What is the Satanic Bible. The devil's bible or code gigas the largest book in the world
Believers read a lot of religious literature, or communicate in a circle of like-minded people, from where they learn something about God, angels, virtue and positive qualities of people. They also know about sins, that not all angels were saints. And someone becomes especially interested in the topic of sinfulness not only of the human race, but also of divine creatures. According to scientists, this book "The Bible of the Devil" was written around the 13th century, although then there was a different attitude towards religion, and one could lose a life because of faith. But even then there were those who wanted to know the truth, and there were those who believed in something else. The book has conflicting reviews, as many believe that it seems to reject the existence of God. However, those who understand that everything is created by God, study it too.
This book contains passages on the origin of the world from a different angle. There are prayers to the Devil and poems dedicated to him. It is worth being prepared for the fact that the content of the book may cause not entirely pleasant emotions. Only those who are fond of Satanism, the occult and similar topics will find the book interesting. For those who too keenly perceive everything religious, see this as a mockery of God, it is better to refrain from reading the book.
The work belongs to the genre of Horror and Mysticism. On our site you can download the book "The Bible of the Devil" in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format or read online. The rating of the book is 4.33 out of 5. Here you can also refer to the reviews of readers who are already familiar with the book and find out their opinions before reading. In the online store of our partner, you can buy and read a book in paper form.
Satanic bible
Cover of the English edition “ Satanic bible»
| La Vey Satanism |
| Associated organizations |
| Church of Satan First Satanic Church |
| Notable personalities |
| Anton LaVey Peter H. Gilmore Diana Hegarty Carla LaVey |
| Concepts |
| Left hand path Pentagonal revisionism Suitheism Strength is right Lex talionis Theistic Satanism |
| Publications |
| Satanic bible Satanic rituals Satanic Witch Devil's Notebook Satan speaks! · Black flame Church of Satan The secret life of a Satanist Satanic scriptures |
Story
The Satanic Bible was first published in 1969 by Avon Books and has been reprinted many times since then. The main text has always remained unchanged, but the section with thanks in comparison with the very first edition has undergone changes (the first edition contained the famous extended section with thanks, later abbreviated), and the introduction was changed and supplemented several times. Burton Wolfe ( Burton wolfe), a journalist and early member of the Church of Satan, is the author of the introduction that has been published in the book over the years. Peter Gilmore, currently the High Priest of the Church of Satan, wrote a new introduction that replaced Burton Wolfe's text and is now included in the edition of The Satanic Bible beginning with. The University Press published The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals in hardcover, but these editions have long been out of print and turned into second-hand books (some copies on eBay sell for more than $ 1000).
Sections of the "Satanic Bible"
The Satanic Bible, in addition to the introduction by others, is divided into four sections under the following titles:
Book of satan
In this section, LaVey also introduces for the first time the term psychic, or spiritual, vampire, which refers to people who "draw out vitality from other people. " Now this term, synonymous with the phrase "energy vampire" (probably more often used in Russian), is included in the active vocabulary of many people. The author suggests avoiding any relationship with psychic vampires who try to play on human feelings of guilt. At the conclusion of The Book of Lucifer, LaVey warns of "pseudo-Satanists."
The Book of Belial
Table of Contents "The Satanic Bible"
| Chapter | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Foreword | |
| Prologue | |
| Nine Foundations of Satanism | |
| (THE FIRE) BOOK OF SATAN - Infernal diatribe - |
I |
| II | |
| III | |
| IV | |
| V | |
| (AIR) THE BOOK OF LUCIFER - Enlightenment - |
I. Wanted!: God - Alive or Dead |
| II. God you worship might be you | |
| III. Some Signs of a New Satanic Era | |
| IV. Hell, Devil and How to Sell Your Soul | |
| V. Love and hate | |
| Vi. Satanic sex | |
| Vii. Not all vampires suck blood | |
| VIII. Indulgence ... but not coercion | |
| IX. On the question of human sacrifice | |
| X. Life After Death Through Ego Gratification | |
| XI. Religious holidays | |
| XII. Black mass | |
| (LAND) THE BOOK OF BELIAL - Power over the land - |
I. Theory and Practice of Satanic Magic |
| II. Three types of satanic ritual | |
| III. Ritual room, or room of intellectual emancipation | |
| IV. The Ingredients of Practicing Satanic Magic | |
| 1. Desire | |
| 2. Timing | |
| 3. Image | |
| 4. Direction | |
| 5. Balancing factor | |
| V. Satanic Ritual | |
| 1. Some notes to consider before starting the ritual | |
| 2. Thirteen steps | |
| 3. Devices used in satanic rituals | |
| (WATER) THE BOOK OF LEVIATHAN - Raging Sea - |
I. A Call to Satan |
| II. Devilish names | |
| III. An Invocation to Challenge Lust | |
| IV. A proclamation to invoke destruction | |
| V. Invocation to Challenge Compassion | |
| Vi. The Enochian Keys and the Enochian Language | |
| First key | |
| Second key | |
| Third key | |
| Fourth key | |
| Fifth key | |
| Sixth key | |
| Seventh Key | |
| Eighth key | |
| Ninth key | |
| Tenth key | |
| Eleventh key | |
| Twelfth Key | |
| Thirteenth Key | |
| The fourteenth key | |
| Fifteenth Key | |
| Sixteenth key | |
| Seventeenth Key | |
| Eighteenth key | |
| Nineteenth Key |
see also
- Devilish names
Other books by A. Sh. LaVey
- "Satanic Witch"
- "Satanic Rituals"
- "The Devil's Notebook"
- Bible of the damned
Links
- Church of Satan - official site
- The Satanic Bible, as well as the Eleven Earthly Rules and the Nine Satanic Sins.
- (M., 1996)
- A. Sh. LaVey, "The Satanic Witch"
- A. Sh. LaVey, "Satanism" () - a monograph, the material of which was included in the "Satanic Bible"
- Interview with Peter Gilmore, author of the introduction to the latest edition of The Satanic Bible
Bibliography
- LaVey, Anton Szandor. The satanic bible(Avon, 1969, ISBN 0-380-01539-0).
- LaVey A. Sh. The Satanic Bible. M .: Unholy Words, Inc. (RCC),.
When a nation transitions to a new form of government, the heroes of the past become robbers of the present. It's the same with religion. The early Christians believed that the pagan gods were devils and to deal with them was to practice "black magic." They called miraculous celestial events "white magic" and this was the only difference between the two "types" of magic. The old gods did not die, they fell into Hell and became devils. The brownies, goblins and beeches (English - bogey, bugaboo - approx. Transl.), Which frightened children, came from the words: the Slavic "God" and the Indian "Bhaga".
