The Satanic Bible

by Michael A Aquino

  Priestess.

  As the Church grew to a nationwide

  institution, Anton asked me to compose a

  ceremony that a Magister IV° could administer on

  distant national, regional, & local occasions.

  This ceremony was first conducted at the

  “Bramford” (Dakota) on Halloween during the 2nd

  Eastern Conclave, New York City. It remained the

  official formalization until the cessation of the

  initiatory Priesthood in June 1975.]

  The Sentinels of the Abyss are

  summoned to enfold these chambers in a

  suspension of time and dimension, for

  the Great Flame of the Prince of

  Darkness is to be drawn to our midst.

  - 368 -

  As the Minions of Hell are convoked as

  witness, I charge ye to suffer no word

  of these proceedings to be passed to

  the profane. Yea, the unseen ones rip

  asunder the flesh of those who would

  presume against Our Lord Satan, and he

  may not be provoked with impunity.

  Hear now the legacy of the Order of

  the Trapezoid.

  In the Diabolicon of the High Daimons of

  Hell is recounted the first great war

  of the Seraphim, wherein Lucifer and

  Masleh forced the universal opposition.

  From that epoch the entire cosmos has

  known the power of both stasis and

  change.

  A n d E a r t h - c r e a t e d f o r t h e

  preservation and glory of all that was

  God - it was to Earth that Satan came

  in aeons past, to infuse the minds of

  the first men with the awareness of

  self. Since that day of the coming of

  the Fire, the story of the race of man

  has been as that of the universe - torn

  and tortured by war, famine, pestilence,

  and death. Yet in the midst of death

  we are in life - by the Gift of Satan

  we are become gods of our selves.

  By Satan was charged the High Daimon

  Belial to entrust the care of the

  - 369 -

  Flame of Infernus to an Order of the

  Elect. And Belial brought to this Order

  the great Keys to the Shining Trapezoid

  that is the Gate to the Abyss, saying:

  Herein lies the geometric inspiration

  for the existence of our lord Satan,

  who is Lucifer, Lord of Light and

  ArchDaimon of Infernus. Observe

  that it doth shape and define the

  inverse pentagram, which is itself

  our seal and the key to all beauty

  of proportion.

  Even as the triangle and trihedron

  symbolize the selfless labor of

  men-beasts to support the apex -

  the throne of God - so we cast

  down and destroy that apex. Thus

  we create our ensigns - the

  T r a p e z o i d a n d t h e S h i n i n g

  Trapezohedron, which are the ever-

  u n f i n i s h e d m e m o r i a l s t o t h e

  creative genius of man. In the first

  civilizations of Earth our monuments

  shall be uplifted, yet with the

  passage of time they shall be

  changed and effaced, and their

  origin clouded.

  But this Order shall endure until

  the race of man shall cease, and

  those who enter its fold shall

  behold the heart of the Fire, and

  - 370 -

  they shall gaze upon the face of

  the ArchDaimon. Yea, nevermore

  shall they know peace, but their

  eyes shall be opened, and they

  shall become as Daimons, and the

  forces of all creation shall bend

  before their will. So it shall be

  done.

  These are the words of Belial, whom

  we honor as the Guardian of the Flame

  and first Magus of the Infernal Empire.

  By his word we of the Black Order

  have rejected the lure of unity, the

  subjugation of the cross, and the

  worship of the triad in all its forms

  and disguises.

  Embraced by the essence of the Fire of

  Life, we scorn the pious antics of

  superstition and abasement - these are

  but pitiful endeavors to daunt the

  weak and the timid. A fool is he who

  places his foot upon the Path to the

  Right - he has lain down for death. The

  Black Magus is master of all things -

  none holds power over him. By the

  force of his person shall he vanquish

  all barriers erected before him. His

  word shall be as law, and the ring of

  his laughter shall dismay all the

  worshippers of false gods. And ever

  before us shine the great Keys of the

  Bond between Hell and Earth, and from

  - 371 -

  the Temple of the Ram shall come

  forth the Eternal Serpent of the

  Abyss, beloved of our Order, who is

  that called Leviathan.

  Advance to the altar of Hell, that the

  eye of Our Lord Satan may seize upon

  you. As your mind is revealed to the

  lord of this world, do you affirm your

  cause with Satan and accept of your

  free will his eternal Priesthood?

  [Response.]

  I bring your hand to that of Azazel,

  High Herald of the Infernal Empire,

  who shall set upon you the seal of the

  Priesthood of Mendes.

  [The black Baphomet medallion of the Priesthood is

  passed through the Black Flame on the altar and

  placed around the neck of the recipient.]

  In the name of Satan, and of his Exarch

  u p o n E a r t h , I n a m e y o u t o o u r

  fellowship and send you forth - beyond

  the Abyss - to walk in ways of

  strangeness and of beauty. You are

  become as Belial - knowing no master -

  and you are a glory to your race and a

  brilliance before the sight of Our Lord

  Satan.

