The worldview of true Satanism, the essence of Satanism, LaVey's Satanism. "The Satanic Bible" by Anton Szandor LaVey, The Church of Satan and the biography of the founder of the LaVey Church of Satan

The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey is interesting, even though the book was written about forty years ago. The biography of the founder of the Church of Satan and a world-famous Satanist is shrouded in speculation.

In the article:

"The Satanic Bible" by Anton Szandor LaVey - the best-selling literature on Satanism

"The Satanic Bible".

The Satanic Bible by LaVey was written in 1967. Among adherents of Satanism, this is the most popular spiritual source. The books of Anton Szandor LaVey remain popular today: in the last century, The Satanic Bible was a bestseller among similar literature.

The introduction to the book was made by other authors, in particular, a journalist who wrote articles about the Church of Satan, the author of The Satanic Bible. The publication consists of four sections devoted to Satan, Lucifer, Belial and Leviathan- the four crowned princes of hell. The principles proposed by LaVey are considered authorial Satanism: with the main postulates of devil worship, which have come down from ancient times, common features No.

The reason for this book is that, with a few exceptions, all treatises and books, all "secret" grimoires, all great writings on the subject of magic, are nothing more than sanctimonious fraud, sinful mumbling, and esoteric gibberish of chroniclers of magical knowledge, unable or unwilling to provide an objective point of view on this issue.

Writer after writer, trying to signify the principles of “black and white magic”, succeeded only in clouding the object of consideration so much that a person who studies magic on his own conducts classes by stupidly standing in a pentagram, waiting for the appearance of a demon, shuffling a deck of cards for prediction, losing in cards any sense, and attendance at seminars that guarantee only the flattening of his Ego (and along with his wallet); and, in the end, exposes himself as a complete idiot in the eyes of those who know the truth!

The Satanic Bible urges the reader not to believe in the existence of Paradise and afterlife. Instead of trying to win a ticket to Heaven, a person should enjoy earthly pleasures. The author connects Satanism and the cult of hedonism and condescension to the desire to satisfy carnal desires.

Anton LaVey exposes Satan as a symbol of the proposed worldview. The author promotes freedom, individualism, healthy egoism, the desire for self-development, rejection of injustice and interest in the study of the occult.

Culturologist E. V. Belousova noted that Anton LaVey’s book allows us to understand the image of a modern Satanist. The Bible is able to dispel the stereotypes associated with the representation of Satanists by society. The culturologist called LaVey's Satanism an expression of the materialism and hedonism inherent in the modern West. Belousova is sure that it is worth reading The Satanic Bible to get an idea of ​​the religion popular among young people. LaVey's Satanism has millions of followers.

The Satanic Bible is not LaVey's only book. Two more are widely known - "The Perfect Witch", which changed its name to "Satanic Witch" and "Satanic Rituals". LaVey distinguishes three satanic holidays - Walpurgis Night, Halloween and the Day of initiation into the mysteries of the cult of Satan with five stages.

Anton LaVey - what is known about the author of The Satanic Bible

Anton Szandor LaVey is the pseudonym of the founder of a modern version of Satanism and the first officially recognized Church of Satanists. In the documents of the man it was written Howard Stanton Levy. Born in Chicago, in the family of a booze seller, in 1930.

The last partner of the Satanist's widow was Blanche Barton, the chief priestess of the Church. The marriage produced a child named Satan Xerxes by Karnaki LaVey. The woman has written several books, including The Secret Life of a Satanist, dedicated to the biography of Anton Szandor LaVey, modern Satanism and the role of the church in the life of their family.

Satan Xerxes Karnaki is not Anton's only child. The Satanist has two more daughters, from his first and second marriages. One of the daughters, Zina, openly feuded with her father, and after the death of her father, she repeatedly gave interviews that were recognized by the society of Satanists as a lie and fiction. Much of the evidence from Zeena and her husband Nicholas Schreck was exposed as a forgery by Blanche Barton.

The Shrek couple claimed that the girl's father was repeatedly reported for sexual perversion and domestic violence (no evidence). Blanche and other followers of LaVey note the intensity and irrelevance of Zeena's and Nicholas's efforts to undermine the authority of the creator of The Satanic Bible.

Anton LaVey spent most of his life in San Francisco. The man appreciated classical music, had a perfect ear for music and was fond of playing keyboard instruments (he attracted the organ). Since childhood, the boy was fond of dark literature (horror and mysticism), German impressionism. Historical Figures LaVey Admired From Childhood: Rasputin Covered in Legends.

Anton LaVey dropped out of school during his high school years and left town with a circus troupe. He toured first as a laborer, then as a musician. He worked as an organist in cafes and disco clubs. According to the Satanist, at that time there was a brief affair with Marilyn Monroe, but this moment of the Black Pope's biography is in great doubt. Zina LaVey also refuted her father's acquaintance with the popular actress, who claimed that her mother forged proof of the connection (Marilyn's autograph and signature).

After a while, Anton LaVey returned home and became a photographer for the police department, while also doing paranormal research. According to some sources, LaVey was a member of banned Zionist groups.

In 1952, Anton LaVey married Carol Lansing, who became the mother of their first daughter, Carla Maritza LaVey. In 1960, the man became interested in another woman - Diana Hegarty, mother of Zina Galatea LaVey, baptized in the Church of Satan at the age of three. Maybe, bad relationship with her daughter were the result of the breakup of the family due to the appearance in the life of LaVey Blanche Barton.

Even before the opening of the Church of Satan, Anton gained fame in the area as a researcher of the paranormal and a popular organist. On Fridays, LaVey arranged lectures for people who were interested in Satanism and the occult sciences. The meetings were called the Magic Circle and prompted the man to create the Church of Satan.

Anton Szandor LaVey died on October 29, 1997 from pulmonary edema in a Catholic hospital. The followers of the founder of a separate branch of Satanism gave birth to the myth that the Black Pope died on Halloween night. The funeral was held in secret in the small town of Colma, California. The body is cremated and the ashes are preserved by the followers.

Anton Szandor LaVey and the Church of Satan

The idea of ​​creating the Church of Satan came about unexpectedly: after one of the Friday Magic Circle lectures, one of the members told Anton that there were enough opportunities to develop new religion. Anton LaVey ritually shaved his head and declared 1966 the beginning of the era of Satan and the founding of the church dedicated to the Devil.

The Church of Satan offered baptisms, weddings, and funerals according to Satanic rites. The media ignored the temple for a long time, but after the high-profile wedding of a scandalous journalist and socialite, the Church of Satan became the topic of American newspapers, and then mentions of the parish appeared in world-class publications. In printed publications, the founder was called Black Pope. Anton was the high priest of the Church of Satan until his death.

As his following grew, Anton LaVey began to publish books, three of which gained popularity. The man wrote pictures and music (he released several records). Many celebrities are associated with the Church of Satan: Marilyn Manson was an honorary member of the cult, King Diamond, Chris Cooper and many others were members of the Church of Satan.

The Church of Satan is associated with a high-profile event - the death of actress Jayne Mansfield, who, according to LaVey, was for some time his mistress and priestess of the cult. The press declared the death of a sex symbol a side effect

Satanism is perhaps the most disreputable religion in the world. Very often this movement is branded as a catalyst for the most heinous and cruel crimes. However, despite this, Satanism exists and continues to develop. According to unofficial statistics, several million people are currently adherents of this religion in the world.

Who do the followers of this dark movement consider their patron? In the Abrahamic currents, Satan is, first of all, the main antagonist of the heavenly forces and the Creator in particular. Even his name itself is translated from Hebrew as "resisting God." Common synonyms for Satan are:

• Devil.
• Lucifer.
• Sly.
• Beelzebub.

Representatives of the most common religions today - Christianity and Islam - consider Satan the main culprit of all human misfortunes, the personification of evil, pushing people onto the path of spiritual death. After Eve was seduced in paradise, this once beautiful angel was turned by the Creator into a vile snake, forced to crawl on his belly all his life.

background

So, Satanism is a movement or religion, whose representatives consider the enemy of God, the rebel Satan, to be their patron. The origin of this, today quite numerous movement, falls approximately at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the doctrine of Satanism cannot be considered completely new, of course. For example, the same humanistic revolution of the Renaissance can be presented not only as essentially anti-Christian, but even as an anti-religious movement. Apostle Paul's advice on achieving eternal life through spirituality, its adherents opposed the active assertion of the interests and rights of the flesh.

Existed in different centuries different countries and all sorts of occult and magical secret societies. Actually, Satanism itself did not exist, however, some Catholic priests in past centuries held black masses and other dark rituals. From the literature, for example, the sorceress-diabolist Frenchwoman La Voisin, who lived during the time of Louis XV, is known. This woman is credited with carrying out a huge number of dark rituals, including the sacrifice of babies, as well as many poisonings.

Aleister Crowley

Devilism flourished, thus, perhaps, all the time that Christianity existed. The history of modern Satanism began with Aleister Crowley. It is this person that many consider the ideological inspirer of the dark current. A. Crowley became famous primarily for the fact that he actively promoted this religion in the early twentieth century.

Modern Satanists do not like to advertise the fact that it was Crowley who "recreated" all sorts of supposedly ancient spells and rituals. Therefore, today the name of this occultist is quite thoroughly forgotten. Once he was considered "the great magician of the twentieth century." A. Cowley glorified himself not only with numerous sexual orgies using drugs and a loyal attitude towards National Socialism, but also with some scientific works.