Many pleasures revered before the advent of Christianity were forbidden new religion... It only took a little tweak to transform Pan, with his horns and cloven hooves, into his most compelling feature! His attributes were also easily transformed into punishable sins and the metamorphosis became complete.
The association of the goat with the Devil can be found in the Christian Bible. The holiest day of the year, the Day of Atonement, was celebrated by the sacrifice of two "flawless" goats, one for the Lord and the other for Azazel. The last goat, containing the sins of men, was served for dessert and was the "scapegoat". This is the origin of the goat used in today's ceremonies, as, indeed, in Egypt: once a year it was sacrificed to God.
Humanity has plenty of devils and, of course, they differ in their origin. The performance of the Satanic ritual does not pursue the evocation of demons, this practice is followed by those who fear the very forces that they awaken. Presumably, demons are evil spirits endowed with properties to favor the corruption of people and events to which they concern. The Greek word for "demon" means "guardian spirit" or "source of inspiration" and, of course, theologians, legion after legion, have invented these harbingers of inspiration - and all, among other things, evil. Proof of the cowardice of the "wizards" of the right path is the practice of summoning the appropriate demon (which, presumably, is a miniature copy of the devil) to carry out their assignment. At the same time, they proceed from the fact that the demon, being a lackey of the devil, is more easily controllable. Occult folklore tells about that. that only a very "protected" or insanely stupid sorcerer is able to think of summoning the Devil himself,
The Satanist does not furtively summon these "unfinished" devils, but fearlessly awakens those who make up the hellish army of experienced rapists - the Devils themselves!
Theologians have cataloged some of the names of devils in their lists of demons, but below is a list of the names most effectively used in Satanic rituals. These names and short references to the invoked gods and goddesses constituting most creatures inhabiting the Royal Infernal Palace:
FOUR CROWN PRINCES OF HELL
SATAN - (Hebrew) adversary, enemy, accuser, Lord of fire, Hell, South.
LUCIFER - (Latin) bearer of light, enlightenment, morning star, Lord of the air and the East.
BELIAL - (Hebrew) without a master, the basis of the land, independence, the Lord of the North.
LEVIAFAN - (Hebrew) serpent from the depths, Lord of the sea and the West.
Devilish names
(for the avoidance of confusion, they are given in alphabetical order in the transcription of the original)
Abbadon - (Hebrew) destroyer
Adramelech - Sumerian devil
Ahpuch (Apuh) - Mayan devil
Ahriman - Mazdak devil
Amon - Egyptian ram-headed god of life and reproduction
Apollyon - Greek synonym for Satan, archdevil
Asmodeus (Asmodeus) - Hebrew god of sensuality and luxury, originally "a judging being"
Astaroth - Phoenician goddess of lust and lust, equivalent to Babylonian Ishtar
Azazel - (Hebrew) gunsmith, inventor of cosmetics
Baalberith - Canaanite Lord of Consent, later turned into a devil
Balaam - Jewish devil of greed and greed
Baphomet - the Templars worshiped him as the embodiment of Satan
Bast - Egyptian goddess of pleasure, represented as a cat
Beelzebub - (Hebrew) Lord of the Flies, taken from the symbolism of the scarab
Behemoth - Jewish personification of Satan in the form of an elephant
Beherith - Syrian name for Satan
Bile (Vil) - Celtic god of Hell
Chemosh (Chemosh) - the national god of the Moabites, later - the devil
Cimeries - rides a black horse and rules Africa
Coyote - American Indian devil
Dagon - Philistine vengeful god of the sea
Damballa - serpentine god of voodoo
Demogorgon (Demogorgon) - Greek name of the devil, not supposed to be known to mortals
Diabulus - (Greek) "flowing down"
Dracula (Dracula) - Romanian name for the devil
Emma-O - Japanese ruler of Hell
Euronimus - Greek prince of death
Fenriz (Fenritz) - son of Loki, depicted as a wolf
Gorgo (Gorgon) - decrease. from Demogorgon, Greek name for the devil
Haborym - Hebrew synonym for Satan
Hecate - Greek goddess of the underworld and witchcraft
Ishtar (Ishtar) - Babylonian goddess of fertility
Kali (Kali) - (Hindi) daughter of Shiva, high priestess of the Tuggiev
Lilith (Lilith) - Jewish devil, the first wife of Adam
Loki - Teutonic devil
Mammon (Mammon) - Aramaic god of wealth and benefit
Mania (Mania) - the goddess of Hell among the Etruscans
Mantus (Mantu) - the god of Hell among the Etruscans
Marduk (Marduk) - the god of the City of Babylon
Mastema - Jewish synonym for Satan
Melek Taus - Yizidi devil
Mephistopheles - (Greek) one who avoids light, see also "Faust" by Goethe
Metztli (Metztli) - the goddess of the night among the Aztecs
Mictian (Miktian) - Aztec god of death
Midgard (Midgard) - son of Loki, depicted in the form of a snake
Milcom - Ammonite devil
Moloch - Phoenician and Canaanite devil
Mormo - (Greek) King of the Vampires, consort of Hecate
Naamah (Naama) - Jewish devil of seduction
Nergal - Babylonian god of Hades
Nihasa - American Indian devil
Nija (Nidza) - Polish god of the underworld
O-Yama (O-Yama) - Japanese name for Satan
Pan (Pan) - Greek god of lust, placed later in the devil's retinue
Pluto - Greek god of the underworld
Proserpine - Greek queen of the underworld
Pwcca (Pakka) - Welsh name for Satan
Rimmon (Rimmon) - Syrian devil, who was worshiped in Damascus
Sabazios (Shavazios) - Phrygian origin, identified with Dionysus, serpent worship
Saitan - Enochian equivalent of Satan
Sammael - (Hebrew) "the wickedness of God"
Today, one of the most sinister books in the world is the Devil's Bible. The document contains various Christian sacred writings and an alleged self-portrait of the Prince of Darkness.
In the article:
Devil's Bible - table of contents
The huge sinister book is presented in the form of an ancient manuscript. According to a widespread theory, the attribute appeared at the beginning of the 13th century in a Benedictine monastery in the Czech city of Podlazice (now Chrast).
The Giant Codex has 624 pages, the book is 89 cm high, and 49 cm wide. The weight of the labor is impressive - 75 kg. According to rough estimates, 167 skins of lambs were spent on the manuscript.
