Bible verse by verse

[_LeVay]

Do I detect a sock puppet here?

Indeed you do. Little Nipper is my sock puppet. Has been from day one.

[_ludwigm]

I was not attempting to promote the book but recognizing that it does have something which influences a lot of people. I would myself prefer to keep a distance between my heart and that book.

Yes.
Bible, Quran, Book of Mormon have some influence... and I am keeping the distance, too. From all of that types.

Just for conversation does the book read differently in a location relatively close to historic geographic conflict lines than the way it might read here an ocean away? I might confess to enough reservations about its quality to admit to having doubts about the proposal that Islam is a religion of peace. I can believe some people would hope it to be....

Decades ago - when the Iron Curtain used to function - we have traveled in Yugoslavia. It was a country huddled together by the WWII winners. Today, it is 5 (6? 7?) different state. Then, we have felt the imaginary boundaries between islamic and christian/godless areas.
Islam people were courteous and complaisant - Yugo was a tourist paradise - but held the distance.


off?

I spent a little while trying to imagine the use for an accusative noun, or any sort of noun declension. Perhaps its easier if one is born to it.

It is simple.
"The dog has bitten the postman." The postman is the object of the verb "bite". The accusative is defined by the position, after the verb. In English, You can not begin the sentence with the postman...
dog = kutya
bite = harap
postman = postás
"A kutya megharapta a postást." --- the translation of the sentence above.
"Megharapta a kutya a postást." "Megharapta a postást a kutya." --- similar meaning. The "-t" suffix marks the object, we can sort the subject, verb and object by importance. In these cases the most important is the action.

"A postást harapta meg a kutya". By stressing the postman (first element of the sentence!) the exact meaning is "The postman is who was bitten by the dog. (and not another person, like the milkman a week before...)

[Guest]

Judges 8:1-35 The tribal leaders of Ephraim were very angry with Gideon. They wanted to know why didn’t he send for them when they first went out to fight the Midianites. Gideon replied, “God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army of Midian! What have I done in comparison with that? Your actions at the end of the battle were more important than ours at the beginning!” So they calmed down.

Gideon then crossed the Jordan River with his 300 men. They were very tired, but still chased the enemy. He asked the men of Succoth for food --- weary from chasing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. The leaders of Succoth replied, “You haven’t caught them yet! If we feed you and you fail, they’ll return and destroy us.” Gideon warned them, “When the Lord has delivered them to us, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briars of the wilderness.”

So he went up to Penuel and asked for food there, but got the same answer--- and he said to them also, “When this is all over, I will return and break down this tower.”

By this time King Zebah and King Zalmunna with a remnant of 15,000 troops were in Karkor. That was all that was left of the allied armies of the east; for 120,000 had already died. The Gideon circled around by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, striking at the Midianite army in surprise raids. The two kings fled, but Gideon chased and captured them, routing their entire force. Later, Gideon returned by way of the Heres Pass. He captured a young fellow from Succoth and demanded that he write down the names of all the seventy-seven political and religious leaders of the city.

He then returned to Succoth. “You taunted me that I would never catch King Zebah and King Zalmunna, and you refused to give us food when we were tired and hungry,” he said. “Well, here they are!” Then he took the leaders of the city and scraped them to death with wild thorns and briars. He also went to Penuel and knocked down the city tower and killed the entire male population.

Then Gideon asked King Zebah and King Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Tabor—what were they like?” They replied, “They were dressed just like you—like sons of kings!” “They must have been my brothers!” Gideon exclaimed. “I swear that if you hadn’t killed them I wouldn’t kill you.” Then, turning to Jether, his oldest son, he instructed him to kill them. But the boy was only a lad and was afraid to. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “You do it; we’d rather be killed by a man!” So Gideon killed them and took the ornaments from their camels’ necks.

Now the men of Israel wanted Gideon to be king. He and his sons and descendants would be our rulers, for they have saved Israel from Midian. Gideon replied that he didn't want to be king, nor shall his son. The Lord is the King! However, Gideon had one request. He wanted all the earrings collected from the fallen troops of Midian, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings. They gladly spread out a sheet for everyone to throw in the gold earrings he had gathered. This equaled a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold. A value estimated at $25,000, not including the crescents and pendants, or the royal clothing of the kings, or the chains around the camels’ necks. Gideon made an ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But all Israel soon began bowing to it, so it became an evil deed that Gideon and his family did.

This is the true account of how Midian was subdued by Israel. Midian never recovered, and the land was at peace for 40 years—all during Gideon’s lifetime. He returned home and eventually had 70 sons, for he married a lot of wives. He also had a concubine in Shechem, who presented him with a son named Abimelech. Gideon finally died, a very old man, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father, Joash, in Ophrah, in the land of the Abiezrites. But as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis began to worship the idols Baal and Baal-berith. They no longer considered the Lord as their God, though he had rescued them from all their enemies on every side. Nor did they show any kindness to the family of Gideon despite all he had done for them.


Young's Literal Translation (YLT)


1 And the men of Ephraim say unto him, `What [is] this thing thou hast done to us -- not to call for us when thou didst go to fight with Midian?' and they strive with him severely;

2 and he saith unto them, `What have I done now like you? are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer?

3 Into your hand hath God given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what have I been able to do like you?' Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing.

4 And Gideon cometh in unto the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who [are] with him -- wearied, and pursuing,

5 and he saith to the men of Succoth, `Give, I pray you, cakes of bread to the people who [are] at my feet, for they [are] wearied, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna kings of Midian.'

6 And the heads of Succoth say, `Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we give to thy host bread?'

7 And Gideon saith, `Therefore -- in Jehovah's giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand -- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.'

8 And he goeth up thence [to] Penuel, and speaketh unto them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered.

9 And he speaketh also to the men of Penuel, saying, `In my turning back in peace, I break down this tower.'

10 And Zebah and Zalmunna [are] in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who are left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those falling [are] a hundred and twenty thousand men, drawing sword.

11 And Gideon goeth up the way of those who tabernacle in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smiteth the camp, and the camp was confident;

12 and Zebab and Zalmunna flee, and he pursueth after them, and captureth the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and all the camp he hath caused to tremble.

13 And Gideon son of Joash turneth back from the battle, at the going up of the sun,

14 and captureth a young man of the men of Succoth, and asketh him, and he describeth unto him the heads of Succoth, and its elders -- seventy and seven men.

15 And he cometh in unto the men of Succoth, and saith, `Lo Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye reproached me, saying, Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we give to thy men who [are] wearied bread?'

16 And he taketh the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness, and the threshing instruments, and teacheth by them the men of Succoth,

17 and the tower of Penuel he hath broken down, and slayeth the men of the city.

18 And he saith unto Zebah and unto Zalmunna, `How -- the men whom ye slew in Tabor?' and they say, `As thou -- so they, one -- as the form of the king's sons.'

19 And he saith, `My brethren -- sons of my mother -- they; Jehovah liveth, if ye had kept them alive -- I had not slain you.'

20 And he saith to Jether his first-born, `Rise, slay them;' and the young man hath not drawn his sword, for he hath been afraid, for he [is] yet a youth.

21 And Zebah saith -- also Zalmunna -- `Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man -- his might;' and Gideon riseth, and slayeth Zebah and Zalmunna, and taketh their round ornaments which [are] on the necks of their camels.

22 And the men of Israel say unto Gideon, `Rule over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, for thou hast saved us from the hand of Midian.'

23 And Gideon saith unto them, `I do not rule over you, nor doth my son rule over you; Jehovah doth rule over you.'

24 And Gideon saith unto them, `Let me ask of you a petition, and give ye to me each the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they [are] Ishmaelites.'

25 And they say, `We certainly give;' and they spread out the garment, and cast thither each the ring of his prey;

26 and the weight of the rings of gold which he asked is a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, apart from the round ornaments, and the drops, and the purple garments, which [are] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains which [are] on the necks of their camels,

27 and Gideon maketh it into an ephod, and setteth it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go a-whoring after it there, and it is to Gideon and to his house for a snare.

28 And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land resteth forty years in the days of Gideon.

29 And Jerubbaal son of Joash goeth and dwelleth in his own house,

30 and to Gideon there have been seventy sons, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives;

31 and his concubine, who [is] in Shechem, hath born to him -- even she -- a son, and he appointeth his name Abimelech.

32 And Gideon son of Joash dieth, in a good old age, and is buried in the burying-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrite.

33 And it cometh to pass, when Gideon [is] dead, that the sons of Israel turn back and go a-whoring after the Baalim, and set over them Baal-Berith for a god;

34 and the sons of Israel have not remembered Jehovah their God, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their enemies round about,

35 neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubbaal -- Gideon -- according to all the good which he did with Israel.

[_LeVay]

HAIL SATAN!

INTRODUCTION TO THE Satanic Bible by Burton H. Wolfe, as printed in the "underground edition" of 1976:

On a winter's evening in 1967, I drove crosstown in San Fransisco to hear Anton Szandor LaVey lecture at an open meeting of the Sexual Freedom League. I was attracted by newspaper articles describing him as "the Black Pope" of a Satanic church in which baptism, wedding, and funeral ceremonies were dedicated to the Devil. I was a free-lance magazine writer, and I felt there might be a story in LaVey and his contemporary pagans; for the Devil has always made "good copy", as they say on the city desk.

It was not the practice of the black arts itself t hat I considered to be the story, because that is nothing new in the world. There were Devil-worshipping sects and voodoo cults before there were Christians. In eighteenth-century England a Hell-Fire Club, with connections to the American colonies through Benjamin Franklin, gained some brief notoriet y. During the early part of t he twentieth century, the press publicized Aleister Crowley as the "wickedest man in the world". And there were hints in the 1920s and '30s of a "black order" in Germany. To this seemingly old story LaVey and his organization of contemporary Faustians offered two strikingly new chapters. First, they blasphemously represented themselves as a "church", a term previously confined to the branches of Christianit y, instead of the traditional coven of Satanism and witchcraft lore. Second, they practiced their black magic openly instead of underground. Rather than arrange a preliminary interview with LaVey for discussion of his heretical innovations, my usual first step in research, I decided to watch and listen to him as an unidentified member of an audience. He was described in some newspapers as a former circus and carnival lion tamer and trickster now representing himself as the Devil's representative on earth, and I wanted to determine first whether he was a true Satanist, a prankster, or a quack. I had already met people in the limelight of the occult business; in fact, Jeane Dixon was my landlady and I had a chance to write about her before Ruth Montgomery did. But I had considered all the occultists phonies, hypocrites, or quacks, and I would never spend five minutes writing about their various forms of hocus-pocus.

All the occultists I had met or heard of were white-lighters: alleged seers, prophesiers, and witches wrapping their supposedly mystic powers around God-based, spiritual communication. LaVey, seeming to laugh at them if not spit on them in contempt, emerged from bet ween the lines of newspaper stories as a black magician basing his work on the dark side of nature and the carnal side of humanity. There seemed to be nothing spiritual about his "church". As I listened to LaVey talk that first time, I realized at once there was nothing to connect him with the occult business. He could not even be described as metaphysical. The brutally frank talk he delivered was pragmatic, relativistic, and above all rational. It was unorthodox, to be sure: a blast at established religious worship, repression of humanity's carnal nature, phony pretense at piety in the course of an existence based on dog-eat-dog material pursuits. It was also full o f sardonic satire on human folly. But most important of all, the talk was logical. It was not quack magic that LaVey offered his audience. It was common sense philosophy based on the realities of life.

After I became convinced of LaVey's sincerity, I had to convince him that I intended to do some serious research instead of adding to the accumulation of hack articles dealing with the Church of Satan as a new type of freak show. I boned up on Satanism, discussed its history and rationale with LaVey, and attended some midnight rituals in the famous Victorian manse once used as Church of Sat an headquarters. Out of all that I produced a serious article, only to find that was not what the publishers of "respectable" magazines wanted. They were interested in only the freak show kind of article. Finally, it was a so-called "girlie" or "man's" magazine, Knight of Sept ember 1968, that published the first definitive article on LaVey, the Church of Sat an, and LaVey's synthesis of t he old Devil legends and black magic lore into the modern philosophy and practice of Satanism that all followers and imitators now use as their model, their guide, and even their Bible. My magazine article was the beginning, not the end (as it has been with my other writing subjects), of a long and intimate association. Out of it came my biography of LaVey, The Devil's Avenger, published by Pryamid in 1974. After the book was published, I became a card-carrying member and, subsequently, a priest of t he Church of Satan, a title I now proudly share with many celebrated persons. The postmidnight philosophical discussions I began with LaVey in 1967 continue today, a decade later, supplemented sometimes these days by a nifty witch or some of our own music, him on organ and me on drums, in a bizarre cabaret populated by superrealistic humanoids of LaVey's creation.