The idea of ​​a superman

In addition to Aleister Crowley, the inspirer of modern Satanism is considered to be German philosopher, representative of irrationalism Friedrich Nischze. It is his idea of ​​the superman that in this current is the equivalent of an individual who is able to find for himself the main goal and meaning of life on his own.

Anton LaVey

Thus, Satanism is a dark movement, the ideological inspirers of which can be considered Aleister Crowley and Friedrich Nischze. The founder of the new Church of Satan in the last century was an American of French origin, Anton LaVey. It was this man who in the 60s formulated the main provisions of the new doctrine. Virtually all modern Satanists are members of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan.

Commandments of Satan

People who for some reason are interested in this religion would certainly like to know what the commandments of Satanism are. Of course, this religion has its own philosophy. There are only nine commandments of Satan. They look something like this:

• instead of abstinence, a person should indulge his instincts;
• instead of spiritual dreams, one should choose a full-fledged existence in the material world;
• enemies need to take revenge, and not turn the other cheek;
• instead of hypocritical self-deception, it is worth showing wisdom;
• mercy can be shown not to flatterers, but only to those who deserve it;
• you should behave responsibly only with responsible, and not with spiritual vampires;
• man is the animal most dangerous to all other animals;
• all sins, which Satan represents, do not lead to spiritual death, but to physical, emotional and mental satisfaction.

"Black Bible"

The main provisions of the dark teachings, including the commandments of Satan, were outlined by Anton LaVey in a book specially written for this. It is called "The Satanic Bible" and includes four main sections:

• "Book of Satan".
• "Book of Lucifer".
• "The Book of Belial".
• "The Book of Leviathan".

According to many representatives of the intelligentsia, The Satanic Bible is a completely consistent and rational work that can arouse interest primarily among adolescents and young people. Judging by this work, generally accepted ideas about this religion are often erroneous. After all, the ideology of Satanism is often presented as condoning irresponsible and cruel deeds. However, judging by the work "The Satanic Bible", such behavior is absolutely at odds with the foundations of the ethics of this teaching. At the forefront of LaVey's religion is, first of all, the independence of the individual. That is, for perfect deeds, a person must answer to himself, and not to God or the devil.

Actually, the Fallen Angel himself, according to the teachings of LaVey, is a symbol of freedom, rebellion against injustice, self-development. The status of the Church of Satan in our time is official. It is allowed in many countries of the world. In our country, the Russian Satanic Church was officially registered in May 2016.

The main symbols of Satanism

Initially, this religion was designated mainly only by inverted crucifixes. After the publication of the LaVey bible, the pentagram with the image of a goat (Baphomet) inside became the main symbol of Satanism. Of course, this pentacle was not invented by the founder of the Church himself. Most likely, its prototype is the symbol of the Goat of Mendes (the incarnation of Neter Amon). The latter was called by the Egyptian priests "hidden, abiding in things" and was considered a certain dark force pervading all of nature.

The inverted cross and Baphomet are thus the main symbols of Satanism. But, of course, they are far from the only ones. Includes religion and other signs. For example, three sixes are very common. They can be depicted as 666 itself, or as FFF (F is the sixth letter of the English alphabet).

Satanism as a religion: the gods

In essence, there are no gods as such in this movement, of course. The main patron of the flock in this case is actually Satan himself. Also, in their rituals, representatives of such movements can turn to various kinds of demons. In addition to Baphomet, the most popular include:

• Astaroth.
• Behemoth.
• Abaddon.
• Leviathan.
• Asmodeus.

These are, of course, not exactly the gods of Satanism. Demons in this religion are considered rather different faces of Lucifer himself. Sometimes representatives of this trend also use fictional dark characters in rituals. For example, LaVey's book Satanic Rituals describes a way to address Jehovah, of course, Satanists also believe. After all, Satan must resist someone.

rituals

The essence of Satanism lies, therefore, in the freedom of choice of a person and his independence from any Higher powers. Of course, in this religion there are not only symbols and philosophy. Carry out, as already mentioned, its representatives and all sorts of rituals.

According to A. LaVey, fantasy plays an important role in any religious activity. It can manifest itself to the maximum only when performing special ritual actions. Therefore, the founder of the Church of Satan developed several rites, which can be divided into two main categories:

• practical effective;
• ceremonial.

The magic of Satanism is usually based on turning to some kind of demons in order to achieve personal goals. LaVey and the well-known black mass are not considered ceremonial by Satanists. In their opinion, this is effective ritual, the main purpose of which is the liberation from the dogmas of the Christian church.

It is also believed that both men and women can perform satanic rites. Of course, when conducting rituals, their participants also use all kinds of symbols of Satanism - inverted stars, black candles, crosses, pentagrams.

Satanic "sins"

The main qualities that representatives of the LaVey movement should not possess are:

• stupidity;
• lack of breadth of views;
• ignorance of the experience of generations;
• herd conformism;
• unproductive pride;
• rudeness of nature, lack of a sense of aesthetic, noble;
• solipsism;
• tendency to self-deception;
• pretentiousness.

Satan and Lucifer - what's the difference?

For many people, these two characters are identical. However, historically there is a difference between Satan and Lucifer. The most important difference between these names is age. Lucifer is a much more ancient demon that appeared in mythology back in the pre-Christian era. For example, the Romans identified it with the morning star - Venus. From the ancient Greek name "Lucifer" is translated as "Bringer of light." Since ancient times, this demon has been a symbol of the desire for freedom, open rebellion. The same principles are professed by Satanism itself (photos of the rituals and symbols of this religion are presented on the page).

In the Christian understanding, Lucifer is actually a fallen angel who declared himself equal to God (in retaliation for the latter's love for people) and rebelled. As a result, he and the angels who joined him (a third of the entire composition) were cast into hell, where they remain to this day.

Satan, compared to Lucifer, appears to be a somewhat more mundane character. No wonder he is considered the Prince of Peace. Satan is first mentioned in the Torah, a Jewish religious book from which Christians and Muslims later drew information. Here Satan is presented, for the most part, simply as an accuser or witness to the bad deeds of man. Actually, in the personification of evil, the enemy of God, he was already transformed only in Christianity and Islam.

Baal Zebub

This ancient pagan god is also often identified with the concept we are considering (Satanism). The Devil and Beelzebub in some sources are identical characters. Historically, the latter is considered to be a transformation of the ancient eastern god Baal-Zevuv. And this deity, in turn, was once allegedly offered numerous sacrifices, including human ones. And put an end to this, of course, Christianity.

Reliable archaeological evidence that people were sacrificed in the temples of Baal, however, does not exist. Actually, this god transformed into Beelzebub back in the Middle Ages. In the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus, he is called the prince of the underworld, the supreme sovereign of the infernal empire. In some cases, in ancient sources, Beelzebub is identified with Satan, in others, he is considered his main assistant.

Lilith is the first woman

Of course, Satan, like almost any self-respecting god, also has a wife. In fact, he has four of them. However, the main one is Lilith, the first woman who escaped from paradise. According to the Alphabet of Ben-Sira, three angels were sent after her by the Creator. However, Lilith flatly refused to return to her husband. For such an offense, God punished her by killing 100 of her demon children every night.

In Jewish philosophy, Lilith is a winged monster that harms newborns. Jews believe that at night she kidnaps babies and drinks their blood or replaces them with demons. She does not touch, by agreement with the angels sent by God, only those children over whose bed her name is written.

In the Kabbalistic tradition, Lilith is a demon who appears to men, seduces, and then kills them. It is in the literature of this direction that she is first mentioned as the wife of Samael (Zohar).

In the modern satanic tradition, Lilith can be identified with many black goddesses - Kali, Hekate, Helya, etc. We can also talk about two Liliths - the eldest and the youngest. The first is actually the wife of Satan, and the second is the wife of the demon Asmodeus.

Other wives

In addition to Lilith, the spouses of Satan and the mothers of demons are also considered:

• Naama;
• Agrat;
• Looking for Zennunim.

There are other female demons in Satanism - Lamia, Mahkhalat, Elizaddra. Lilith differs from the rest in that she used to be mortal. Most of the other demons were cast down from heaven along with Lucifer. In the rituals carried out by representatives of this movement, among other things, such signs of Satanism as the "Black Moon" Lilith and Naama's lamen can be used.

Gentile opinion

Thus, for the Jews, Satan is a witness to the actions of man, a slanderer and accuser before God. For Christians, this character is the personification of evil, leading a person astray. What do pagans think about Satanism? Christians are known to dislike both of these religions. Indeed, in Satanism and paganism there is something in common - the rejection of God or gods as a force that must be worshiped in some way. Well, or on which you can shift the responsibility for your actions. However, many Satanists at the same time consider the Creator an enemy that Lucifer will defeat sooner or later. The pagans, of course, have a slightly different attitude towards the gods. Representatives of this religion consider them not some kind of Absolute that controls human life, but rather more powerful partners than people. Representatives of this religion do not consider any god an enemy.

The pagans do not deny the existence of Yahweh for the most part. However, many representatives of this religion consider him at the same time rather boring, spiteful and unbalanced. Some pagans equate Yahweh with the dark beginning - the devil, explaining this, among other things, by the similarity of the very names of these two characters.

Actually, Lucifer himself is sometimes identified by representatives of this religion with the god Wotan (Odin) or the Russian Veles. Also, sometimes Satan in this religion can be associated with Chernobog.