According to one of the legends, Satan helped the monk in writing the book. Tradition says that in order to atone for a grave sin, a monk needs to rewrite the Bible within one night. Taking up the work, the monk realized that this was impossible, and prayed to the Devil for salvation.
The code was executed in a handwriting atypical for the XIII century. The letters resemble printed ones. Today scientists do not agree with the legend and are sure that the book's production time is at least 20-30 years. M. Gulik confirmed the assumption that the medieval arctic fox was able to copy no more than 140 lines per day. Even non-stop work would take about 5 years to create a Bible.
The manuscript contains the Old and New Testaments, the texts of "Etymology" by Isidore of Seville, "The Jewish War" by Josephus, a calendar showing the days of the saints and various incantations.
The original Codex Gigas (Bible of the Devil) is on display at the Clementinum Library in Prague.
Striking is page number 290, which contains both familiar biblical stories and a strange drawing, supposedly depicting the Devil. Looking through the book, it is easy to determine that the sheet is different from the rest: a different color, style and color of the text are clearly different. The passage appears to have been done by another person.
Secrets of the Devil's Bible
The Gigas Codex must be shrouded in secrets. The story about a monk who made a deal with the Devil says that Satan agreed to help a person, but in return the monk had to depict a portrait of the Devil on one of the pages. It is not known what fate befell the man in the future.
It is strange that the manuscript has come down to our time, because the Inquisition was not supposed to carefully keep the book for many centuries in the libraries of different monasteries, but to destroy the creation of Satan as soon as possible. The question arises: Perhaps the existence of the code was beneficial to someone?
In 1595, Gigas was kept in the vault of the ruler of Hungary, Rudolf III. In the second part of the 17th century, the book became the property of the Swedes and was transported to Stockholm. Then they took the text to show in Berlin, Prague and New York. In the Swedish Royal Museum, the Bible of the Devil was kept until 2007, after a while it was transported to the National Library of the Czech Republic.
8 pages after the image with the Devil are filled with ink.
Despite modern methods of analysis, it was not possible to determine what text is under the inked pages and why the sheet with the face of Satan is darker than the others. Researchers cannot explain the absence of people in the image of the City of Heaven.
You can download a copy of Codex Gigas here.
One theory is that a curse will be placed on the owner of the Codex. For example, the castle where the volume was in Stockholm suddenly burned down when the book was taken away from there. One of the monasteries was amazed bubonic plague... There is a belief that in order to be saved from black magic, it is necessary to throw the Bible of the Devil out of the window.
What are ad-painting icons
It can be assumed that the Giant Code is a mockery of Christianity and religion in general. This is justified, because among the sacred texts of the Christian world is hidden the image of the most terrible and powerful monster - the Devil.
The theory is viable, because the distortion of holy images has already been encountered in history. For example, famous Hellish icons can be viewed as a mockery of religion. Horrific relics were common in medieval times.
The peculiarity of the artifacts was that under one picture another was hidden. The first, hidden, depicted demons, devils and the Devil. When the paint dried, the usual motives were applied on top - saints, apostles. Sometimes horns, tails and hooves were painted under the images of the righteous, which was hidden by a layer of oil.
For the first time the term "ad-painting icons" was mentioned in the 16th century in the Life of St. Basil the Blessed. The story says that a man approached the walls of the city, on which an icon with the face of the Mother of God could be seen. People were sure that the image was miraculous - the crowd prayed and asked the icon to bestow health and strength.
However, Basil the Blessed stopped people. Instead of approaching the miraculous image in supplication, the man threw stones at the image. The crowd was horrified, but Vasily addressed the people with a speech, assuring them that a devil was drawn under a layer of paint. After removing the top cover, the fears were confirmed.
There is another theory, describing the purpose of the ad-painting icons: it was believed that if a believer turns to the saint depicted on the face, he also prays to Satan in parallel, because both images are inextricably linked with each other.
Next version reads , that in the Middle Ages black sorcerers could use Hellish icons if their goal was to punish a person who was deeply religious and who regularly prayed. Throwing an attribute, you can force the individual to pray to the enemy - the Devil.
According to legend, faces could be created by people who opposed church reform and did not want to observe the set of rules adopted in the 17th century. Intimidating icons could be created to scare those who supported the reform.
Widespread opinion that the ad-painted images were made by religious people, who were sacredly afraid to break the rule "Do not create an idol for yourself" and wished to eliminate belief in the magical power of icons. For example, there were people who opposed the worship of holy images and are convinced that this is analogous to serving pagan idols.
In the 20th century, it was believed that there were no black magic icons. Today these are rather legendary artifacts - there are no surviving examples. Russian Slavic scholar Nikita Tolstoy assures that the legends about Hellish icons were horror stories for superstitious citizens.
There are other, less mystified theories regarding the image on the first layer: it could simply be badly and ineptly depicted the faces of the saints. Due to the poor quality of the materials used and the lack of experience of the masters, the images of the righteous could indeed appear intimidating. The layer was overlaid with a new one, and the image was redone from scratch. However, fans of the supernatural are not satisfied with the theory.
Anton Szandor LaVey is the man whom the press called "Black Pope". LaVey brought Satanism out of the underground and was the first to officially use the term "church" to refer to the organization he created. He is the author of a number of books, of which the most popular are three: The Satanic Rituals, The Complete Witch and his most famous work, The Satanic Bible. For many Christians, LaVey and his famous book The Satanic Bible are symbols of Satanism. Many people in different countries of the world consider him their idol, many curse him. For a long time, the spiritual heritage of this man, thanks to the "Iron Curtain", did not reach Russia, now the situation is different, for many of our compatriots the issue of spiritual self-determination is acute, and Lavey, as an alternative to Christianity, is considered quite seriously. This article is intended primarily for them, as well as for all those who are interested in this topic. Who was LaVey? Why does he have a lot of followers? Can you trust his works and build your spiritual life on them? We will try to answer these and other questions in this work. The main object of analysis will be the "Satanic Bible", about which we will say a few words before moving on to LaVey's biography.