All of LaVey's background seemed to prepare him for his role. He is the descendant of Georgian, Roumanian, and Alsatian grandparents, including a gypsy grandmother who passed on to him the legends of vampires and witches in her native Transylvania. As early as the age of five, LaVey was reading Weird-Tales magazines and books such as Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula . Though he was different from other children, they appointed him as leader in marches and maneuvers in mock military orders.

In 1942, when LaVey was twelve, his fascination with toy soldiers led to concern over World War II. He delved into military manuals and discovered arsenals for the equipment of armies and navies could be bought like groceries in a supermarket and used to conquer nations. The idea took shape in his head that contrary t o what the Christian Bible said, the earth would not be inhereted by the meek, but by the mighty.

In high school LaVey became something of an offbeat child prodigy. Reserving his most serious studies for outside the school, he delved into music, metaphysics, and secrets of t he occult. At fifteen, he became second oboist in the San Fransisco Ballet Symphony Orchestra. Bored with high school classes, LaVey dropped out in his Junior year, left home, and joined the Clyde Beatty Circus as a cage boy, watering and feeding the lions and tigers. Animal trainer Beatty noticed that LaVey was comfortable working with the big cats and made him an assistant trainer. Possessed since childhood by a passion for the arts, for culture, LaVey was not content merely with the excitement of training jungle beasts and working with them in the ring as a fill-in for Beatty. By age ten he had taught himself to play the piano by ear. This came in handy when the circus calliope player became drunk before a performance and was unable to go on; LaVey volunteered to replace him, confident he could handle the unfamiliar organ keyboard well enough to provide the necessary background music. It turned out he knew more music and played better than the regular calliopist , so Beatty cashiered the drunk and installed LaVey at the instrument. He accompanied the "Human Cannonball", Hugo Zachinni, and the Wallendas' high-wire acts, among others.

When LaVey was eighteen he left the circus and joined a carnival. There he became assistant to a magician, learned hypnosis, and studied more about the occult. It was a curious combination. On the one side he was working in an atmosphere of life at its rawest level - of earthy music; the smell of wild animals and sawdust; acts in which a second of missed timing meant accident or death; performances that demanded youth and strength, and shed those who grew old like last year's clothes; a world of physical excitement that had magical attractions. On the other side, he was working with magic in the dark side of the human brain. Perhaps the strange combination influenced the way he began to view humanity as he played organ for carnival sideshows. "On Saturday night , " LaVey recalled in one of our long talks, "I would see men lusting after half-naked girls dancing at the carnival, and on Sunday morning when I was playing organ for tent-show evaneglists at the other end of t he carnival lot , I would see these same men sitting in the pews with their wives and children, asking God to forgive them and purge them of carnal desires. And the next Saturday night they'd be back at the carnival or some other place of indulgence. I knew then that the Christian church thrives on hypocrisy, and that man's carnal nature will out no matter how much it is purged or scourged by any white-light religion." Though LaVey did not realize it then, he was on his way toward formulating a religion that would serve as the antithesis of Christianity and its Judaic heritage. It was an old religion, older than Christianity or Judaism. But it had never been formalized, arranged into a body of thought and ritual. That was to become LaVey's role in twentieth-century civilization. After LaVey became a married man himself in 1951, at age twenty-one, he abandoned the wondrous world of the carnival t o settle into a career better suited for homemaking. He had been enrolled as a criminology major at the City College of San Fransisco. That led to his first conformist job, photographer for the San Fransisco Police Department. As it worked out, that job had as much to do as any other with his development of Satanism as a way of life. "I saw the bloodiest, grimiest side of human nature," LaVey recounted in a session dealing with his past life. "People shot by nuts, knifed by their friends; little kids splattered in the gutter by hit -and-run drivers. It was disgusting and depressing. I asked myself: 'Where is God?' I came to detest the sanctimonious attitude of people toward violence, always saying 'it's God's will'." So he quit in disgust after three years of being a crime photographer and returned to playing organ, this time in nightclubs and theaters to earn a living while he continued his studies into his life's passion: the black arts. Once a week he held classes on arcane topics: hauntings, E.S.P., dreams, vampires, werewolves, divination, ceremonial magic, etc. They attracted many people who were, or have since become, well known in the arts and sciences, and the business world. Eventually a "Magic Circle" evolved from this group.

The major purpose of t he Circle was to meet for the performance of magical rituals LaVey had discovered or devised. He had accumulated a library o f works that descibed the Black Mass and other infamous ceremonies conducted by groups such as the Knights Templar in fourteenth-century France, the Hell-Fire club and the Golden Dawn in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England. The intent of so me of these secret orders was to blaspheme, lampoon the Christian church, and address themselves to the Devil as an anthropomorphic deity that represented the reverse of God. In LaVey's view, the Devil was not that, but rather a dark, hidden force in nature responsible for the workings of earthly affairs, a force for which neither science nor religion had any explanation. LaVey's Satan is "the spirit of progress, the inspirer of all great movements that contribute to the development of civilization and the advancement of mankind. He is the spirit of revolt that leads to freedom, the embodiment of all heresies that liberate." On the last night of April 1966 - Walpurgisnacht, the most import ant festival in the lore of magic and witchcraft - LaVey ritualistically shaved his head in accordance with magical tradition and announced the formation of the Church of Satan. For proper identification as its minister, he put on the clerical collar. Up to that collar he looked almost holy. But his Genghis Khan-like shaven head, his Mephistophelian beard, and his narrow eyes gave him t he necessary demonic look for his priesthood of the Devil's church on earth.

"For one thing," LaVey explained himself, "calling it a church enabled me to follow the magic formula of one part outrage to nine parts social respectability that is needed for success. But the main purpose was to gather a group of like-minded individuals together for the use of t heir combined energies in calling up the dark force in nature that is called Satan." As LaVey point ed out, all other churches are based on worship of the spirit and denial of the flesh and the intellect. He saw the need for a church that would recapture man's mind and carnal desires as objects of celebration. Rational self-interest would be encouraged and a healthy ego championed.

He began to realize that the old concept of a Black Mass to satirize Christian services was outmoded or, as he put it, "beating a dead horse". In the Church of Satan, LaVey initiat ed some exhilarating psychodramas, in lieu of Christianity's self-debasing services, thereby exorcising repressions and inhibitations fostered by white-light religions.

There was a revolution in the Christian church itself against orthodox rites and traditions. It had become popular to declare that "God is dead". So, the alternative rites that LaVey worked out, while still maintaining some of the trappings of ancient ceremonies, were changed from a negative mockery to positive forms of celebrations and purges: Satanic weddings consecrating the joys of the flesh, funerals devoid of sanctimonious platitudes, lust rituals to help individuals attain their sex desires, destruction rituals to enable members of the Satanic church to triumph over enemies. On special occasions such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals in the name of the Devil, press coverage, though unsolicited, was phenominal. By 1967 the newspapers that were sending reporters to write about the Church of Satan extended from San Fransisco across the Pacific to Tokyo and across the Atlantic to Paris. A photo of a nude woman, half covered by a leopard skin, serving as an altar to Satan in a LaVey-conceived wedding ceremony, was transmitted by major wire services to daily newspapers everywhere: and it showed up on the front page of such bulwarks of t he media as the Los Angeles Times . As the result of t he publicity, grottos (LaVey's counterpart to covens) affiliated with the Church of Sat an spread throughout the world, proving one of LaVey's cardinal messages: the Devil is alive and highly popular with a great many people. Of course LaVey point ed out to anyone who would listen that the Devil to him and his followers was not the stereotyped fellow cloaked in red garb, with horns, tail and pitchfork, but rather the dark forces in nature that human beings are just beginning to fathom. How did LaVey square that explanation with his own appearance at times in black cowl wit h horns? He replied: "People need ritual, with symbols such as those you find in baseball games or church services or wars, as vehicles for expending emotions they can't release or even understand on their own." Nevertheless, LaVey himself soon tired of the games.

There were setbacks. First, some of LaVey's neighbors began complaining about the full-growm lion he was keeping as a house pet, and eventually the big cat was donated to the local zoo. Next, one of LaVey's most devoted witches, Jayne Mansfield, died under a curse he had placed on the head of her suitor, lawyer Sam Brody, for a variety of reasons I have explained in The Devil's Avenger; LaVey had persistently warned her away from Brody and felt depressed over her death. It was the second tragic death in the sixties of a Hollywood sex symbol with whom he had been intimately involved; the other was Marilyn Monroe, LaVey's paramour for a brief but crucial period in 1948 when he had quit the carnival and was playing organ for strippers around the Los Angeles area.

On top of all t hat , LaVey was tired of organizing entertainments and purges for his church members. He had gotten in touch with the last living remnants of t he prewar occult fraternities of Europe, was busily acquiring their philosophies and secret rituals left over from the pre-Hitler era, and needed time to study, write and work out new principles. He had long been experimenting with and applying the principles of geometric spacial concepts in what he terms "The Law of the Trapezoid". (He scoffs at current faddists who are "barking up the wrong pyramids". ) He was also becoming widely sought as speaker, guest on radio and television programs, and production and/or technical adviser to scores of television producers and moviemakers turning out Satanic chillers. Sometimes he was also an actor. As sociologist Clinton R. Sanders points out: "...no occultist has had as direct an impact upon formulaic cinematic presentations of Satanism as has Anton Szandor LaVey. Ritual and esoteric symbolism are central elements in LaVey's church and the films in which he has had a hand contain detailed portrayals of Satanic rites and are filled with traditional occult symbols. The emphasis upon ritual in the Church of Satan is 'intended to focus the emotional powers within each individual'. Similarly, the ornate ritualism that is central to LaVey's films may reasonably be seen as a mechanism to involve and focus the emotional experience of the cinema audience."

At last LaVey decided to transfer rituals and other organized activities to Church of Satan grottos around the world, and devote himself to writing, lecturing, teaching - and to his family: wife Diane, the blonde beauty who serves as High Priestess of the Church; raven-haired daughter Karla, now in her early twent ies, a criminology major like her father before, spending much of her time lecturing on Satanism at universities in many parts of the country; and finally Zeena, remembered by people who saw the famous photo of the Satanic Church baptism as a tiny tot , but now a gorgeously developed teenager attracting a growing pack of wolves, human male variety. Out of LaVey's relatively quiescent period came his widely read, pioneering books: First, The Satanic Bible, which at this writing is in its twelfth edition (and this is my second, revised introduction, after having written the original introduction to the first edition). Second, The Satanic Rituals, which covers more of the somber, complex material LaVey unearthed from his increasing sources. And third, The Compleat Witch, a bestseller in Italy, but, sadly, allowed by its American publisher to go out of print with its potential unfulfilled. LaVey's spreading out from organized church activities to writing books for worldwide distribution has, of course, greatly expanded Church of Sat an membership. Satanism's growing popularity has naturally been accompanied by scare stories from religious groups complaining that The Satanic Bible now outsells the Christian Bible on college campuses and is a leading causative factor in youngsters' turning away fro m God. And certainly one suspects that Pope Paul had LaVey in mind when he issued his worldwide proclamation two years ago that the Devil is "alive" and "a person", a living, fire-breathing character spreading evil over the earth. LaVey, maintaining that "evil" is "live" spelled backward and should be indulged in and enjoyed, answers the pope and the religious scare groups this way:

"People, organizations, nations are making millions of dollars off us. What would they do without us? Without the Church of Satan, they wouldn't have anybody to rage at and to take the blame for all the rotten things happening in the world. If they really feel t his way, they shouldn't have blown us out of pro portion. What you really have to believe instead is that they are the charlatans, and they're really glad to have us around so they can exploit us. We're an extremely valuable commodity. We've helped business, lift ed up the economy, and some of t he millions of dollars we have generated have in turn flowed into the Christian church. We have proved many times over the Ninth Satanic Statement that says the church - and countless individuals - cannot exist without the Devil."

