Eventually, he founded the
In his introduction to the first book of The Satanic
Bible, the Book of Satan, LaVey calls Christian
love a sham because Christians condemn the Devil even though without him they
wouldn't be able to frighten people into supporting Christianity (page
29). This is wrong.
In the Book of Satan we read that the person who turns the other cheek is
a cowardly dog (3:8). Actually, much of what is called weakness is really
courage for turning the other cheek can lead to greater suffering for you.
Satan 3:9 permits a person to take revenge a hundred times over on a
person who wrongs them. It says that
this will earn you respect. Fear does
not breed respect but artificial grudging respect.
The chapter, Some Evidence of a New Satanic Age, recommends the seven
deadly sins of greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust and sloth.
It says that envy is wanting the same things as
others have. It is not. It is wanting to get
them from them.
It says that buying something you want to look well in is the sin of
pride. This is right only if you want to
look better than anybody else to put them down.
The book errs though in not stating that that is what pride is. It simply says that looking nice in itself is the sin of pride and that is a mistake. It's pride but not bad pride.
It says that all commit the seven deadly sins so all must go to
Hell. But there are people who do
not. People who are dying cannot commit
the sins and often repent of them.
The chapter explains why La Vey’s system is
called Satanism and not humanism or something.
He explains that he cannot call it anything but Satanism for it contains
dogma and ritual. But humanism does
contain dogma. And humanism can and does
have ritual. Humanists have a rite of
marriage. Why LaVey
chose to worship a Devil he said was just a symbol and start a
LaVey ridicules the notion of unselfish magic being white magic and selfish magic being black magic because magic is just magic. He believed in rites for the destruction of an enemy - selfish rites. And he believed in rites for healing a friend - unselfish rites. If there is selfish and unselfish magic there could indeed be black and white magic.
He declares that the goat is associated with
Satan because the Bible makes this connection with the scapegoat. In the Law of Moses hands were laid on a goat
and it was sent away to symbolise sins going away from the people. There is nothing in the Bible that says the
goat pictures Satan even though Jesus called the evil dead goats. Satan is a fallen angel not a fallen
animal.
On page 61 we read that it is unnecessary to
make a pact with Satan or to sell your soul to become a Satanist. Yet LaVey claimed
that one must accept and nurture one’s selfish and dark side to become a Satanist
and that Satan is God, the force that causes this dark side of the coin. One has to sell one’s soul in the sense that
one has to become reconciled to the Devil’s nature. Sin is a pact with the Devil. It is saying, “I renounce God and I choose to
follow Satan. I hope that Satan will
reward my sin by giving me pleasure”.
Even the pact that has the form of signing a contract in blood only has
value in so far as it is sinful. So, it
is sin that counts. The Christians who
kick up a storm about people not burning their pacts to end the contract are
just being fools. Or do they want to
cover up that they have made their pacts with Lucifer too?
Page 62 says that Satan is called the prince
of darkness by Satanists because religion accuses him of being the Lord of the
darkness of evil. If atheists call Jesus
something unprintable that does not mean that Christians may do the same!
LaVey cites Genesis 38 as a condemnation of onanism or masturbation.
The chapter actually condemns birth control. Most say it condemns Onan
for not trying to have children for his dead brother and taking steps to avoid
fathering but that cannot be right. The
text says that Onan was killed for the sin of
spilling his seed on the ground. Those
who say it was because the seed was not used to get children for his brother
are wrong for that law about making babies in your brother’s name did not
appear as divinely sanctioned until Moses’ day.
If birth control is wrong that does not mean that masturbation is
wrong. The first could be wrong for
trying to thwart the chance of having children despite performing the act of
life which does not occur in the second.
Page 90 advises one to kill by black magic
the evil or mentally disturbed person who harms you. Most people find this evil and stupid. The person who says we must understand such
people is condemned for abetting a cancer in society. But it is the way society handles criminals that does that and not the criminal or the persons
who try to reform them. If criminals are
not stopped whose fault is it if they are a cancer for they are not likely to
stop themselves.
LaVey could have studied better to excise the errors and make improvements for he had long enough to do it. The errors of The Satanic Bible are still in the current editions. No doubt, the Church did magic to guide and inspire him and give him flashes of genius. More proof again that there is no power in invoking Satan or in Satanic magic.
The belief that Satanic Magic has the most efficacy is fed by Christianity which preaches that Satan is
God’s most powerful rival and since there is nobody else the Christian has to
turn to Satan to get forbidden favours.
Christianity leads to Satanism especially when it likes to focus in on
the badness in us which is telling us we are followers of Satan anyway and
might as well be more open about it. One of Christianity's party lines is
that the pagan religion of Wicca or
witchcraft is what leads to Satanism.