The Satanic Bible was written in 1969 in the United States, published by Avon Books in the same year, and has since been reprinted several times. The main text remained the same, changes were made to the thank you section, the introduction was changed several times. The introduction for the early edition of The Satanic Bible was written by Barton Wolfe, in subsequent editions this introduction was removed and replaced by an introduction by Peter Gilmore. When writing the article, a version with a foreword by Barton Wolfe was used. Unfortunately, the author was unable to find a printed copy of The Satanic Bible, so I had to turn to the Internet. Comparing a number of versions of the "Satanic Bible" posted on different sites, the author came to the conclusion that the main differences lie in the presence or absence of Wolfe's preface, as well as in the quality of the translation. Apparently, several translations were made, differing in details, while the semantic meaning of the book does not actually change. The chapter titles, depending on the translation, may sound slightly different, but still recognizable. The Satanic Bible is divided into four sections: The Book of Satan, The Book of Lucifer, The Book of Belial, and The Book of Leviathan. In the footnotes, the author decided not to mention these names, since, in his opinion, the title of the chapter is sufficient to find a quotation in the book. Considering that finding the "Satanic Bible" in Russian on the Internet does not pose any problems (in the author's opinion, there are even too many of them!), The author did not indicate any specific resources on which it is posted. Anyone can find this book without difficulty, of course, if he still has a desire to read it, after reading this article.
First, let's get acquainted with LaVey's biography, as presented by his followers. This biography is set out in the book of his disciple and priest of the "Church of Satan" Barton Wolfe "The Devil's Avenger" (Burton H. Wolfe. . Secret Life of a Satanist, 1990). So, Anton Sandor Lavey was born on April 11, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, in the family of a liquor merchant. Among his ancestors were Georgians, Romanians, Alsatians. LaVey's grandmother was of gypsy blood and from childhood told LaVey stories about vampires and sorcerers. From a young age, Lavey became interested in mystical literature. In 1942, when LaVey was 12 years old, he became interested in military affairs, and he became interested in literature with a military theme. During his studies at school, LaVey spent a lot of time studying the occult. At the age of 10 he learned to play the piano on his own, at 15 he became the second oboist in the Grand Symphony Orchestra of San Francisco. In his senior year, Lavey leaves school, allegedly because he was bored with school curriculum... He leaves the house and joins Clyde Beatty's circus as a cage worker. At the circus, LaVey feeds tigers and lions. Trainer Beatty, noticing that LaVey has no fear of predators, makes him his assistant. One day the in-house circus musician gets drunk before a show and LaVey replaces him. After this incident, the leadership of the circus leaves the place of a musician for him and dismisses his predecessor. At the age of 18, LaVey leaves the circus and joins the carnival, where he becomes an assistant to a magician and masters hypnosis. In 1951, at the age of twenty-one, LaVey married. After marriage, LaVey leaves the carnival and enters the Department of Criminology at the City College of San Francisco. It is interesting to note: LaVey's followers claim that at this time he becomes Marilyn Monroe's lover for a short period of time. He then takes a job as a photographer at the San Francisco Police Department. According to his biographers, there he is faced with manifestations of violence and asks the question: how can God allow the existence of evil? In search of an answer to this question, LaVey plunges headlong into the occult, and on the last April night of 1966 (Walpurgis Night), in accordance with the magical tradition, he shaves his head and announces the creation of the "Church of Satan." In order to identify himself as a minister of this "church", he begins to wear a pastor's collar and black suit. In the early years of the "church", Lavey divided his time between performing satanic rituals (which he himself created) and the study of occultism. After his "church" got stronger, he wrote his famous books. His biographers claim that LaVey has consulted on a number of horror films, and even acted as an actor. All his life LaVey was accompanied by scandals, he was invariably one of the favorite characters of the secular press. In 1997, on October 31st, during Halloween, LaVey dies. Now let us familiarize ourselves with the teaching that LaVey bequeathed to his disciples.
Let's begin our acquaintance with a listing of the nine satanic commandments with which LaVey begins his book. The author will quote these commandments without any comments.
1. Satan represents indulgence, not abstinence!
2. Satan personifies the essence of life instead of unrealizable spiritual dreams.
3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deception!
4. Satan represents mercy for those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on flatterers!
5. Satan personifies revenge, and does not turn the other cheek after a blow!
6. Satan represents responsibility to those in charge instead of being involved with spirit vampires.
7. Satan presents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those who walk on four legs; an animal that due to its "divine, spiritual and intellectual development" has become the most dangerous of all animals!
8. Satan represents all so-called sins as they lead to physical, mental and emotional satisfaction!
9. Satan has been the best friend of the Church at all times, supporting her business all these years!
LaVey was a Satanist. Who or what was Satan to him? As LaVey wrote: “Most Satanists do not accept Satan as an anthropomorphic creature with cloven hooves, a tasselled tail, and horns. He simply personifies the forces of nature - the Forces of Darkness, so named only because no religion has bothered to take these forces from darkness. Science has also failed to apply technical terminology to these forces. They are like a vessel without a crane, which very few people have used, since not everyone has the ability to use a tool without first disassembling it, and without giving names to all the parts that make it work. " As you can see, for LaVey, Satan is a natural force, impersonal in its essence. Lavey believed that Satan was given the role of an evil character only because he personified the carnal, bodily aspects human life... Satan, on the other hand, as a personal power, the angel of darkness, was invented by the leaders of Christians in order to rule over them, intimidating them with his existence. It is interesting to note that LaVey denied the idea of "selling souls" to Satan by his followers, in his opinion, this statement is also a myth that Christian leaders came up with to control their flock by telling "tales" about Satanism.
What is LaVey's view of God? LaVey wrote: “A very popular misconception is that the Satanist does not believe in God. The concepts of "God" as interpreted by man have changed so much over the centuries that the Satanist simply accepts the one that suits him best. " According to LaVey, gods are invented by people. Therefore for “Satanist…,“ God ”, no matter what name he is named, or even not named at all, is seen as a kind of balancing factor for nature, and has nothing to do with suffering. It is a powerful force that permeates and maintains the balance of the entire Universe, too impersonal to care about the happiness or misfortune of creatures of flesh and blood living on the ball of mud that is our home. " The doctrine of God in the "Satanic Bible" is very vague, but apparently, it is close to the views of theosophists on this question: God is like some impersonal energy poured into the Cosmos. For everything that happens in the world, only people and the forces of "action and reaction of the Universe" are responsible.