For that the Christian church must pay a price. The events that LaVey predicted in the first edition of The Satanic Bible have come to pass. Repressed people have burst their bonds. Sex has exploded, the collective libido has been released, in movies and literature, on the streets, and in the home. People are dancing topless and bottomless. Nuns have throwm off t heir traditional habits, exposed their legs, and danced the "Missa Solemnis Rock" that LaVey thought he was conjuring up as a prank. There is a ceaseless universal quest for entertainment, gourmet foods and wines, adventure, enjoyment of the here and now. Humanity is no longer willing to wait for any afterlife that promises to reward the clean, pure - translate: ascetic, drab - spirit. There is a mood of neopaganism and hedonism, and from it there have emerged a wide variety o f brilliant individuals - doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, writers, stockbrokers, real est at e developers, actors and actresses, mass communications media people (to cite a few categories of Satanists) -who are interested in formalizing and perpetuating this all-pervading religion and way of life. It is not an easy religion to adopt in a society ruled so long by Puritanethics. There is no false altruism o r mandatory love-thy-neighbor concept in this religion. Satanism is a blatantly selfish, brutal philosophy. It is based on the belief t hat human beings are inherently selfish, violent creatures, that life is a Darwinian struggle for survival of the fittest, that only the strong survive and the earth will be ruled by those who fight to win the ceaseless competition that exists in all jungles - including those of urbanized society. Abhor this brutal out look if you will; it is based, as it has been for centuries, on real conditions that exist in the world we inhabit rather than the mystical lands of milk and honey depicted in the Christian Bible. In The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey has explained the philosophy of Satanism more profoundly than any of his ancestors in the Kingdom of Darkness, while describing in detail the innovative rituals and trappings he has devised to create a church of realists. It has been clear from t he first edition that many people want to read this book to learn how to start Satanic groups and ritualize black magic. The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals are the only books that have demonstrated, in a way that is authentic and true to relevant traditions, how all of that can be done. There have been many imitators, never attributing their source, and with good reason; because once the shabbiness and shallowness of the imitators have been compared to LaVey's pioneering work, there can no longer be any market for the ripoff artists. The evidence is clear to any who are willing to view the record: Anton LaVey brought Satan out of the closet and the Church of Satan is the fountainhead of contemporary Satanism. This book summarizes the message both convey, and remains both challenge and inspiration, as timely to day as when it was written.

SAN FRANSISCO
December 25, 1976 (XI Anno Satanas)

HAIL SATAN!

[_LittleNipper]

Judges 9:1-57 One day Gideon’s son Abimelech visited his mother’s brothers—in Shechem. He requested that they ask whether they want to be ruled by seventy kings—Gideon’s seventy sons—or by one man—meaning their own flesh and blood --- namely Abimelech. His uncles went to the leaders of the city and proposed Abimelech’s scheme. They decided that since his mother was a native of their town they would go along with it. They gave him money from the temple offerings of the[Satanic] idol Baal-berith, which he used to hire some worthless loafers who agreed to do whatever he told them to. He took them to his father’s home at Ophrah and there, upon one stone, they murdered all seventy of his half brothers, except for the youngest, Jotham, who escaped and hid. The citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting under the oak beside the garrison at Shechem, and Abimelech was acclaimed king of Israel.

When Jotham heard about this, he stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted across to the men of Shechem, “If you want God’s blessing, listen to me! Once upon a time the trees decided to elect a king. First they asked the olive tree, but it refused, not wishing to quit producing the olive oil that blesses God and man, just to wave to and fro over the other trees.

They said to the fig tree to be king. The fig tree refused not wishing to stop producing sweetness and fruit just to lift its head above all the other trees.

They said to the grapevine to reign, but the grapevine didn't wish producing wine that cheers both God and man, just to be stronger then the other trees.

Then all the trees finally turned to the thorn bush to become our king. And the thorn bush replied, ‘If you really want me, come and humble yourselves beneath my shade! If you refuse, let fire flame forth from me and burn down the great cedars of Lebanon!’

Jotham called to make sure that they have done the right thing in making Abimelech king. Have they done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Jotham's father fought for them and risked his life and delivered Israel from the Midianites. Yet they revolted against him and killed his seventy sons upon one stone. They chose his slave girl’s son, Abimelech, to be king just because he is a relative. If they have done right by Gideon and his descendants, then may they and Abimelech have a long and happy life together. HOWEVER, if they have not been fair to Gideon, then may Abimelech destroy the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may they destroy Abimelech!

Jotham escaped and lived in Beer for fear of his brother, Abimelech. 3 years later God stirred up trouble between King Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, and they revolted. In the events that followed, both Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem who aided him in butchering Gideon’s seventy sons were given their just punishment for these murders. The men of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech along the trail at the top of the mountain. (While they were waiting for him to come along, they stole from everyone else who passed that way.) But someone warned Abimelech about their plot. At that time Gaal (the son of Ebed) moved to Shechem with his brothers, and he became one of the leading citizens. During the harvest feast at Shechem that year, held in the temple of the local [Satanic] god, everyone got drunk an began cursing Abimelech.

“Who is Abimelech,” Gaal shouted, “and why should he be our king? Why should we be his servants? He and his friend Zebul should be our servants. Down with Abimelech! Make me your king and you’ll soon see what happens to Abimelech! I’ll tell Abimelech, ‘Get up an army and come on out and fight!’”

When Zebul, the mayor, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious. He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah telling him that Gaal, son of Ebed, and his relatives are arousing the city to rebellion against. Zebul tells Abimelech to come at night with an army and hide out in the fields, and at daybreak , storm the city. When he and those who are with him come out Abimelech can do with them as he wishes.

Abimelech and his men marched through the night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around the city. The next morning, Gaal sat at the city gates, discussing various issues with the local leaders, Abimelech and his men began their march upon the city. When Gaal saw them, he exclaimed to Zebul, “Look over at that mountain! Doesn’t it look like people coming down?”
Zebul said, “No, You’re just seeing shadows that look like men!”

Gaal said. “I’m sure I see people coming toward us. And look! There are others coming along the road past the oak of Meonenim!” Zebul turned on him triumphantly. “Now where is that big mouth of yours?” he demanded. “Who was it who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and why should he be our king?’ The men you taunted and cursed are right outside the city! Go on out and fight!” Gaal led the men of Shechem into the battle and fought with Abimelech, and was defeated. Many of the men of Shechem were left wounded all the way to the city gate. Abimelech was living at Arumah at this time, and Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem and wouldn’t let them live there any longer.

The next day the men of Shechem went out to battle again. However, someone had told Abimelech about their plans, so he had divided his men into three groups hiding in the fields. And when the men of the city went out to attack, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and began killing them. Abimelech stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while his other two groups cut them down in the fields. The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city, killing the people and leveling it to the ground. The people at the nearby town of Migdal saw what was happening and took refuge in the fort next to the [Satanic] temple of Baal-berith.
When Abimelech learned of this, he led his forces to Mount Zalmon where he began chopping a bundle of firewood, and placed it upon his shoulder and ordered his men to do the same. So each of them quickly cut a bundle and carried it back to the town where, following Abimelech’s example, the bundles were piled against the walls of the fort and set on fire. So all the people inside died, about a 1000 men and women. [Satan helped them not]

Abimelech next attacked the city of Thebez, and captured it. However, there was a stronghold inside the city and the entire population fled into it, barricaded the gates, and climbed to the top of the roof to watch. As Abimelech was preparing to burn it, a woman on the roof threw down a millstone. It landed on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
“Kill me!” he groaned to his youthful armor bearer. “Never let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!”


Young's Literal Translation (YLT)


1 and Abimelech son of Jerubbaal goeth to Shechem, unto his mother's brethren, and speaketh unto them, and unto all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,

2 `Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, Which [is] good for you -- the ruling over you of seventy men (all the sons of Jerubbaal), or the ruling over you of one man? -- and ye have remembered that I [am] your bone and your flesh.'

3 And his mother's brethren speak concerning him, in the ears of all the masters of Shechem, all these words, and their heart inclineth after Abimelech, for they said, `He [is] our brother;'

4 and they give to him seventy silverings out of the house of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hireth with them men, vain and unstable, and they go after him;

5 and he goeth into the house of his father at Ophrah, and slayeth his brethren, sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone; and Jotham, youngest son of Jerubbaal, is left, for he was hidden.

6 And all the masters of Shechem are gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and come and cause Abimelech to reign for king at the oak of the camp which [is] in Shechem;

7 and they declare [it] to Jotham, and he goeth and standeth on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifteth up his voice, and calleth, and saith to them, `Hearken unto me, O masters of Shechem, and God doth hearken unto you:

8 `The trees have diligently gone to anoint over them a king, and they say to the olive, Reign thou over us.

9 And the olive saith to them, Have I ceased from my fatness, by which they honour gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

10 And the trees say to the fig, Come thou, reign over us.

11 And the fig saith to them, Have I ceased from my sweetness, and my good increase, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

12 `And the trees say to the vine, Come thou, reign over us.

13 And the vine saith to them, Have I ceased from my new wine, which is rejoicing gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees?

14 And all the trees say unto the bramble, Come thou, reign over us.

15 And the bramble saith unto the trees, If in truth ye are anointing me for king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow; and if not -- fire cometh out from the bramble, and devoureth the cedars of Lebanon.

16 `And, now, if in truth and in sincerity ye have acted, when ye make Abimelech king; and if ye have done good with Jerubbaal, and with his house; and if according to the deed of his hands ye have done to him --

17 because my father hath fought for you, and doth cast away his life from [him], and deliver you from the hand of Midian;

18 and ye have risen against the house of my father to-day, and slay his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and cause Abimelech son of his handmaid to reign over the masters of Shechem, because he [is] your brother --

19 yea, if in truth and in sincerity ye have acted with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, rejoice ye in Abimelech, and he doth rejoice -- even he -- in you;

20 and if not -- fire cometh out from Abimelech and devoureth the masters of Shechem and the house of Millo, and fire cometh out from the masters of Shechem and from the house of Millo, and devoureth Abimelech.'

21 And Jotham hasteth, and fleeth, and goeth to Beer, and dwelleth there, from the face of Abimelech his brother.

22 And Abimelech is prince over Israel three years,

23 and God sendeth an evil spirit between Abimelech and the masters of Shechem, and the masters of Shechem deal treacherously with Abimelech,

24 for the coming in of the violence [to] the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and of their blood to place [it] on Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and on the masters of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brethren.

25 And the masters of Shechem set for him ambushes on the top of the hills, and rob every one who passeth over by them in the way, and it is declared to Abimelech.

26 And Gaal son of Ebed cometh -- also his brethren -- and they pass over into Shechem, and the masters of Shechem trust in him,

27 and go out into the field, and gather their vineyards, and tread, and make praises, and go into the house of their god, and eat and drink, and revile Abimelech.

28 And Gaal son of Ebed saith, `Who [is] Abimelech, and who [is] Shechem, that we serve him? is [he] not son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his commander? Serve ye the men of Hamor father of Shechem, and wherefore do we serve him -- we?

29 and oh that this people were in my hand -- then I turn Abimelech aside;' and he saith to Abimelech, `Increase thy host, and come out.'

30 And Zebul, prince of the city, heareth the words of Gaal son of Ebed, and his anger burneth,

31 and he sendeth messengers unto Abimelech deceitfully, saying, `Lo, Gaal son of Ebed and his brethren are coming into Shechem, and lo, they are fortifying the city against thee;

32 and, now, rise by night, thou and the people who [are] with thee, and lay wait in the field,

33 and it hath been, in the morning, about the rising of the sun, thou dost rise early, and hast pushed against the city; and lo, he and the people who [are] with him are going out unto thee -- and thou hast done to him as thy hand doth find.'

34 And Abimelech riseth, and all the people who [are] with him, by night, and they lay wait against Shechem -- four detachments;

35 and Gaal son of Ebed goeth out, and standeth at the opening of the gate of the city, and Abimelech riseth -- also the people who [are] with him -- from the ambush,

36 and Gaal seeth the people, and saith unto Zebul, `Lo, people are coming down from the top of the hills;' and Zebul saith unto him, `The shadow of the hills thou art seeing like men.'

37 And Gaal addeth yet to speak, and saith, `Lo, people are coming down from the high part of the land, and another detachment is coming by the way of the oak of Meonenim.'

