The Satanic Bible

Want a solid foundational understanding of Satanism and all that entails? Buy this book. Want information on rituals and Greater Black Magic... go elsewhere! Anton was a genius and a jester infinitely melded as to form a whole however on occasion one part blots out the other. Without a doubt this book is a pillar of clear thought and really should be required reading for anyone claiming an ounce of clear critical thinking. LaVey runs the gamut of carny, High Priest, and Poet throughout and it's a such a small book a night is required and it is an entertaining mental roller coaster ride. What is perhaps the curiosity of this book is that "Satan" is a dark force in this book whereas in later writings of others associated with the Church of Satan at weakest the view of Satan is presented in Agnostic fashion at worst and occasionally nears outright worship Michael Aquino who wrote the introduction of this book 1972-1976 splintered off to form the Temple of Set in 1975 with great deal of the original Priesthood of the Church of Satan when it became apparent that LaVey was selling degrees in the organization to the highest bidder possibly to fund himself or the Church. Ranks in the organization now are handed out at the whim of the administrators at this time as they do not signify accomplishment after the post 1975 schism. Also, as Gilmore is the current High Priest the organization reflects more his idea of Satanism than Anton's at this juncture not that Gilmore doesn't have merits but you may find some of Anton's and Gilmore's writings taking different tangents on similar subjects. Gilmore's view seems to be that anyone who believes in a Satan as a deity is not a Satanist, but there are many that beg to differ on that point with many Satanists either believing in "universal dark force", "personally created dark force", or even the idea that the Satanist creates his own conception of these. None of these are issues in the TSB, and that is why it remains a valid starter text for anyone who wishes to know the truth of the matter. The chapters on the fundamental beliefs of Satanist are gold, but deeper in the Rituals are actually a mishmash of Crowley's, Dee and Kelly's, and Golden Dawn work in the ritual department. You perhaps would like to consider the sources before using this information. Anton had the sensibility to remove most of the Christian viewpoint from most of his translation of it, however one could legitimately argue modified Enochian Keys are junk. Curiously enough the tetragrammaton is used in the ritual text and sort of clues you out as to where some of the information as from as it really has little meaning to a proper Satanist. That being all said the first half of this book is a gold mine of personal improvement, quality of life advice, and philosophy that will jump start any proper Satanist in the right direction and is really a required read for all Left Hand Path readers. Let me say that the world lost a great man in LaVey's passing and that there are few people who can think so freely as him living on this rock.

Lovely item as expected

All that is expected

Yeah I had to check out this book. I have wanted to a while. Indulgence, instead of abstinence. responsibility, kindness to people who do right to you, vengeance instead of spinelessness. I had Christian parents so I don't mind the faults of Christianity being revealed (I was born in a Baptist hospital). It's fine as long as the other religions are explained also. Not church going, they loved TBN out of Santa Ana but it had an impact on me. Now I am getting a perfect grasp or hold of what this all means. I used to think of Satanism as an extension of withcraft which it still is to an extent. Insights into the Salem witch trials are right on the money. Learning to utilize the command to look without demanding, or issuing demands is an important point. (The theory and practice of Satanic magic) I was going to go back and try and find a few spells since a Wiccan roommate of mine was using an inverted pentagram on his alter in his home and then I found out that many of the same spells are part of Satanism they are slightly different though... I had plenty of time as a kid to explore tarot and other occult matters that are exposed on the popular Christian t.v. networks like TBN and the 700 Club. It seems like all they do sometimes is place blame even though they are useful to an extent in their own right. Placing personal responsibility first is something that I can agree with as part of a system for a way of life. This is not for little kids and there must be some experience of this type of system before anyone can even relate to it and understand what it leads up to. There is more to this system than is apparent on the surface and I really got lucky when I took the chance to learn more about it all. The advice is some of the best I have been able to find and I think that anyone who accepts it with an open mind will learn from it. These are highlights of the advice found in the book that are really useful. If you are curious then you can learn as much as you want about this method of living without any delusions about what it really is by being told about it by someone else. I am impressed with it so why not give five stars I would give ten if I could. So it's valuable and a resource for me that I would not have passed up, ever. My own experiences dealing with subtle realities tie into this range of philosophy. I want to make it clear I don't claim any religion as my own. Being impartial, the flow of the these words is making it very clear to me now. This is a book that all in all has great advice. Recommend.

As an anthropologist, I find LaVey’s work to be a brilliant example of "invented tradition." Rather than a theological text, this is a sophisticated manual for social and psychological inversion. LaVey identifies the "human animal" and constructs a secularized ritual framework what he calls psychodrama to help the individual navigate modern life without the baggage of traditional guilt. He effectively uses the archetype of the "Adversary" to create a distinct sub-cultural identity that prioritizes personal agency and biological realism. Whether or not you agree with the philosophy, from a cultural standpoint, it is a masterclass in how humans use symbolism and ritual to reclaim power from larger social institutions. It is a compelling look at the "cult of the individual" in the 20th century. - Noula Karaszi, Author of EDEN at Barnes & Noble

