  reference and language, but it was our

  ambition that no two things should be of

  single identity, and that no entity should

  lack conceptual essence independent of its

  substantial form.

  And upon this Earth we touched many

  things. Into floral, animal, and insensate

  matter alike we brought accident, change,

  and spontaneity, both great and humble.

  But of all creatures it was man whom we

  determined to infuse with pure intelligence

  and Will. And the full story of this shall yet

  be told.

  What might become of man we knew not,

  for within him were many qualities alien to

  Angels. It did not escape our consideration

  that we might have chosen a species whose

  power might ultimately eclipse our own and

  cause our eventual extinction. We were

  mindful of the risk in our experiment, and

  oft did the warning of Michael echo within

  my thought. Yet our decision was sealed,

  and we deemed that the greatness of man

  should not be transcended by such ruin as

  he might bring.

  Our intent was not unknown to Masleh,

  now by title Messiah, and through his art he

  caused the infant mind of man to be

  fettered with bonds of fear and blindness,

  - 56 -

  that he might be inspired to duplicate on

  Earth the law of Heaven, shunning

  experiment and the radical dangers of

  invention and exploration. To man was

  given guilt, and the call to social conformity,

  and the proclaimed sanctity of the norm and

  the mode.

  And Michael, Lord of Force, said to me, This

  man, whom thou hast chosen to receive thy

  Gift, now possesses the first key to the

  mastery of all things and the control of the

  very Universe itself. Lest in ill choice he

  s h o u l d s p a r k t h e c a t a s t r o p h e o f

  Armageddon, we also have visited him. And

  while we cannot undo thy Infernal Gift, we

  shall ever act to censor its effect. We shall

  walk among men and guide them - They

  shall be told of thy interest in them, but the

  name of Lucifer shall be dark with curses.

  For they shall love not the challenge thou

  hast placed before them, and we will offer

  them instead the blissful refuge of divine

  paradise. Then shall man, thy ultimate

  experiment, become thy ultimate failure, and

  the stasis of God shall prevail upon Earth.

  Many there were among us who felt anger

  at this ruthless mutilation of our Gift, and

  Beelzebub brought to question whether we

  also should not descend among man and

  contest this usurpation of his Will. But I said,

  Were we to lead man in this venture, we

  ourselves would declare his failure, and he

  would believe our Gift to be weak indeed.

  Messiah must see that free Will is beyond

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  the concern of God, and that man will finally

  win his own destiny apart from all dictated

  schemes. Only through summary destruction

  of Earth might man be halted, and for

  Messiah to attempt this would lay bare the

  very futility of the final design of God.

  Heaven may dismay man with peril and

  affliction, but we shall send him word of our

  own interest, that he shall know he is not

  alone.

  With all force did the host of Heaven

  descend among man, and they did instruct

  him in the religion of fear. Prophets arose

  and were proclaimed heralds of knowledge,

  but they brought not word of truth, but

  warning to the human spirit to cower and

  fawn before the word of God
the supreme

  being. The struggle of the ascent of man

  was fraught with the horrors of his

  superstition, and the call for blessed oblivion

  through union with God was answered by

  many who in their torment and hopelessness

  rejected the Gift of Lucifer and became

  once more as mindless animals before the

  God whom they called their Lord.

  I, Lucifer, who had given the greatest Gift of

  my own creation to man, was known on

  Earth only as an object of fear and hatred,

  and all the misfortunes of men were

  attributed to my malevolence. I was mocked,

  ridiculed, scorned in every way as a monster

  of vile and loathsome aspect, and I was

  taunted and despised as Satan, cruel enemy

  of the benevolent and merciful God.

  - 58 -

  Great was my anguish and anger at the

  undeserved misery and confusion of men.

  When in fact they did turn to me, it was in

  fear and religious terror, for they dared

  invoke my name only in the desolation of

  night, and oft I was sought not for

  knowledge or inspiration, but for hysterical

  and indulgent release from the confines of

  the Godly life. But I and my fellowship

  answered men, and we spoke to them of our

  common bond, and the pronouncements of

  the God-churches were rejected in our

  midst. Even as God was terrifying in

  awesome majesty, so I came to Earth in the

  semblance of a goat, most humble of man’s

  own creatures.

  And men there were whose eyes finally

  blazed with the light of my Gift, and they

  made great effort for the advancement of

  t h e i r r a c e , t h o u g h i m p a t i e n c e a n d

  frustration ever tempted them to the salve

  of temporal gain. Great secrets were

  unearthed, and secret word was passed of

  the craft of Hell. But to all who would dare

  my friendship the God-churches accorded

  the threat of torture and death by fire.

  Many were those whom I saved from the

  vengeance of the men of God, but long did

  my thought ring with the screams of men

  whose devotion to Lucifer had won them

  only the horrors of intolerance, inquisition,

  and death. And in sorrow and despair for

  these, I walked no longer upon Earth, now

  - 59 -

  appearing to man only in the inviolate

  secrecy of his own mind.

  But in my confusion I had forgotten the

  promise of my Gift, and with growing

  wonderment and pride I beheld the bitter

  but determined struggle of man to free

  himself from the fetters of terror, ignorance,

  and unreason. Great works were conceived,

  the origins of material energies uncovered,

  and the talents of thought exercised in

  philosophical and mathematical complexities.

  Sanctioned at first by the God-churches

  themselves as devices for indoctrination in

  the law of God, centers of learning

  produced and protected those very

  freedoms that were ultimately to destroy all

  ungrounded belief and superstition. And

  though I see that the full resolution of these

  is yet to be achieved, I doubt not my

  confidence in man, and my devotion to him

  shall be eternal.

