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A review by cindytheskull
The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey
1.0
This book must have been hell of a read (ah!) at the time it was published, but to my “modern” eye it read like a mix of teenage rebellion and over-exaggerated bogus.
The Satanic Religion proposed by LaVey is a religion of total individualism and privilege. You are the most important thing in the universe and only those who matter to you are worth your efforts and energy. Live for yourself only and do just as you please.
In the context of the 60s counter-cultural movements, LaVeys view may make some sense.
The passages handling compulsions born into a culture of oppression and repression fit very well into the conservative, hyperchristian society of the 50s.
But there are many parts of this book in which I just wasn’t sure if he was just trolling.
Half of the book is about “Satanic Magic”. Where he got his “standards” for magic and rituals from I’m really not sure, I guess he just thought of them and they then later became what we now imagine when we think of a “Satanic Coven” scenario. Funny how he insisted on Satan being a METAPHOR, but then went on to talk about enchantments for the rest of his book like they were the real thing.
The definition of his magic sounds a lot like “The Law of Attraction”: if you really want it and envision it, it will happen. He warns you that you should wish for things that are attainable to you, so if you are ugly don’t expect to get beautiful women or men through satanic magic. He calls it “balance”.
The tone of the book was overly pompous and theatrical and LaVey surely doesn’t strike one as the “accessible type”. Since I consider the “Ego” one of the worst enemies of mankind, I have no use for a philosophy that tells you that thinking about oneself first and indulging in every want one may have is the most important precept. We live in a deeply, unwillingly “satanistic” society in which you are the center of the universe, and we see how far we got with that.
Satanism, for LaVay, is a material and materialistic lifestyle. If you want to hear that there’s no point in caring in anything else than your needs and wants and think that lighting candles and speaking a fantasy language will bring you all you want, than please go for it and have a blast.
The Satanic Religion proposed by LaVey is a religion of total individualism and privilege. You are the most important thing in the universe and only those who matter to you are worth your efforts and energy. Live for yourself only and do just as you please.
In the context of the 60s counter-cultural movements, LaVeys view may make some sense.
The passages handling compulsions born into a culture of oppression and repression fit very well into the conservative, hyperchristian society of the 50s.
But there are many parts of this book in which I just wasn’t sure if he was just trolling.
Half of the book is about “Satanic Magic”. Where he got his “standards” for magic and rituals from I’m really not sure, I guess he just thought of them and they then later became what we now imagine when we think of a “Satanic Coven” scenario. Funny how he insisted on Satan being a METAPHOR, but then went on to talk about enchantments for the rest of his book like they were the real thing.
The definition of his magic sounds a lot like “The Law of Attraction”: if you really want it and envision it, it will happen. He warns you that you should wish for things that are attainable to you, so if you are ugly don’t expect to get beautiful women or men through satanic magic. He calls it “balance”.
The tone of the book was overly pompous and theatrical and LaVey surely doesn’t strike one as the “accessible type”. Since I consider the “Ego” one of the worst enemies of mankind, I have no use for a philosophy that tells you that thinking about oneself first and indulging in every want one may have is the most important precept. We live in a deeply, unwillingly “satanistic” society in which you are the center of the universe, and we see how far we got with that.
Satanism, for LaVay, is a material and materialistic lifestyle. If you want to hear that there’s no point in caring in anything else than your needs and wants and think that lighting candles and speaking a fantasy language will bring you all you want, than please go for it and have a blast.