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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
informative
fast-paced
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
I thought this book was very enlightening and since reading it, it frustrates me to no end that the general public has such a distorted view of Satanism.It was rather amusing, however, to see people's reactions to me reading it on the bus. I tried reading the Christian Bible once and I just couldn't make it through more than a few pages but this Bible kept me enthralled throughout even though I am not a Satanist and do not belong to any other religion.
The first half of the satanic bible is basically a self help guide to understanding the wrong teachings of christianit.
The second half is dedicated to explain and clarify satanic rituals.
You can read the first half of the book to get an insight on some philosophic thoughts that may be useful in your life, and can comfortably skip the second part.
The second half is dedicated to explain and clarify satanic rituals.
You can read the first half of the book to get an insight on some philosophic thoughts that may be useful in your life, and can comfortably skip the second part.
informative
medium-paced
I've finally found a belief system that pretty much mirrors my own.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
I'm not even sure how to rate this.
Started off not dumb, I actually agreed with lots and found my values mirrored in multiple chapters. I felt like it got increasingly narrow-minded, especially in regard of male and female roles in the religion. It lost me completely when it got to the rituals, I cannot take that seriously.
So yeah, good for me I found out I'm no Satanist and can now say that I know what Satanism is about.
I think what annoys me is that, as said in the beginning of the book, you are only allowed to call yourself a Satanist if you agree with every single thing in the book. Satanism claims to be mocking Christianity and wants to do everything better (in terms of inclusivity I guess?) than other religions (known to the author, lol) - but it often felt very gatekept and rule-stricken, which gives me big cult vibes.
I also want to mention I found some argumentations quite weak. Bashing "Eastern religions" for believing in past and future lives, for meditating and striving to live with less... Maybe as a modern, environmentally conscious and consumer-culture sick person I felt really appaled.
Started off not dumb, I actually agreed with lots and found my values mirrored in multiple chapters. I felt like it got increasingly narrow-minded, especially in regard of male and female roles in the religion. It lost me completely when it got to the rituals, I cannot take that seriously.
So yeah, good for me I found out I'm no Satanist and can now say that I know what Satanism is about.
I think what annoys me is that, as said in the beginning of the book, you are only allowed to call yourself a Satanist if you agree with every single thing in the book. Satanism claims to be mocking Christianity and wants to do everything better (in terms of inclusivity I guess?) than other religions (known to the author, lol) - but it often felt very gatekept and rule-stricken, which gives me big cult vibes.
I also want to mention I found some argumentations quite weak. Bashing "Eastern religions" for believing in past and future lives, for meditating and striving to live with less... Maybe as a modern, environmentally conscious and consumer-culture sick person I felt really appaled.
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
The general premise of the Church of Satan is fairly agreeable, ideas to directly contradict Christianity and I was 100% on board until I read this. The further I got, the more unhinged it was.
1.) I found lots of points LaVey made directly against Christianity were somewhat reductive and didn't have much understanding of the principles behind them. His whole breakdown of the seven deadly sins felt like he didn't really understand the principles of them and is just being contradictory.
2.) You don't get to rip Christianity apart but then say "From every set of principles (...) some good can be extracted. Amidst the madness of the Hitlerian concept, one point stands out as a shining example of this," (82). WHY are we bringing Hitler up? Can we not?
3.) Early on LaVey likes to say that Satanism doesn't condone forcing people to have sex with you. But for some reason, we get an example of a man with a high libido and his wife who doesn't want to have sex. "In instances when she does not feel great passion, she should either passively, but pleasantly, accept him sexually, or raise not complaint is he chooses to find his needed release elsewhere," (71). So, just have sex even though you don't want to, or he can cheat on you, cool. Women continue to be objects throughout, like when "A nude woman is used as an altar in Satanic rituals because woman is the natural passive receptor," (135). Also, if you're a woman at a Satanic ritual, expect to be told to be fully naked (or "sexually appealing clothing") even if you're not the 'altar' "for the purpose of stimulating the emotions of the male participants". Or, "all black clothing for older women," (135). Wouldn't want to see a naked OLD woman, am I right?
Even if you don't care about all of that, more than half of this book is just raving about rituals and how to do them and chants to yell out. Half of those chants are Enochian (translated to English).
I don't recommend it.
1.) I found lots of points LaVey made directly against Christianity were somewhat reductive and didn't have much understanding of the principles behind them. His whole breakdown of the seven deadly sins felt like he didn't really understand the principles of them and is just being contradictory.
2.) You don't get to rip Christianity apart but then say "From every set of principles (...) some good can be extracted. Amidst the madness of the Hitlerian concept, one point stands out as a shining example of this," (82). WHY are we bringing Hitler up? Can we not?
3.) Early on LaVey likes to say that Satanism doesn't condone forcing people to have sex with you. But for some reason, we get an example of a man with a high libido and his wife who doesn't want to have sex. "In instances when she does not feel great passion, she should either passively, but pleasantly, accept him sexually, or raise not complaint is he chooses to find his needed release elsewhere," (71). So, just have sex even though you don't want to, or he can cheat on you, cool. Women continue to be objects throughout, like when "A nude woman is used as an altar in Satanic rituals because woman is the natural passive receptor," (135). Also, if you're a woman at a Satanic ritual, expect to be told to be fully naked (or "sexually appealing clothing") even if you're not the 'altar' "for the purpose of stimulating the emotions of the male participants". Or, "all black clothing for older women," (135). Wouldn't want to see a naked OLD woman, am I right?
Even if you don't care about all of that, more than half of this book is just raving about rituals and how to do them and chants to yell out. Half of those chants are Enochian (translated to English).
I don't recommend it.