The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor Lavey Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.48 You Save: $4.51 (56%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.88 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Satanic Bible
Book Review: A FASCINATING BUT FLAWED PHILOSOPHY
Summary: 3 Stars
The Satanic Bible. Some people wouldn't allow themselves to be caught holding such a book, much less reading it. But is it really all it's cracked up to be? Are all the rumors you heard true?
Getting past the cover of this book. I think that's the hardest part of reading the Satanic Bible. If you can just shrug your shoulders, be open-minded and take everything with a grain of salt, you'll do okay.
A few things I found interesting: You would think a book with such a title would be terrible in every way. And while the philosophies are very anti-Mainstream Religion, LaVey does so in a tactful manner. He doesn't throw the Lord's Name in vain around or use 4-letter words to get his points across. There are no pornographic drawings of how a Black Mass should look like, although some could have easily been included.
For those that have read it, or even those that plan to, I feel that there are three ways to look at Satanism:
AS RELIGION:
While other religions believe in God or Allah or whoever, Satanism states that YOU are your own God.
There are rituals (the Black Mass) that parody religious ceremonies.
There is a short part of this book that utilizes the Chapter and Verse structure of the Bible. Even has a "Satanic Beatitudes" tossed in for good measure.
However, there is no "Creation Story" and no "Afterlife" promises--because Satanists don't believe in Heaven, Hell, Purgatory or Reincarnation.
AS PHILOSOPHY:
In a nutshell, Satanism preaches Indulgence, not Abstinence. So if you want to eat that donut (or dozen)--go for it!
However, Satanism is very much against Indulgence becoming Addiction, as is pointed out in the 9th Enochian Key, and elsewhere.
Other ideas put forth: Being kind to those that are deserving, exacting revenge on those that wrong you, viewing man as just another animal, and basically doing whatever gets you ahead in this world and makes/keeps you happy.
AS FANTASY:
Although I'm sure LaVey didn't intend for Satanism to get labeled "Fantasy", there it is in white letters/hot pink background on the back of the paperback edition of this book.
Fantasy-buffs will undoubtedly be interested in the collection of "The Infernal Names" from around the world. Also of interest, a good half of the book is dedicated to Satanic Magic and procedure for the Satanic Ritual. Finally, there are the "Enochian Keys", written in the language of Enochian. Good luck pronouncing Enochian though, as there is no pronunciation guide of any sort. Even the English "translations" of these Keys are wordy and generally do not make for light reading.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
A question any reader of this book is going to ask themselves at the end is: Overall, does this book make sense? For myself, overall, I'd have to say no. Below are a few comments and thoughts I had after reading this book the second time.
I found it interesting that the Introduction listed a handful of names of Satanists, as if doing so would somehow give the whole book some credibility.
The first two books, Fire and Air, have the most substance, but even then, LaVey occasionally makes ridiculous statements like "When you have overeaten to the point of obesity, another sin--pride--will motivate you to regain an appearance that will renew your self-respect.(pg46)" Satanist or not, one only needs to look at the obese people around them to see that Pride more often than not loses out to people who have Given Up or are Content with how they are.
Many people who discuss this book talk about how it's against Christian principles. They forget that Satanism is not just against Christianity, but other religions as well. Christians don't believe in earthly Reincarnation, but many Eastern religions and philosophies do, as is discussed on pages 92-93.
Going back to Christianity, LaVey even manages to take the Bible out of context. On page 39 he writes:
"It has been said, `The truth will make men free.' The truth alone has never set anyone free. It is only DOUBT which will bring mental emancipation."
What LaVey doesn't understand, is that in that verse (John 8:32), Jesus was talking about being free from SIN, not "mental emancipation". And there are many times when simply telling the truth will get you off the hook (or maybe a lighter jail sentence) than if you were to lie and create further lies to cover your tracks.
The last two books, Earth and Water, are complete drivel. It's already been pointed out that the Black Mass is just a parody or mocking of Christian ceremony. Why then does LaVey bother creating all these intricate rules for rituals?
An hour spent networking on Myspace or AdultFriendFinder would be far more effective than any Lust Ritual.
There is more I could comment on, but I think those few examples speak for themselves. There is really nothing in this book that is revolutionary or groundbreaking, nothing that hasn't been thought up before, no conclusions that you couldn't have come to yourself.
Book Review: A Few Gems Buried In Trash
Summary: 2 Stars
Anton LaVey was an odd bird; an intelligent and often very funny huckster who was successful, if only at projecting an image of success. Watching old footage of him, you get the idea of a sort of harmless dork, but quite a few people really thought of the guy as the high priest of Satan and still act as such. He talked about victory and ruthlessness, but ended up dependent on the same social altruism he seemed to despise in his final years. Some of his own followers disowned him to start their own Dungeons and Dragons group, err, Church of Satan. He publically claimed that his curses had killed people, but always after the fact, and then would make claims to the effect that magic doesn't actually "work". Sometimes he really seemed to be winking at everyone from under the Satanic hooded cowl.
