Customer Reviews

The Satanic Rituals: Companion to The Satanic Bible

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Do NOT buy this book if you are a solitary practitioner (and plan to stay this way) or work with only one or two other people at the most. For this book is a primer for the pomp and pageantry kind of satanic rituals which require several role-assuming participants. If, however, you DO belong to a Grotto, there are a few rituals here to wet your appetite for productive group ritualizing (namely "Le Messe Noir" (Black Mass), "Das Tierdrama", "Night On Bald Mountain" (a homage to Tchort) and the satanic baptism). The other rituals did not impress me ("Die Elektrischen Vorspiele" does not explain exactly HOW the ritual "utilizes electrical and magnetic energies" and most of you will probably not want to work with Van de Graaf generators and Tesla coils...you may burn your house down if you don't know what you're doing!; also, the "Call to Cthulhu" ritual is incurably schlocky...I love old HPL, but his monsters are best kept in the realms of sci-fi). A nice feature herein is the introduction to "Night on Bald Mountain"; I learned more about Slavic mythology in these few pages than I have been able to learn in years of searching futiley through library stacks at my university. This is not my favorite of LaVey's books, but worth a look if you are a group practitioner.

As founding High Priest of the Church of Satan, Anton Szandor LaVey was one of the most remarkable voices in late 20th century religion, and "The Satanic Rituals" is a key text in his body of work. This volume, which is an ideal companion to LaVey's "Satanic Bible," makes available some rituals for practicing Satanists.

LaVey's rituals have an eclectic, even multicultural, flavor. According to him, the rites in this book have French, German, Russian, and Middle Eastern roots. He also includes rituals inspired by the fictional mythology created by H.P. Lovecraft, a writer of distinctive horror fiction. Although mostly geared towards group activities, many of the texts in this book could be adapted to solitary use.

The book is not without flaws and inconsistencies. Whereas some of the rituals appear in bilingual format, others contain untranslated foreign language elements. And although bibliographic references are scattered throughout the text, the book as a whole lacks a comprehensive bibliography. Also, some of the rituals seem a bit impractical. The introduction to the "elektrischen Vorspiele," for example, warns the practitioner of "the danger of serious injury or electrocution"!

Despite these drawbacks, this is an intriguing book. Both the rituals and the introductory essays are fascinating. LaVey even suggests appropriate musical accompaniment for these dark rituals. Rites in the book include a version of the legendary Black Mass, the Ceremony of the Stifling Air (inspired by the history of the Knights Templar), and Satanic baptismal rites (both child and adult). If you have a taste for the blasphemous, you'll want a copy of "The Satanic Rituals."

This book isn't mainly concerned with the philosophy of Satanism- it's concerned with phycodrama that works. LaVey's main purpose in writing this was to give GROUPS small and large a definitive guide to ritualized magic. ... ceremonies and rituals are designed to free your mind, focus your skills, and some are for simple fun. I get the feeling this is like Haloween-type enjoyment; there is a level of vicariousness, and the knowledge that it is inheretly a drama on a grand scale, and yet it is accsessable even to beginer...

The point of this book is provide IDEAS. LaVey has made it clear, both in this book and the rest of his writings, that a true Satanist will devise his/her own rituals and workings. This is just a mishmash of rituals from history and fiction that can provide the creative mind with fertile ground from which the REAL workings can spring. I was very disappointed in this book at first, until I understood its true purpose.

Those who are looking for some magic "formula" that they can follow to achieve "fortune" or other such unimaginative dreams of success would probably be happier with Simon's ridiculous "Necronomicon." Or, alternatively, go join a Wiccan group and dance naked around a fire, wearing power crystals.

_The Satanic Rituals_, like its 1969 predecessor _Satanic Bible_ [cf. my Amazon.com review], is most accurately seen in the 1972 context of its creation: to supplement the _SB_'s Black Magical theory. Just as the _SB_ grew out of a series of handouts provided to members of the 1968-70 Church, so the _SR_ was originally a looseleaf collection of ritual texts restricted to its Priesthood during that same period.

The _SB_ contained three elementary *operative* Black Magical workings, but none of the *illustrative* type that Anton LaVey felt equally significant. Illustrative rituals possess no independent power; they are "mind mirrors", enabling the magician to see his will articulated and displayed before him, so that he may adjust and refine it.

In his introductory essay "Concerning the Rituals", Anton further differentiates rituals and ceremonies: A *ritual* affects the practitioner; i.e. it executes a "mind mirror" function. A *ceremony*, on the other hand, is merely a pageant or a play for psychodramatic illustration of a favored belief or philosophy.

The _SR_ is a book in three "layers". The first is that of *literal truth*, which the book purports to be. The second is that of *deception*, which much of the book actually is. The third layer is that of *underlying magical instruction*, which transcends mundane conventions of truth and falsehood.

A person who applies the principles in the book by actually performing the rituals and ceremonies will discover that they *work*. Should he discover the factual flaws in the essays and texts, he will be somewhat confused as to *why* they work. Only then will he begin to realize the truth underlying the art and science of magic: that the powers to create and to define are *functions of the will*. Thus he reaches the _SR_'s third and final layer.

The series of rituals begins with the traditional Black Mass, said to derive from 19th century France's Society of Lucifer. Actually it is a "censored" version of the _Missa Solemnis_ composed by Priest Wayne West (cf. my _Church of Satan_), which in turn drew heavily from J.K. Huysmans' _La-Bas_, the famous classic of French Satanism.

