Anton LaVey & The Church of Satan

I dont know how many people are informed on this particular subject but this is my first post so please forgive me. I just wanted to discuss some of the truths,facts, and misconceptions of the church of satans doctrine. No I am not a member nor do I believe or agree with Mr. LaVay, I just thought it would be interesting to examine some of the practices of the founder of the Church of Satan. I personally think that their beliefs and "code of ethics" are completly whacked out. Apparently there is a very large following, so lets gain a little knowledge about the occult.

Apparently there have been some misconceptions that Mr. LaVey was jewish. Here are some facts..

Just to correct a few misconceptions

Anton Szandor LaVey was not Jewish.
He was born of French, Alsation, German and Russian stock.

His name was Levey. Though he later prefered the slight alteration to LaVey.

He founded The Church Of Satan on April 30th 1966. The term "Satanism" did exist previously to this date (mainly in Hollywood) though, despite popular belief and some erroneous claims, no one had ever codified it as a religion.

Famous members have included Jayne Mansfield, who for a time served as the High Priestess. The church does not release figures, however they do have tens of thousands of members including a number of celebrities.

The Church Of Satan do not condone the sacrifice or harm of humans or animals.

THE ELEVEN SATANIC RULES OF THE EARTH
(copyright Anton Szandor LaVey 1967)

1: Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
2: Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
3: When in anothers lair show him respect or do not go there.
4: If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.
5: Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
6: Do not take that which does not belong to you.
7: Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully.
8: Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself to.
9: Do Not harm little children.
10: Do Not kill animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
11: When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.

[U]THE NINE SATANIC SINS


1: Stupidity.
2: Pretentiousness.
3: Solipsism.
4: Self-deceit.
5: Herd Conformity.
6: Lack Of perspective.
7: Forgetfulness of past orthodoxies.
8: Counterproductive Pride.
9: Lack of aesthetics.

Furthermore, Satan is only seen as an archetype, there is no belief that he exists as a metaphysical being. He stands as a symbol of the accuser, the challenger of false doctrines and of all those that would kill human joy. The belief is that you better live life to the fullest rather than bank on your reward in the afterlife. When you are dead - you are dead! On this basis, there is no giving your soul to the devil.

/forum/showthread.php%3Ft%3D98950+Famous+members+have+included+Jayne+Mansfiel d,+who+for+a+time+served+as+the+High+Priestess&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3]Cached source since the original site is currently down

Here is a video I found that explains a lot more about this bizarre finding

video.google.com...


[edit on 15-8-2006 by BORNLEADER]

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[edit on 15/8/2006 by Mirthful Me]

Originally posted by BORNLEADER
The church does not release figures, however they do have tens of thousands of members including a number of celebrities.

They did release figures (greatly exaggerated), and from all accounts it seems there were never that big, a few hundred members at most.

Ol' Anton was a great PR guy with some interesting ideas that's for sure.

BTW you need to make sure you make sure posts in this forum have a conspiracy angle to them. I have a feeling this post might be headed to BTS.

www.abovetopsecret.com... for more info

[edit on 8/15/2006 by Cug]

LaVey did most things for "shock" value. It is doubtful that he bought into real "devil" worship. He did most of it, at least from the information I have gathered, as a joke of sorts.

I must say that his "occultism" is quite popular among such people as Marilyn Manson and the like. I have serious doubts about how knowledgeable Lavey actually was as far as the occult is concerned. I doubt he knew much about occultism at all.

[edit on 15-8-2006 by SpeakerofTruth]

as a satanist, i doubt he ever knew his arsehole from his elbow. he was about the money & fame!

Anyone have data on His encounter with the very Devil Himself?

What does it matter if Lavey is jewish or not?

Alright sorry guys... I picked up things rather quickly so it wont happen again.. I was just in a hurry to reveal my first post!!!! I will try a more thoughtful approach next time... The mods are on top of things!!!!!! Whew!!!!