  [Here is spoken the Third Enochian Key.]

  - 372 -

  - 373 -

  A4: The Baphomet

  A. Enigmatic Emblem

  The emblem of the Church of Satan was what

  was formally called the “Sigil of Baphomet”. It

  appeared above/behind altars as a plaque. It

  appeared on the cover of the original Satanic Bible.

  It was also the visible identification of Church

  members as a 2”-diameter silver metal medallion

  with fire-enameled inlay in the color of the

  individual’s initiatory degree.

  Since the “Bessy” version used by the Church of

  Satan was in the public domain, commercial

  reproductions abound, from T-shirts to computer

  goatpads.

  Not to mention all through this book, in case

  you might forget its topic.

  With so many Bessys bouncing around, it’s

  surprising how little most enthusiasts know about it:

  what it means, where the design ORIGINATED.

  B. Knights Templar & Éliphas Lévi

  The original Knights Templar were accused by

  their Catholic Inquisitors of having worshipped the

  - 374 -

  Devil as a mysterious image or statue called

&nbs
p; “ B a p h o m e t ” ( s a i d t o b e a c o r r u p t i o n o f

  “Mohammed”). The absence of any actual such

  statue didn’t deter the Inquisitors from drawing one

  themselves. It was later re-drawn by the French

  mystic “Éliphas Lévi” (Alphonse Constant), and that

  was Mr. B up to the 20th Century.

  C. The Name

  “Mohammed”>”Baphomet” also seemed a bit

  of a stretch, so conspiracy theorists proposed several

  alternatives: anagrams, reversed abbreviations, etc.

  The most sensible interpretation remains that

  of Idries Shah, who, in his book The Sufis, suggests

  that the term was probably a corruption of the

  Arabic abufihamat (pronounced “bufihimat”),

  which means “father” or “source of understanding”.

  An interesting alternative is that that

  “Baphomet” derives from the ancient Egyptian Ba-

  - 375 -

  neb-Tettu, the hieroglyphic term for the city of

  Mendes in the Nile Delta.

  In Ptolemaic accounts Mendes was “notorious”

  for its goat-god, who was said to mate with women

  in religious festivals. The truth is probably less lurid.

  Comments Sir E.A. Wallis Budge in his Gods of the

  Egyptians:

  The title Ba-neb-Tettu was sometimes held

  to mean the “Soul, the Lord Tettu”, and this was

  the name at Mendes of the local form of Khnemu,

  whose symbol there, as elsewhere, was a ram … He

  was regarded as the virile principle in gods and

  men, and is styled ‘King of the South and North,

  the ram, the virile male, the holy phallus which

  stirreth up the passions of love.

  D. For Bessy or Wirth

  The artwork for the current emblem’s goat/

  pentagram first appears in a 1931 book by Oswald

  Wirth. 173

  In 1961, French author Maurice Bessy wanted a

  dramatic illustration for the front cover of his

  illustrated history of magic, so he added concentric

  rings around Wirth’s goat with room for a spooky

  name between the rings. Cabalism was Jewish, so a

  suitably Cabalistic name had to be in Hebrew, whose

  letters already look mysterious to “gentiles”.

  The only problem was that “Satan” in Hebrew

  has only four letters, so Bessy used the 5-letter name

  173 Wirth, Oswald, La fran-maconnerie rendue intelligible à

  ces adeptes - II, “Le compagnon” , Paris: Derry-Livres, 1931,

  page #60.

  - 376 -

  of the sea monster Leviathan instead, assuming that

  no one would notice or care. He was correct. 174

  WIRTH!

  BESSY

  E. Not a Caduceus

  In retrospect it may be just as well that Anton

  LaVey was satisfied with the Bessy design, else the

  media might have not been quite so quick to splash

  it around. Anton was a very talented oil painter and

  inkpen sketch artist, but he had his “Reginald

  Marsh” side and could be quite merciless in

  moments of artistic irreverence.

  Zeena has been quite sane and dull for the

  last couple of years, but now she’s beginning to

  make dry little comments that simply floor me.

  Tonight, after critically viewing a sketch of Anton’s

  (a man drinking a bottle of beer and scratching his

  privates), she said, “Really! Can’t you ever draw

  anything sophisticated?” 175

  174 Bessy, Maurice, A Pictorial History of Magic and the

  Supernatural, London: Spring Books, 1964 [the original

  edition of this work - Histoire en 1000 images de la magie -

  was published in 1961 by Editions du Pont Royal.]

  175 Letter, Diane LaVey to M.A. Aquino, April 3, 1973.

  - 377 -

  Shortly after I assumed Editorship of the

  Church’s Cloven Hoof newsletter in 1971, the High

  Priest decided that he would grace it with a new

  masthead. As diplomatically predicted by Diane, her

  husband was just going to “update the Lévi

  Baphomet a little”. That sounded sensible enough: a

  proper pentagram at last! But it didn’t stop there:

  For the masthead my prime thought was

  that the design employed should incorporate

  cloven hooves, thereby reinforcing the image

  conveyed by the title.