In LaVey's teachings, there is neither hell nor heaven; everything that a person has, he has "here and now." LaVey denied the law of reincarnation. In particular, he wrote: “If in this life there is nothing in which a person could express his dignity, he amuses himself with the thought of“ forthcoming lives ”. It never occurs to a believer in reincarnation that if his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. created "good karma" by adhering to the same beliefs and ethics as his own - why then is he living in hardship and not like a maharaja? Belief in reincarnation provides a wonderful fantasy world in which a person can find a suitable way to express his ego, while claiming that he dissolves it. " Belief in reincarnation, according to LaVey, is simply self-deception. However, it cannot be argued that LaVey's teaching completely denies life after death. Lavey believes that it is possible to live after death, although he does not develop this part of his teaching, only slightly touching on this issue. In particular, he wrote: “Satanism ... encourages its worshipers to develop a good, strong ego that gives them the self-esteem they need to be vital in this life. If a person was satisfied with life during his life and fought to the end for his earthly existence, nothing other than his ego will refuse to die, even after the extinction of the flesh that contained him ... "... Lavey denied death as a spiritual awakening into a new life. Revealing his teaching on this matter, he wrote: “Death in many religions is presented as a great spiritual awakening (of course, for those who are preparing for the afterlife). This concept is very attractive to those whose life does not satisfy them, but to those who have learned all the joys that life has to offer, death is seen as a kind of great and terrible cataclysm, a fear of the highest authority. It should be so. And it is the thirst for life that allows the carnal man to continue life after the inevitable death of his bodily shell. "
What is Satanism in LaVey's view? As he wrote: “Satanism is a blatantly selfish, ruthless philosophy. It is based on the belief that human beings are naturally selfish and cruel, that life is natural selection according to Darwin, a struggle for survival in which the fittest win, that Earth will go to those who fight to win in the incessant competition that exists in any jungle. including an urbanized society ”. Satanism is a kind of "controlled egoism" and is based on "natural human instincts." Its main goal is to satisfy these "natural instincts" of the Satanist. Satanism is essentially a form of nihilism freak hedonism. LaVey wrote: “Satanism approves of the actions of its followers when they give free rein to their natural desires. This is the only way to become a completely satisfied person without disappointments that can harm you and those around you. This phrase contains the most simplified description of the meaning of the Satanic faith. " One of the main goals of Satanism is material success. In LaVey's "church" there are even special rituals that contribute to material well-being.
Should a Satanist do only evil? It should be noted that LaVey rejects the Christian concept of good and evil. In his doctrine there are only "natural instincts", and good and evil are the fantasies of "weak" people whom he calls "masochists." Therefore, a Satanist should not do evil or good without fail, he just does what he wants, not worrying too much about the degree of morality or immorality of his actions. As LaVey wrote: “Satanism is not a white light religion; it is a religion that is carnal, worldly, bodily - everything that Satan rules over is the personification of the Left Path. ... Satanism is the only one known to the world a religion that accepts a person as he really is, and offers a rationale for the transformation of bad into good, instead of contriving to destroy the bad. " The logical consequence of this philosophy is the acceptance of the norm of what is considered a sin in Christianity. LaVey wrote: “The Christian faith defines seven deadly sins: greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust and laziness. Satanism advocates indulging each of them if it leads to physical, spiritual and emotional satisfaction. " Sin is natural for LaVey, he wrote: "Satan never needed a set of rules, since natural life forces supported a person" in sin ", with the goal of self-preservation of a person and his feelings."
How should you relate to your neighbors according to the "Satanic Bible"? LaVey wrote of retribution to others: “Satanism adheres to a modified form of the Golden Rule. Our interpretation of it is as follows: “Render to others what they have rewarded you,” because if “You repay everyone as they would repay you,” and they, in response, treat you badly, human nature itself is disgusted to continue treating them with respect. You could repay others as if they had repaid you, but if your courtesy has not been returned, they should be treated with the fury they deserve. ”
LaVey rejected the Christian concept of repentance. In particular, he wrote: “When a Satanist does something wrong, he realizes that it is natural to make mistakes - and if he really repents of what he did, he will learn from it and will not do the same again. If he sincerely does not repent of what he has done, and knows that he will continue to do the same over and over again, there is no need for him to confess and beg forgiveness. " According to Lavey, there is no point in repentance if a person knows that he will continue to sin. The maximum that a Satanist can repent of is making a mistake, and then, on condition that he wants it.
Love for LaVey is just an emotion. In his book, he paid much attention to sexual freedom. In particular, he wrote: “Satanism promotes sexual freedom, but only in the true sense of the word. Free love, in the Satanic understanding, can mean the freedom of precisely this - whether to be faithful to one person or to give free rein to your sexual passions with as many people as you think is necessary to satisfy your individual needs. " In his teaching, there is no rigid installation for everyone to indulge in orgies, rather, he encourages his students in the sexual field to do what they like. Lavey continues: “Satanism does not condone orgiastic activities or extramarital affairs in those for whom this is not a natural inclination. Too many would be unnatural and flawed to be unfaithful to their chosen ones. For others, sexual attachment to one person would be frustrating. It is up to everyone to decide for themselves which form of sexual activity is best suited to their individual needs. ... Satanism tolerates any form of sexual activity that properly satisfies your needs, whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual, of your choice. Satanism also approves of any fetish or deviation that enhances or enriches your sexual performance ... ". The only limitation on sex, according to Lavey, is that sex should not harm others. You can engage in any kind of sexual perversion, if your partner agrees to it. At the same time, according to LaVey, a real Satanist is no more concerned with sex than with any other desire.
How did LaVey feel about sacrifice? It should be noted here that the author of the article, before writing it, spent a lot of time getting acquainted with various satanic forums and sites, from which he learned that Satanism is not a single, integral movement, rather it is a set of different groups, often having different views on the same and the same questions. Undoubtedly, there are Satanists who resort to bloody sacrifices (at least on the forums they discuss this practice), most often animals, although, apparently, there are also murders of people, at least, special prohibitions on this in their ideology author Have not found. But as for LaVey, he was ambivalent about the practice of sacrifice. On the one hand, he denied it: "Under no circumstances does a Satanist sacrifice an animal or a child!" On the other hand, he argued that “Symbolically, the victim is destroyed through a slander or curse, which in turn results in the physical, spiritual or emotional destruction of the“ victim ”in ways that cannot then be attributed to the wizard. A Satanist makes human sacrifice only when it can serve two purposes at once: to free the wizard from evil in the form of a curse and, more importantly, to get rid of a very disgusting and deserving individual ... you have every right to (symbolically ) destroy them, and if your curse leads to real destruction, take comfort in the thought that you served as a tool in ridding the world of the pest (who is the pest, the Satanist decides at will. - V.P.)! If someone interferes with your success or happiness, you do not owe him anything! He deserves to be crushed under the thumb! " ... The purpose of the sacrifice ritual (for those who perform it), according to Lavey, is to release the energy stored in the blood of the murdered victim. Moreover, the main thing in this rite is not so much in the shedding of blood as in the torment of the victim before death. Perhaps Lavey did not practice sacrifice of animals, and even more so people, but he did not deny the possibility of killing by magical methods any person whom the Satanist considers his enemy.
