Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Demonolatry

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Someone called Ellen Purswell calls this book the 'Demonolatry Bible' in the blurb on the back cover. The comparison is facile and misleading, as there is no revelatory exegesis in (or philosophical weight to) this book whatsoever.
The sections that purport to come from the family grimoires of 'Ye Olde Demonolaters' are risible and would not convince any reasonably educated person that they were written centuries ago as they claim to be; these passages include a deplorable mixture of cod-archaic and modern syntax, and include words that were used differently by writers in past centuries in a wholly modern context. This sort of thing is always a dead give-away that something is bogus - even well educated writers, such as the great H.P Lovecraft, often got it wrong.
On top of this, the book has a great many typos, spelling inconsistencies and outright mistakes ('alter' for 'altar'), making it a chore to read. The author also reveals the type of reader she is used to attracting, in that almost all the rites, prayers and rituals are geared towards helping someone to stand up for him/herself, get a better job or attract a partner. Similarly, she doesn't mention one item of ritual impedimenta without assuring the reader it can be obtained cheaply, or substituted for a cheaper version. She also states how Demonolaters should be in control of their jealous natures/egos and subscribe to a code ensuring they don't try to 'pull rank' on newer aspirants as they climb the grades.
Finally in the same vein, this is the only book of its type I've ever read where the author feels the necessity of advising her community's ADEPTS (fer christ's sake!) how to deal with apathy and over-familiarity! Connolly's suggestions: travel, broaden your mind by reading, 'watch a movie you've never seen before' (!!??!) I bet Ye Demomalaters of ye Olden Dayes are so pleased that their numinous religion has taken such great strides forward..!
The amazing thing is the author manages to make (as far as my occult interests are concerned) THE most fascinating subject in existence completely dull and overly concerned with bourgeois domestic comforts (not even being able to resist advising using receptacles to catch the sand utilized in one of the rituals- as if not it might spoil the carpet! Seriously, doesn't she think the space she has wasted throughout the book in explaining these kinds of inanities could have been used to much better effect by providing some first-hand information on visionary encounters/experiences with Belial, Lucifer or Verrine, for example?)
With out doubt though, the single-most amazing thing in this book is that the author seems to think it's fine to dispense with her own interpretations and short definitions of various topics, instead telling her readers to 'look it up on the internet'!
with that in mind, here is my book about the life-cycle of the honey bee:
'The Life-Cycle of the Honey Bee'
by Stephen Sennitt
Chapter One:
Everything you need to know about the life-cycle of the honey bee can be found on the internet.
The End
That'll be $20, please.

As an individual exploring the different occult philosophies and magic(k), this book was the most indepth and diverse book on such study/belief I has seen to date. Some of charpters include Introduction to Demonolatry, Demons, History, Hermetics, Holy days, Rites, Meditiation, Magick (inc. Sex & blood) as well as a bibliography and suggested reading after completing this work. Which in my opion will take quit a while to complete. Over all anyone who has and interest in Demonolatry, Sananism, Thesitic Santaism, Luciferianism, Goetic magick, and any other occult study I would very much recommend this book.

This book is probably of much greater value to someone completely unfamiliar with the occult than to someone who has already studied it over the course of several years. In fact, I feel that such a person, wet behind the ears and probably coming to the occult out of opposition to organized religion or a general sense of rebelliousness against society is probably the perfect audience for this book.

If you've read the Kyballion or similar works, you can skim over the simplified description of Hermetics - and please cherish the mere seconds you save in doing so! - and if you've read Modern Demonolatry (available for 3 dollars) by the same author, you can probably do the same with much of this book. Though some demons are referred to in later sections - typically sections on ceremonies to them, the brief list-like format present in Modern Demonolatry is faithfully preserved, with no fleshing-out of description.

I was lured by the Tree of Life diagram, hoping to get a different perspective on the system. And well, technically I did get a different perspective. That perspective happened to be simplified, contradictory, and glossed over, however.

I'd like to point out that my perspective on this book may not be the best one. It's got a training program that isn't particularly inspiring to me but which may be helpful to some, and it's got lots of pre-made prayers and invocations for those who don't prefer extemporaneous work. The book does come with a fairly decent toolbox compared to many starter books out there, but compared to books in the same price range with training programs, like Newcomb's The New Hermetics: 21st Century Magick for Illumination and Power or Kelly's Apophis, the book seems rather vapid.