These pagans don’t even
believe in Satan! La Vey’s
brand of Satanism is tolerable but the Christian kind that turns to the spirit
of evil is lethal and has led to babies being cut up on altars. If Wicca leads to the
According to Anton La Vey’s The Satanic
Bible, natural magic is just using nature to manipulate others in crafty
but natural ways – eg, using mild body odour to
attract a mate - and then there is supernatural magic in which rites cause
events to happen. His Book of Belial, in
The Satanic Bible is a primer on satanic magic.
Of the latter kind, there are three types of ritual. They are lust, compassion and destruction.
The five laws of success in magic are:
The Law of Desire. You
must want what you are doing magic for to happen with a strong desire.
Desire did not save the Princess of Wales who most people wanted to
live. Only one barely noticeable or
unknown miracle would have saved her life.
The Law of
Timing.
The magic will affect the person you want to influence best when she or
he is asleep. LaVey
advises you to cast the spell when you are most sure that a person will be
dreaming for that is when a person is most passive and receptive to outside
forces and influences.
You could put a spell on a man you think is asleep but who is really up
making tea. When you cast a spell, at
least implicitly, you
will put the intention for it to work on the person at the best time in it so LaVey’s law is silly and is really just another excuse for
spells failing. If the spell fails then
it will be thought that there is no best time for it.
We all have moments when our minds go blank and relax and go into a
passive trance. They happen to us every
hour. That means you shouldn’t have to
get up at night to get psychic energy into somebody’s brain.
The Law of Imagery. This
is visualising what you want to happen to make it happen. For example, if you want to throw a curse you
have to kill your victim and stab and burn and rip him or her up by proxy say
with a voodoo doll.
If imagery works then you would have to stay with the same image. The curses of the
The Law of Direction. This
law says that when you do your spell you should simply believe that it will
work and forget about it. Worrying weakens
the spell for it is a spell itself and is making the first spell out to be
hopeless. Why can’t you desire that the
worry will not effect the spell protect it?
There is a contradiction.
Also, you have woven your spell.
It is in the past. If your worry
can dilute it now then the worry of other people about magic and harmful spells
will make it impotent altogether.
The law of direction can only work if you have ABSOLUTE faith in your
magic. For example, if you do a spell to
make a massive killing on the stock market you have to be totally convinced
that it will get your desire for you and be as sure as that you need oxygen to
live. The only way you can be sure you
are sure is to spend every penny you have so that you are depending on the win. In so far as you are not sure you are
worrying to some degree. We all worry a
bit and sometimes it is barely noticeable and the worry will weaken the spell
and you will worry about this too which doubles the strength of the worry. Magic cannot work because absolute faith is
impossible. If you really want something
your doubts and fears about not getting it will be very strong even if you try
and suppress them. You can’t really
suppress them but just pretend not to notice.
Magic supposedly works not just by picturing what you want to happen but by desiring it.
The stronger the desire the better. The law of direction is held to be an
essential but it shows magic cannot work. It shows that faith in magic is
evil because it calls us to absolute trust which is impossible, scary and
dangerous. What if you have absolute
faith that an operation for your brain tumour will not be necessary for magic will
make the tumour burn itself out? You
will probably die. Magic is an evil
doctrine. It is going to make people
make fools of themselves.
The Law of Balance. This
law says that magic works only with nature and not against it. This is why an ugly rude spotty man cannot
attract a beautiful woman even with the help of occult means.
He would have to improve his appearance and personality first to have a
big chance of success. You have to help
the spell to work.
All the spell has to do is to create a new disease that the man and the lady cannot get and which kills everybody. Then she will love him for he is all she can get. Making the disease is so easy for there are billions of viruses and harmful bugs appearing all the time that soon disappear without having a chance to spread and much easier than trying to influence a person and yet it cannot do it.
If an ugly woman has the arrogance to think she can attract a handsome young actor through spells, the Law of Balance says she will fail. There is just too much magic required. But she has developed an irrational adoration for herself. If that can happen then the magic should be able to induce an irrational adoration of her in the actor. The Law of Balance is just an excuse for spells failing.
Magic must only work when you use natural means to make it likely to work. The problem with this is that nobody can be
sure if magic works at all if that seems to be the result doesn't need a
magical explanation. If it helps it is
only because belief in it helps.
However, there is a serious – and fatal! – contradiction.
If lust and compassion spells have to be
helped the natural way to work then what about the curse, or the destruction
ritual? Why does LaVey
not say it needs to be helped along? He
says his religion approves of all legal indulgence only which is an admission
that you can’t tamper with cars or do something that puts your intended victim
in danger. Magic must work best then
when it is intended to do harm or curses don’t work at all.