How did LaVey feel about Black Mass? He believed that she was a literary fiction. Since in the black mass it was necessary to use candles made from the fat of unbaptized children, the priests, in his opinion, used this "myth" in order to frighten the "poor" mothers and urge them to baptize their children, and thus most enriched the Church. LaVey wrote: “It is believed that the Satanic ceremony or service is always called the Black Mass. The Black Mass is NOT a ceremony practiced by Satanists, a Satanist would find only one use for it - as a psychodrama. Going further, it should be noted that the Black Mass does not necessarily imply that all of its participants are Satanists. At its core, the Black Mass is a parody of the religious service of the Roman Catholic Church, but it can also be freely transposed into satire in relation to any other religious ceremony. "
The main Satanic holidays are Walpurgis Night (the night of May 1) and Halloween (All Saints' Eve, October 31), as well as the birthday of the Satanist. LaVey wrote: "The Satanist thinks:" Why not be honest with yourself, and if God is created in my image and likeness, why not consider yourself to be this god? " Every person is a god if he considers himself to be such. So the Satanist celebrates his birthday as the most important holiday of the year. "
Magic occupies a special place in LaVey's teachings. He defines magic as: "Changing situations and events in accordance with the will of a person, impossible with the use of conventional methods." Lavey does not divide magic into white and black, believing that the purpose of magic is to achieve power and satisfy personal desires. In particular, he writes: “Anyone who pretends to be interested in magic or the occult for reasons other than the attainment of personal power is the worst example of bigotry and hypocrisy…. It is generally believed that white magic is used only for good and unselfish purposes, and black magic is taught to us - only for self-centered, or "evil" deeds. Satanism does not draw a dividing line. Magic is magic, be it used to help or hinder. The Satanist, being a magician, must be able to decide for himself what is fair, and then use the powers of magic to achieve his goal. " At the same time, LaVey gave a very low rating to most of the works on magic common in modern society... He wrote: “… With a few exceptions, all treatises and books, all“ secret ”grimoires, all“ great works ”on the subject of magic are nothing more than sanctimonious fraud, sinful muttering and esoteric gibberish of chroniclers of magical knowledge who are unable or unwilling to provide objective point view on this issue. Writer after writer, trying to signify the principles of "white and black magic", succeeded only in such a clouding of the object of consideration that a person who independently studies magic conducts his studies for a stupid standing in a pentagram awaiting the appearance of a demon, shuffling a deck of cards to predict a future that is losing the cards have their own meaning, and the presence at seminars that guarantee only flattening of his ego (and at the same time his wallet); and, as a result, makes himself look like a round idiot in the eyes of those who have learned the truth! " ...
To whom of the leaders of Satanism that preceded him did Lavey treat with sympathy? He believed that the rituals created by the famous Satanist Aleister Crowley were closest to him in spirit. But Lavey found a number of shortcomings with him: Aside from charming poetry, mountaineering, and a cursory knowledge of some magical trinkets, Crowley's life was an example of posturing and trying to appear worse than he really was. Like his contemporary, the Reverend (?) Montague Summers, Crowley no doubt spent his life with his tongue pressed to his cheek, but today's followers of Crowley manage to read the esoteric meaning in every word. " In fact, LaVey considered himself the pinnacle of Satanism, which, however, is not surprising given the egocentrism that underlies all of his teachings.
As noted above, Satanism is made up of many groups that can have significant differences in their teachings and practices. LaVey is by no means a universally recognized authority among Satanists; many of them are critical of him. Therefore, it would be advisable to say a few words about the criticism that they subjected LaVey, although this criticism does not bear the character of a "theological" polemic.
At the very beginning of the article, setting out LaVey's biography, we mentioned that it does not quite correspond historical facts... Let's turn to her critics. Studies of his biography were carried out, which resulted in the writing of the following works: Alfred Knopf "Saints and sinners" (Knopf, A. " Saints and Sinners», New York, 1993) and Michael Aquino "Church of Satan" (Aquino, M. « The Church of Satan», San Francisco: Temple of Set, 1983). The author wants to acquaint the readers with some of the conclusions of these studies.
First of all, according to the testimony of LaVey's relatives, his grandmother was not a gypsy, but a Ukrainian. At the age of fifteen, LaVey did not play with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, as in 1945 such an orchestra simply did not exist. In 1947, LaVey did not run away from home and did not join the circus, his relatives and Clyde Beatty circus ledgers testified to this. Marilyn Monroe has also never been LaVey's mistress. Moreover, she never worked as a stripper in the club where LaVey allegedly met her. Paul Valentine, the owner of the Mayan Burlesque Theater, testified to this. LaVey has never worked as a photographer for the San Francisco Police Department. At least the archives of this institution do not have any information about him. It is a myth, and the story is that on Walpurgis Night in 1966, LaVey announced the creation of the "Church of Satan." In reality, at this time Lavey was moonlighting, giving lectures on the occult, which brought in very little income, and the future publisher of his books Edward Weber recommended that he create his own "church" in order to attract the attention of journalists. So in the summer of 1966, in the announcements of his lectures, LaVey first began to call himself "the priest of the Church of Satan." It is a myth, and the assertion that LaVey was technical consultants in the film "Rosemary's Baby", directed by Roman Polanski, and also played the role of the devil in it. In reality, according to the producers of this film, William Castle and Gene Gutovsky, there were no "technical consultants" in the film. Moreover, Polanski and Lavey never met. And the role of the devil in the film was played by an unknown young dancer. What did LaVey have to do with Rosemary's Baby at all? In 1968, at the premiere of this film in San Francisco, the administration of the cinema in which it was supposed to be shown asked LaVey to advertise it, which LaVey did. Now about LaVey's famous book The Satanic Bible. In the late sixties of the twentieth century, there was a great interest in Satanism in America, and Avon Books asked LaVey to write a book on the subject. An agreement was signed, but LaVey did not have time to write the book by the deadlines stipulated in the agreement, and then he resorted to plagiarism. His The Satanic Bible borrows from the following books: Ragnar Redbeard, Might is Right, Port Townsend: Loompanics (reprint), 1896, Aleister Crowley's Equinox, Ein "Atlas Shrugged" Rand. Lavey died not on October 31, 1997 on Halloween, as his followers claim, but on October 29, according to death certificate No. 380278667, signed by Dr. Giles Miller.