38 And Zebul saith unto him, `Where [is] now thy mouth, in that thou sayest, Who [is] Abimelech that we serve him? is not this the people against which thou hast kicked? go out, I pray thee now, and fight against it.'

39 And Gaal goeth out before the masters of Shechem, and fighteth against Abimelech,

40 and Abimelech pursueth him, and he fleeth from his presence, and many fall wounded -- unto the opening of the gate.

41 And Abimelech abideth in Arumah, and Zebul casteth out Gaal and his brethren from dwelling in Shechem.

42 And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that the people go out to the field, and they declare [it] to Abimelech,

43 and he taketh the people, and divideth them into three detachments, and layeth wait in a field, and looketh, and lo, the people are coming out from the city, and he riseth against them, and smiteth them.

44 And Abimelech and the detachments who [are] with him have pushed on, and stand at the opening of the gate of the city, and the two detachments have pushed against all who are in the field, and smite them,

45 and Abimelech hath fought against the city all that day, and captureth the city, and the people who [are] in it he hath slain, and he breaketh down the city, and soweth it [with] salt.

46 And all the masters of the tower of Shechem hear, and go in unto the high place of the house of the god Berith,

47 and it is declared to Abimelech that all the masters of the tower of Shechem have gathered themselves together,

48 and Abimelech goeth up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people who [are] with him, and Abimelech taketh the great axe in his hand, and cutteth off a bough of the trees, and lifteth it up, and setteth [it] on his shoulder, and saith unto the people who [are] with him, `What ye have seen I have done -- haste, do ye like it.'

49 And all the people also cut down each one his bough, and go after Abimelech, and set [them] at the high place, and burn by these the high place with fire, and also all the men of the tower of Shechem die, about a thousand men and women.

50 And Abimelech goeth unto Thebez, and encampeth against Thebez, and captureth it,

51 and a strong tower hath been in the midst of the city, and thither flee do all the men and the women, and all the masters of the city, and they shut [it] behind them, and go up on the roof of the tower.

52 And Abimelech cometh unto the tower, and fighteth against it, and draweth nigh unto the opening of the tower to burn it with fire,

53 and a certain woman doth cast a piece of a rider on the head of Abimelech, and breaketh his skull,

54 and he calleth hastily unto the young man bearing his weapons, and saith to him, `Draw thy sword, and thou hast put me to death, lest they say of me -- A woman slew him;' and his young man pierced him through, and he dieth.

55 And the men of Israel see that Abimelech [is] dead, and go each one to his place;

56 and God turneth back the evil of Abimelech which he did to his father to slay his seventy brethren;

57 and all the evil of the men of Shechem hath God turned back on their head, and come unto them doth the cursing of Jotham son of Jerubbaal.

[_LittleNipper]

Judges 10:1-18 After Abimelech’s death, the next judge of Israel was Tola (son of Puah and grandson of Dodo). He was from the tribe of Issachar, but lived in the city of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. He was Israel’s judge for 23 years, and was buried in Shamir.

He was succeeded by Jair, a man from Gilead, who judged Israel for 22 years. His 30 sons rode around together on 30 donkeys. they owned 30 cities in the land of Gilead which are still called “The Cities of Jair.” Jair was buried in Kamon.

The Israelites turned away from the Lord again and worshiped the heathen [Satanic] gods Baal and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. Not only this, but they no longer even worshiped. This made Jehovah very angry with his people, so he immediately permitted the Philistines and the Ammonites to torment them. These attacks took place east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (also called Gilead), and also in Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to attack the Israelis, and this continued 18 years. Finally --- yet again, the Israelis turned to Jehovah ---- begging him to save them. They prayed, “We have sinned against you and have forsaken you as our God and have worshiped idols."

The Lord replied, “Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? Has there ever been a time when you cried out to me that I haven’t rescued you? Yet you continue to forget me and to worship other gods. So go away; I won’t save you anymore. Go and cry to the new gods you have chosen! Let them save you in your hour of distress!”

However, they pleaded with God again and said, “We have sinned. Punish us in any way you think best, only save us once more from our enemies.” They destroyed their foreign gods and worshiped only the Lord; and he was bothered by their misery. The armies of Ammon were mobilized in Gilead at that time, preparing to attack Israel’s army at Mizpah. The leaders of Gilead wondered who would lead their forces against the Ammonites? They concluded that whoever volunteered would become king.


Young's Literal Translation (YLT)


1 And there riseth after Abimelech, to save Israel, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he is dwelling in Shamir, in the hill-country of Ephraim,

2 and he judgeth Israel twenty and three years, and he dieth, and is buried in Shamir.

3 And there riseth after him Jair the Gileadite, and he judgeth Israel twenty and two years,

4 and he hath thirty sons riding on thirty ass-colts, and they have thirty cities, (they call them Havoth-Jair unto this day), which [are] in the land of Gilead;

5 and Jair dieth, and is buried in Kamon.

6 And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and serve the Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the Bene-Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsake Jehovah, and have not served Him;

7 and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He selleth them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the Bene-Ammon,

8 and they crush and oppress the sons of Israel in that year -- eighteen years all the sons of Israel [who] are beyond the Jordan, in the land of the Amorite, which [is] in Gilead.

9 And the Bene-Ammon pass over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, and Israel hath great distress.

10 And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, saying, `We have sinned against Thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and serve the Baalim.'

11 And Jehovah saith unto the sons of Israel, `[Have I] not [saved you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorite, from the Bene-Ammon, and from the Philistines?

12 And the Zidonians, and Amalek, and Maon have oppressed you, and ye cry unto Me, and I save you out of their hand;

13 and ye -- ye have forsaken Me, and serve other gods, therefore I add not to save you.

14 Go and cry unto the gods on which ye have fixed; they -- they save you in the time of your adversity.'

15 And the sons of Israel say unto Jehovah, `We have sinned, do Thou to us according to all that is good in Thine eyes; only deliver us, we pray Thee, this day.'

16 And they turn aside the gods of the stranger out of their midst, and serve Jehovah, and His soul is grieved with the misery of Israel.

17 And the Bene-Ammon are called together, and encamp in Gilead, and the sons of Israel are gathered together, and encamp in Mizpah.

18 And the people -- heads of Gilead -- say one unto another, `Who [is] the man that doth begin to fight against the Bene-Ammon? he is for head to all inhabitants of Gilead.'

[Guest]

HAIL SATAN!

THE BOOK OF SATAN

THE INFERNAL DIATRIBE

The first book of he Satanic Bible is not an attempt to blaspheme as much as it is a statement of what might be termed "diabolical indignation". The Devil has been attacked by t he men of Go d relentlessly and without reservation. Never has there been an opportunity, short of fiction, for the Dark Prince to speak out in the same manner as the spokesmen of t he Lord of t he Righteous. The pulpit-pounders of the past have been free to define "good" and "evil" as they see fit, and have gladly smashed into oblivion any who disagree with their lies - both verbally and, at times, physically. Their talk of "charity", when applied to His Infernal Majesty, becomes an empty sham -and most unfairly, too, considering the obvious fact that without their Satanic foe their very religions would collapse. How sad, that the allegorical personage most responsible for the success of spiritual religions is shown the least amount of charity and the most consistent abuse - and by those who most unctuously preach the rules of fair play! For all the centuries of shouting-down the Devil has received, he has never shouted back at his detractors. He has remained the gentleman at all times, while those he supports rant and rave. He has shown himself t o be a model of deportment , but now he feels it is time to shout back. He has decided it is finally time to receive his due. Now the ponderous rule-books of hypocrisy are no longer needed. In order to relearn the Law of t he Jungle, a small, slim diatribe will do. Each verse is an inferno. Each word is a tongue of fire. The flames of Hell burn fierce... and purify! Read on and learn the Law.

THE
BOOK OF
SATAN

I

1. In this arid wilderness of steel and stone I raise up my voice that you may hear. To the East and to the West I beckon. To the North and to the South I show a sign proclaiming: Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong!
2. Open your eyes that you may see, Oh men of mildewed minds, and list en to me ye bewildered millions!
3. For I stand forth to challenge the wisdom o f t he world; to interrogate the "laws" of man and of "God"!
4. I request reason for your golden rule and ask the why and wherefore of your ten commandments.
5. Before none of your printed idols do I bend in acquiescence, and he who saith "thou shalt" to me is my mortal foe!
6. I dip my forefinger in the watery blood of your impotent mad redeemer, and write over his thorn-torn brow: The TRUE prince of evil - the king of slaves!
7. No hoary falsehood shall be a truth to me; no stifling dogma shall encramp my pen!
8. I break away from all conventions that do not lead to my earthly success and happiness.
9. I raise up in stern invasion the standard of the strong!
10. I gaze into the glassy eye of your fearsome Jehovah, and pluck him by t he beard; I uplift a broad-axe, and split open his worm-eaten skull!
11. I blast out the ghastly contents of philosophically whit ed sepulchers and laugh with sardonic wrath!

THE
BOOK OF
SATAN

II

1. Behold the crucifix; what does it symbolize? Pallid incompetence hanging on a tree.
2. I question all t hings. As I stand before the festering and varnished facades of your haughtiest moral dogmas, I write thereon in letters of blazing scorn: Lo and behold; all t his is fraud!
3. Gather around me, Oh! ye death-defiant, and the earth itself shall be thine, to have and to hold!
4. Too long the dead hand has been permitted to sterilize living thought!
5. Too long right and wrong, good and evil have been inverted by false prophets!
6. No creed must be accepted upon authority o f a "divine" nature. Religions must be put to the question. No moral dogma must be taken for granted - no standard of measurement deified. There is nothing inherently sacred about moral codes. Like the wooden idols of long ago, they are the work of human hands, and what man has made, man can destroy!
7. He that is slow to believe anything and everything is of great understanding, for belief in one false principle is the beginning of all unwisdom.
8. The chief duty o f every new age is to upraise new men to determine its liberties, to lead it towards material success - to rend the rusty padlocks and chains of dead custom t hat always prevent healthy expansion. Theories and ideas that may have meant life and hope and freedom for our ancestors may now mean destruction, slavery, and dishonor to us!
9. As environments change, no human ideal standeth sure!
10. Whenever, therefore, a lie has built unto itself a throne, let it be assailed without pity and without regret, for under the domination of an inconvenient falsehood, no one can prosper.
11. Let established sophisms be dethroned, rooted out, burnt and destroyed, for they are a standing menace to all true nobility of thought and action!
12. Whatever alleged "truth" is proven by result s to be but an empty fiction, let it be unceremoniously flung into the outer darkness, among the dead gods, dead empires, dead philosophies, and other useless lumber and wreckage!
13. The most dangerous of all enthroned lies is the holy, the sanctified, the privileged lie - the lie everyone believes to be a model t rut h. It is the fruitful mo t her of all o t her popular errors and delusions. It is a hydra-headed tree of unreason with a thousand roots. It is a social cancer!
14. The lie that is known to be a lie is half eradicated, but the lie that even intelligent persons accept as fact - the lie that has been inculcated in a little child at its mother's knee - is more dangerous to contend against than a creeping pestilence!
15. Popular lies have ever been the most potent enemies of personal liberty. There is only one way t o deal wit h them: Cut them out , to the very co re, just as cancers. Exterminate them root and branch. Annihilate them, or they will us!

THE
BOOK OF
SATAN

III

1. "Love one another" it has been said is the supreme law, but what power made it so? Upon what rational authority do es the gospel o f love rest? Why should I not hate mine enemies -if I "love" them does that not place me at their mercy?
2. Is it natural for enemies to do good unto each other - and WHAT IS GOOD ?
3. Can the torn and bloody victim "love" the blood-splashed jaws that rend him limb from limb?
4. Are we not all predatory animals by instinct ? If humans ceased wholly from preying upon each other, could they continue to exist?
5. Is not "lust and carnal desire" a more truthful term to describe "love" when applied to the continuance of t he race? Is not the "love" of t he fawning scriptures simply a euphemism for sexual activity, or was the "great teacher" a glorifier of eunuchs?
6. Love your enemies and do good to them t hat hate and use you - is this not the despicable philosophy of the spaniel that rolls upon its back when kicked?
7. Hate your enemies with a whole heart, and if a man smite you on one cheek, SMASH him on the other!; smite him hip and thigh, for self-preservation is the highest law!
8. He who turns the other cheek is a cowardly dog!
9. Give blow for blow, scorn for scorn, doom for doom - with compound interest liberally added thereunto! Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, aye four-fold, a hundred-fold! Make yourself a Terror to your adversary, and when he goeth his way, he will possess much additional wisdom to ruminate over. Thus shall yo u make yourself respected in all t he walks of life, and your spirit - your immortal spirit - shall live, not in an intangible paradise, but in the brains and sinews of those whose respect you have gained.