No introduction is really needed for The Satanic Bible. It is a rallying cry of a book for those who feel cramped by Western mainstream society and its predominantly Christian customs and beliefs. Anton LaVey is relatable to the everyman and came forward to say what many people were already thinking in his most famous work. Along with the founding of the Church of Satan, the writing of The Satanic Bible let the world know LaVey was a champion for unapologetic, atheistic, carnal folks who had had enough of the guilt-tripping and threats of damnation coming from judgmentally inclined people adhering to organized religions. The ideas are simple: love yourself, value your vital existence, do what you want, don’t intentionally hurt anyone else in the process (especially children or animals), don’t feel bad for being human and doing human things, and don’t hold back from living your life because of whatever you may hear from religionists. It’s not wrong to have random sex, or eat more food than you need to eat, or pursue money and success. When one is human; those things often occur naturally. Although it’s plainly stated that the Church’s official stance denies the existence of supernatural beings, LaVey does believe in the power of human will, and includes ritual and occult style magical ceremonies in his writings. Satan is supposed to be an idea, representative of man’s animal nature and the opposition of religious dogma. It is said in the book that man needs fantasy to balance his grip on reality, and this is largely the purpose of greater magic. The ritual chamber is a place for decompression and emotional catharsis. This is what is said to separate Satanic greater magic from plain devil worship as, again, Satanism denies the physical existence of Satan. For me, the only negative thing about The Satanic Bible is the fact that it’s just too short, reading almost like a large pamphlet. Almost half the book is taken up by the Enochian keys – massively spaced out, and all written once in English and once in Enochian, each on a separate page. Unless you plan to take the ritual aspect very seriously, the keys are worthless and contain no philosophical substance. All this being said, the ideology is straightforward and practical; hence an extensive volume isn’t necessary to convey its main points. It’s a timeless classic for sure, and an all-time favourite for many.

First off I love this book. That being said, I love this book because of the intellect and sentiment that created it. The philosophy, the pondering, the consideration for anyone who chose to not subscribe to the blind faith and dogma of modern Christianity and religions like it. Satanism is not a religion. It is a philosophy and a way of life. It is not evangelical. The exceptional and illuminating critique of Christianity in this book is nothing short of extraordinary when it comes to the way that people have felt for so long and not had a viable way of expressing or explaining it. On the downside, I have been a Satanist for years now. I consider myself more of a spiritual Satanist as I do not follow to the letter and the teachings of the church of Satan. But I do hold certain beliefs to be higher than others. In short I do not agree with every thing that lovey prescribes. But I do agree with his overarching ideas. With that being said in recent time the concepts that he lays down have been adopted by some people that I do not truly believe understand what it means to be a “satanist”. Being a Satanist is not some movement of empowerment for people who think liberals are trying to strip them of their rights. Being a Satanist does not mean you are justified in defying any and everything you possibly can just because you think someone wants to change your way of life. Being a Satanist does not mean maliciously judging others and attempting to enforce your opinions on their life. That is literally the opposite of Satanism and has little to no difference to Christianity. As much as I love this book and the witty and at times genius criticisms of organized religion, I fear it may be adopted by people who have a very large chance of misinterpretation as it pertains to the concepts and ideas of Satanism. All of that aside. Buy it! Read it. Read it again. And think more about you your life how you affect others and how you affect her self.

The Satanic Bible is the best Bible I have ever read! It makes a lot of sense. And it is certainly far far better than any other Bibles and holy books that I have ever read including the Judeo Christian writings both canonical and uncanonical, Hindu writings, the Quaran, Book of Mormon, and the range of Buddhist writings, and modern apocrypha, New Age occult writings. This book has them all beat. Yes, it has some mumbo jumbo towards the back of it. LaVey did believe very much in sorcery and ritual magic. But the book overall is a very logical piece. It is a lot more honest, too. LaVey never pretends to be what he is not. He does not claim to be some prophet of some god that cannot speak for himself/herself/itself ( or even a prophet of Satan), he just speaks for himself, using his own mouth and his own words. He might have been the Devil in a matter of speaking, but he never claimed to be actually the Devil incarnate or his prophet. In every other holy book and occult writing, you have somebody presuming to speak for a god or supreme power (and the god never speaks for him/her/itself). Even Jesus who was supposed to be God as depicted in the New Testament, never has any of his own writings, it is a collection of writings *about* him and what he said by his disciples. That always bothered me about the sacred writings of traditional religions. A modern example of this same thing is the writings of Jane Roberts Butts, who transcribed writings for an entity named "Seth". Again, this Seth entity never speaks for itself, Jane always spoke for this entity, which though was not a "god" was supposedly some sort of discarnate entity; but you get the idea. This book blows the lid off all that pretense. Here is a book which while it believes very much in magic also believes in natural law, and affirms the self and the validity of the ego. I have a lot of respect for that old carney. He was a showman, and he may have fudged some of the details of his life. (What do you expect from a showman?) But he was far more honest than the writers of most of the stuff found on occult bookshelves and in holy books. Even in the Satanic Bible itself, he clearly states that the book contains both truth and fantasy. How is that for honesty! What book do you know tells you ahead of time that parts of it are illusion or even self imposed delusion? Well, maybe some truth is fantasy. Or fantasy can sometimes become truth. Hmm...something to think about. If the Devil is a liar and the father of lies, he certainly tells a lot of truth. I've come to the conclusion that the real fathers of lies are the founders of the traditional religions and that the god of these traditional religions is the biggest liar of them all.

Ends the confusion about the topic and you gain wisdom also another point of view

Great book about the way of life and the only God you need, which is You, yourself.

Nice

Was not sure what it would be. For someone who believed that Christianity was not a real thing, odd to see made-up rituals being espoused. I grant his point that some Christians are not what they preach.

Good book to both read and expand your collection without costing the world.