Now let's see how LaVey felt about religions. First of all, he believed that “Religions must be questioned. No moral dogma should be taken on faith, no rule of judgment should be deified. There is no primordial holiness in moral codes. " And this position is not surprising given that he believed that “Man has always created gods, and they did not create him”; “All religions of a spiritual nature are invented by man. With nothing other than his carnal brain, he created a whole system of gods. A person has an ego, his latent "I" and, only because he is unable to come to terms with him, he is forced to isolate him outside himself in some great spiritual creature called "God." In fact, LaVey denied all world religions, considering only his own true. In particular, he wrote: “Eastern mystical beliefs have taught people to touch their navel with their heads, stand on their heads, stare at empty walls, avoid labels in Everyday life and limit oneself in every desire for material pleasure. However, I am sure that you have seen many so-called yogis with the same inability to quit smoking as all people, or "ascended" Buddhists, who become as agitated as a "less distracted" person when they meet with a person of the opposite, and in some situations, the same sex. However, when asked to explain the reason for their hypocrisy, these people retreat into the ambiguity that characterizes their faith - no one can condemn them without receiving direct answers. A simple fact in its essence - this type of people, turning to faith, professing abstinence, comes to indulgence. Their forced masochism is the reason for choosing a religion that not only advocates self-denial, but also encourages it and, moreover, gives them a sanctified way to express their masochistic needs. The more abuse they can take, the holier they become. " All religious people, with the exception of Satanists, are masochists for LaVey. Moreover, martyrdom for faith, when people accept death in the name of devotion to God and unwillingness to betray Him, is also declared by LaVey to be a form of masochism. He wrote: "... give your own life for something not personal, such as a political or religious conviction, there is nothing else but the highest manifestation of masochism. " Whether LaVey categorized his belief as "personal" or not remains open to question. Could he have died for his faith, or would he have thrown it aside if necessary? However, if religion is perceived as a business project, then it is really stupid to die for such a religion.
Considering that in Russia, the main opponent of Satanism is Christianity, it would be appropriate to pay special attention to the question of LaVey's attitude to Christianity. Reading The Satanic Bible, the author of the article was amazed at how it could be distorted and slandered. However, it is quite possible that this is due not only to LaVey's desire to belittle Christianity, but also to the elementary ignorance of the author of The Satanic Bible in this matter. In any case, the author will not only try to describe the main accusations made by LaVey against Christians, but also dare to give them his own assessment, as well as to figure out how valid these accusations are. So how did LaVey feel about Christianity?
It is not difficult to guess that LaVey did not like Christianity. In his book The Satanic Bible, describing Christianity, he uses a technique that was actively used by the militant atheists in the former Soviet Union, the essence of which is to profane Christianity in a grotesque form that has little to do with reality. Considering that the majority of LaVey's followers in our country have a vague idea of Christianity (mostly young people), this technique works well. However, the war with the "windmills" has always been a popular occupation of those who criticized Christianity. At least the author of the article, while studying sectarian literature, constantly encounters a situation of active struggle of various sectarian ideologists with their own invented "Christianity". As for LaVey, first of all, he considered Christians to be hypocrites. In particular, when he “worked” (did he work?) As a musician, then, according to his testimony: “… I saw men devouring half-naked dancers with their gazes at the carnival, and on Sunday morning, when I played the organ at the tent evangelists at the other end of the carnival, I saw the same men with their wives and children on the benches, and these men asked God to forgive them and cleanse from carnal desires. And the next Saturday evening they were again at the carnival or in another place (I wonder if Lavey were present at the same time at the carnival and in “another place”? - VP), indulging their desires. Even then, I knew that the Christian church flourished on hypocrisy, and human nature found a way out, despite all the tricks with which the white-light religions burned it out and cleaned it out. " It should be noted that hypocrisy is condemned primarily by Christians themselves. Many examples of his condemnation can be found in the Holy Scriptures (see: Matthew 6: 2; 6:16; 15: 7-9; Mark 12:15, etc.) . The apostle Paul also wrote about human weakness: “For I do not understand what I am doing: because I do not do what I want, but what I hate, I do” (Rom. 7:15). So LaVey did not discover anything new, and the fact that a person is weak is well known to Christians. If a person is weak, wouldn't it be wise to offer him a path on which he will become stronger? The path of struggle with passions is very difficult, and not everyone reaches its heights. But there are people who at least try to do this, and these are Christians. And there are people who "go with the flow" of their passions, considering themselves at the same time some kind of chosen one. In fact, LaVey's philosophy is the philosophy of weak people. Any more or less significant achievement in this life requires work. Knowledge is given through labor, achievements in sports also require labor. Working on yourself is also work. Lavey essentially invites his followers to "go with the flow" of their passions. LaVey's path is the path of a slave to passions. The path that turns a person into an animal, into a biological machine. However, this is not surprising, because for LaVey, man is just an "animal". But where is freedom here? What is the strength and pride of Satanists here? Is it that they satisfy animal instincts? Well, so cows live by "natural needs", instincts, that's why they are cows. Therefore, the path of Satanism is the path of weak people who do not have the strength to curb their own instincts, and who try to justify their weakness through the ideology set forth in books like LaVey's "Satanic Bible".
The Satanic Bible states that: “… The churches based their teaching on the worship of the spirit and the denial of the flesh and intellect. He (Lavey - VP) realized the need for a church, which would again elevate the human mind and his carnal desires to the rank of objects of worship. " I would like to note that this statement is a lie. If LaVey had studied the Bible more closely, he would have learned that it teaches differently, in particular, it says: “When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasing to your soul, then prudence will protect you, the mind will protect you in order to save you from the evil way, from a person who speaks a lie” (Prov. 2: 10-12). Moreover, Christianity denies blind faith, the Apostle Paul urged to test everything and hold on to the good (1 Thess. 5:21). And the denial of the flesh is characteristic not of Christians, but of the Manichaeans, with whom Christianity fought. The Manicheans considered matter to be an evil principle, with which they fought, in particular, through the mortification of the flesh. Christians, on the other hand, rejected ideas such as the assertion that matter can be evil. What kind of matter is evil, if God has clothed himself in it? Matter was created by God, and God did not do anything evil (Gen. 1:31). The goal of ascetic practice in Christianity is not to fight the flesh for the sake of its destruction, it would be suicide, an unforgivable sin, but to curb passions, to control the flesh, which is far from the same thing.