Satanism in Russia today

In our country, Satanism as a religion appeared in the time of the USSR. In Moscow, for example, the first such groups were noted in the 70s. In those days, however, they were very few in number. But gradually this religion gained popularity in the USSR, spreading to other cities and towns. In the 80s, quite large satanic societies already appeared in the country. In the 90s, being a follower of one of these groups also became very fashionable.

At the moment, Satanism in Russia is represented mainly by the religious society "Russian Church of Satan", whose members are followers of La Vey. Of course, there are other, in most cases, closed and secret currents of a similar orientation in the Russian Federation today. Of the most famous, the following can be distinguished: "Black Angel", "Southern Cross", "Green Order".

In general, the entire spectrum of adherents of the dark forces in Russia is divided into two main groups:

• the Satanists themselves;
• demon worshipers.

With some stretch, all kinds of practicing sorcerers and witches can be attributed to the adherents of Lucifer.

Christians on Satanism

The attitude of the members of the ROC towards the representatives of this trend, of course, in most cases is sharply negative. Christians are doing their best to bring this movement to naught. Moreover, they direct their religious anger not only on the Satanists themselves, but also on all movements that the ROC classifies as such, and even on representatives of culture. For example, in 2014, the pro-Satanic Polish band Behemoth had problems due to problems. The latter, on the initiative of Orthodox activists, was even expelled from Russia (officially for violating the visa regime).

Of course, Christian priests also express their opinion about this religion. For example, those who wish can read A. Kuraev's book "Satanism for the Intelligentsia". It is dedicated not only to this dark current itself. It also tells about other directions and movements that the Russian Orthodox Church ranks as Satanism.

Among such religions in the book “Satanism for the Intelligentsia”, Kuraev refers, for example, to the “Living Ethics” of the excommunicated Roerichs, paganism, occultism, Blavatsky’s theosophy, etc.

Light Satanism

There is such a movement in the world today. It is believed that light Satanism is primarily philosophical outlook based on common sense. At the forefront, representatives of this trend put their own mind and life experience accumulated in past years. The main god of light Satanism is Satanail. The light in this current symbolizes human consciousness, not obscured by any dogmas. After all, one of the names of Satan - Lucifer - literally means "Lightbringer".

Light Satanists, unlike ordinary ones, do not magical rituals. Representatives of this trend believe that they, being, in fact, crutches, they simply do not need. In very bad situations, when it is already impossible to do anything on your own, a bright Satanist can turn to Satanail for help. The main moral principle of this doctrine is the freedom to choose one's own path.

Little Known Facts

Actually, almost everyone knows about Satanism itself today. For the most part, people believe that representatives of this movement summon demons, hold a black mass, wear inverted crosses, from time to time make sacrifices to their dark god, etc. There are several little-known facts associated with this church that the reader may want to know about. to know:

In order to become a member of the Church of Satan LaVey, you need to make a rather large financial contribution. Once upon a time, this amount was only about $2. Today, due to inflation, this church can only be entered for $200.

Officially, the Church of Satan is categorically against any black magic. Its representatives do not practice "evil" rituals.

The biggest sinners in the eyes of Satanists are people who are deprived of intelligence.

Encyclopedia Satanica classifies 16 different groups as Satanism. Their ideology is very different. In the world today there are various satanic cults - from those dedicated to Cthulhu to gnostic esoteric ones.

Modern LaVey Satanism as a doctrine was formulated in the USA in the 1960s by Anton Szandor LaVey, who gathered around him the most different people and dedicated his life to creativity and the study of the peculiarities of human behavior. Its origins lie in the 1950s, when LaVey founded a community that he called the Trapezoid Order, which brought together people who explored the occult and practiced the totality of magic and LaVey's hedonistic egoistic philosophy.

Later, having accumulated enough material and experience, Anton LaVey came to the conclusion that in order to achieve some changes in the world, just one more philosophy is not enough, it is necessary to officially recognize a non-standard worldview as a religion, which he called Satanism. In 1966, LaVey founded the Church of Satan, and three years later, in 1969, he published The Satanic Bible, which describes the foundations of the Satanic worldview.

Lavey himself said: I don't have a philosophy. I have a creed. Satan is a manifestation of the dark sides of human nature. Satan is in each of us. The task is to know and reveal it. The satanic principle lies in people - the main and most powerful. They should be proud, not burdened. It must be cultivated, which we do in our temple with the help of various magic spells.»

LaVey himself stated in a 1986 interview with The Washington Post Magazine that “Satan is a symbol, nothing more. Satan symbolizes our love for everything earthly and the denial of the pale, incorporeal image of Christ on the cross. .

Lex talionis

Nine Satanic Commandments

In The Satanic Bible, LaVey lists 9 Satanic commandments of rules that anyone who considers himself a Satanist can follow:

1. Satan represents indulgence, not abstinence!
2. Satan personifies the essence of life instead of pipe spiritual dreams.
3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deception!
4. Satan represents mercy to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on flatterers!
5. Satan personifies revenge, and does not turn the other cheek after being hit!
6. Satan personifies responsibility to those responsible instead of participation in spiritual vampires.
7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those who walk on all fours; an animal that, due to its “divine, spiritual and intellectual development”, has become the most dangerous of all animals!
8. Satan represents all so-called sins as they lead to physical, mental and emotional fulfillment!
9. Satan was best friend church at all times, supporting its business all these years!

The eighth commandment also means that, unlike many conservative ideologies and religions, Satanism is tolerant (subject to the principle of responsibility to those responsible) in relation to, for example, homosexuality, bisexuality, fetishism and some other sexual practices that have long fallen under the category of taboo in western world. Obviously, this understanding of Satanism is significantly different from the everyday understanding of the "cult of evil." [ ]

Eleven Satanic Rules on Earth

In The Satanic Bible, LaVey lists 11 rules that anyone who considers himself a Satanist must follow:

1. Do not express your point of view and do not give advice unless you are asked to.
2. Do not talk about your troubles to others unless you are sure that they want to listen to you.
3. In a strange house, show respect and modesty, or do not appear there at all.
4. If a guest in your house annoys you, treat him cruelly and ruthlessly.
5. Don't attempt sexual intimacy unless you're receiving an invitation signal.
6. Do not take a thing that does not belong to you, unless it is a burden for its owner and he does not ask to be released from this burden.
7. Recognize the power of magic if it has been successfully used by you to achieve your goals. If you deny the power of magic after you have used it successfully, you will forfeit everything you have gained.
8. Do not express your dissatisfaction with something that has nothing to do with you.
9. Don't hurt small children.
10. Do not kill animals except for food and to protect yourself from their attacks.
11. Being on neutral territory, do not interfere with anyone. If someone is bothering you, ask them to stop. If he doesn't stop, punish him.

Nine Satanic "Sins"

LaVey Satanism and allegations of criminal activity

Satanic Temple on LaVey Satanism

LaVeyan Satanism has been criticized by secular activists from The Satanic Temple. The representative of this organization, Lucien Greaves, spoke of LaVey's teachings as an outdated version of Satanism, criticizing her for authoritarianism and hierarchy, lack of political lobbying, the presence of elements of social Darwinism and Nietzscheanism that are incompatible with game theory, mutual altruism and cognitive science. In addition, The Satanic Temple distances itself from the belief in the supernatural and the use of magic inherent in LaVeyan Satanism.

Satanism in Russia

Satanism in Kazakhstan

Satanism in Kyrgyzstan

Symbolism of Satanists

see also

Notes

1. "Navy approves first ever Satanist" // BBC News. - October 24, 2004. (English)
2. Vsevolod Drapkin In the EU, statanists are eager for power // Online edition Segodnya.ru
3. Lewis James R., Hammer Olav Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science. - Brill, 2010. - P. 93 ISBN 978-90-04-18791-7
4. , With. 182.
5. Walt Harrington Anton LaVey - America's Satanic Master of Devils, Magic, Music and Madness // The Washington Post Magazine, 02/23/1986
6. , With. 23.
7. Blanche Barton, Peggy Nadramia, Matt G. Paradise, Herbert Paulis. Church of Satan Commonly Asked Questions v.1.6 (indefinite) (2001). Retrieved 6 December 2019.
8. Lanning, Kenneth V. Satanic Ritual Abuse: A 1992 FBI Report(English) (unavailable link). Retrieved September 5, 2010. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012.
9. How does TST's Satanism differ from LaVeyan Satanism?
10. People perished. Satanism in Russia: An Attempt at Analysis. - M.: Publishing House of the Moscow Compound of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra, 2000
11. , With. 345.
12. , With. 42-44.
13. • Newspaper "Tazar" 18.05.2009
    • Religious situation in Kyrgyzstan // Nash Mir newspaper, 2008-10-14
14. 666: The number of the beast (and, gulp, today's date) Archived December 20, 2007 at the Wayback Machine // Independent, 06/06/2006

Satanist Literature

Books by A. S. LaVey

• The Satanic Bible (Avon, 1969, ISBN 0-380-01539-0)
• The Complete Witch, or, What to do When Virtue Fails (Dodd, Mead, 1971, ISBN 0-396-06266-0); republished as The Satanic Witch (Feral House, 1989, ISBN 0-922915-00-8); re-released with an introduction by Peggy Nadramia, and an afterword by Blanche Barton (2003, ISBN 0-922915-84-9).
• The Satanic Rituals (Avon, 1972, ISBN 0-380-01392-4)
• The Devil's Notebook (Feral House, 1992, ISBN 0-922915-11-3)
• Satan Speaks!, introduction by Blanche Barton, foreword by Marilyn Manson (Feral House, 1998, ISBN 0-922915-66-0)

In Russian

• LaVey A. Sh. The Satanic Bible. Moscow: Unholy Words, Inc. (RCS), 1996.
• LaVey A. Sh. The Devil's Notebook. Moscow: Unholy Words, Inc. (RCS), 1996.
• LaVey A. Sh. Satanic rituals. Moscow: Unholy Words, Inc. (RCS), 1997.

