Archfiend. 46 He commanded a global following of
influential and powerful personalities, bound to him
not only by fear but by admiration and respect.
But there was another dimension to “Satan’s”
character. In an underground dungeon he would
summon before him a ghastly assortment of the
ruined, the helpless, and the hopeless of humanity -
pathetic creatures for whom life had lost whatever
meaning it once might have had.
To each of these poor, damned wretches
“Satan” would offer a drink of a drug called Kheft in
return for an appeal to him as God. And for a brief
moment after tasting the Kheft, the suppliant would
forget his agony and obtain a glimpse of some
fleeting memory dear to him.
If anything were required to make such a scene
even more hellish, it was the wanton, disdainful
cynicism with which “Satan” received each
obeisance and dispensed each chalice of the Kheft.
Anton LaVey’s Utterance of Indulgence proved
liberating to the few who could handle it, but
unfortunately a kind of Kheft for those who couldn’t.
As long as the Word was inspired by Satan, it was an
Unholy Grail of personal divinity.
But after 1975 Anton’s contempt for even his
most fawning sycophants was glaringly obvious to
old confidants. The famous “Do Not Ring Unless
You Have An Appointment” plaque by his doorbell
now seemed to say: Lasciate ogni speranza, voi
ch’entrate.
46 Cf. Chapter #11.B.2.
- 110 -
I.
“On the Choice of a Human Sacrifice”
Devil-worshippers of the Dennis Wheatley type
are presumed to have a penchant for ritual murder,
so now Anton addressed the notion of sacrifice in
general and of human sacrifice in particular.
At its most elemental level, “sacrifice” implies
the giving-up of something precious to oneself in
return for some other benefit or favor.
Humans being the selfish creatures they are,
however, it has always seemed preferable to give up
something precious to someone else in order to
obtain the expected benefit.
In its most savage form this has entailed
religious mutilation or murder, but civilization has
succeeded in refining it to the scale of modern
international wars with little trouble, gloating over
enemy casualties and pinning posthumous medals
on one’s own.
And so Anton’s first prescription was simply
that the Satanist should not destroy an innocent
animal or human being to avenge or appease self-
generated insecurities. If a sacrifice is felt to be
necessary for a magical ritual, then the sacrifice
should be a true one - involving the magician
himself.
Lest it be thought that he was advocating
suicide, Anton hastened to point out that a true
Satanist, harboring no conscious or subconscious
hatreds towards himself, would have no reason to
seek self-destruction. He would experience joy and
fulfillment through life, not death.
What of the destruction of others per the law of
the jungle? After all, “Might is Right” seemed to say
that vengeance was not only acceptable but
admirable.
- 111 -
Here Anton chose his words carefully. A true
god will not draw the line at murder, because his
divinity enables him to decide issues of life and
death with absolute justice. But the Satanic Bible
was written not for gods but for imperfect human
beings who, if licensed to murder, would do so for
equally imperfect reasons.
Humans, sensing this imperfection, have
addressed it by legitimizing murder only at the
national level. Logically the imperfection remains
uncorrected by such a solution, inasmuch as a great
many imperfect judgments do not combine to form
a perfect one even if a consensus of opinion is
reached.
For the fledgling Satanist, then, Anton
recommended a purely ceremonial exercise in the
passing of divine judgment by the symbolic
The idea was that the magician, forced to
confront a mock reality of his wishes, would thereby
become increasingly more objective in making them
and would approach, if not necessarily attain a truly
divine perspective in adjudging the conduct of
others.
It was a tactic that succeeded. Again and again
Satanists who began their magical careers reciting
long lists of curse victims gradually decided that
they were being rather excessive in their
condemnations. Finally they would become
extremely discriminating in wishing any harm at all
on others, realizing that clashes between human
beings occur for many reasons besides unwarranted
personal hatred.
The most advanced Satanists, Anton LaVey
included, pronounce almost no curses at all. The
true Satanist, in Nietzsche’s words, has passed
- 112 -
“beyond good and evil” to a level of existence where
all interactions of nature are seen in perspective.
This is the Law of the Jungle in its higher
sense, as perhaps Kipling meant to express it when
he wrote his Jungle Books.