LaVey claimed that “... Catholics believe that Protestants are doomed to perish in hell just because they do not belong to the Catholic Church. Likewise, many schismatic groups in the Christian faith, such as the evangelical ... churches believe that Catholics are pagans who worship idols. " Do Roman Catholics believe that Protestants will "perish in hell"? We'll have to disappoint the Satanists. The Roman Catholic Church considers Martin Luther (the founder of Protestantism) to be a heretic who was excommunicated, but does not believe that the fault of the fathers lies with the children. A person brought up in Protestantism is not responsible for Luther's personal guilt, and therefore will not burn in hell just because he was not born among Roman Catholics! So that the author's assertion does not sound unfounded, let the Roman Catholics themselves express their attitude towards Protestants: “... those who believe in Christ and have received actual baptism are in some, albeit incomplete communion with the Catholic Church ... their brothers in the Lord. ... Not a few of our brothers, who are separated from us, perform the sacred rites of the Christian religion, which, in various ways, according to the various provisions of each Church or Community, without any doubt, can really generate a grace-filled life and it must be admitted that they are able to open access to communion in salvation ". Now, regarding Protestants, do they consider Roman Catholics to be pagans? Considering that Protestantism is a very vague current, we will talk about classical Protestants, Lutherans. Martin Luther was a very emotional person and allowed himself to speak out very harshly about the Pope. Surely this does not do him credit. In his letters, he even called him "Antichrist." Although, to justify him, one can notice that at that time any polemics rarely did without abuse (manners were like that). In addition, as mentioned above, Martin Luther was a very impulsive person, which could not but be reflected in the books and letters he wrote. As for the attitude of Lutherans to the Roman Catholic Church, I would like to grieve the Satanists again, they do not consider it pagan. However, let us give the floor to the Lutherans themselves: “Luther, who threw thunder and lightning into the Catholic Church of his day, the“ Roman harlot, ”never thought that the baptism performed on him in this very church was not real and required a repetition. And subsequently, the Lutherans never and under no circumstances allowed a second baptism ”, which would be impossible in principle if they considered Roman Catholics to be pagans.
Lavey did not like the Christian Sacrament of Penance either. In particular, he wrote: “… Even if a person has lived his life without following the laws of his faith, he can in his last hour send for a priest and, on his deathbed, perform his last repentance. A priest or a preacher will immediately come running and “settle” with God the issue of admission to the Kingdom of Heaven ... ”. Indeed, Christianity testifies to a God of Love, a God who is merciful. God is not a judge who obeys formal legislation and does not have power over it, He is the Lawgiver! At the same time, He places mercy above the law of formal justice. This is evident from the parable of the winegrowers (Matthew 20.1-15). God looks not at what kind of reward a person should be given for the deed he has done, but at what a person is. He judges not by the form, but by the essence of the human. As for the Sacrament of Penance, it is again presented in the work of LaVey in a perverted form. Repentance is not a magical rite, as a result of which sins are automatically removed from a person, and he goes to heaven. The teachers distort the Christian doctrine in such a way. At least, the Orthodox Church does not perceive this Sacrament in this way. The Sacrament of Repentance is much deeper than just the magical act to which Lavey is accustomed. A Christian does not repent before a priest, but first of all before God, a priest is only a witness. It should also be noted that it is not the priest who forgives sins, but God. The priest only asks God for their forgiveness, but if God sees that there is no sincere repentance (and repentance is, first of all, a change of mind, an inner readiness to completely exclude sin from his life), that a person has not changed internally, then there is no automatic removal of sins. happens, and a person will not go to any paradise, no matter how many rituals of confession he formally passes.
LaVey also understood "original sin" in a very peculiar way. In particular, he wrote: “To insure the process of human reproduction, nature made lust the second strongest instinct after self-preservation. Realizing this, the Christian church nevertheless made fornication "the original sin." Thus, it turns out that no one is able to avoid sin. After all, the very fact of our existence is the result of sin - Original sin. " It should be noted that LaVey's statement is sheer stupidity. Unfortunately, there are no footnotes in his work and it is not clear whether he himself invented what he wrote about Christians, or picked up some sectarian literature, which is abundant in America. In any case, as far as the author knows, neither Orthodox, Roman Catholics, nor Protestants (at least Lutherans) equate "original sin" with sex. Sex itself is not a sin, moreover, God blesses it in marriage (Gen. 1:28). Fornication is the betrayal of a loved one. The fornicator deprives himself of the fullness of spiritual unity (Matthew 19: 6) with a loved one, and thus cuts off the possibility of his spiritual growth, takes the path of degradation. In Christianity, the family is considered a small church, just as Jesus Christ is one with His Church, so husband and wife should be one with each other. This unity spiritually replenishes the spouses, translates them into a new spiritual quality, which is lost through fornication. But again, fornication and "original sin" are not the same thing, rather fornication is a consequence of "original sin", but not the same concept. As for the "original sin" itself, it consists in renouncing God, in the desire to become "gods" without God by illegal magical means, in the desire to achieve this without spending any effort, and, above all, moral work. The "original sin" manifests itself in people as a tendency to commit sinful deeds. A striking manifestation of "original sin" is LaVey's ideology, in which, as he himself admitted, the main thing is not sex, but serving his ego. So the problem of “original sin is not in sex, but in the relationship of a person with God.
Lavey understands amusingly the Christian doctrine of the posthumous existence. He wrote: “Since man’s natural instincts lead him into sin, all people are sinners; and sinners go to hell. If we all go to hell, we will meet our friends there. Paradise must be inhabited by very strange creatures, if all for which they led a righteous life on earth is to get to a place where they could for eternity strum the harps(it is highlighted by us. - V.P.) ". It should be noted that the "natural instincts" of a person can not lead either to heaven or hell. The presence or absence of sinful aspirations leads there, i.e. "Unnatural instincts." Sin is renunciation of God, this is just an unnatural striving, and now it will really strongly affect the posthumous fate of all people. And Christians do not plan to "strum on harps", and they do not even imagine devils with pans in hell. Paradise is a state of being with God, but it is not some kind of sleep or a state of complete inactivity, or even more so "strumming on harps", no, on the contrary, it is an endless growth in the spirit through the knowledge of God, through personal communication with Him. As for hell, hell is a place devoid of light, a place where there is no God (although is such a place even possible!). In any case, hell is a place where God, by His grace, allows those who want to live without Him to be, to translate this dream into practice. Hell is a place where a person does not know peace, where he is tormented by unsatisfied passions, which Lavey so recommends indulging. Passion can be satisfied as long as there is a body, there is no body - there is no satisfaction, and passion with death physical body does not disappear. The hell that LaVey's disciples will fall into is in themselves, although they do not realize it. In general, Christianity does not set itself the goal of drawing a map of heaven or hell, it pays more attention to issues of moral improvement. And how it will be there, we will find out when we get there.