Books about A. S. LaVey

• Burton H. Wolfe. The Devil's Avenger: A Biography of Anton Szandor LaVey. - Pyramid Books, 1974. ISBN 0-515-03471-1 - Out of print. (Excerpts from the book (Russian))
• Blanche Barton. The Secret Life Of A Satanist: The Authorized Biography of Anton LaVey. - L.A.: Feral House, 1990, ISBN 0-922915-12-1
• Jack Fritscher. Popular Witchcraft: Straight from the Witch's Mouth; featuring Anton LaVey. - University of Wisconsin Press: Popular Press, 2004. ISBN 0-299-20300-X, hardcover, ISBN 0-299-20304-2, paperback.

In Russian

• Barton, Blanche. The Secret Life of a Satanist: The Authorized Biography of Anton LaVey. - M.: Ultra.Culture, 2004. ISBN 5-98042-046-0

Publications by P. Gilmore

• Peter Gilmore. Satanism // The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature. - L., NY.: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005. pp. 1483-1484. ISBN 1-84371-138-9
• Peter Gilmore.

Satanism- the worldview and religion officially practiced by the Church of Satan, the provisions of which were formulated in the 1960s by Anton Szandor LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible and founder of the Church of Satan. Satanism as a "new type of religion" (LaVey) is a modern movement with several thousand followers around the world.

Satan in Satanism is perceived as a positive symbol of the worldview - a symbol of freedom, self-development and selfishness (the so-called reasonable selfishness). According to LaVey, “Satan is a symbol, nothing more. Satan symbolizes our love for everything earthly and the denial of the pale, barren image of Christ on the cross.

Modern Satanism as a philosophy and a religion based on it was formulated in the USA in the 1960s by Anton Szandor LaVey, who gathered around him a wide variety of people and devoted his life to creativity and the study of human behavior. Its origins lie in the 1950s, when LaVey founded a community that he called the Trapezoid Order, which brought together people who explored the occult and practiced the combination of magic (like psychodrama) and LaVey's hedonistic egoistic philosophy. LaVey himself admitted that the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Ragnar the Redbeard, Nicolo Machiavelli, Ayn Rand, Jack London, biographies of such famous personalities as Vasily Zaharoff, Count Cagliostro and Grigory Rasputin influenced the formation of his worldview.

Later, having accumulated enough material and experience, Anton LaVey came to the conclusion that in order to achieve some changes in the world, just one more philosophy is not enough, it is necessary to officially recognize a non-standard worldview as a religion, which he called Satanism. In 1966, LaVey founded the Church of Satan, and three years later, in 1969, he published The Satanic Bible, which describes the foundations of the Satanic worldview.

Soon, Satanism becomes official and entered into the register of recognized religions by the US military (in connection with the request for a satanic funeral of a naval officer - a member of the Church of Satan), the first satanic baptisms, weddings and funerals are held, which aroused the interest of the press. In the autumn of 2004, the British Armed Forces officially register the first Satanist, thereby publicly recognizing the status of Satanism as one of the practiced religions in the world.

Satanic organizations

The Church of Satan is the oldest and largest satanic organization, estimated to number several thousand worldwide. The exact number of people who belong to this organization is unknown, since it does not provide information about its composition and does not require a public announcement of the fact of its membership. The headquarters of the Church of Satan is currently located in New York, and the post high priest occupied by Master Peter Gilmour.

In the mid-1970s, a former member of the Church of Satan, Michael Aquino, founded the Temple of Set, an organization with an ideology based on his own interpretation of ancient Egyptian myths, with a bias in mysticism. The members of the Temple of Set position themselves as "Setians", so strictly speaking it should not be called an organization practicing Satanism to any extent.

Anton LaVey's eldest daughter, Carla LaVey, founded a small organization in 1999 called the First Satanic Church, whose ideology is based on LaVey's philosophy. There are currently no other significant organizations practicing Satanism registered.

Historical use of the term

The term "Satanism" is found in literature, at the earliest, from the 16th century, but in a different meaning, which still contributes to confusion around its use. This term does not mean any philosophy or current, because it was used only as a derogatory word to refer to completely different heretical, from the point of view of the Catholic Church, teachings, as well as to accuse people of witchcraft and any other non-Christian activity by the Holy Inquisition. (Compare the use of the term "enemy of the people" in the USSR). There is no evidence that prior to the Church of Satan founded by A. S. LaVey in 1966, there was any other, older organization (or cult) of Satanists that declared their philosophy as Satanism.

The first mention of the term "Satanism"

Thomas Harding's Refutation of the Book of the Apology of the Church of England (1565), which deals with the teachings of Martin Luther, is considered the oldest document to contain the word "Satanism":

Meaning the time when Luther first brought to Germanie the poisoned cuppe of his heresies, blasphemies, and Satanisms

It should be noted that Martin Luther never connected his philosophy with Satan and did not declare his interest in this topic. The term "Satanism" is used by Harding as a pejorative term for a doctrine opposed to canonical Christianity.

"Satanism" of the 19th century

The theme of witchcraft, witches, blasphemy and the mythical black mass attracted the attention of some French writers of the 19th century, which served as material for the artistic interpretation of "Satanism" and the activities of "Satanists". One of the most famous examples of such a description can be considered the novel Down There by Charles Huysmans (1891). Such works did not advance further than fiction, they lack any clear definition of "Satanism" (the authors refer to the latter as "heterodox" - that is, blasphemous and heretical), and the phenomena described in them should probably be attributed to devil worship, demonism and decadence. "Satanism" of the 19th century is more a myth than a reality.

Philosophy of Satanism

The principles of Satanism can be summarized as follows:

• indulgence of instincts instead of abstinence;
• full existence instead of spiritual dreams;
• the desire for knowledge instead of self-deception;
• rewarding others for their merits instead of loving the ungrateful;
• vengeance instead of turning the cheek;
• responsibility for their actions and their consequences;
• integral consideration of a person without denying his animal component.

Fundamental individualism

Often mistakenly labeled as an ideology condoning cruelty and irresponsible behavior, Satanism is contrary to the basic principles of Satanic ethics, including the principle of accountability for those responsible. The central idea in Satanism, inherited from Nietzsche, is that the individual must, by his own efforts, find the purpose and meaning of life for himself and overcome the conformity of the masses. The Satanist is seen as equivalent to Nietzsche's "superman".

Anton LaVey believed that "Satanists are born, not made", and that Satanists "suffer from a disease called independence, which should be as recognized as alcoholism." Satanism contains an element of libertarianism: social diversity, disclosure of one's own sexuality, personal development and setting one's goals in life are encouraged. Because of this emphasis on individuality, Satanism is considered a "Left Hand Path" philosophy.

Satanism and God

Satanism is seen as an antagonist to the so-called "life-denying" religions (that is, religions oriented mainly to an afterlife with the rejection of earthly goods). Satanists do not believe in the Judeo-Christian concept of God, and most of them are atheists and agnostics. In Satanism, each individual individual - the Satanist - is metaphorically recognized as his own god or goddess. Usually Satanists are very skeptical about various "divine revelations" of other religions.

Lex talionis

Another important element of the satanic worldview is the principle known as the "Law of Retribution" (lat. Lex talionis) (in the Bible, for example, formulated as "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"), which consists in "treating others so how they treat you." LaVey disagreed with the Christian Golden Rule, which required a person to "treat others the way he wants people to treat him", considering it to be psychologically harmful. According to LaVey, love, compassion and sympathy should be given only to those who deserve it, and not wasted on the ungrateful, as this is energetically more economical and reasonable; “If you ‘treat people as you want them to treat you’, and they treat you badly, it will be against human nature to continue to treat them with respect. You can do to others as you want them to do to you, but if your kindness goes unrequited, they will need to be treated with the hatred they deserve.

The Nine Foundations of Satanism

1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!
2. Satan represents living being instead of spiritual illusions!
3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deception!
4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on flatterers!
5. Satan represents revenge instead of turning the other cheek!
6. Satan presents responsibility to the responsible instead of caring for psychic vampires!
7. Satan represents man as just another animal, which is sometimes better, often much worse than those that walk on all fours, which, due to its "excellent development of spirituality and intellect", has become the most vicious animal of all!
8. Satan represents all so-called sins as long as they bring physical, mental or emotional satisfaction!
9. Satan has been the Church's best friend because He has kept her busy all these years!

The eighth commandment also means that Satanism, unlike many conservative ideologies and religions, is tolerant (subject to the principle of responsibility for those responsible) in relation to, for example, homosexuality, bisexuality, fetishism and some other sexual practices that have long fallen under the category of taboo in western world. Obviously, this understanding of Satanism is significantly different from the everyday understanding of the "cult of evil."