Re-reading this book about 11 years after I first checked it out, I'm amazed at both how good and how awful parts of it are. Much of it is plagiarized or at least heavily influenced by other authors. I've never read Ragnar Redbeard, but the Crowley and Rand are both there in pretty even measure. Happily, unlike Rand, LaVey just comes out and says what's on his mind instead of couching everything in awful narrative. His philosophy basically seems to be, to quote Pogo and W.C. Fields, "Never give a sucker an even break". When LaVey is talking in his own voice, it's often quite distinctive and some of his logic is hard to argue with. I would like to say that some of his points are sort of obvious, but bearing in mind that the book is over forty years old, a lot of it was pretty bold at the time. In a country and world still largely run according to conservative religious lunacy or gutless PC puritanism, some of it still is. I already knew that masturbation was no big deal, and didn't need LaVey to point it out for several pages (as he does herein), but even mellow-mannered, liberal me has to admit his right wing black mass is pretty great and his admonition to get rid of "psychic vampires" is of some value. However, you have to pick this all out of a collection of histrionic and often childish ranting.
The magic parts are a little harder to get. He alternates between claiming that magic has an electro-chemical scientific basis and that magic is a dark force that science and logic cannot understand. Magic is also "real" in the sense that it can accomplish impossible feats, but then it's spoken of in psychological terms. When he mentions Crowley, he states the Crowley was playing a joke and people took him seriously; at this moment I felt it quite possible that we saw a glimpse of the man behind the curtain, the clue that it was a joke. I wonder if those who "get it" are the same people that buy a $200 red "official Satanist" card from LaVey's organization? The end of the book, "Yankee Rose", convinces me that LaVey's psychic powers predicted the rise of David Lee Roth.
This is a good book for critical thinkers; I'm sure some would draw quite different conclusions from mine, but would still find something of value. People who are really gullible are probably the wrong audience though and could end up taking it a little too much to heart.
Book Review: A Frank, Witty, Fresh Perspective on Religion & Philosophy
Summary: 5 Stars
If you ever suspected that "religion is all nonsense", then you will enjoy this book. Religion IS nonsense, says author Anton La Vey; the only 'religion' that makes sense is one in which you show by your lifestyle and habits that you are worthy of being considreed a "god" in the minds of others.Satanism is not about killing and bloodshed or any of the other silliness depicted in Hollywood movies & TV shows. Satanism is adherence to a few key principles and dealing with life as it IS rather than as some religionist says is should be. Satanism is a lot like Atheism: both stress the importnace of reason, and recognize the dangers posed by stupidity, solipsism, self-deceit, and other faults. In fact, Anton La Vay and Madalyn Murray O'Hair were close associates back in the 1960's and 1970's when they were building their organizations.
Ulnlike the phony religions which speak of "spiritual" and other worldly existence,a Satanist is much more interested in having people enjoy life here and now. Satanism recognizes that there is no value in attempting to convert or elevate people; if they're too stupid to want to be rich and powerful, 'to hell with tehm", says the Satanist. hence, you are unlikely to find any Satanic homeless shelters or poor houses.
You will however, find that Satanists and people who apply the principles of Satanism as expressed in this book are in positions of power and leadership in government, business, entertainment, and many other fields.
One thing that La Vey streses is that Satanism works best when it is well concealed. Satanism can be as good a show as any other religion, but the truly "black" magician will ensure that his most powerful acts are shrouded in secrecy and that he practices adroit misdirection in order to ensure that the less powerful are proberly manipulated.
In addition to being a good example of some clear thinking in matters of philosophy & religion, THE SATANIC BIBLE is also entertaining.
Book Review: A Great Bible That Actually Makes Sense.
Summary: 5 Stars
Even before I bought The Satanic Bible I've always favored the Satanic religion the most because it makes the most sense, instead of denying you of your natural needs, it embraces them. It doesn't discriminate again anyone whether you're white, black, asian, European, gay, straight, bisexual or whatever, it'll except you no matter what. The Bible was a big help to answer a few questions I had about the religion and I'm not even half way through it yet and it's gotten me to respect the religion a lot more then I already did. If you only think Satanism is whatever the christians cowardly discribe it to be or if you're just plain courious then you should buy it and read it. If you don't like it after you try it then you don't have to keep it so it won't hurt anyone. There's a million things in the first few chapters that makes it a great bible that actually makes sense.Book Review: A Great Philosophical Work minus one star
Summary: 4 Stars
All the pretenders are blown away, and I do mean all of them, by LaVey's brutal honesty and realistic outlook of life and what people really are. I suspect the people who criticize LaVey subscribe to the religious dogma that places man on a pedestal. Every word he wrote is truth and he had a real gift for getting his ideas across. I gave it a minus one star because of the content on magic. How such a brilliant man could also preach hocus-pocus I'll never know, but my guess is he did it to make a buck and develop a following.