  After drawing a succession of devils, most

  looking either like fugitives from a tin of ham or

  third rate opera company rejects from Faust

  auditions, I started a rather panoramic thing

  showing a Devil’s herd, a la “Ghost Riders”,

  galloping across the top of the page. My intentions

  were the best, but alas, the page was too small, and

  what began as a DeMille-type hippodrome petered

  out to a shopping center dog and pony circus.

  A stylized version of Baphomet was decided

  upon because I felt that Lévi’s version, while

  luridly graphic for the 19th Century, is far too

  euphemistic for today’s climate. Such concessions

  as the ill-fitted “good” pentagram on the forehead,

  the caduceus in lieu of a virile member, the lap

  robe to avoid exposure of the caduceus’ point of

  origin, a rather unimaginative pair of 39 D-cup

  mammary glands, arms that would better serve in

  an ad for Jergen’s Lotion, a right hand apparently

  in the act of hailing a cab, and a Roman candle

  perched atop the head do little to advance the

  impression of the truly base and carnal aspect of

  the Beast of the World!

  I have tried to beef up the aforementioned

  and drawn the horns in the manner of certain

  eastern and African wild goats rather than the

  usual, domestic variety. The membranous wings

  and scales have been added to graphically intensify

  the Hellish origin.

  Use your own judgment as to the color

  rendition. I have enclosed a couple of suggestions.

  - 378 -

  Using red in only the eyes and the smoke

  from the cranial exhaust (mistakenly assumed by

  most occultists to be some sort of candle) would

  certainly give the impression of a head “filled up

  with burning mist and golden mire” as well as

  direct the reader’s gaze towards the title. Allusions

  to red, blazing eyes can be found throughout the

  lore of Satan, from the ghouls and afrits of Persia

  to Dracula himself. Or, if you feel it is more

  striking in black and white, please don’t hesitate to

  forgo color altogether. I am frankly undecided.

  Diane prefers either the plain black and

  white or black and white with just the touch of red

  in the eyes and smoke. I’ll leave it up to you and

  Janet176 to decide. 177

  “Well,” laughed Jan, “I don’t suppose we’ll

  need to worry about members leaving their copies

  lying around on coffee-tables or office desks!”

  176 My late former wife and a Priestess of Mendes III°.

  177 Letter, Anton LaVey to M.A. Aquino, October 23, 1971.

  - 379 -

  F. Brandymet & Beyond

  Now that the Cloven Hoof had a suitably

&nbs
p; upstanding masthead, I took another look at the

  BessyBaph and decided that it might do with some

  tinkering too. The goat’s nose had always looked as

  though he’d run into a brick wall, and he also looked

  slightly cross-eyed [possibly the result of the

  impact?].

  I didn’t have a goat available as a model, so our

  Irish Setter Brandy was drafted:

  I’m not certain what the Knights Templar, the

  good citizens of Ba-neb-Tettu , or the Prince of

  Darkness might think of the result, but the

  “Brandymet” not only graced the Nineveh Grotto’s

  ritual chamber thereafter, but even hat its moment

  of stardom, when the Grotto was invited to design

  the ritual chamber for Asylum of Satan, a horror

  movie being filmed in Louisville. So our Brandymet,

  accompanied by dæmon-candleholders Chet

  - 380 -

  Huntley & David Brinkley, and by griffin guardians

  Haldeman & Erlichman, left the hushed hallows of

  Nineveh, to preside over proceedings that would

  unquestionably ennoble and exalt the Church of

  Satan’s image for years:

  Two further experiments briefly came and

  went: my Goat Deco “BrandyBat”, and Anton’s

  stained-glass altar backdrop for The Devil’s Rain.

  - 381 -

  In 2018 the Bessy Baphomet appears to persist

  in the Satanist saddle, even if most devotees remain

  “unclear on the concept”. [That’s O.K.: I’m not sure

  that many Christians can explain why they venerate

  the device that tortured Jesus to death, or the Jews

  the Star of David (absent archæological evidence

  that he even existed, much less used that glyph.]

  For my final tweak of the Brandymet, I started

  by redefining every line of Wirth/Bessy, mirroring

  the result precisely, and re-redoing Mr. Mendes’

  eyes and nose. Since I’m not a Jew, I saw no need for

  the Hebrew, but I also realized that almost any

  English-alphabetic of S-A-T-A-N looks dreadfully

  dull. An appropriately ancient or alien alternative is

  essential to properly perplex perusing profane. This

  example is from the fragments of a fallen fane found

  by Ahnenerbe archæologists in the Sahyadri Jungle

  of India in 1934, principally - according to Louvre

  Assistant Curator Dr. René Emile Belloq - for curses

  and warnings. It is shown here next to a Bessy for

  ease of comparison.

  - 382 -