Nine Satanic Sins

The main "sins", that is, qualities that a Satanist is not recommended to possess, are:

1. Stupidity (the worst sin in Satanism).

2. Pretentiousness.

3. Solipsism.

4. Self-deception.

5. Herd conformism.

6. Lack of breadth of views.

7. Ignorance of the experience of generations.

8. Counterproductive pride.

9. Lack of a sense of aesthetic.

Speculation around Satanism. satanic panic

Many media outlets and Christian organizations continue to spread incorrect information about Satanism, presenting it mainly as an "evil cult" with "devil worship" and "murder of unbaptized babies." Data on such crimes are often unverifiable and therefore may be false or at least highly distorted. Vandalism of cemeteries, ritual killings of people, kidnapping of babies, etc. are not an element of the practice of Satanism and have nothing to do with it. Moreover, the Church of Satan insists on the legal activity of all its members and immediately revokes membership of those who are seen in the commission of criminal activity.

Pseudo-Satanism

A number of young people who are fond of heavy rock music (such directions as black, death, alternative metal, etc.) can talk about their interest in Satanism. However, they are usually limited to external paraphernalia, and subsequently the interests of such individuals often change dramatically. This phenomenon is called pseudo-Satanism.

Among people who are not Satanists, but often confused with them, there are also socially dangerous elements, either suffering from mental disorders, obsessive and manic states, or simply committing illegal acts without a deep reason, or worshiping the Devil. These people have no real relation to Satanism as a worldview.

In the 1980s, Satanists and the Church of Satan came under fire from mainly televangelists who claimed that there was an extensive network of Satanists in the United States, numbering up to several million, engaged in illegal activities (murders, rapes, kidnappings, etc.). ). This phenomenon is called "Satanic Panic". The FBI investigation showed the falsity of such accusations. Despite this, some "yellow" publications, including in Russia, continue to spread disinformation, intentionally or unintentionally.

Satanism and nationalism. Andrey Bortsov

Warrax - Andrey Bortsov - is the owner of the Black Fire Pandemonium website with a rich collection of philosophical, journalistic and literary materials. He became famous in 1997-98 thanks to his Black Fire Pandemonium website, where he was one of the first to post an electronic copy of Anton Szandor LaVey's The Satanic Bible in Russian, and subsequently - thanks to his articles, in a harsh and sarcastic manner, criticizing communities and individuals to whom Bortsov felt antipathy (Christians in general and Orthodox in particular, "pseudo-Satanists", supporters of the Holocaust theory, national and sexual minorities, liberals, etc.). Andrey Bortsov has recently also been known for his commitment to nationalism.

The issue of nationalism should be clarified separately: adherence to nationalism characterizes exclusively Warrax and his supporters, which led to the appearance of the ironic term "National Satanism"; in Andrei Bortsov's own words, Satanism and nationalism belong to different cognitive fields. According to the foundations of the philosophy of Satanism, formulated by Anton Szandor LaVey, a person is considered solely by his individual qualities, while adherence to ideologies like nationalism is one of the main qualities of the “human herd”. According to some critics, Satanism is not at all compatible with nationalism or any other mass and dogma-based ideology; This issue is one of the controversial ones and its detailed consideration is already beyond the scope of the review article.

Satanism in Russia

Officially in the territory Russian Federation and the CIS countries there are no registered satanic organizations. However, according to the RSA, in Russia, Ukraine and some other countries there are several private groups - associations of individuals who are members of the Church of Satan, or who independently practice Satanism. The information of some media about the diversity of satanic organizations in the territory of the former Soviet Union, in view of the extremely low degree of data verification, cannot be considered valid.

Anton Szandor LaVey is the man the press called the "Black Pope". LaVey brought Satanism out of the underground and was the first to officially use the term "church" for the organization he created. He is the author of a number of books, among which the most popular are three: The Satanic Rituals, The Complete Witch, and his most famous work, The Satanic Bible. For many Christians, LaVey and his famous book The Satanic Bible are symbols of Satanism. Many people in different countries of the world consider him their idol, many curse him. For a long time, the spiritual legacy of this man, thanks to the Iron Curtain, did not reach Russia, now the situation is different, for many of our compatriots the issue of spiritual self-determination is acute, and LaVey, as an alternative to Christianity, is considered quite seriously. This article is intended primarily for them, as well as for all those who are interested in this topic. Who was LaVey? Why does he have so many followers? Is it possible to trust his works and build your spiritual life on them? We will try to answer these and other questions in this work. The main object of analysis will be the "Satanic Bible", about which we will say a few words before moving on to LaVey's biography.

The Satanic Bible was written in 1969 in the United States, published by Avon Books the same year, and has been reprinted several times since. The main text remained the same, changes were made to the thanks section, the introduction was changed several times. The introduction for an early edition of The Satanic Bible was written by Barton Wolfe, which was dropped in subsequent editions and replaced by an introduction written by Peter Gilmour. When writing the article, a version with a preface by Barton Wolfe was used. Unfortunately, the author could not find a printed copy of The Satanic Bible, so I had to turn to the Internet. Comparing a number of versions of The Satanic Bible posted on different sites, the author came to the conclusion that the main differences are in the presence or absence of Wolfe's preface, as well as in the quality of the translation. Apparently, several translations were made, differing in details, while the semantic meaning of the book does not actually change. The titles of the chapters, depending on the translation, may sound a little different, but are still recognizable. The Satanic Bible is divided into four sections: The Book of Satan, The Book of Lucifer, The Book of Belial, and The Book of Leviathan. The author decided not to mention these titles in the footnotes, since, in his opinion, the title of the chapter is enough to search for a quote in the book. Considering that finding the "Satanic Bible" in Russian on the Internet is no problem (in the author's opinion, there are even too many of them!), The author did not indicate any specific resources on which it is posted. Anyone can find this book without difficulty, of course, if he still has the desire to read it after reading this article.

To begin with, let's get acquainted with the biography of LaVey, in the version as it is presented by his followers. This biography is set out in the book of his disciple and priest of the "Church of Satan" Barton Wolfe "The Devil's Avenger" (Burton H. Wolfe. The Devil's Avenger, 1974), and in the book of LaVey's personal secretary and mistress Blanche Barton "The Secret Life of a Satanist" (Blanche Barton Secret Life of a Satanist, 1990). So, Anton Shandor LaVey was born on April 11, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, in the family of a liquor dealer. Among his ancestors were Georgians, Romanians, Alsatians. Grandmother LaVey was of gypsy blood and from childhood told LaVey stories about vampires and sorcerers. From a young age, LaVey became interested in mystical literature. In 1942, when LaVey was 12 years old, he became interested in military affairs, and he became interested in literature with a military theme. While at school, LaVey spent a lot of time studying the occult. At the age of 10 he learned to play the piano on his own, at 15 he became the second oboist in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In his senior year, LaVey leaves school, allegedly because he is bored with the school curriculum. He leaves the house and joins Clyde Beatty's circus as a cage worker. At the circus, LaVey feeds the tigers and lions. Beatty's trainer, noticing that LaVey has no fear of predators, makes him his assistant. One day, a circus staff member gets drunk before a performance and LaVey fills in for him. The management of the circus after this incident leaves him the place of a musician and fires his predecessor. At 18, LaVey leaves the circus and joins the carnival, where he becomes a magician's assistant and masters hypnosis. In 1951, at the age of twenty-one, LaVey marries. After marrying, LaVey leaves the carnival and enters the Department of Criminology at the City College of San Francisco. It is interesting to note that LaVey's followers claim that at this time he becomes Marilyn Monroe's lover for a short period of time. He then takes a position as a photographer with the San Francisco Police Department. According to his biographers, there he encounters manifestations of violence and asks himself: how can God allow the existence of evil? In search of an answer to this question, LaVey plunges headlong into the occult, and on the last April night of 1966 (Walpurgis Night), he, in accordance with magical tradition, shaves his head and announces the creation of the "church of Satan." In order to identify himself as a minister of this "church", he begins to wear a pastor's collar and a black suit. In the early years of the “church,” LaVey divided his time between performing satanic rites (which he himself had created) and studying the occult. After his "church" got stronger, he wrote his famous books. His biographers state that LaVey was a consultant for a number of horror films, and even acted as an actor. All his life, LaVey was accompanied by scandals, he was invariably one of the favorite characters of the secular press. On October 31, 1997, during Halloween, Lavey dies. Now let's get acquainted with the teaching that LaVey bequeathed to his students.

Let's start with a list of the nine Satanic commandments with which LaVey begins his book. The author will quote these commandments without any comments.

1. Satan represents indulgence, not abstinence!

2. Satan personifies the essence of life instead of pipe spiritual dreams.

3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deception!

4. Satan represents mercy to those who deserve it, instead of love spent on flatterers!

5. Satan personifies revenge, and does not turn the other cheek after being hit!

6. Satan represents responsibility for those responsible instead of involvement with spiritual vampires.

7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those who walk on all fours; an animal that, due to its “divine, spiritual and intellectual development”, has become the most dangerous of all animals!