THE
BOOK OF
SATAN

IV

1. Life is the great indulgence - death, the great abstinence. Therefore, make the most of life - HERE AND NOW !
2. There is no heaven of glory bright , and no hell where sinners roast. Here and now is our day of torment ! Here and now is our day of joy! Here and now is our opportunity! Choose ye this day, this hour, for no redeemer liveth!
3. Say unto thine own heart, "I am mine own redeemer."
4. Stop the way o f t hem t hat would persecute you. Let those who devise thine undoing be hurled back to confusion and infamy. Let them be as chaff before the cyclone and after they have fallen rejoice in thine own salvation.
5. Then all thy bones shall say pridefully, "Who is like unto me? Have I not been too strong for mine adversaries? Have I not delivered MYSELF by mine own brain and body?"

THE
BOOK OF
SATAN

V

1. Blessed are the strong, for they shall possess the earth - Cursed are the weak, for they shall inherit the yoke!
2. Blessed are the powerful, for they shall be reverenced among men - Cursed are the feeble, for they shall be blotted out!
3. Blessed are the bold, for they shall be masters of t he world - Cursed are the righteously humble, for they shall be trodden under cloven hoofs!
4. Blessed are the victorious, for victory is the basis of right - Cursed are the vanquished, for they shall be vassals forever!
5. Blessed are the iron-handed, for the unfit shall flee before them - Cursed are the poor in spirit, for they shall be spat upon!
6. Blessed are the death-defiant, for their days shall be long in the land - Cursed are the gazers toward a richer life beyond the grave, for they shall perish amidst plenty!
7. Blessed are the destroyers of false hope, for they are the true Messiahs - Cursed are the god-adorers, for they shall be shorn sheep!
8. Blessed are the valiant , for they shall obtain great treasure - Cursed are the believers in good and evil, for they are frightened by shadows!
9. Blessed are those that believe in what is best for them, for never shall their minds be terrorized - Cursed are the "lambs of God", for they shall be bled whiter than snow!
10. Blessed is the man who has a sprinkling of enemies, for they shall make him a hero -Cursed is he who doeth good unto others who sneer upon him in return, for he shall be despised!
11. Blessed are the might y-minded, for they shall ride the whirlwinds - Cursed are they who teach lies for truth and truth for lies, for they are an abomination!
12. Thrice cursed are the weak whose insecurity makes them vile, for they shall serve and suffer!
13. The angel of self-deceit is camped in the souls of the "righteous" - The eternal flame of power through joy dwelleth within the flesh of the Satanist!

(AIR)

THE BOOK OF LUCIFER
THE ENLIGHTENMENT

The Roman god, Lucifer, was the bearer of light , the spirit of t he air, the personification of enlightenment . In Christian mythology he became synonymous with evil, which was only t o have been expected from a religion whose very existence is perpetuated by clouded definitions and bogus values! It is time to set the record straight. False moralisms and occult inaccuracies must be corrected. Entertaining as they might be, most stories and plays about Devil worship must be recognized as the obsolete absurdities they are. It has been said "the truth will make men free". The truth alone has never set anyone free. It is only DOUBT which will bring mental emancipation. Without the wonderful element of doubt , the doorway through which truth passes would be tightly shut , impervious to the most strenuous poundings of a thousand Lucifers. How understandable that Holy Scripture should refer to the Infernal monarch as the "father of lies" - a magnificent example of character inversion. If one is to believe this theological accusation that the Devil represent s falsehood, then it surely must be concurred that it was HE, NOT GOD, THAT ESTABLISHED ALL SPIRITUAL RELIGIONS AND WHO WROTE ALL OF THE HOLY BIBLES ! When one doubt is followed by another, the bubble, grown large from long accumulated fallacies, threatens to burst. For those who already doubt supposed truths, this book is revelation. Then Lucifer will have risen. Now is the time for doubt! The bubble of falsehood is bursting and its sound is the roar of the world!

- W A N T E D ! - GOD DEAD OR ALIVE

IT is a popular misconception that the Satanist does not believe in God. The concept of "Go d", as interpreted by man, has been so varied throughout the ages, that the Satanist simply accepts the definition which suits him best . Man has always created his gods, rather than his gods creating him . God is, to some, benign - to others, terrifying. To the Satanist "God" - by what ever name he is called, or by no name at all - is seen as the balancing factor in nature, and not as being concerned with suffering. This powerful force which permeates and balances the universe is far too impersonal to care about the happiness or misery of flesh-and-blood creatures on this ball o f dirt upon which we live.

Anyone who thinks of Satan as evil should consider all t he men, women, children, and animals who have died because it was "God's will". Certainly a person grieving the untimely loss of a loved one who would much rather have their loved one with them than in God's hands! Instead, they are unctuously consoled by t heir clergyman who says, "It was God's will, my dear"; or "He is in God's hands now, my so n. " Such phrases have been a convenient way for religionists to condone or excuse the mercilessness of God. But if Go d is in complete control and as benign as he is supposed to be, why do es He allow these things to happen? Too long have religionists been falling back on their bibles and rulebooks to prove or disprove, justify, condemn, or interpret. The Satanist realizes that man, and the action and reaction of the universe, is responsible for everything, and doesn't mislead himself int o thinking that someone cares. No longer will we sit back and accept "fate" without doing anything about it, just because it says so in Chapter such and such, Psalm so and so - and that's that! The Satanist knows that praying does absolutely no good -in fact, it actually lessens the chance of success, for the devoutly religious too often sit back complacently and pray for a situation which, if t hey were to do something about it on their own, could be accomplished much quicker!

The Satanist shuns terms such as "hope" and "prayer" as they are indicative of apprehension. If we hope and pray for something to come about, we will no t act in a positive way which will make it happen. The Satanist, realizing that anything he gets is of his own doing, takes command of t he situation instead of praying to God for it to happen. Positive thinking and positive action add up to results.

Just as the Satanist does not pray to God for assistance, he does not pray for forgiveness for his wrong doings. In other religions, when one commit s a wrong he either prays to God for forgiveness, or confesses to an intermediary and asks him to pray t o God for forgiveness for his sins. The Satanist knows that praying does no good, confessing to another human being, like himself, accomplishes even less - and is, furthermore, degrading. When a Satanist commit s a wrong, he realizes that it is natural t o make a mistake - and if he is truly sorry about what he has done, he will learn from it and take care not to do the same thing again. If he is not honestly sorry about what he has done, and knows he will do the same thing over and over, he has no business confessing and asking forgiveness in the first place. But this is exactly what happens. People confess their sins so that they can clear their consciences - and be free to go out and sin again, usually the same sin.

There are many different interpretations of God, in the usual sense of the word, as there are types of people. The images run from a belief in a god who is some vague sort of "universal cosmic mind" to an anthropomorphic deity wit h a long white beard and sandals who keeps track of every action of each individual.

Even within the confines of a given religion, the personal interpret aims of God differ greatly. Some religions actually go so far as to label anyone who belongs to a religious sect other than their own a heretic, even though the overall doctrines and impressions of godliness are nearly t he same. For example: The Catholics believe that the Protestants are doomed to Hell simply because they do not belong to the Catholic Church. In the same way, many splint er groups of t he Christian faith, such as the evangelical o r revivalist churches, believe that the Catholics are heathens who worship graven images. (Christ is depicted in the image that is most psychologically akin to the individual worshipping him, and yet the Chrisitans criticize "heathens" for the worship of graven images.) And the Jews have always been given the Devil's name. Even though the god in all of these religions is basically t he same, each regards the way chosen by the others as reprehensible, and to top it all, religionists actually PRAY for one another! They have scorn for the brothers of t he right-hand path because their religions carry different labels, and somehow this animosity must be released. What better way than through "prayer"! What a simperingly polite way o f saying: "I hate your guts," is the thinly disguised device known as praying for your enemy! Praying for one's own enemy is nothing more than bargain-basement anger, and of a decidedly shoddy and inferior quality!

If t here has been so much violent discrepancy as to the proper way in which to worship God, how many different interpretations of God can there be - and who is right? All devout "white-lighters" are concerned with pleasing God so that they might have the "Pearly Gates" opened for them when they die. Nevertheless, if a man has not lived his life in accordance with the regulations of his faith, he can at the last minute call a clergyman to his deathbed for a final absolution. The priest or minister will t hen come running on the double, to "make everything right" with God and see to it that his passport to the Heavenly Realm is in order. (The Yezidis, a sect of Devil worshippers, take a different viewpoint. They believe that God is all-powerful, but also all-forgiving, and so accordingly feel t hat it is the Devil whom t hey must please, as he is the one who rules their lives while here on earth. They believe so strongly t hat God will forgive all o f their sins once they have been given the last rites, that they feel no need to concern themselves with the opinion God may hold of them while they live.)

With all o f t he contradictions in the Christian scriptures, many people currently cannot rationally accept Christianity t he way it has been practiced in the past. Great numbers of people are beginning to doubt the existence of Go d, in the established Christian sense of t he word. So, they have taken to calling themselves "Christian Atheists". True, the Christian Bible is a mass of contradictions; but what could be more contradictory than the term "Christian Atheist"? If prominent leaders of t he Christian faith are rejecting the past interpretations of Go d, how then can their followers be expected to adhere to previous religious tradition? With all the debates about whether or not God is dead, if he isn't he had better have MEDICARE !

THE GOD YOU SAVE MAY BE YOURSELF

ALL religions of a spiritual nature are inventions of man. He has created an entire system o f gods with nothing more than his carnal brain. Just because he has an ego, and cannot accept it, he has to externalize it into some great spiritual device which he calls "God".

God can do all t he things man is forbidden to do - such as kill people, perform miracles to gratify his will, control without any apparent responsibility, etc. If man needs such a god and recognizes that god, then he is worshipping an entity t hat a human being invented. Therefore, HE IS WORSHIPPING BY PROXY THE MAN THAT INVENTED GOD . Is it not more sensible to worship a god that he, himself, has created, in accordance with his own emotional needs - one that best represents the very carnal and physical being that has the idea-power to invent a god in the first place?

If man insists on externalizing his true self in the form of "God", then why fear his true self, in fearing "God", - why praise his true self in praising "God", - why remain externalized from "God" IN ORDER TO ENGAGE IN RITUAL AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONY IN HIS NAME ? Man needs ritual and dogma, but no law states that an externalized god is necessary in order to engage in ritual and ceremony performed in a god's name! Could it be that when he closes the gap between himself and his "God" he sees the demon of pride creeping forth - that very embodiment of Lucifer appearing in his midst ? He no longer can view himself in two parts, the carnal and the spiritual, but sees them merge as one, and then to his abysmal horror, discovers that they are only the carnal - AND ALWAYS WERE ! Then he either hates himself to death, day by day - or rejoices that he is what he is!

If he hates himself, he searches out new and more complex spiritual paths of "enlightenment " in hopes that he may split himself up again in his quest for stronger and more externalized "gods" to scourge his poor miserable shell. If he accepts himself, but recognizes that ritual and ceremony are the important devices that his invented religions have utilized to sustain his faith in a lie, then it is the SAME FORM OF RITUAL that will sustain his faith in the truth - the primitive pageantry t hat will give his awareness of his own majestic being added substance.

When all religious faith in lies has waned, it is because man has become closer to himself and farther from "Go d"; closer to the "Devil. " If t his is what the devil represent s, and a man lives his life in the devil's fane, with the sinews of Sat an moving in his flesh, then he either escapes from the cacklings and carpings of t he righteous, or stands proudly in his secret places of t he earth and manipulates the folly-ridden masses through his own Satanic might , until t hat day when he may come forth in splendor proclaiming " I AM A SATANIST ! BOW DOWN , FOR I AM THE HIGHEST EMBODIMENT OF HUMAN LIFE !"

SOME EVIDENCE OF
A NEW Satanic AGE

T HE seven deadly sins of t he Christian Church are: greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth. Satanism advocates indulging in each of these "sins" as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification.

