“As you can see there are no elements of devil worship in the Church of Satan. Such practices are looked upon as being Christian heresies. Believing in the Christian world-view of God vs. the Devil and choosing to side with the Prince of Darkness is pointless to the Satanist as neither exists. [...] To the Satanist, he is his own God. Satan is a symbol of Man living as his prideful, carnal nature dictates. Some Satanists extend this symbol to encompass the evolutionary "force" of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things. To the Satanist, Satan is not a conscious entity to be worshipped, rather it is a name for the reservoir of power inside each human to be tapped at will.”
Many people consider Anton LaVey the most dangerous man on earth. Others simply dismiss him as an entertaining chariatan. What secrets lurk within the man who shaved his head on Walpurgisnacht, 1966, and declared the foundation of the Church of Satan? Written with the cooperation of her engimatic subject, Blanche Barton's biography reveal what has previously been hidden from public view: * LaVey's erotic involvements with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. * The dark origins of Satanic ritual. * LaVey's early career as hoodlum, carny, burlesque house organist, Zionist operative, lion tamer, and ghost hunter for the San Francisco police department. * Rare photographs and documents, including LaVey's 'banned essay' on lycanthropic transformation. THE SECRET LIFE OF A SATANIST is a brilliant account of the development of a philosophy unlike any other, from the perspective of a misanthropic genius. An amazing man, an amazing life, and an incredible tale.
This book is a collection of 8 or 9 "dark" rituals either created by LaVey's Church of Satan or taken from different cultures. There's also some introductions and closing remarks on these cultures and the practice of ceremonial magic. And that's basically it.
This ISN'T a book for those who really want to read and learn about Satanism. That would be like trying to learn about Beethoven by looking at the sheet music for his 9th Symphony! Besides, those who believe everything on TV will be sorely disappointed that these rituals don't involve sacrificing animals, drinking blood, and all that other stuff you see in the B-movies!
This is a book for those who have already read The Satanic Bible, and may be interested in aspects and examples of group ritual, or at least in reading a little more about what LaVey has to say about Satanic ceremonial magic. Other occultists might like the book, if anything just to read another man's view of ritual & magick, and to see some more examples of ceremonies taken from different cultures. For me, I know I've seen less informative occult books that cost at least twice as much, so I say it was at least worth my $6.
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