8. Satan represents all so-called sins as they lead to physical, mental and emotional fulfillment!

9. Satan has been the Church's best friend of all time, supporting her business all these years!

LaVey was a Satanist. Who or what was Satan to him? As Lavey wrote: “Most Satanists do not accept Satan as an anthropomorphic being with cloven hooves, a tassel tail and horns. He simply personifies the forces of nature - the Forces of Darkness, so named only because no religion has bothered to take these forces from darkness. Science has also failed to apply technical terminology to these forces. They are like a vessel without a tap, which very few people have used, since not everyone has the ability to use the tool without first taking it apart and giving names to all the parts that make it work. As you can see, for LaVey, Satan is natural force, inherently impersonal. LaVey believed that Satan was given the role of an evil character only because he personified the carnal, bodily aspects of human life. Satan, as a personal force, the angel of darkness, was invented by the leaders of Christians in order to rule over them, intimidating them with his existence. It is interesting to note that LaVey denied the idea of ​​his followers "selling their souls" to Satan, in his opinion, this statement is also a myth that Christian leaders invented in order to control their flock by telling "tales" about Satanism.

What is LaVey's idea of ​​God? Lavey wrote: “A very popular misconception is the notion that a Satanist does not believe in God. The concepts of "God" as interpreted by man have changed so much over the centuries that the Satanist simply accepts the one that suits him best. According to LaVey, people invent gods. Therefore, for “Satanist…, “God”, whatever name he may be called, or even not named at all, is seen as a kind of balancing factor of nature, and has nothing to do with suffering. It is a powerful force that permeates and balances the entire universe, too impersonal to care about the happiness or misfortune of the flesh and blood creatures that live on a ball of mud that is our home. The doctrine of God in the "Satanic Bible" is very vague, but apparently, it is close to the theosophists' views on this issue: God, as some kind of impersonal energy, poured into the Cosmos. For everything that happens in the world, only people and the forces of "action and reaction of the Universe" are responsible.

In LaVey's teaching there is neither hell nor heaven; everything that a person has, he has “here and now”. LaVey denied the law of reincarnation. In particular, he wrote: “If there is nothing in this life in which a person could express his dignity, he delights in the thought of “lives ahead.” It never occurs to a believer in reincarnation that if his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. created "good karma" by their adherence to the same beliefs and ethics as his own - why then does he live in deprivation and not as a maharajah? Belief in reincarnation provides a wonderful fantasy world in which one can find a suitable way to express one's ego while claiming to dissolve it." Belief in reincarnation, according to LaVey, is simply self-deception. However, it cannot be argued that LaVey's teaching completely denies life after death. LaVey believes that it is possible to live after death, although he does not develop this part of his teaching, only slightly touching on this issue. In particular, he wrote: “Satanism…encourages its worshipers to develop a good, strong egos that give them the self-respect they need for a vital existence in this life. If a person has been satisfied with life during his existence and fought to the end for his earthly existence, nothing but his ego will refuse to die, even after the extinction of the flesh that contained it ... ". LaVey denied death as a spiritual awakening in new life. Expanding on his teaching on the subject, he wrote: “Death in many religions is presented as a great spiritual awakening (of course, for those who have prepared for the afterlife). This concept is very attractive to those whose lives do not satisfy them, but to those who have known all the joys that life has to offer, death is seen as some great and terrible cataclysm, fear of the highest authority. That's the way it should be. And it is the thirst for life that allows a carnal person to continue life after the inevitable death of his bodily shell.

What is Satanism in LaVey's view? As he wrote: “Satanism is an overtly selfish, merciless philosophy. It is based on the belief that human beings are naturally selfish and cruel, that life is Darwinian natural selection, a struggle for survival in which the fittest win, that the Earth will go to those who fight to win in the relentless competition that exists in any jungle, including an urbanized society". Satanism is a kind of "controlled selfishness" and is based on "natural human instincts". His main goal is to satisfy these "natural instincts" of a Satanist. Satanism, in essence, is a form of hedonism addicted to nihilism. Lavey wrote: “Satanism approves of the actions of its followers when they give vent to their natural desires. Only in this way can you become a completely satisfied person without disappointments that can harm you and others. This phrase contains the most simplistic description of the meaning of the Satanic faith." One of the main goals of Satanism is material success. In the "church" of LaVey, there are even special rituals that contribute to material well-being.

Should a Satanist do only evil? It should be noted that LaVey rejects the Christian concept of good and evil. There are only "natural instincts" in his doctrine, and good and evil are fantasies of "weak" people whom he calls "masochists". Therefore, a Satanist does not have to do evil or good without fail, he just does what he wants without worrying too much about the degree of morality or immorality of his actions. As Lavey wrote: “Satanism is not a white light religion; this religion is carnal, worldly, bodily - everything that Satan rules is the personification of the Left Path. … Satanism is the only known to the world a religion that accepts a person as he really is, and offers a rationale for turning bad into good, instead of contriving to destroy the bad. The logical consequence of this philosophy is the acceptance of the norm of what is considered sin in Christianity. Lavey wrote: “Christian faith defines seven deadly sins: greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust and laziness. Satanism, on the other hand, advocates indulging each of them if it leads to physical, spiritual and emotional satisfaction. Sin is natural for LaVey, he wrote: “Satan never needed a set of rules, since the natural life forces supported man “in sin”, with the aim of self-preservation of man and his feelings” .

How should we treat our neighbors according to The Satanic Bible? LaVey wrote about rewarding others: “Satanism adheres to an altered form of the Golden Rule. Our interpretation of it is: "Repay others what they have repaid to you", because if "You repay everyone as they would repay you" and they, in return, treat you badly, it is contrary to human nature to continue to treat them with respect. You could repay others as if they repaid you, but if your courtesy has not been returned, they should be treated with the fury they deserve.

Lavey rejected the Christian idea of ​​repentance. In particular, he wrote: “When a Satanist does something wrong, he realizes that it is only natural to make mistakes - and if he is truly sorry for what he did, he will learn from it and not do the same again. If, however, he sincerely does not repent of what he has done, and knows that he will continue to do the same again and again, he has no need to confess and pray for forgiveness. According to LaVey, there is no point in repentance if a person knows that he will continue to sin. The maximum that a Satanist can repent of is committing a mistake, and then, on condition that he wants it.

Love for LaVey is just an emotion. Much in his book, he paid attention to sexual freedom. In particular, he wrote: “Satanism promotes sexual freedom, but only in the true sense of these words. Free love, in the Satanic sense, can mean the freedom to do just that - whether to be faithful to one person or to give free rein to your sexual passions with as many people as you think is necessary to satisfy your individual needs. In his teaching, there is no hard line for everyone to indulge in orgies, rather, he encourages his students in the sexual field to do what they like. Lavey continues: “Satanism does not condone the orgiastic activities or extramarital affairs of those for whom it is not a natural inclination. For too many it would be unnatural and detrimental to be unfaithful to one's chosen ones. For others, sexual attachment to one person would be a disappointment. Everyone must decide for himself what form of sexual activity best suits his individual needs. … Satanism tolerates any form of sexual activity that properly satisfies your needs, be it heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or even asexual, as you choose. Satanism also favors any fetish or deviance that enhances or enriches your sexual performance…” . The only restriction in sex, according to LaVey: sex should not harm others. You can engage in any sexual perversion, if your partner agrees to it. At the same time, according to LaVey, a real Satanist is no more concerned with sex than with any other of his desires.

How did LaVey feel about sacrifices? It should be noted here that the author of the article, before writing it, spent a lot of time getting acquainted with various satanic forums and websites, from which he learned that satanism is not a single, integral movement, rather it is a set of different groups that often have different views on one and the same questions. Undoubtedly, there are Satanists who resort to bloody sacrifices(at least on the forums they discuss this practice), most often animals, although, apparently, there are also killings of people, at least the author did not find any special prohibitions on this in their ideology. But as for LaVey, he was ambivalent about the practice of sacrifice. On the one hand, he denied it: "Under no circumstances will a Satanist sacrifice an animal or a child!" On the other hand, he argued that “symbolically, the victim is destroyed through a hex or curse, which in turn results in the physical, spiritual, or emotional destruction of the “victim” in ways that cannot then be attributed to the wizard. The Satanist makes a human sacrifice only when it can serve two purposes at once: to free the wizard from evil in the form of a curse, and, more importantly, to get rid of a very disgusting and deserving individual ... you have every right to (symbolically ) destroy them, and if your curse leads to real destruction, take comfort in the thought that you served as an instrument in ridding the world of the pest (who is the pest, the Satanist decides at will. - V.P.)! If someone interferes with your success or happiness, you do not owe him anything! He deserves the fate of being crushed under the heel! . The purpose of the sacrificial ritual (for those who perform it), according to LaVey, is to release the energy stored in the blood of the murdered victim. At the same time, the main thing in this rite is not so much in the shedding of blood, but in the torment of the victim before death. Perhaps Lavey did not practice animal sacrifice, and even more so people, but he did not deny the possibility of killing magical methods any person whom the Satanist considers his enemy.

How did LaVey feel about the black mass? He believed that it was a literary fiction. Since it was necessary to use candles made from the fat of unbaptized children in the black mass, the priests, in his opinion, used this "myth" in order to frighten "poor" mothers and push them to baptize their children, and thus enriched the Church. Lavey wrote: “There is an opinion that the Satanic ceremony or service is always called the Black Mass. The Black Mass is NOT a ceremony practiced by Satanists, the only use a Satanist would have for it is as a psychodrama. Going further, it should be noted that the Black Mass does not necessarily imply that all participants are Satanists. At its core, the Black Mass is a parody of the religious service of the Roman Catholic Church, but can also be loosely translated into a satire of any other religious ceremony.