A Satanist knows there is nothing wrong with being greedy, as it only means that he wants more than he already has. Envy means to look with favor upon the possessions of o t hers, and to be desirous of obtaining similar things for oneself. Envy and greed are the motivating forces of ambit ion - and without ambition, very little of any importance would be accomplished.

Gluttony is simply eating more than you need to keep yourself alive. When you have overeaten to the point of obesity, another sin - pride - will motivate you to regain an appearance that will renew your self-respect.

Anyone who buys an article of clot hing for a purpose other than covering his body and protecting it from t he elements is guilt y o f pride. Satanists often encounter scoffers who maintain that labels are not necessary. It must be pointed out to these destroyers of labels that one or many articles they themselves are wearing are not wearing are not necessary t o keep them warm. There is not a person on this earth who is completely devoid of ornamentation. The Satanist points out that any ornamentation of t he scoffer's body shows that he, too, is guilty of pride. Regardless of how verbose the cynic may be in his intellectual description of ho w free he is, he is still wearing the elements of pride.

Being reluctant to get up in the morning is to be guilty of slot h, and if yo u lie in bed long enough you may find yourself commiting yet another sin - lust. To have the faintest stirring of sexual desire is to be guilt y o f lust . In order to insure the propagation of humanity, nature made lust the second most powerful instinct , the first being self-preservation. Realizing this, the Christian Church made fornication the "Original Sin". In this way t hey made sure no one would escape sin. Your very state of being is as a result of sin - the Original sin!

The strongest instinct in every living thing is self-preservation, which brings us to the last of t he seven deadly sins - anger. Is it not our instinct for self-preservation that is aroused when someone harms us, when we become angry enough to protect ourselves from further attack? A Satanist practices the motto, "If a man smite thee on one cheek, smash him o n the other!" Let no wrong go unredressed. Be as a lion in the path - be dangerous even in defeat! Since man's natural instincts lead him t o sin, all men are sinners; and all sinners go to hell. If everyone goes to hell, then you will meet all yo ur friends there. Heaven must be populated with some rather strange creatures if all t hey lived for was to go to a place where they can strum harps for eternity.

"Times have changed. Religious leaders no longer preach that all o ur natural actions are sinful. We no longer think sex is dirty - or that taking pride in ourselves is shameful - or that wanting something someone else has is vicious." Of co urse not, times have changed! "If yo u want proof o f this, just look at how liberal churches have become. Why, they're practicing all t he things that you preach."

Satanists hear these, and similar statements, all t he time; and they agree wholeheartedly. BUT , if the world has changed so much, why continue to grasp at the threads of a dying faith? If many religions are denying their own scriptures because they are out of date, and are preaching the philosophies of Satanism, why no t call it by it s rightful name - Satanism? Certainly it would be far less hypocritical.

In recent years there has been an attempt to humanize the spiritual concept of Christianity. This has manifested itself in the most obvious non-spiritual means. Masses which had been said in Latin are now said in native languages - which only succeeds in making the nonsense easier to understand, and at the same time robs the ceremony of the esoteric nature which is consistent with the tenets of t he dogma. It is much simpler to obtain an emotional reaction using words and phrases that cannot be understood than it is with statements which even the simplest mind will question when hearing them in an understandable language.

If priests and ministers were to have used the devices to fill t heir churches one hundred years ago that they use today, they would have been charged with heresy, called devils, oft-times persecuted, but certainly excommunicated without hesitation.

The religionists wail, "We must keep up with the times, " forgetting that, due to limiting factors and deeply engrained laws of whit e light religions, there can never be sufficient change to meet the needs of man.

Past religions have always represented the spiritual nature of man, with little or no concern for his carnal o r mundane needs. They have considered this life but transitory, and the flesh merely a shell; physical pleasure trivial, and pain a worthwhile preparation for the "Kingdom o f Go d". How well t he utter hypocrisy co mes forth when the "righteous" make a change in their religion to keep up with man's natural change! The only way t hat Christianity can ever completely serve the needs of man is to become as Satanism is NOW .

It has become necessary for a NEW religion, based on man's natural instincts, to come forth. THEY have named it. It is called Satanism. It is that power condemned that has caused the religious controversy over birth-control measures - a disgruntled admission that sexual activity, for fun, is here to stay.

It is the "Devil" who caused women to show their legs, totitillate men - the same kind of legs, now socially acceptable to gaze upon, which are revealed by young nuns as they walk about in their shortened habits. What a delightful step in the right (or left) direction! Is it possible we will soon see "topless" nuns sensually throwing their bodies about to the "MissaSolemnis Rock"? Satan smiles and says he would like that fine - many nuns are very pretty girls with nice legs. Many churches with some of t he largest congregations have the most hand-clapping, sensual music - also Satanically inspired. After all, the Devil has always had the best tunes. Church picnics, despite all o f Aunt Martha's talk about the Lord's Bountiful Harvest , are nothing more than a good excuse for Sunday gluttony; and everyone knows that lots more than Bible reading goes on in the bushes.

The fund-raising adjunct to many church bazaars is commonly known as a carnival, which used to mean the celebration of t he flesh; now a carnival is okay because the money go es to the church so that it can preach against the temptations of t he Devil! It will be said that these things are only pagan devices and ceremonies - that the Christians borrowed them. True, but the Pagans revelled in the delight s of t he flesh, and were condemned by t he very same people who celebrate their rituals, but call them by different names.

Priests and ministers are in the front lines of peace demonstrations, and lying on railroad tracks in front of t rains carrying war materials, with as much dedication as their brothers of t he cloth, from the same seminaries, who are blessing the bullet s and bombs and fighting men as chaplains in the armed forces. Someone must be wrong, someplace. Could it be that Satan is the one qualified to act as accuser? Certainly they named him that!

When a puppy reaches maturity it becomes a dog; when ice melts it is called water; when twelve months have been used up, we get a new calendar with the proper chronological name; when "magic" becomes scientific fact we refer to it as medicine, astronomy, etc. When one name is no longer appropriate for a given thing it is only logical to change it to a new one which better fits the subject. Why, then, do we not follow suit in the area of religion? Why continue to call a religion the same name when the tenets of that religion no longer fit the original one? Or, if religion does preach the same things that it always has, but its followers practice nearly none of it s teachings, why do they continue to call themselves by t he name given to followers of t hat religion?

If you do not believe in what your religion teaches, why continue to support a belief which is contradictory wit h your feelings. You would never vote for a person or issue you did not believe in, so why cast your ecclesiastical vote for a religion which is not consistent with your convictions? You have no right to complain about a political situation you have voted for or supported in any way - which includes sitting back and complacently agreeing with neighbors who approve the situation, just because you are too lazy o r cowardly t o speak your mind. So it is with religious balloting. Even if yo u cannot be aggressively ho nest about your opinions because of unfavorable consequences from employers, community leaders, etc., you can, at least, be honest with yourself. In the privacy of your own home and with close friends you must support religion which has YOUR best interests at heart.

"Satanism is based on a very sound philosophy, " say t he emancipated. "But why call it Satanism? Why no t call it something like 'Humanism' or a name that would have the connotation of a witchcraft group, something a little more esoteric - something less blatant." There is more than one reason for this. Humanism is not a religion. It is simply a way o f life with no ceremony o r dogma. Satanism has both ceremony and dogma. Dogma, as will be explained, is necessary. Satanism differs greatly fro m all o t her so-called white-light , "white" witchcraft or magical groups in the world today. These self-righteous and supercilious religions protest that their members use the powers of magic only for altruistic purposes. Satanists look with disdain upon "white" witchcraft groups because they feel t hat altruism is sinning on the lay-away plan. It is unnatural not to have desire to gain things for yourself. Satanism represent s a form of controlled selfishness. This does not mean that you never do anything for anyone else. If yo u do something to make someone for whom you care happy, his happiness will give you a sense of gratification. Satanism advocates practicing a modified form o f t he Golden Rule. Our interpretation of t his rule is: "Do unto others as they do unto you"; because if yo u "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and they, in turn, treat you badly, it goes against human nature to continue to treat them wit h consideration. You should do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but if your courtesy is not returned, they should be treated with the wrath they deserve. White witchcraft groups say t hat if yo u curse a person, it will return to you three-fold, come home to roost, or in some way boomerang back to the sender. This is yet another indication of t he guilt-ridden philosophy which is held by these neo-Pagan, pseudo-Christian groups. White witches want to delve into witchcraft, but cannot divorce themselves from t he stigma attached to it. Therefore, they call themselves white magicians, and base seventy-five per cent of t heir philosophy o n the trite and hackneyed tenets of Christianity. Anyone who pretends to be interested in magic or the occult for reasons other that gaining personal power is the worst kind of hypocrite. The Satanist respects Christianity for, at least, being consistent in its guilt -ridden philosophy, but can only feel contempt for the people who attempt to appear emancipated from guilt by joining a witchcraft group, and then practice the same basic philosophy as Christianity. White magic is supposedly utilized only for good or unselfish purposes, and black magic, we are told, is used only for selfish or "evil" reasons. Satanism draws no such dividing line. Magic is magic, be it used to help or hinder. The Satanist, being the magician, should have the ability to decide what is just, and then apply the powers of magic to attain his goals. During white magical ceremonies, the practitioners stand within a pentagram t o protect themselves from t he "evil" forces which they call upon for help. To the Satanist, it seems a bit two-faced to call n these forces for help, while at the same time protecting yourself fro m t he very powers you have asked for assistance. The Satanist realizes that only by putting himself in league with these forces can be fully and unhypocritically utilize the Powers of Darkness to his best advantage.

In a Satanic magical ceremony, the participants do NOT : join hands and dance "ring around the rosy" in a circle; burn candles of various colors for various wishes; call out the names of "Fat her, Son and Holy Ghost " while supposedly practicing Black Arts; pick a "Saint" for their personal guide in obtaining help for their problems; dunk themselves in smelly oils and hope the money comes in; meditate so they can arrive at a "great spiritual awakening"; recite long incantations with the name of Jesus thrown in for good measure, between every few words, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam!

BECAUSE - This is NOT the way t o practice Satanic magic. If yo u cannot divorce yourself fro m hypocritical self-deceit, you will never be successful as a magician, much less a Satanist. The Satanic religion has not merely lift ed the coin - it has flipped it completely over. Therefore, why should it support the very principles to which it is completely opposed by calling itself anything other than a name which is totally in keeping with the reversed doctrines which make up the Satanic philosophy? Satanism is not a white light religion; it is a religion of the flesh, the mundane, the carnal - all of which are ruled by Satan, the personification of the Left Hand Path. Inevitably, the next question asked is: "Granted, you can't call it humanism because humanism is not a religion; but why even have a religion in the first place if all yo u do is what comes naturally, anyway? Why not just do it?"

Modern man has come a long way; he has become disenchanted with the nonsensical dogmas of past religions. We are living in an enlightened age. Psychiatry has made great strides in enlightening man about his true personality. We are living in an era of intellectual awareness unlike any the world has ever seen.

This is all very well and good, BUT - there is one flaw in this new state of awareness. It is one thing to accept something intellectually, but to accept the same thing emotionally is an entirely different matter. The one need that psychiatry cannot fill is man's inherent need for emotionalizing through dogma. Man needs ceremony and ritual, fantasy and enchantment. Psychiatry, despite all the good it has done, has robbed man of wonder and fantasy which religion, in the past, has provided.

Satanism, realizing the current needs of man, fills the large grey void between religion and psychiatry. The Satanic philosophy combines the fundamentals of psychology and good, honest emotionalizing, or dogma. It provides man with his much needed fantasy. There is nothing wrong with dogma, providing it is not based on ideas and actions which go completely against human nature.

The quickest way o f t raveling between two points is in a straight line. If all the guilt s that have been built up can be turned into advantages, it eliminates the need for intellectual purging of the psyche in an attempt to cleanse it from these repressions. Satanism is the only religion known to man that accepts man as he is, and promotes the rationale of turning a bad thing into a good thing rather than bending over backwards to eliminate the bad thing. Therefore, after intellectually evaluating your problems through common sense and drawing on what psychiatry has taught us, if yo u still cannot emotionally release yourself fro m unwarranted guilt , and put your theories into action, then you should learn to make your guilt work for you. You should act upon your natural instincts, and then, if yo u cannot perform without feeling guilty, revel in your guilt . This may sound like a contradiction in terms, but if you will think about it, guilt can often add a fillip to the senses. Adults would do well t o take a lesson from children. Children often take great delight in doing something they know they are not supposed to. Yes, times have changed, but man hasn't. The basics of Satanism have always existed. The only thing that is new is the formal organization of a religion based on the universal traits of man. For centuries, magnificent structures of stone, concrete, mortar, and steel have been devoted to man's abstinence. It is high time that human beings stopped fighting themselves, and devoted their time to building temples designed for man's indulgences.