LaVey thinks that it is in our best interests to use curses to dispose of
totally obnoxious people. According to
his system, a curse won’t work if you don’t really find the intended victim
hateful for then you are more interested in showing yourself you can do it than
in killing him. Given that the world
can’t go on forever if the population increases and that nature strikes people down without any regard to their goodness or
badness what is to stop you killing people by black magic on this basis? Nature will run its own way but if you can
influence the way it runs through magic then why shouldn’t you get rid of
people just because you don’t like them?
In other words, nature is going to kill and maim so why not take
advantage of that for yourself? It could not possibly be wrong even on
egoistic principles because each individual has to put themselves first. Magic makes murder good but only if it is
murder by magic. The egoistic principle
that it is wrong to commit murder by conventional means still stands true.
LaVey commands faith in magic so it is obvious that his disciples would cast a
destruction spell and then a compassion spell to protect themselves
from getting caught or to get off if they are arrested if they help the curse
to do its job. LaVey
by commanding all legal indulgence is commanding the very self-deceit that he
has forbidden in The Nine Satanic Statements – the basic commandments of his
religion replacing the Ten Commandments.
In his book, The Satanic Witch, LaVey
says that you can break a curse that is put on you by feeling scared of it and
then casting your own destruction spell.
So there is no guarantee that the curse works. If it worked it would strike before you had a
chance to defend yourself against it.
In The Satanic Bible, he says that a curse is more likely to work if the victim is a sceptic. To convince the victim that curses work would be to reduce the effectiveness of your spell for his thoughts and feelings give off psychic energy that will help your spell or hinder it. The power to hinder will not be given off if he sees nothing to fear so he is left wide open to the power of the curse and is sending no forces out of himself to weaken it or break it. This contradicts LaVey's idea that magic needs help to work. If you a spell for a job you must practice interview techniques that will make the job yours.
LaVey
says that as long as a desired result is attained by magic it does not
matter how magic did it. In other words,
a sceptic might believe subconsciously in the curse which would mean that when
bad things start happening he will feel the curse is sending them though it is
not. Then his fear will increase and he
will expect more accidents and bad things in his life and they will happen for
he is programming himself to fall prey to them.
Then something really momentously bad happens and he might die. The curse injured him not by magic but by his
belief in, and consequently his fear of, the curse.
However, it would seem that the
victim who believes in curses and fears them, will have a fear of the curse you
put on them that will function as psychic energy that reduces the force of the curse. But people are afraid of being
zapped to make them fall in lust or love so how come love spells work if they
work? LaVey
never addressed the problem of how Christians or anybody who hates occultism
could be affected by magic. There are
few known Satanists about so what use would the magical system in the Book of
Belial be in that case?
To say a sceptic's conscious or unconscious belief in curses can make the curse weaker or break it is just a loophole for making excuses for murderous spells failing.
Satanic magic is illusionary for it has one idea contradicting the other.
If magic is possible and you come first which you do because you are most
sure you exist it follows that it cannot be immoral magic if you do spells to
hurt other people to get what you want.
How? Because we have to respect other people for we are
vulnerable creatures ourselves but if we have power over nature then that
reason is made obsolete. Magic is a
threat to our social fabric. If you want
to believe in magic you have to deny that you can alter the way nature works
around you and limit it to personal transformation or perhaps to gaining the
energy to ensure survival of death.
The Church says that magic is of the Devil even when it is done in the
name of God for it is still a sin for God forbids all magic. It follows then that magic is more powerful
if the Devil is deliberately invoked!
This is really advertising black magic.
The
The fourth says, “Satan
represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on
ingrates!”
The fifth reads, “Satan
represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!”
The sixth reads, “Satan
represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic
vampires”
The
But no person is hateful. It is your feelings and not them that makes you hate them.
People can be trained not to hate.
Trying to kill a person is evil for it is destroying what can be changed
into something better and which should not be killed for being valuable for
what has rights must be more important than those rights. A person is absolutely valuable.
It is odd that a religion that
claims to stand for hedonism could approve of hatred for that is an unpleasant
emotion.
Legal indulgence. Hmm! What about illegal indulgence that you can get away with? In wartime, it can happen that rape and murder are legal! Also, advocating legal indulgence means you can do all you want as long as you don't get caught and take precautions accordingly for it is not illegal to break the law but only to get caught! The law that does not punish you for doing wrong or breaking it is not a law at all but a pretend one. It is not serious.
There is something hypocritical
in saying that all legal indulgence is allowed.
It looks like just a lie to get the book past the censors. What if the law is
wrong? And what if you love breaking the
law and going to jail like a masochist?
How can all legal indulgence be right under legal system A and under a
different legal system B? The theory
undermines morality and LaVey says Satanism is a
moral religion.