The main satanic holidays are Walpurgis Night (the night of the first of May) and Halloween (the eve of All Saints' Day, October 31), as well as the Satanist's birthday. Lavey wrote: “The Satanist thinks: “Why not be honest with yourself, and if God is created in my image and likeness, why not consider yourself this god?” Every person is a god if he considers himself to be one. So the Satanist celebrates his birthday as the most important holiday of the year."

Magic occupies a special place in LaVey's teachings. He defines magic as: "Changing Situations and Events According to Man's Will, Impossible with Conventional Methods". Lavey does not divide magic into white and black, believing that the purpose of magic is to achieve power and satisfy personal desires. In particular, he writes: “He who pretends to be interested in magic or the occult for reasons other than the pursuit of personal power is the worst example of bigotry and hypocrisy…. It is usually considered that white magic used only for good and unselfish purposes, and black, we are told, only for self-centered or "evil" deeds. Satanism draws no dividing line. Magic is magic, whether used to help or hinder. The Satanist, being a magician, should be able to decide for himself what is right, and then apply the powers of magic to achieve his goal. At the same time, LaVey rated most of the works on magic that were common in modern society. He wrote: “… with a few exceptions, all treatises and books, all “secret” grimoires, all “great works” on the subject of magic are nothing more than sanctimonious fraud, sinful muttering and esoteric gibberish of chroniclers of magical knowledge, unable or unwilling to provide an objective point perspective on this issue. Writer after writer, trying to signify the principles of "white and black magic", succeeded only in such a clouding of the object of consideration that a person who independently studies magic spends his studies stupidly standing in a pentagram waiting for the appearance of a demon, shuffling a deck of cards to predict the future, losing cards have their own meaning, and attending seminars that guarantee only the flattening of his ego (and along with his wallet); and, as a result, exposes himself as a complete idiot in the eyes of those who have known the truth! .

Which of the leaders of Satanism that preceded him did LaVey sympathize with? He believed that the rituals created by the famous Satanist Aleister Crowley were closest to him in spirit. But Lavey also found a number of shortcomings in him: “In addition to charming poetry, mountaineering and a smattering of some magical knick-knacks, Crowley's life was an example of posturing and trying to appear worse than he really was. Like his contemporary, the Reverend (?) Montagu Summers, Crowley no doubt spent his life with his tongue pressed to his cheek, but today's followers of Crowley manage to read the esoteric meaning in his every word. In fact, Lavey considered himself the pinnacle of Satanism, which, however, is not surprising given the egocentrism that underlies all his teachings.

As noted above, Satanism is made up of many groups that may have significant differences in their teachings and practices. LaVey is by no means a generally recognized authority among Satanists, many of them are critical of him. Therefore, it would be appropriate to say a few words about the criticism that they subjected to LaVey, although this criticism does not have the character of a “theological” polemic.

At the very beginning of the article, outlining the biography of LaVey, we mentioned that it does not quite correspond to historical facts. Let's turn to her critics. Studies of his biography were carried out, which resulted in the writing of the following works: Alfred Knopf "Saints and Sinners" (Knopf, A. " Saints and sinners», New York, 1993) and Michael Aquino "Church of Satan"Aquino, M. « The church of Satan», San Francisco: Temple of set, 1983). The author wants to acquaint readers with some conclusions of these studies.

First of all, according to Lavey's relatives, his grandmother was not a gypsy, but a Ukrainian. At the age of fifteen, LaVey did not play in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, since in 1945 such an orchestra simply did not exist. In 1947, LaVey did not run away from home and join the circus, his relatives and the ledgers of Clyde Beatty's circus testified to this. Marilyn Monroe was also never LaVey's mistress. Moreover, she never worked as a stripper at the club where LaVey allegedly met her. Paul Valentine, the owner of the Mayan Burlesque Theatre, testified to this. LaVey never worked as a photographer for the San Francisco Police Department. At least the archives of this institution do not have any information about him. It is a myth, and the story that on Walpurgis Night in 1966, Lavey announced the creation of the "church of Satan." In reality, during this time, LaVey was moonlighting by lecturing on the occult, which brought a very small income, and the future publisher of his books, Edward Weber, recommended that he create his own "church" in order to attract the attention of journalists. So in the summer of 1966, in announcements of his lectures, LaVey first began to call himself a "priest of the church of Satan." It is also a myth that LaVey was the technical consultant on Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" and played the role of the devil in it. In reality, according to the producers of this film, William Castle and Gene Gutowski, there were no "technical consultants" in the film. Moreover, Polanski and Lavey never knew each other. And the role of the devil in the film was played by an unknown young dancer. What did LaVey have to do with Rosemary's Baby anyway? In 1968, at the premiere of this film in San Francisco, the administration of the theater in which it was to be shown turned to LaVey with a request to advertise it, which LaVey did. Now about LaVey's famous book, The Satanic Bible. In the late sixties of the twentieth century in America there was a great interest in Satanism, and the publishing house Avon Books suggested that LaVey write a book on this topic. An agreement was signed, but LaVey did not have time to write a book by the deadlines stipulated in the agreement, and then he resorted to plagiarism. In his The Satanic Bible, there are borrowings from the following books: Ragnar Redbeard, Might is Right, Port Townsend: Loompanics (reprint), 1896, Aleister Crowley Equinox (Equinox), Ein Rand, Atlas Shrugged. LaVey died not on October 31, 1997 on Halloween, as his followers claim, but on October 29, this is stated in death certificate No. 380278667, signed by Dr. Giles Miller.

Now let's look at how LaVey felt about religions. First of all, he believed that “Religions must be questioned. No moral dogma should be taken for granted, no rule of judgment should be deified. IN moral codes there is no original holiness." And this position is not surprising, given that he believed that "man has always created gods, not they him"; “All religions of a spiritual nature are invented by man. With nothing more than his carnal brain, he created a whole system of gods. Man has an ego, his hidden "I" and, only because he is unable to come to terms with it, he is forced to isolate it outside himself in some great spiritual creature called "God". In fact, LaVey denied all world religions, considering only his own to be true. In particular, he wrote: “Eastern mystical beliefs taught people to touch their navels with their heads, stand on their heads, stare at empty walls, avoid labels in Everyday life and limit yourself in every desire for material pleasures. However, I'm sure you've seen plenty of so-called yogis with the same inability to quit smoking as everyone else, or "elevated" Buddhists, who become just as aroused as a "less distracted" person when they meet with a person of the opposite, and in some situations, of the same sex. However, when asked to explain the reason for their hypocrisy, these people retreat into the ambiguity that characterizes their faith - no one can condemn them without receiving direct answers. A simple fact in its essence - this type of people, turning to a faith that professes abstinence, comes to indulgence. Their forced masochism is the reason for choosing a religion that not only advocates self-denial, but encourages it and, moreover, gives them a consecrated way to express their masochistic needs. The more abuse they can tolerate, the "holier" they become. All religious people, with the exception of Satanists, for LaVey are masochists. Moreover, martyrdom for the faith, when people accept death in the name of devotion to God and unwillingness to betray Him, is also declared by LaVey to be a form of masochism. He wrote: "... to give one's own life for something not personal, such as a political or religious belief, is nothing but the highest manifestation of masochism." Whether LaVey classified his beliefs as "personal" or not is open to question. Would he be able to die for his faith, or would he cast it aside if necessary? However, if religion is perceived as a business project, then it is really stupid to die for such a religion.

Considering that in Russia, the main opponent of Satanism is Christianity, it would be appropriate to pay attention to the question of LaVey's attitude towards Christianity. Special attention. Reading the "Satanic Bible", the author of the article was amazed at how you can distort and slander him. However, it is quite possible that this is due not only to LaVey's desire to belittle Christianity, but also to the elementary ignorance of the author of The Satanic Bible in this matter. In any case, the author will not only try to describe the main accusations made by LaVey against Christians, but also dare to give them his own assessment, and also to find out how well these accusations are valid. So how did LaVey feel about Christianity?

It is not difficult to guess that LaVey did not like Christianity. In his book The Satanic Bible, speaking about Christianity, he uses a technique that was actively used by militant atheists in the former Soviet Union, the essence of which is to profane Christianity, to present it in a grotesque form that has little in common with reality. Considering that the majority of LaVey's followers in our country have a vague idea of ​​Christianity (mostly young people), this technique works well. However, the war with "windmills" has always been a popular pastime for those who criticized Christianity. At least the author of the article, studying sectarian literature, is constantly faced with the situation of active struggle of various sectarian ideologists with their own invented "Christianity". As for LaVey, he, first of all, considered Christians to be hypocrites. In particular, when he “worked” (did he work?) as a musician, then, according to his testimony: “... I saw men devouring the eyes of half-naked dancers at the carnival, and on Sunday morning, when I played the organ at the tent evangelists at the other end of the carnival, I saw the same men on the benches with their wives and children, and these men asked God to forgive them and cleanse from carnal desires. And the next Saturday evening, they were again at the carnival or elsewhere (I wonder if LaVey was at the carnival and at the “other place” at the same time? - V.P.), indulging their desires. Even then I knew that Christian church thrived on hypocrisy as well human nature found a way out, despite all the tricks with which the white-light religions burned and cleaned it out. It should be noted that hypocrisy is condemned, first of all, by Christians themselves. Many examples of his condemnation can be found in Holy Scripture(See: Matt. 6:2; 6:16; 15:7-9; Mark 12:15, etc.) . The apostle Paul wrote about human weakness: “For I do not understand what I am doing: because I do not what I want, but what I hate, I do” (Rom. 7:15). So LaVey did not discover anything new, and the fact that a person is weak is well known to Christians. If a person is weak, wouldn't it be wise to offer him a path in which he will become stronger? The path of struggle with passions is very difficult, and not everyone reaches its heights. But there are people who are at least trying to do it, and these are Christians. And there are people who “go with the flow” of their passions, considering themselves to be some kind of chosen ones. In fact, LaVey's philosophy is the philosophy of weak people. Any more or less significant achievement in this life requires work. Knowledge is given through work, achievements in sports also require work. Working on yourself is also work. LaVey, in fact, invites his followers to "go with the flow" of their passions. The path of LaVey is the path of a slave of passions. The path that turns a person into an animal, into a biological machine. However, this is not surprising, because for LaVey a person is just an “animal”. But where is freedom here? What is the strength and pride of Satanists here? That they satisfy animal instincts? Well, cows also live by “natural needs”, instincts, that's why they are cows. So the path of Satanism is the path of weak people who lack the strength to curb their own instincts, and who try to justify their weakness through the ideology set forth in books like LaVey's Satanic Bible.