Even though times have changed, and always will, man remains basically t he same. For two thousand years man has done penance for something he never should have had to feel guilty about in the first place. We are tired of denying ourselves the pleasures of life which we deserve. Today, as always, man needs to enjoy himself here and now, instead of waiting for his rewards in heaven. So, why no t have a religion based on indulgence? Certainly, it is consistent with the nature of t he beast. We are no longer supplicating weaklings trembling before an unmerciful "Go d" who cares not whether we live or die. We are self-respecting, prideful people - we are Satanists!

HELL, THE DEVIL,
AND HOW TO
SELL YOUR SOUL

SATAN has certainly been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years. The false doctrine of Hell and the Devil has allowed the Protestant and Catholic Churches to flourish far too long. Without a devil t o point their fingers at, religionists of t he right hand path would have nothing with which to threaten their followers. "Satan leads you to temptation"; "Satan is the prince of evil"; "Satan is vicious, cruel, brutal," they warn. "If yo u give in to the temptations of the devil, you will surely suffer eternal damnation and roast in Hell." The semantic meaning of Sat an is the "adversary" or "opposition" or the "accuser".

The very word "devil" comes from t he Indian devil which means "god". Satan represents opposition to all religions which serve to frustrate and condemn man for his natural instincts. He has been given an evil role simply because he represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life. Satan, the chief devil o f t he Western World, was originally an angel whose duty was to report human delinquencies to God. It was not until t he Fourteenth Century t hat he began to be depicted as an evil deity who was part man and part animal, with goat-like horns and hooves. Before Christianity gave him t he names of Sat an, Lucifer, etc., the carnal side of man's nature was governed by t he god which was then called Dionysus, or Pan, depicted as a satyr or faun, by t he Greeks. Pan was originally the "good guy", and symbolized fertility and fecundity. Whenever a nation comes under a new form of government , the heroes of t he past become villains of t he present. So it is with religion. The earliest Christians believed that the Pagan deities were devils, and to employ t hem was to use "black magic". Miraculous heavenly event s they termed "white magic"; this was the sole distinction between the two. The old gods did not die, they fell into Hell and became devils. The bogey, goblin, or bugaboo used to frighten children is derived from the Slavonic "Bog" which means "god", as does Bhaga in Hindu. Many pleasures revered before the advent of Christianity were condemned by t he new religion. It required little changeover to transform t he horns and cloven hooves of Pan into a most convincing devil! Pan's attributes could be neatly changed into charged-with-punishment sins, and so the metamorphosis was complete.

The association of t he goat with the Devil is found in the Christian Bible, where the holiest day o f the year, the Day of Atonement , was celebrated by casting lots for two goats "without blemish", one to be offered to the Lord, and one to Azazel. The goat carrying the sins of t he people was driven into the desert and became a "scapegoat". This is the origin of t he goat which is still used in lodge ceremonies today as it was also used in Egypt, where once a year it was sacrificed to a God.

The devils of mankind are many, and their origins diversified. The performance of Sat anic ritual does not embrace the calling forth of demons; this practice is followed only by those who are in fear of the very forces they conjure.

Supposedly, demons are malevolent spirits with attributes conductive to the deterioration of t he people or events that they touch upon. The Greek word demon meant a guardian spirit or source of inspiration, and to be sure, later theologians invented legion upon legion of these harbingers of inspiration - all wicked.

An indication of t he cowardice of "magicians" of t he right-hand path is the practice of calling upon a particular demon (who would supposedly be a minion of the devil) to do his bidding. The assumption is that the demon, being only a flunky o f t he devil, is easier to control. Occult lore states that only t he most formidably "protected" or insanely foolhardy sorcerer would try t o call forth the Devil himself.

The Satanist does not furtively call upon these "lesser" devils, but brazenly invokes those who people that infernal army of long-standing outrage - the Devils themselves! Theologians have catalogued some of t he names of devils in their list s of demons, as might be expected, but the roster which follows contains the names and origins of t he Gods and Goddesses called upon, which make up a large part of t he occupancy o f t he Royal Palace of Hell:

THE FOUR CROWN PRINCES OF HELL

SATAN - (Hebrew) adversary, opposite, accuser, Lord of fire, the inferno, the south LUCIFER - (Roman) bringer of light, enlightenment, the air, the morning star, the east BELIAL - (Hebrew) without a master, baseness of the earth, independence, the north LEVIATHAN - (Hebrew) the serpent out of the deeps, the sea, the west

THE INFERNAL NAMES

Abaddon - (Hebrew) the destroyer
Adramelech - Samarian devil
Ahpuch - Mayan devil
Ahriman - Mazdean devil
Amon - Egyptian ram-headed god of life and reproduction
Apollyon - Greek synonym for Satan, the arch fiend
Asmodeus - Hebrew devil of sensuality and luxury, originally "creature of judgement" Astaroth - Phoenician goddess of lasciviousness, equivalent of Babylonian Ishtar Azazel - (Hebrew) taught man to make weapons of war, introduced cosmetics Baalberith - Canaanite Lord of the covenant who was later made a devil Balaam - Hebrew Devil of avarice and greed
Baphomet - worshipped by the Templars as symbolic of Satan Bast - Egyptian goddess of pleasure represented by the cat
Beelzebub - (Hebrew) Lord of the Flies, taken from symbolism of the scarab Behemoth - Hebrew personification of Satan in the form of an elephant Beherit - Syriac name for Satan
Bilé - Celtic god of Hell
Chemosh - national god of Moabites, later a devil
Cimeries - rides a black horse and rules Africa
Coyote - American Indian devil
Dagon - Philistine avenging devil of the sea
Damballa - Voodoo serpent god
Demogorgon - Greek name of the devil, it is said should not be known to mortals Diabolus - (Greek) "flowing downwards"
Dracula - Romanian name for devil
Emma-O - Japanese ruler of Hell
Euronymous - Greek prince of death
Fenriz - son of Loki, depicted as a wolf
Gorgo - dim. of Demogorgon, Greek name of the devil
Haborym - Hebrew synonym for Satan
Hecate - Greek goddess of the underworld and witchcraft
Ishtar - Babylonian goddess of fertility
Kali - (Hindu) daughter of Shiva, high priestess of the Thuggees Lilith - Hebrew female devil, Adam's first wife who taught him the ropes Loki - Teutonic devil
Mammon - Aramaic god of wealth and profit
Mania - Etruscan goddess of Hell
Mantus - Etruscan god of Hell
Marduk - god of the city of Babylon
Mastema - Hebrew synonym for Satan
Melek Taus - Yezidi devil
Mephistopheles - (Greek) he who shuns the light, q. v. Faust
Metztli - Aztec goddess of the night
Mictian - Aztec god of death
Midgard - son of Loki, depicted as a serpent
Milcom - Ammonite devil
Moloch - Phoenician and Canaanite devil
Mormo - (Greek) King of the Ghouls, consort of Hecate
Naamah - Hebrew female devil of seduction
Nergal - Babylonian god of Hades
Nihasa - American Indian devil
Nija - Polish god of the underworld
O-Yama - Japanese name for Satan
Pan - Greek god of lust, later relegated to devildom
Pluto - Greek god of the underworld
Proserpine - Greek queen of the underworld
Pwcca - Welsh name for Satan
Rimmon - Syrian devil worshipped at Damascus
Sabazios - Phrygian origin, identified with Dionysos, snake worship Saitan - Enochian equivalent of Satan
Sammael - (Hebrew) "venom of God"
Samnu - Central Asian devil
Sedit - American Indian devil
Sekhmet - Egyptian goddess of vengeance
Set - Egyptian devil
Shaitan - Arabic name for Satan
Shiva - (Hindu) the destroyer
Supay - Inca god of the underworld
T'an-mo - Chinese counterpart to the devil, covetousness, desire Tchort - Russian name for Satan, "black god"
Tezcatlipoca - Aztec god of Hell
Thamuz - Sumerian god who later was relegated to devildom
Thoth - Egyptian god of magic
Tunrida - Scandanavian female devil
Typhon - Greek personification of Satan
Yaotzin - Aztec god of Hell
Yen-lo-Wang - Chinese ruler of Hell

The devils of past religions have always, at least in part, had animal characteristics, evidence of man's constant need to deny t hat he too is an animal, for to do so would serve a mighty blow to his impoverished ego.

The pig was despised by the Jews and the Egyptians. It symbolized the gods Frey, Osiris, Adonis, Persephone, Attis, and Demeter, and was sacrificed to Osiris and the Moon. But, in time, it became degraded into a devil. The Phoenicians worhipped a fly god, Baal, from which comes the devil, Beelzebub. Both Baal and Beelzebub are identical t o the dung beetle or scarabaeus of t he Egyptians which appeared to resurrect itself, much as the mythical bird, the phoenix, rose from its own ashes. The ancient Jews believed, through their contact with the Persians, that the two great forces in the world were Ahura-Mazda, the god of fire, light , life, and goodness; and Ahriman, the serpent, the god of darkness, destruction, death, and evil. These, and countless other examples, not only depict man's devils as animals, but also show his need to sacrifice the original animal gods and demote them to his devils.

At the time of t he Reformation, in the Sixteenth Century, the alchemist , Dr. Johann Faustus, discovered a method of summoning a demon - Mephistopheles - from Hell and making a pact with him. He signed a contract in blood to turn his soul over to Mephistopheles in return for the feeling of youth, and at once became young. When the time came for Faustus to die, he retired to his room and was blown to bits as though his laboratory had exploded. This story is a protest of the times (the Sixteenth Century) against science, chemistry, and magic. To the Satanist, it is unnecessary t o sell your soul t o the Devil o r make a pact with Satan. This threat was devised by Christianity to terrorize people so they would not stray fro m t he fold. With scolding fingers and trembling voices, they t aught their followers that if t hey gave in to the temptations of Sat an, and lived their lives according to their natural predilections, they would have to pay for their sinful pleasures by giving their souls to Satan and suffering in Hell for all eternity. People were led to believe that a pure soul was a passport to everlasting life. Pious prophets have taught man to fear Satan. But what of terms like "God fearing"? If Go d is so merciful, why do people have to fear him? Are we to believe there is nowhere we can turn to escape fear? If yo u have to fear God, why no t be "Satan fearing" and at least have the fun that being God fearing denies you? Without such a wholesale fear religionists would have had nothing with which to wield power over their followers.

The Teutonic Goddess of t he Dead and daughter of Loki was named Hel, a Pagan god of torture and punishment. Another "L" was added when the books of t he Old Testament were formulated. The prophets who wrote the Bible did not know the word "Hell"; they used the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades , which meant the grave; also the Greek Tartaros , which was the abode of fallen angels, the underworld (inside the earth), and Gehenna , which was a valley near Jerusalem where Moloch reigned and garbage was dumped and burned. It is from t his that the Christian Church has evolved the idea of "fire and brimstone" in Hell.

The Protestant Hell and the Catholic Hell are places of eternal punishment; however, the Catholics also believe there is a "Purgatory" where all souls go for a time, and a "Limbo " where unbaptized souls go. The Buddhist Hell is divided into eight sections, the first seven of which can be expiated. The ecclesiastical description of Hell is that of a horrible place of fire and torment; in Dante's Inferno , and in northern climes, it was thought to be an icy co ld region, a giant refrigerator.

(Even with all t heir threats of eternal damnation and soul roasting, Christian missionaries have run across some who were not so quick to swallow their drivel. Pleasure and pain, like beauty, are in the eye of t he beholder. So, when missionaries ventured into Alaska and warned the Eskimo s of the horrors of Hell and the blazing lake of fire awaiting transgressors, they eagerly asked: "How do we get there?"!)