Basically, if you're looking for Babby's Big Scary First Occult Book (WITH DEMONS) then look no further. Otherwise, spend that money on something that will enhance your understanding of a topic, rather than give you a rather superficial gloss of it.

Oh yeah, and the editing was clearly done by a giraffe on Ambien.

The title of this book did not lie, this really is the complete book of demonolatry. It doesn't take it for granted that the reader knows anything about demonolatry so it starts from the beginning with a definition of demons and demonolatry, walks you through the history and then plunges right into the good stuff - the meat and potatoes of demon worship. The practicality of the book was quite amazing; an example - the book has a ritual where it has the practitioner sprinkle sand at the cardinal points and mentions that if you have carpet in your ritual chamber that it would be best just to sprinkle the sand into a bowl set at those points. I love it when the author of magical tomes live in the real world!

The book ends with some lists of questions, that once you are able to answer them you will be well on your way to complete mastery of Demonolatry. What is best is that the book either includes, or tells you where to find, all the information you will ever need to know about Demonolatry.

This is a very informative book. The author has attempted to combine everything in one book for the reader. I have a pretty extensive library on this subject and was ecstatic that roughly everything is in this one book. A one book of resource...

This book is wonderful resource, not only from a pure Demonolatry viewpoint, but for other occult practices as well. Provided within the pages is a solid base for the practice of Demonolatry, as well as expanded topics to get you into the more advanced stuff. If there are things you wanted to know that are not included, chances are that this book points you in the direction you need to find them. Whether you are a Demonolatry practitioner, a Satanist, or just someone who wants to know more about this topic, I would definitely recommend The Complete Book of Demonolatry.

I would recommend this book to ANYBODY who is interested in any form of Left Hand Path Religions.
Demonolatry has added a whole new dimension to my spirituality, and this book got me (and my Coven, for that matter) started.
It's excellent and informative. If I could give it 100 stars, I would.

This is one of the most comprehensive books about Demonolatry today. It is thorough, and well thought out. S. Connolly has done tremendous work on this book, making the information avaiable to the general public. Although it is not and end all be all book about the practices and culture of Demonolatry, it provides the reader with a sound beginning to further explore this religion. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested Demonolatry!

This book is still the core reference book for the demonolatry student and practitioner. No one says you have to agree with all the ideas presented, including the author, and you probably won't. Yes, there are demon names spelled differently, and upon close reading of the book you'll understand why. Ronove is the same as Ronwe for example. Yes, there are a few typos within the body of text itself but not too many more than your average book. Or at least I didn't see that many and I consider myself well read. What I think I like most about this book is the straight forward, no nonsense approach to the subject matter. It's probably one of the saner, more practical views of demon worship today. This is why so many groups use it as the standard teaching text for pre-initiates. If you're just starting out with demonolatry as a spiritual practice, start here. If you are looking more for demonic magic this is a great intro book but the better book for demonic magic is The Daemonolater's Guide to Daemonic Magick. Then there are other books to supplement with rituals or special interest areas. DB Publishing is one of the best things that ever happened to demonolatry and I look forward to future releases.

Connolly's book is very informative and potentially extremely useful for those who are wanting more than standard occult drivel. She gives a lot of new ideas for a Theistic Satanist to put into practice, though she herself is a "Demonolater." I really enjoyed the concept of patron demons for the individual practitioner, which is a topic that was in my mind before reading this work, though I think she took too much emphasis away from Satan Himself. Some other problems: She gives too much credence to blood sacrifice, especially having the new initiate drink the blood of the rest of the coven. This is very dangerous in the world of HIV/AIDS, plus her instruction to open an old (though small) wound leaves too much risk for infection.

Another problem: Connolly badly needs an editor. There are a ton of misspellings in this book, and this especially is annoying when she has a demonic name spelled two different ways within 2-3 pages of each other, sometimes making me wonder if this is intentional (in the case of two slightly different demons) or accidental.

Despite the problems, I would definitely recommend this book to our local public library, which only has LaVeyan books in its catalog.