J. “Life After Death Through Fulfillment
of the Ego”
Satanism glorifies life and rejects forms of
abstinence based upon presumed reward or
punishment in a posthumous Heaven or Hell.
Does this mean that the Satanist must become
resigned to a termination of his conscious existence
when his body wears out, his heart stops beating,
and his brain cells decompose?
Life and happiness in life are not favors
dispensed by a God or Devil. Life is a biological
incident of non-conscious natural law, and
happiness in life is the product of an individual’s
own desires and skill at realizing them.
Consequently, suggested Anton, people should
enjoy life as much as they possibly can.
Such a statement would seem rather trite were
it not for the fact that a great many people work very
hard at not enjoying life.
In ancient and medieval times, to be sure, the
common man confronted an existence fraught with
uncertainty, peril, and poverty. With the vision of a
mind that was not wholly that of a natural beast, he
resented his physical prison. He took such modest
pleasures as he could, and, desiring more, he created
great fantasy worlds for himself where he could not
be oppressed by feudal lords, ravaged by the
elements, or wasted by hideous diseases.
- 113 -
But even this escape was to be denied him,
since others, sensing the power of such visions,
determined to control them. They began to dictate
the visions and to impose punishments
for
unauthorized ones, and so man created religion.
That delicate, beautiful quality in the human
mind that had enabled it to reach out to the stars
was crushed on the rack of the Inquisition and
replaced by what Anatole France called “dense
fumes of theology”.
As turgid as they were, the life-after-death
religions made the misery of life at least a little less
miserable by holding out the hope of salvation and
redemption in the afterworld. It might be a false
promise, but it was comforting - and it could not be
exposed as a lie until too late.
As civilization continued its upward lurching,
the life of the common man gradually became
longer, healthier, and more affluent. It stands to
reason that it should have become happier, but this
would have weakened the hold of the great religions.
So they told man that he should feel guilty for
enjoying himself, because such enjoyment was
supposed to occur only after death.
By another of those almost incredible ironies of
history, this idiotic proposition was believed across
almost the entire range of modern civilization. There
were those who denied it, and there were those who
exploited it, but on the whole it prevailed.
Only in the most recent times, when it has
become so difficult to avoid having fun that most
people have given up the battle [and the guilt], have
the life-after-death religions begun to lose their grip
and their power.
Anton LaVey did not start this revolution, nor
did he lead it in a demagogic sense, but he did
- 114 -
articulate it far more succinctly and essentially than
anyone else had managed to do.
In magical terms his Utterance of Indulgence
shattered all philosophies and theologies not
incorporating this principle.
But, Anton continued, there was more to “life”
than mere material metabolism.
As the mind increased in power and self-
awareness, it became less a prisoner in its physical
shell and nature-governed mode of existence. Could
it be that this process might continue to a stage at
which the ego could break free altogether and
become entirely self-contained? The entire thrust of
Satanism seemed to lead in this direction. At the
time of the Satanic Bible’s writing, Anton was not
prepared to be more definitive, but it was
subsequently one of the principal areas of our
mutual interest and investigation.
K. “Religious Holidays”
There are three principal unholi-days on the
Satanic calendar - one’s birthday [commemorating
one’s own deification], Walpurgisnacht, Halloween
- along with the approximate dates of the annual
Equinoxes and Solstices.
L. “The Black Mass”
In his final “Lucifer” essay Anton exposed the
traditional stereotype of the Black Mass as an
exercise in anti-Satanic propaganda. Were actual
Satanists to perform such a ceremony, he said, it
would be for psychodramatic, illustrative purposes
and not because of any intrinsic magic in the satire.
- 115 -
He concluded the essay with a brief account of
some of the more abortive attempts at Satanism
since the 17th Century: the Chambre Ardente
scandal of Versailles, Sir Francis Dashwood’s
Hellfire Club, and the quasi-Rosicrucian offshoots of
turn-of-the-century Europe such as Britain’s
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (G.'.D.'.),
Germany’s Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and
Aleister Crowley’s Order of the Silver Star (A.'.A.'.).
Crowley’s significance as a magician was rather
condescendingly dismissed, probably because
Anton’s chief exposure to him at the time had been
through John Symonds’ unflattering biography The
Great Beast.