Most Satanists do not accept Satan as an anthropomorphic being with cloven hooves, a barbed tail, and horns. He merely represent s a force in nature - the powers of darkness which have been named just that because no religion has taken these forces out of t he darkness. Nor has science been able to apply technical terminology t o this force. It is an untapped reservoir that few can make use of because they lack the ability use a tool without having to first break down and label all t he parts which make it run. It is this incessant need to analyze which prohibits most people from taking advantage of t his many faceted key t o the unknown - which the Satanist chooses to call "Satan".

Satan, as a god, demi-god, personal saviour, or whatever you wish to call him, was invented by the formulators of every religion on the face of t he earth for only o ne purpose - to preside over man's so-called wicked activities and situations here on earth. Consequently, anything resulting in physical o r mental gratification was defined as "evil" - thus assuring a lifet ime of unwarrented guilt for everyone!

So, if "evil" they have named us, evil we are - and so what! The Satanic Age is upon us! Why no t take advantage of it and LIVE!

LOVE AND HATE

SATANISM represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!
You cannot love everyone; it is ridiculous to think you can. If yo u love everyone and everything you lose your natural powers of selection and wind up being a pretty poor judge of character and quality. If anything is used too freely it loses its true meaning. Therefore, the Satanist believes you should love strongly and completely those who deserve your love, but never turn the other cheek to your enemy! Love is one of t he most intense emotions felt by man; another is hate. Forcing yourself t o feel indiscriminate love is very unnatural. If you try to love everyone you only lessen your feelings for those who deserve your love. Repressed hatred can lead to many physical and emotional ailment s. By learning to release your hatred towards those who deserve it, you cleanse yourself of these malignant emotions and need not take your pent-up hatred out on your loved ones. There has never been a great "love" movement in the history o f t he world that hasn't wound up killing countless numbers of people, we must assume, to prove how much they loved them! Every hypocrite who ever walked the earth has had pockets buldging with love! Every pharisaical religionist claims to love his enemies, even though when wronged he consoles himself by thinking "God will punish them". Instead of admitting to themselves that they are capable of hating their foes and treating them in the manner they deserve, they say: "There, but for the grace of Go d, go I," and "pray" for them. Why should we humiliate and lower ourselves by drawing such inaccurate comparisons?

Satanism has been thought of as being synonymous with cruelty and brutality. This is so only because people are afraid to face the truth - and the truth is that human beings are not all benign or all loving. Just because the Satanist admit s he is capable of bot h love and hate, he is considered hateful. On the contrary, because he is able to give vent to his hatred through ritualized expression, he is far more capable of love - the deepest kind of love. By honestly recognizing and admitting to both the hate and the love he feels, there is no confusing one emotion with the other. Without being able to experience one of these emotions, you cannot fully experience the other.

HAIL SATAN!

[_ludwigm]

THE INFERNAL NAMES

Abaddon - (Hebrew) the destroyer
Adramelech - Samarian devil
Ahpuch - Mayan devil
Ahriman - Mazdean devil
Amon - Egyptian ram-headed god of life and reproduction
Apollyon - Greek synonym for Satan, the arch fiend
Asmodeus - Hebrew devil of sensuality and luxury, originally "creature of judgement" Astaroth - Phoenician goddess of lasciviousness, equivalent of Babylonian Ishtar Azazel - (Hebrew) taught man to make weapons of war, introduced cosmetics Baalberith - Canaanite Lord of the covenant who was later made a devil Balaam - Hebrew Devil of avarice and greed
Baphomet - worshipped by the Templars as symbolic of Satan Bast - Egyptian goddess of pleasure represented by the cat
Beelzebub - (Hebrew) Lord of the Flies, taken from symbolism of the scarab Behemoth - Hebrew personification of Satan in the form of an elephant Beherit - Syriac name for Satan
Bilé - Celtic god of Hell
Chemosh - national god of Moabites, later a devil
Cimeries - rides a black horse and rules Africa
Coyote - American Indian devil
Dagon - Philistine avenging devil of the sea
Damballa - Voodoo serpent god
Demogorgon - Greek name of the devil, it is said should not be known to mortals Diabolus - (Greek) "flowing downwards"
Dracula - Romanian name for devil
Emma-O - Japanese ruler of Hell
Euronymous - Greek prince of death
Fenriz - son of Loki, depicted as a wolf
Gorgo - dim. of Demogorgon, Greek name of the devil
Haborym - Hebrew synonym for Satan
Hecate - Greek goddess of the underworld and witchcraft
Ishtar - Babylonian goddess of fertility
Kali - (Hindu) daughter of Shiva, high priestess of the Thuggees Lilith - Hebrew female devil, Adam's first wife who taught him the ropes Loki - Teutonic devil
Mammon - Aramaic god of wealth and profit
Mania - Etruscan goddess of Hell
Mantus - Etruscan god of Hell
Marduk - god of the city of Babylon
Mastema - Hebrew synonym for Satan
Melek Taus - Yezidi devil
Mephistopheles - (Greek) he who shuns the light, q. v. Faust
Metztli - Aztec goddess of the night
Mictian - Aztec god of death
Midgard - son of Loki, depicted as a serpent
Milcom - Ammonite devil
Moloch - Phoenician and Canaanite devil
Mormo - (Greek) King of the Ghouls, consort of Hecate
Naamah - Hebrew female devil of seduction
Nergal - Babylonian god of Hades
Nihasa - American Indian devil
Nija - Polish god of the underworld
O-Yama - Japanese name for Satan
Pan - Greek god of lust, later relegated to devildom
Pluto - Greek god of the underworld
Proserpine - Greek queen of the underworld
Pwcca - Welsh name for Satan
Rimmon - Syrian devil worshipped at Damascus
Sabazios - Phrygian origin, identified with Dionysos, snake worship Saitan - Enochian equivalent of Satan
Sammael - (Hebrew) "venom of God"
Samnu - Central Asian devil
Sedit - American Indian devil
Sekhmet - Egyptian goddess of vengeance
Set - Egyptian devil
Shaitan - Arabic name for Satan
Shiva - (Hindu) the destroyer
Supay - Inca god of the underworld
T'an-mo - Chinese counterpart to the devil, covetousness, desire Tchort - Russian name for Satan, "black god"
Tezcatlipoca - Aztec god of Hell
Thamuz - Sumerian god who later was relegated to devildom
Thoth - Egyptian god of magic
Tunrida - Scandanavian female devil
Typhon - Greek personification of Satan
Yaotzin - Aztec god of Hell
Yen-lo-Wang - Chinese ruler of Hell

“Where is the graveyard of dead gods?” - By H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan
(from The Smart Set, March, 1922)

THRENODY.— Where is the graveyard of dead gods? What lingering mourner waters their mounds? There was a day when Jupiter was the king of all the gods, and any man who doubted his puissance was ipso facto a barbarian and an ignoramus. But where in all the world is there a man who worships Jupiter today? And what of Huitzilopochtli? In one year — and it was but five hundred years ago — no less than 50,000 youths and maidens were slain in sacrifice to him. Today, if he is remembered at all, it is only by some vagrant savage in the depths of the Mexican forest. Huitzilopochtli, like many other gods, had no human father; his mother was a virtuous widow; he was born of an apparently innocent flirtation that she carried on with the sun. When he frowned, his father, the sun, stood still. When he roared with rage, earthquakes engulfed whole cities. When he thirsted, he was watered with 10,000 gallons of human blood. But today Huitzilopochtli is as magnificently forgotten as Allen G. Thurman. Once the peer of Allah, he is now the peer of General Coxey, Richmond P. Hobson, Nan Patterson, Alton G. Parker, Adelina Patti, General Weyler and Tom Sharkey.

Speaking of Huitzilopochtli recalls his brother, Tezcatlipoca. Tezcatlipoca was almost as powerful: he consumed 25,000 virgins a year. Lead me to his tomb: I would weep, and hang a couronne des perles! But who knows where it is? Or where the grave of Quetzdcoatl is? Or Tlaloc? Or Chalchihuftlicue? Or Xiehtecutii? Or Centeotl, that sweet one? Or Tlazoltcotl, the goddess of love ? Or Mictlan? Or Ixtlilton? Or Omacatl? Or Yacatecutli? Or Mixcoatl? Or Xipe? Or all the host of Tzitzimitles? Where are their bones? Where is the willow on which they hung their harps? In what forlorn and unheard-of hell do they await the resurrection morn? Who enjoys their residuary estates? Or that of Dis, whom Caesar found to be the chief god of the Celts? Or that of Tarvos, the bull? Or that of Moccos, the pig? Or that of Epona, the mare? Or that of Mullo, the celestial jackass? There was a time when the Irish revered all these gods as violently as they now hate the English. But today even the drunkest Irishman laughs at them.

But they have company in oblivion: the hell of dead gods is as crowded as the Presbyterian hell for babies. Damona is there, and Esus, and Drunemeton, and Silvana, and Dervones, and Adsalluta, and Deva, and Belisama, and Axona, and Vintios, and Taranucus, and Stdis, and Cocidius, and Adsmcrius, and Dumiatis, and Caletos, and Moccus, and Ollovidius, and Albiorix, and Leucitius, and Vitucadrus, and Ogmios, and Uxellimus, and Borvo, and Grannos, and Mogons. All mighty gods in their day, worshipped by millions, full of demands and impositions, able to bind and loose — all gods of the first class, not pikers. Men labored for generations to build vast temples to them — temples with stones as large as hay-wagons. The business of interpreting their whims occupied thousands of priests, wizards, archdeacons, evangelists, haruspices, bishops, archbishops. To doubt them was to die, usually at the stake. Armies took to the field to defend them against infidels: villages were burned, women and children were butchered, cattle were driven off. Yet in the end they all withered and died, and today there is none so poor to do them reverence. Worse, the very tombs in which they lie are lost, and so even a respectful stranger is debarred from paying them the slightest and politest homage.

What has become of Sutekh, once the high god of the whole Nile Valley?
What has become of:

Resheph
Baal
Anath
Astarte
Ashtoreth
Hadad
El
Addu
Nergal
Shalem
Nebo
Dagon
Ninib
Sharrab
Melek
Yau
Ahijah
Amon-Re
Isis
Osiris
Ptah
Sebek
Anubis
Molech

All these were once gods of the highest class. Many of them are mentioned with fear and trembling in the Old Testament. They ranked, five or six thousand years ago, with Jahveh himself; the worst of them stood far higher than Thor or Wotan. Yet they have all gone down the chute, and with them the following;

Bile
Gwydion
Ler
Manawyddan
Arianrod
Nuada Argetlam
Morrigu
Tadg
Govannon
Goibniu
Gundfled
Odin
Sokk-mimi
Llaw Gyffes
Memctona
Lieu
Dagda
Ogma
Kerridwen
Mider
Pwyll
Rigantona
Ogyrvan
Marzin
Dea Denver International Airport
Mars
Ceres
Jupiter
Vaticanus
Cunina
Edulia
Potina
Adeona
Statilinus
Iuno Lucina
Diana of Rhesus
Saturn
Robigus
Furrina
Pluto
Vediovis
Ops
Consus
Meditrina
Cronos
Vesta
Enki
Tilmun
Engurra
Zer-panitu
Belus
Merodach
Dimmer
U-ki
Mu-ul-lil
Dauke
Ubargisi
Gasan-abzu
Ubilulu
Elum
Gasan-lil
U-TinHlir ki
U-dimmer-an-kia
Marduk
Enurestu
Nin-HMa
U-sab-sib
Kin
U-Mersi
Persophone
Tammuz
Istar
Venus
Lagas
Bau
U-urugal
Hulu-hursang
Sirtumu
Anu
Ea
Beltis
Nirig
Nusku
Ncbo
Ni-zu
Samas
Sahi
Ma-banba-aima
Aa
En-Mersi
Allatu
Amurm
Sin
Assur
Abil-Addu
Aku
Apsu
Beltu
Dagan
Dumu-zi-abzu
Elali
Kuski-banda
Isum
Kaawanu
Mami
Nin-azu
Nin-mah
Lugal-Amarada
Zaraqu
Qarradu
Ura-gala
Suqamunu
Zagaga
Ueras

You may think I spoof. That I invent the names. I do not. Ask your pastor to lend you any good treatise on comparative religion: you will find them all listed. They were all gods of the highest standing and dignity — gods of civilized peoples — worshipped and believed in by millions. All were theoretically omnipotent, omniscient and immortal. And all are dead.

[_consiglieri]

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

[_LeVay]

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.