The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor Lavey (1969-12-01)

After reading through all the online literature, I bought this book; it's not a long read, but sets forth all the levayian satanism beliefs.
I think it's a valuable philosophical read, even if you don't think this is your thing.
If you're looking for something super blasphemous or devil worship, this is not for you. It is an atheist philosophy.

It arrived in the condition I expected seeing as I got it used. I really don't mind, I love used books! I love love love reading about religion (even though I'm not a religious person myself). This is a GREAT start in learning about Satanism.

Good read. I bought this book after defending Satanists as being non evil to friends. It may not be for everyone, I.e, people who believe in Satan and God, but they'd learn to like it too if they set their beliefs side and read it open minded.

The Satanic Bible has something for everyone. If you're just a God hating bigot or atheist , there are lots of well thought out new ideas to help God and church arguments, as well as vice verse. If you're seriously looking for a religion, the Satanic Bible offers a well rounded, "normal" (If you can look past the occult talk) way of looking at life. And if you're just into the occult, there is plenty for you.

The book itself is broken into four parts each based on an element of the earth. The first two parts deal with the philosophy of the Church of Satan. The first two parts are the meat of the book and it's a shame it was so short as it was pretty good. The other two parts are the Satanic procedures, rituals, and urrmmm "proverbs." This is why people say the book is halfway good, because the other two parts are basically instructions for rituals. So if you're reading for info or philosophy, that completely ends in parts 1 and 2. If you like doing rituals and other occult stuff that's parts 3 and 4. Now you may say if I'm looking for info on the Church of Satan then why wouldn't I want to know about how they do their rituals? It's because the book actually tells you it's a joke (more or less) and only done (more or less) out of sport.

Overall, the book isn't what you expect. It's occult, yet it has normal views on life.

the first half was very interesting and insightful.
i understood how we should embrace our human nature, blah blah
BUT HERE is why gave it a 3 and kind of want you to buy and read and kind of fo not
the ENTIRE SECOND HALF was complete mumbo jumbo, for people who do not believe in an anthropomorphic diety they sure to believe in rituals a lot, i am not a Satanist, i was more philosophy for me, i related to a little bit but the second half was hog wash. I like Anton Levay a lot as a person and he is very bright but his book lost A LOT of legitimacy due to the TERRIBLE second half, i was very disappointed.

I never understood why people highlighted things in their bibles, until I decided to read this book. (Of which I now own 2 copies) Its due to inspiration and the fact of having comfort. Wanting to be able to go back and re-read . I have been interested in Satanism for about 9 years now and when I got this book about 4 months ago, it finally made sense why they do what they do.
The fact that someone had similar views to me, the fact someone has since the 60s for that matter, made me feel less alone, less weird, and less of a horrible person for thinking the way I always have. Its about self love, human nature is natural. Its okay to want sex, to want money, to want the best for yourself and to be a little greedy. Its okay and you're not a sin. You're just human.

Hail the true almighty god! Hail the bearer of strength, fortune, and charm! Hail the Dark Lord! Give me strength Satan! Give my brothers and sisters strength and guidance with all they need! Bring us our deepest desires and richest fortunes! Listen to me Satan! For I am the Soil Child, and the Devil Belongs to Me! The Devil Belongs To ME! HAIL SATAN!

Ok now that that’s out the way, this book is great! If you wish to become a better person and live life as it should, get this book. I’ve only ever met friendly Satanist. It’s about having fun, as cheesy as that sounds. It’s just good times, amazing fortunes, good luck, and guidance. You won’t ever lose yourself. You must always remember the Devil Belongs to You! He is here to help you free your true self and unlock that powerful potential “God” has kept away from us. Seriously tho, why spend your life serving on your knees when you can be a King/Queen with all of us filthy happy people haha. You’ll find all you need in this book just give it a try!

The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey is a good primer into LaVeyan Satanic philosophy. LaVey's approach to Satanism is decidedly atheistic, where Satan is merely a symbol of rebellion against religious dogma. This could be considered yet another book on atheism with a "Nietzscheian" twist. To me LaVey is presenting more of a satire than anything else. Of course, he adds a little bit of the metaphysical in for good measure. However, his approach to magickal ritual is more of a "psychodrama" than actual magickal work.

For those who are looking more for a book on Satanic "mysticism" or a book with a more spiritual theme, this is not the one. For those who are looking for a grimoire on magick or witchcraft, this is not the one. While a good introduction to the atheistic/philosophical approach, this is, by far, not the end all book to the study of the occult or Satanism. For those who wish to dive more seriously into the occult and specifically the so-called "left hand path", there is a whole library of books out there and you will need to do your research. There is no easy path. I would recommend (after reading this one) that you start with The Complete Book of Demonolatry by S. Connolly and then work from there. She includes an excellent bibliography of further study throughout the book.