* * *
M. Concerning the New “Lucifer” Chapters
Again, these chapters are arranged in order of
descending complexity - not in the same topic-
sequence as the original ASLV essays. Those
originals used terms and assumed concepts which,
by these new standards, were not adequately defined
and explained. This was fine for the Satanic Bible’s
polemical purpose, but not for this ReVision.
Each of the following “Lucifer” chapters has
been intentionally constructed as an introductory
summary only. Following the 1968 completion of the
original Satanic Bible were eight years of research
and experience by Satanists, and then forty more by
Initiates of the Temple of Set.
N o n - i n i t i a t o r i l y t h i s R e V i s i o n d r a w s
extensively from academic, governmental, and
independent resources as indicated in the text, nots,
and bibliography. By all means pursue any such
- 116 -
leads as attract your interest following this
introductory “Satanic Scout Handbook”.
Since this ReVision is intentionally in the
vernacular and iconographic tradition of Satan and
Satanism, I have tried to use that “lens” where
possible, and not that of Egyptian & Setian
discourse. That said, there are certain topics, like the
actual composition of human individuality, for
which J/C-genre language is simply, indeed woefully
inadequate, requiring you to “think [if not walk] like
an Egyptian”.
And so ...
Descende, audas viator, et terrestre centrum
attinges. Kod feci.
Descend, audacious traveler, and you will reach
the center of the Earth. I did it.
Arne Saknussemm, in
Jules Verne,
Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1864
- 117 -
9: Universes
A. Objective (OU)
The Objective Universe (hereafter “OU”) is
what most humans are accustomed to regarding as
“the only” universe, e.g. the totality of matter and
energy in existence [of which these same humans
would just assume themselves to be components].
Humans are aware of the OU because they
bump into it all the time, from stubbing one’s toe to
examining galaxies through telescopes. This
surrounding is so constant and pervasive that they
are physically and physiologically “addicted” to it:
Removing such constant sensory reinforcement
normally produces disorientation followed by panic
and “insanity”. For the vast majority of humanity,
ironically, it is thus the impress of the OU upon
them which provides and reinforces their
“individuality”.
Humans have gradually realized that the OU is
not chaotic and haphazard; it exists and functions
according to inflexible regularities, normally known
as natural - or, as they are discovered, “scientific” -
laws (NL). In prehistoric and primitive cultures,
before such laws were known to
exist and be thus
- 118 -
inflexible, the OU was assumed to be a variable at
the manipulative whim of gods/God, and
considerable effort was devoted to worshipping or
appeasing such entities to prevent natural disasters
or cataclysms. Of course there were/are enough
random interactions of NLs to lend credence to
“divine intervention” explanations, particularly
when preached to ignorant masses.
Conventional questions concerning the OU
include:
(1) How did it come into being?
(2) Why is it organized as it is?
(3) Who created NL?
(4) Why is NL so completely and
permanently enforced?
(5) Does the OU have a purpose, or is it
just a gigantic accident? And of course:
(6) What is/should be humanity’s
relationship to the OU?
Obviously humanity has been accustomed to
addressing, if not answering many of these
questions by religious myth. It is easier for the
ordinary mind to visualize a God impulsively
snapping the OU into existence at a chosen point in
time, for example, than to grapple with the fact that
it has always existed; no “creative act” was
therefore needed.
As for NL, human science has no idea whatever
why it is what it is, or what enforces it. Science
- 119 -
contents itself with discovering and codifying such
NL “as it is”, period.
B. Subjective (SU)
The Subjective Universe (hereafter “SU”) is
each self-conscious being’s perception of the OU,
blended with personally-generated overlays,
selective impressions, and creative imagination as
instinctive, indoctrinated, inspired, and/or initiated.
Thus not even the most controlled physical
scientist can claim to accurately and completely see
the OU. What he sees is his filtration and distortion
of it through his SU, which he has built up both
consciously and subconsciously from innumerable
sources since birth.
More creative, artistic, mystical, etc.
personalities may let their SUs run even more freely,
to the point where the OU is of only occasional and
necessary relevance to them. If some such persons
reach a stage where their SUs have completely
replaced the OU, they may be called “insane”; in this
sense “sanity” is a measure of an individual’s
suppression of his SU within socially-sanctioned
boundaries.