The Satanic Bible states that: “… the churches based their teaching on the worship of the spirit and the denial of the flesh and the intellect. He (LaVey. - V.P.) realized the need for a church that would again raise the human mind and its carnal desires to the rank of objects of worship. I want to note that this statement is a lie. If LaVey had studied the Bible more carefully, he would have learned that it teaches otherwise, in particular it says: "When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul, then prudence will protect you, reason will protect you in order to save you from the path of evil, from man, telling a lie» (Proverbs 2:10-12). Moreover, Christianity denies blind faith, the apostle Paul called on everyone to test and hold on to what is good (1 Thess. 5:21). And the denial of the flesh is not characteristic of Christians, but of the Manichaeans, with whom Christianity fought. The Manicheans considered matter to be an evil principle, which they fought, in particular, through the mortification of the flesh. Christians, on the contrary, rejected such ideas as the assertion that matter can be evil. What kind of matter is evil, if God has clothed himself in it? Matter was created by God, but God did not create anything evil (Gen. 1:31). The goal of ascetic practice in Christianity is not to fight the flesh for the sake of its destruction, that would be suicide, an unforgivable sin, but to curb passions, to control the flesh, which is far from the same thing.

LaVey claimed that “... Catholics believe that Protestants are doomed to perish in hell just because they do not belong to the Catholic Church. Likewise, many schismatic groups Christian faith, such as, for example, evangelical ... churches believe that Catholics are pagans who worship idols. Do Roman Catholics believe that Protestants will "perish in hell"? Satanists will have to be disappointed. The Roman Catholic Church considers Martin Luther (the founder of Protestantism) a heretic who was excommunicated, but does not believe that the fault of the fathers lies with the children. A person brought up in Protestantism is not responsible for Luther's personal guilt, and therefore will not burn in hell just because he was not born among Roman Catholics! So that the author’s statement does not sound unfounded, let the Roman Catholics themselves express their attitude towards the Protestants: “... those who believe in Christ and have received actual baptism are in some, albeit incomplete, communion with the Catholic Church ... justified by faith in baptism, they are united with Christ and, therefore, rightfully bear the name of Christians, and the sons of the Catholic Church their brothers in the Lord. ... Also many of our brothers, separated from us, perform sacred rites Christian religion which, in various ways, according to the various positions of each Church or Community, without any doubt, can really give rise to a life of grace and it must be recognized that they are capable of opening access to fellowship in salvation. Now, regarding Protestants, do they consider Roman Catholics to be pagans? Considering that Protestantism is a very vague trend, we will talk about classical Protestants, Lutherans. Martin Luther was a very emotional person and allowed himself to speak very harshly about the Pope. Undoubtedly, this does not do him credit. In his letters, he even called him "antichrist". Although, as an excuse, it can be noted that at that time any controversy rarely did without swearing (such were the morals). In addition, as already mentioned above, Martin Luther was a very impulsive person, which could not but be reflected in the books and letters he wrote. As for the attitude of the Lutherans to the Roman Catholic Church, I want to upset the Satanists again, they do not consider Her pagan. However, let us give the floor to the Lutherans themselves: "Luther, who threw thunder and lightning into his contemporary catholic church- "Roman harlot", never even thought that the baptism performed on him in this very church was not valid and required repetition. And subsequently, the Lutherans never, under any circumstances, allowed a second baptism. which would be impossible in principle if they considered Roman Catholics to be pagans.

LaVey did not like the Christian Sacrament of Repentance either. In particular, he wrote: “... even if a person has lived his life without following the laws of his faith, he can send for a priest in his last hour and perform his last repentance on his deathbed. A priest or a preacher will immediately come running and “settle” with God the issue of a pass to the Kingdom of Heaven ... ". Indeed, Christianity bears witness to a God of Love, a God who is merciful. God is not a judge who is subject to formal legislation and has no power over it, He is the Legislator! At the same time, He puts mercy above the law of formal justice. This is evident from the parable of the vinedressers (Matthew 20:1-15). God does not look at what kind of recompense should be given to a person for his deed, but at what a person is. He judges not by form, but by human essence. As for the Sacrament of Repentance, it is again presented in LaVey's work in a perverted form. There is no repentance magical rite, as a result of which sins are automatically removed from a person, and he goes to heaven. The teachers are distorting the Christian doctrine in this way. At least, the Orthodox Church does not perceive this Sacrament in this way. The Sacrament of Repentance is much deeper than just a magical act, to which LaVey is accustomed. A Christian does not repent before a priest, but first of all before God, the priest is only a witness. It should also be noted that it is not the priest who forgives sins, but God. The priest only asks God for their forgiveness, but if God sees that there is no sincere repentance (and repentance is, first of all, a change of mind, an inner readiness to completely eliminate sin from one’s life), that a person has not changed internally, then there is no automatic removal of sins happens, and a person will not go to any paradise, no matter how many rites of confession he formally goes through.

LaVey also understood “original sin” in a very peculiar way. In particular, he wrote: “In order to insure the process of reproduction of mankind, nature has made lust the second most powerful instinct after self-preservation. Realizing this, the Christian church nevertheless made fornication an "original sin." Thus, it turns out that no one can escape sin. After all, the very fact of our existence is the result of sin - Original Sin. It should be noted that LaVey's statement is sheer nonsense. Unfortunately, there are no footnotes in his work and it is not clear whether he himself invented what he wrote about Christians, or picked up some sectarian literature, which is in abundance in America. In any case, as far as the author knows, neither Orthodox, nor Roman Catholics, nor Protestants (at least Lutherans) equate "original sin" with sex. Sex itself is not a sin, moreover, God blesses it in marriage (Gen. 1:28). Fornication is the betrayal of a loved one. A fornicator deprives himself of the fullness of spiritual unity (Matt. 19:6) with a loved one, and thereby cuts off the possibility of his spiritual growth, embarks on the path of degradation. In Christianity, the family is small church Just as Jesus Christ is one with His Church, so the husband and wife should be one with each other. This unity spiritually replenishes the spouses, transfers them to a new spiritual quality, which is lost through fornication. But again, fornication and "original sin" are not the same thing, rather, fornication is a consequence of "original sin", but by no means an identical concept. As for the “original sin” itself, it consists in renunciation of God, in the desire to become “gods” without God by illegal magical means, in the desire to achieve this without spending any effort, and, above all, moral labor. The “original sin” manifests itself in people as a tendency to do sinful deeds. A vivid manifestation of "original sin" is the ideology of LaVey, in which, as he himself admitted, the main thing is not sex, but service to one's ego. So the problem of “original sin is not in sex, but in the relationship of man with God.

Interestingly understands Lavey and the Christian doctrine of an afterlife existence. He wrote: “Since the natural instincts of man lead him into sin, all people are sinners; and sinners go to hell. If we all go to hell, we will meet our friends there. Paradise, on the other hand, must be inhabited by very strange creatures, if all for which they led a righteous life on earth was to get to a place where they could spend all eternity strum the harps(highlighted by us. - V.P.) ". It should be noted that the "natural instincts" of a person cannot lead to either heaven or hell. The presence or absence of sinful aspirations leads there, i.e. "unnatural instincts". Sin is a renunciation of God, this is just an unnatural desire, and now it will really have a strong impact on the posthumous fate of all people. But Christians do not plan to “strum on harps”, and they don’t even imagine devils with frying pans in hell. Paradise is a state of being with God, but this is not a kind of sleep or a state of complete inactivity, or even more so “strumming harps”, no, on the contrary, it is an endless growth in the spirit through the knowledge of God, through personal communication with Him. As for hell, hell is a place devoid of light, a place where there is no God (although such a place is even possible!). In any case, hell is a place where God, by His grace, allows those who want to live without Him to live, to make this dream come true. Hell is a place where a person does not know peace, where he is tormented by unsatisfied passions, which LaVey so recommends to indulge. Passion can be satisfied as long as there is a body, there is no body - there is no satisfaction, but passion with death physical body does not disappear. The hell that LaVey's disciples will fall into lies within themselves, although they don't realize it. In general, Christianity does not set itself the goal of drawing a map of heaven or hell, it pays more attention to issues of moral perfection. And how it will be, we will find out when we get there.