You cannot reserve kindness just for those
who
deserve
it if the human being is naturally selfish as LaVey
maintains. A selfish being deserves no
reward for helping people for he is only out to help himself – whether it be to feel good or to get something else.
Satanism is supposed to be good
medicine for it enables you to hurl a curse upon your enemy releasing the frustration
that a desire for revenge can cause. But
there is no guarantee how far the spell will work or that you caused the
suffering and disaster that followed the spell.
LaVey gave instructions in his book, The
Satanic Witch, to counteract a curse that somebody has put on you.
LaVey produced the Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth.
The first rule says, "Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked".
The second rule says, "Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them".
The sixth says, "Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved".
The ninth says, "Do not harm little children".
The tenth says, "Do not kill non-human animals unless attacked or for your food".
The first and second rules are actually right. Jesus however would beg to differ for he intruded all the time in other people's business. Read Matthew 23 where he spewed things against the Jewish leaders that they did not want to hear! Christianity cannot agree with those two rules and consistent Christians have always been known for minding everybody else's business. The ninth could be taken to exclude abortion. The tenth is strange for we eat more meat than we need thereby causing needless animal deaths and cruelty in the slaughterhouses.
Satanic morality is as much
make-believe as the power of Satan.
BOOKS CONSULTED
ANATOMY OF WITCHCRAFT, Peter Haining, Tandem
Books,
AT THE HEART OF DARKNESS, John Parker, Pan,
BIZARRE BELIEFS, Simon Hoggart and Mike
Hutchinson, Richard Cohen Books,
INSIDE THE SUPERNATURAL, Jean Ritchie,
LOOKING FOR A
MIRACLE, Joe Nickell, Prometheus Books,
MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE, Aleister Crowley,
Castle Books,
MALLEUS SATANI, The Hammer of Satan, Suzanne Ruthven, Ignotus
Press,
MARTIAL ARTS,
Mike R Taylor,
MIRACLES OR MAGIC? Andre
Kole and Karl Janssen, Harvest House,
MYSTERIES, Colin Wilson, Grafton,
PAGANISM AND THE OCCULT, Kevin Logan, Kingsway Publications,
POWER OF THE WITCH, Laurie Cabot with Tom Cowan, Arkana,
Penguin,
POWERS OF DARKNESS POWERS OF LIGHT, John Cornwell, Penguin,
PSYCHIC SELF-DEFENCE, Dion Fortune Aquarian
SATANISM, Bob and Gretchen Passantino, GP
Publisher Services with Zondervan, Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 1995
SCIENCE AND THE PARANORMAL, Edited by George O Abell
and Barry Singer, Junction Books,
SECRETS OF THE AMAZING KRESKIN, Kreskin, Prometheus Books,
SPELLS AND HOW THEY WORK, Janet and Stewart Farrar, Phoenix Publishing
Inc Washington, 1990
SPIRITUALISM JB Norris, The
Christadelphian,
TEST YOUR PSYCHIC POWERS, Susan Blackmore, Thorsons,
THE AMAZING WORLD OF KRESKIN, Kreskin, Coronet,
THE BLACK ART, Rollo Ahmed, Senate,
THE BOOK OF MEDIUMS, Allan Kardec, Weiser,
THE CHALLENGING COUNTERFEIT, Raphael Gasson,
Logos Books, Bridge Publishing Inc, New Jersey, 1985
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF FORTUNE, Blaketon Hall,
THE DEVIL HIDES OUT, David Marshall, Autumn House, Grantham, 1991
THE HIDDEN POWER,
Brian Inglis,
THE POLTERGEIST EXPERIENCE, D Scott Rogo,
Penguin, Middlesex, 1979
THE REAL EXORCISTS, Leslie Watkins, Futura,
THE SATANIC BIBLE, Anton Szandor LaVey,
THE SATANIC WITCH Anton Szandor LaVey, Feral House,
THE SCEPTICAL
OCCULTIST, Terry White, Century,
THE SCIENCE OF THE X-FILES, Michael White, Legend Books,
THE SILVA MIND CONTROL METHOD, Jose Silva and Philip Miele,
Harper-Collins,
THE SUPERNATURAL A-Z. James Randi,
Headline,
THE TAO OF PHYSICS,
Fritjof Capra, Flamingo,
THE UNICORN IN THE SANCTUARY, Randy England, TAN Books,
THE WORDSWORTH DICTIONARY OF THE OCCULT, Andre Nataf
Wordsworth Reference, Herts 1994
UNDERSTANDING THE NEW AGE, Russell Chandler, Word
WHAT IS THE NEW AGE? Michael Cole,
Jim Graham, Tony Higton and David Lewis, Hodder & Stoughton,
WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS, Michael Shermer,
Wednesday, 27
February 2008