Anton states that the original Knights Templar developed the "Stifling Air" after their 13th century visit to the Yezidis. There is no evidence of such visit, nor does "SA" reflect actual Yezidi theology. He then suggests that the "Stifling Air", as a 6th Degree of the Knights Templar, is designed to follow a rite of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine wherein they travel beyond the "Devil's Pass". In the actual AAONMS ritual text, however, the candidate does *not* enter the pass. "SA" defaults to Anton's own creation, adapted from Raynouard's 1806 drama _Les Templiers_ and James Thomson's 1880 poem _The City of Dreadful Night_.

"Das Tierdrama", again a variation of the original Church of Satan version (_COS_), is adapted exclusively from H.G. Wells' _The Island of Dr. Moreau_.

"Die Elektrischen Vorspiele"'s theme of the "Hounds of Tindalos" derives from Frank Belknap Long's famous 1929 story. It has no Nazi-SS ancestry at all.

"The Homage to Tchort" is supposedly from Russian mythology. But the Khlysty sect was scarcely Satanic in doctrine; its adherents practiced fasting and self-scourging to drive out devils of the flesh, which unsurprisingly evolved into wild sexual orgies.

Confusion over "Melek Taus" arose from the secrecy of the Yezidis' two sacred books, and persists in _SR_, which interchanges their names. The _al-Jalwa_ is properly translated as _The Book of the Revelation_, while it is the *other* Yezidi book - _Mashaf-a Resh_ - that is entitled _The Black Scripture_ (cf. _COS_).

The most blasphemous second-layer deception in _SR_ consisted of my own introductory essay on H.P. Lovecraft, my "Ceremony of the Nine Angles", and my "Call to Cthulhu" (cf. _COS_). In 1971 Anton visited me at the U.S. Army Armor School at Fort Knox, insisting that the _SR_ would just not be complete without them.

The two Satanic Baptismal ceremonies - one for adult Satanists and the other for children who were not actually members of the Church - were both original to the Church of Satan. (I authored the Oath contained in the adult Baptism.)

"The Unknown Known" touches obliquely on Hans Hoerbiger's _Welteislehre_, or Doctrine of Eternal Ice, in which the history of the universe consists of alternating cycles of fire and ice. The "Wel" gained popularity in Nazi Germany because of Adolf Hitler's enthusiasm for Hoerbiger, whom he called "the German Copernicus". Anton, however, creatively interprets the theory in a social, not a cosmological context.

Anton concluded the original dedication page with my name, immediately preceding it with that of my Army boss at the time, Brigadier General George S. Patton III. And I'll leave that a "final mystery" of this exotic, fearsome, and dangerous little book!

I've been looking for this book for years and finally found a copy. The introduction is very good as well as the rituals themselves. In all rituals, LaVey gives background information. The H.P. Lovecraft rituals sound confusing because they seem to see Cthulu etc. as actual entities, but might be symbolized by costume. I like another reader would find this to LaVey's most inflammatory book if I had preconceptions. Satanism has the worst reputation of almost anything, at least credit LaVey for bringing logic to it as well as some damn good books.

An outlay of many different types of well-built ritual and ceremony; I don't get the empty feeling of "but something's missing here" that i do when reading buckland or cunningham or starhawk; some of these (especially "Das Tierdrama")could be put to use no matter what your religion (even if you're an atheist), and of course the Satanic Baptisms can made to fit any religion that utilizes magik and/or the four elements. There is something powerful and moving to these rituals (even just READING them), and they seem to have more than just one or two layers to them. I believe it's the best book of rituals I've ever seen.

This book is a collection of 8 or 9 "dark" rituals either created by LaVey's Church of Satan or taken and adapted from different cultures. There are also some interesting introductions and closing remarks on these cultures and the practice of ceremonial-like magic in general. And that's basically it. It gets 5 stars for being what it says it is: a COMPANION to the Satanic Bible. But as a stand-alone book I know it's not going to appeal to many.

This ISN'T a book for those who immediately want to read and learn about Satanism. That would be like trying to learn about Beethoven by looking at the sheet music for his 9th Symphony! Besides, those who believe everything on TV will be sorely disappointed that these rituals don't involve sacrificing animals, drinking blood, and all that other stuff you see in the B-movies.

This IS however a book for those who have already read The Satanic Bible, and are interested in aspects and further examples of GROUP ritual. LaVey also expands a bit on the subject of ritual magic, whether group or solitary, as discussed in The Satanic Bible. Other occultists might like the book, if anything just to read another man's view of ritual chamber practices, and to see some more examples of ceremonies taken from different cultures. I've seen plenty of impractical and uninformative occult books on the shelves that cost two to four times as much. Being someone who actively performs group rituals, this book was definitely was well worth my $6.

This book gives an overview of various rituals performed in the Church of Satan during its first few years of existence. Very little of substance is said however, unlike the author's other books. Of historical rather than practical value.

Some would not...or could not....appreciate the depth of this book because it would take a person of some intelligence to gather anything from it's writings. That was one of LaVey's traits. He always wrote in such a way that those of "herd" mentality could not grasp his ideas but those of an elitist mind could. Another great job, Dr. LaVey!