No problem, lets get back on point, why does it matter if lavey is jewish or not?
Here is a good introduction to the group, its an interview with the current 'high preist' of the organization, who was a personal friend of Lavey.

www.wuog.org...
Are Satanic forces aligned to take over the souls of every person on the planet? Do Satanists worship the evil lord himself? Do they really sacrifice babies and puppies? Here's your chance to find out in our interview with Magus Peter H. Gilmore, the High Priest of the Church of Satan. Mr. Gilmore lays out the beliefs and philisophy of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan in this entertaining, informative and provocative interview. Satanic fun for the whole family!
Magus Peter H. Gilmore has been the High Priest of the Church of Satan since 2001. He and his wife have been publishing The Black Flame, a Satanic journal, since 1989.

Episode 25: Hail Satan(podcast)

Well worth giving it a listen.

Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area almosst all of my adult life, I have knkown several people that were involved with the Church of Satan briefly. Here is one account from a guy I know. He is a good man, very brilliant. It is rather long but gives a good impression of what LaVey and his group were like. It's a good read.

www.neopagan.net...

It was the in thing for awhile to go to his Church. Even Ronald and Nancy Reagan went once. There were never more than several hundred members at most. Later on, there was a schism in the Church and Michael Aquino formed the Church of Set; they became arch rivals. Aquino later became head of a group that worked in mind control for the CIA and he was a Lt. Col, IIRC in the military. He was also linked with child molesting and/or prostituion but has never been apprehended for it.

I did have a friend who was Satanic and taught me a lot of things. He too indicated the following:

SpeakerofTruth

LaVey did most things for "shock" value. It is doubtful that he bought into real "devil" worship. He did most of it, at least from the information I have gathered, as a joke of sorts.

I must say that his "occultism" is quite popular among such people as Marilyn Manson and the like. I have serious doubts about how knowledgeable Lavey actually was as far as the occult is concerned. I doubt he knew much about occultism at all.

transvaal

a fool

as a satanist, i doubt he ever knew his arsehole from his elbow. he was about the money & fame!

Saint4God, thanks for the input. That agrees exactly with what is in the URL I provided. Hey, we agree on something! And it's also what my friends who have known him said, he loved shock value but probably didn't know any real magick. I don't know anyone who says he wrote a terrific book on magick.

It never ceases to amaze me how people who never met LaVey talk about what he believed, how he was a fraud, not a real Satanist, etc.

Never having met the man himself, I can only speculate on what he was like- but his writings tend to lead me to the conclusion he wasn`t any more than a guy- a rather well-spoken guy with some very nuanced and thought-out views.

Pseudo-occultists tend to dislike LaVey based off his tendency to concentrate on the material, rather than the metaphysical, in his work, even to the point of seeming to elevate the material above the 'paranormal'. Which isn`t to say that LaVey didn`t actually believe in the paranormal- his writing simply dosen`t tend to fulfill their fetish for pseudo-occultic, overly grandiose writing like the majority of 'new age' authors do.

I don`t really see Bonewitz as being a legitimate source for honest criticism of LaVey.

Why do you not see Bonewits as a credible source? Just wondering.

Originally posted by forestlady
Why do you not see Bonewits as a credible source? Just wondering.

I could go pretty detailed in answering that question, but I only have a maximum of 4000 characters to use in this post, so....

No, but seriously, it`s not that I have any active personal dislike for Bonewitz- I`ve never met him, so I don`t have any basis to personally dislike him. But he sure seems to dislike me, and anyone else he feels taps into an archetype he feels is 'negative'. I might point you towards the essay on his site, 'The Enemies of Our Enemies', where you`ll see him repeat his favorite anti-Satanist smear more than once- that Satanists are just masquerading and under the trappings, they`re Christian Fundementalists (the smear is also present on the main page of his website, which gives you an idea just how badly he seems to want his readers to accept the idea). The statement, of course, reflects absolutely zero understanding of Satanic ideals, and is totally inaccurate, but he insists upon incessantly repeating it. Ironically, in the same essay, he seems very concerned that Neopagans and Wiccans distance themselves as much as possible from Satanists because any closeness between the groups might lend credence to claims they are all one and the same. Where would such claims originate in the first place? The Fundie Christians he seems to dislike so much. Why he`d be so concerned about their opinions if he holds them in so much contempt- I honestly don`t have a clue. He also infers that Satanists intend on 'ruling the world'; no Satanist I`ve ever encountered has held that particular goal. Satanic morality is pretty much centered on mastering one`s self, not anyone else. Where Bonewitz gets the idea otherwise- well, you`d have to ask him.