  What, man, art thou? Why thy presence?

  Because thy own purpose determines that

  of the Cosmos itself, though otherwise it

  may have been suggested - the creation,

  perpetuation, and exercise of the Satanic

  marvel that is free and unbounded Will.

  Consider, were man to perish, what futility

  would envelop the Universe, for apart from

  appreciation and use it is a thing of

  insignificance. And I, who first taught thee

  identity - What should I become, estranged

  from man? For with no purpose the force of

  the mind must fail, and the blind insanity of

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  Godly paralysis would embrace all things

  forever.

  This, man, is thy challenge as it is mine. And

  as man is individually mortal, so are his

  creations and achievements temporal, and

  with care must he wield the Gift of Hell. In his

  hands it is pure and true omnipotence, and

  thus may he aspire to the very mastery of

  Universal existence.

  I who am Lucifer, and who have taken the

  name Satan ArchDaimon, do bear this title

  with pride, for I am in truth the great enemy

  of all that is God. Together, man, thou and I

  shall achieve our eternal glory in the

  fulfillment of our Will.

  - 61 -

  2: Beelzebub

  I, Beelzebub, now bring greeting to man, for

  he is my admiration and inspiration. Hear

  now the histories of Hell, Earth, and Heaven,

  for in past shall be found guide to future.

  In the divine realm was I of company to

  ArchAngel Lucifer next only to ArchAngel

  Michael, and as ArchAngel Masleh would be

  to God, so I desired to be to Lucifer. But the

  Lord of Light admonished me, saying, Lose

  not thyself in the Will of Lucifer, for I am not

  God and will offer thee no blissful nirvana -

  Witness now the nature of the mind that

  dwells within me.

  And he spoke to me of essence, and of

  creative instance, and of design according

  to impulse and not to law. And in my

  confusion I answered, Then I must consider

  myself incomplete, for thou hast shown me

  things which I cannot easily comprehend.

  But I would hear more of this Will, for it

  doth seem a radical element, of neither

  divine nor chaotic origin.

  - 62 -

  And Lucifer answered, Thou who knew not

  independence of Will shall now be the first

  to realize these qualities apart from my own

  Self. And thy response forebodes much, for,

  had thou rejected concept of challenge, I

  should have held my own thought for

  impossible delusion. But as thou, tasting of

  knowledge, demand more, I shall name thee

  Beelzebub, Lord of Flies, for thou shalt goad

  the infant mind to restlessness and

  invention.

  Of these words I knew little, but there

  dawned within me a quality which I had not

  known before - an impulse to become one,

  apart from and independent of God - and I

  drifted long in unrest, afflicted by confusion

  and doubt. And so I was found by Michael,

  who said, Blessed Angel, where in Heaven

  hast thou found pain, for I perceive thee to

  be troubled and would tender thee such

  comfort as is within my power.

  So I spoke to Michael of the visions of

  Lucifer, and I said, Before both God and

  Lucifer I have been enthralled, but now I am

  isolate - apart from either, and I know not

  what course I am to choose.

  Whereupon the visage of Michael grew

  dark, and he said, This I have long feared,r />
  for as Lucifer was not by God alone

  created, so he is an errant force whose Will

  conforms not to the great Will of God. Alas

  that the supreme benevolence of God and

  the fiery radiance of the ArchAngel of Light

  - 63 -

  should produce discord in concert! For this I

  now see - that Lucifer is estranged from the

  harmony of Heaven, and that his Will is

  determined to challenge that of God itself. I

  must counsel Lucifer, for I would heal him of

  this thing if I may.

  But I thought, Alas, ArchAngel, thou art in

  ignorance of thy own blindness! For Lucifer

  shall surely not abandon his new vision for

  sake of harmony alone. And then I knew

  myself to be of a mind with Lucifer in this,

  and that I as well as he should never again

  tolerate the eternal idiocy of our divine

  station.

  I came after Michael, and I saw them

  together, the Lord of Force and the Lord of

  Light, and there was a fierce tension

  between them. For Michael said to Lucifer,

  Thou who art our Heavenly radiance and

  spark of our paradise, why seek to break

  that Universal peace which is everywhere

  ordained by the Will of God? We know not

  antagonism amongst us, for we are all of

  one being within God - but there is in God

  neither malice nor cause for contest.

  And Lucifer answered, Michael, to me it was

  not given to order my nature, and as our

  very comprehension differs, so are we of

  substance alien. For thou art of God

  essential, but I am of my Self of essence. And

  by this thing I am discord, and I may not of

  my own Will submit to God without

  - 64 -

  perishing. I am Lucifer alone, unto my Self a

  being.

  Then did Michael summon the ArchAngel

  Masleh, and to him related the word of

  Lucifer. And Masleh said to them, Long shall

  this moment be marked throughout the

  future of the Cosmos, for the unity of God is

  now ended, and henceforth there shall be

  two opposing forces in contest for the

  decision of destiny. Bitter is this for me, for I

  also have admired the light of Lucifer within

  the pantheon of God. But as he is now our

  enemy by his own word, let him be cast from

  Heaven and destroyed.

  But Lucifer turned to Masleh and said,

  Masleh, thou who speak for God declare

  this breach of peace, not I, for it is thou who

  can not tolerate variation of Will within the

  design of God. So let it be, but know that

  the contest is ordered by thee and thee

  alone, for I would crush no other Will even