THE GOD YOU SAVE MAY BE YOURSELF

I had been wanting to read this book for a while because my fascination with demonic themes in literature knows no end. The parody that LaVey makes of religion here is not only sometimes humorous, but also to an extent fairly realistic. I'm speaking from the point of view of an atheist, though, so the way I view this text is very different from someone of an Abrahamic denomination, or someone who actually is a Satanist (who these days refer to themselves as nontheist rather than atheist when this book was meant to be an atheistic parody of Christianity). The main issue that I take with the text is that there is some objectification of feminine figures throughout (specifically in the way rituals are conducted regarding dress code), but there are also examples of empowerment so far as their sexuality goes. The former is the one reason for which I deducted a star from my rating (because equal treatment of the genders would have been even further removed from Abrahamic religion rather than reducing the feminine figure to sexualization), but otherwise the manuscript is beyond intriguing.

good human philosophy at the beginning... boring in the second half...

loved the start and most of its principles, until it started bashing the "ego" (which from what LaVey said I can tell he knew nothing about) and the "white magicians" for being "hypocritical". He states to follow your desires but shames those who lack extreme desire.

That and the "oh by the way in rituals (that are pretty much the same as wiccan/pagan rituals) women have to dress sexually :)" -_-

Purchased for $5 at a local used bookstore. This is a fascinating read though, contrary to popular opinion, it is not about worshipping Satan. Instead, LaVey espouses an atheistic philosophy, certainly influenced by Nietzsche, that opposes ethical doctrine laid out by Christianity and the Bible. Satanists are encouraged to indulge rather than abstain, question rather than accept, and enjoy rather than avoid the seven deadly sins. Elements of this doctrine often seem nihilistic and self-centered which turns me off. There are, however, some interesting views discussed in the book, particularly through a philosophical lens. The second half of the book is more esoteric and honestly, silly, as it covers magic, ceremony, and invocations. It is fun to read banned/controversial books and this is no exception. You won’t burn in Hell for reading this book in an attempt to better understand the highly misunderstood Church of Satan.

Very juvenile in many respects, but is a fascinating reflection of the time period in which it was written.