His statement that Neopagans should be wary of joining in 'public relations coalitions' with Satanists just as they would with 'The Inquisition' (one wonders what 'Inquisition' he`s referring to- to the best of my recollection there is no currently active 'Inquisition', the final days of the Catholic Inquisition having been some time ago) or the Ku Klux Klan is a pretty thinly veiled inference to draw an ethical equivalency between the groups he mentions. Slurs like that are the sort of thing that, were it any other belief system (Neopagans, for instance) he would be decried viciously for making. Apparently it`s o.k. (in his mind) to do to anyone who dares turn a pentegram or cross upside down, though.

For a more detailed response to his criticisms of Satanism, you might want to email one of the major Satanic orgs, like the COS or TOS. I would assume they`d be more than able to provide point-by-point refutations of his innacurate statements about their theology, being that they`ve been dealing with those misconceptions for years.

SATAN was the first devil but he was only human.any human has the ability to copy satan but to be a real satan u need a life behind you and power over everyone you meet.laugh when ever you can and it becomes natural after a while...the ladies love it too. dance, the devil always loved to dance be free. you dont have to fake coolness to be satan.

in a room full of men find the most powerful one and start talkin like u dont give a # in a nice way.make a joke.make ur way up the chains and in years down the road, rule the world.

help people out if in need or ruin em more,w.e. call bitches, bitches. sluts sluts. fake love them at all times neccasary.corrupt the good in a nice way as to make friends, and once there corrupt there aint no turning back.

life is but a dream.# this dream up.

[edit on 24-8-2006 by BirDMan_X]

Originally posted by BirDMan_X
SATAN was the first devil but he was only human.

Satan is a fallen angel, not a human.

Originally posted by BirDMan_X
to be a real satan u need a life behind you and power over everyone you meet...

That doesn't make you Satan, that makes you a pompous jerk.

Originally posted by BirDMan_X
help people out if in need or ruin em more,w.e. call bitches, bitches. sluts sluts. fake love them at all times neccasary.corrupt the good in a nice way as to make friends, and once there corrupt there aint no turning back.

life is but a dream.# this dream up.

Seriously, what was the point of that post?

that was my satanistic point of view.that i truely use in real life...i have power over my entire town right now.haha cool #.age of 17.

Heya TheB1ueSoldier, just to give a heads up if you haven't met a Satanist before. The school of thought according to BirDMan_X is indeed how many Satanists think (although they may debate whether he was god, angel and/or human). It's not atypical and maintains a lot of the principles that causes me to believe he is Satanic. No masquerading going on here, I'd stamp it as "legit" in that belief system.

[edit on 25-8-2006 by saint4God]

Originally posted by Nygdan
What does it matter if Lavey is jewish or not?

Maybe the "Satan" he worshipped was really Jahve or Javhe(Yahweh), god of the Zionists/Black-Lodge.

Authentic, non-Zionist Jews, worship Yahovah(Yod-He-Vau-He) also known as Jehovah, who is our Internal Christ.


I wouldn't be surprised if A.L. was an awakened black-magician.

He certainly corrupted many people with his foolish theories.

Although, he could have just been a somewhat-intellectual ignoramus, who was only out to make a buck off of the sleeping masses.


Some of A.L.'s criticisms of Christian churches hypocrisy is valid; but not for the reasons that he thought.

Originally posted by Tamahu


Maybe the "Satan" he worshipped was really Jahve or Javhe(Yahweh), god of the Zionists/Black-Lodge.

Authentic, non-Zionist Jews, worship Yahovah(Yod-He-Vau-He) also known as Jehovah, who is our Internal Christ.


I wouldn't be surprised if A.L. was an awakened black-magician.

He certainly corrupted many people with his foolish theories.

Although, he could have just been a somewhat-intellectual ignoramus, who was only out to make a buck off of the sleeping masses.


Some of A.L.'s criticisms of Christian churches hypocrisy is valid; but not for the reasons that he thought.

With all due respect, you seem to be speaking about something you have no understanding of whatsoever.

en.wikipedia.org...

Jehovah and Yahweh are the same diety- the different wording is due to a mistranslation.

The rest of your post consists of invalid smears against a deceased man. Real nice.