In summary, "The Satanic Bible" is a good book for those new to the study of Satanism or for those with a more atheistic bent. However, for the true student who wants to learn the mysteries of the occult, especially the "left hand path", this is only a small snow flake on the tip of the iceberg. You will need to work in order to obtain the "forbidden fruit" of hidden knowledge ;-)

Very interesting book. Quite frankly it makes a lot of sense to me. Why live for an afterlife? I live for today, here and now. By the way I am a christian and I still to this day question the existence of god or a god. I agree with Lavey that we are our own gods. I mean we live by our own rules or code if you want to put it that way. In a matter of fact the term Lucifer means light, light refers to the power of knowledge.

The Satanic Bible is a breath of carnal fresh air in a spiritually delusional world. The Satanic Bible, unlike other religious tomes, elevates man’s carnal nature as “just another animal” (Satanic Statement #7) and encourages the human animal to indulge in the carnal pleasures of life that are an essential part of the very fabric of his/her nature. Unlike anti-human holy books, such as the Holy Bible or the Koran, that promote “spiritual pipe dreams” (Satanic Statement #2) as a means of achieving “spiritual” fulfilment in life, the Satanic Bible advocates exercising man’s carnal nature to indulge in the “so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!” (Satanic Statement #8). As Magus Anton Szandor LaVey aptly put it, “There is a beast in man that should be exercised, not exorcised” (The Secret Life of a Satanist: The Authorized Biography of Anton Szandor LaVey by Blanche Barton).

Our society brainwashes the herd from childhood to believe that man’s biological and natural desires are evil and should be shunned. The peddlers of “spiritual pipe dreams” offer up empty promises of happiness and relief from the “heavy yokes” of guilt that they have laid upon humanity's backs. The Satanic Bible offers an authentic path to human fulfilment as it encourages man to embrace what he truly is by nature, “just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours” (Satanic Statement #7), versus what he is not. At the end of the day, the Satanic Bible is a work that simply advocates embracing the natural world for all its worth to get the most out of the joys that life has to offer. To me, the Satanic Bible is a tome that lays a clear foundation for true liberty and leading an authentically fulfilled life allowing me to be who I truly am by nature.

I have been an atheist for several years now. Atheism has been a great tool for shaking off the shackles of spiritual religious bondage and superstition. While the liberty that Atheism has brought to my life has been wonderful, it has also brought somewhat of a void as atheism is not for anything per se. Atheism does not advocate a certain philosophy or way to live one’s life as it is nothing more than the rejection of a claim. As someone who was immersed in Christianity for many years, becoming an atheist (without any religion) meant no more rituals or symbolism. I had searched for many years for some kind of alternative to the spiritual religions, but always came up short. While some religions, such as Buddhism or different eastern contemplative practices, could offer religion without a god, they always seemed to fall back on the anti-human spiritual philosophy promoted by the theistic religions. There have been several books written by atheists as a means of developing some kind of “atheist philosophy” for life, such as Eric Maisel’s The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods, but these works end up being nothing more than Atheism for political Liberals.

After reading the Satanic Bible, I finally found a tome that reflected my own personal world view, philosophy, and aesthetics. The Satanic Bible outlines a philosophy for living a fulfilled and happy carnal life. It also gives a means of aesthetical symbolism and ritual (as a means of psychodrama) to fulfil the religious side of life that is missing by only being an atheist. The Satanic Bible lays a path for a person to be religious without being spiritual. As Dr. LaVey said in his essay The World’s Most Powerful Religion, “Religion is the most important thing in a person’s life.” I know of a lot of atheist who long for a religious path to getting more out of life, but they either walk through life with a kind of emptiness or they turn to gimmicks, such as “atheist churches” like that of former Christian pastor Jerry DeWitt, that essentially mimic Christian churches with an atheist twist. See more of my thoughts at "mydarkperspectives (dot) blogspot (dot) com."

Wonderful book and very well written. This is a philosophy book, an overview of and insight into Lavey's life and style. It's informative and enlightening, quite biting and witty. There's a section where he rambles endlessly, in what appears to be an incoherent babble. But I think it's to see if the reader is paying attention. I became introduced to this book through Marilyn Manson. Like any other philosophy book, one can take what parts work and choose to not take the parts that don't fit your convictions. There's something here that will appeal to everyone. I'm Roman Catholic and find this to be one of my favourite books. There is nothing offensive or dangerous in this book. If you think this is some magical mystical book of darkness, you will be disappointed. It's more of an outline which, when condensed translates into be kind to each other, be good people, but don't be a doormat and let people use and abuse you.

This is an outstanding book for anyone interested in the occult, philosophy, and of course Satanism. Whether you are theistic or atheistic, you should read this book (if you havent already ) to gain more knowledge of satanism. If you arent a satanist, you should read this book and you may find out who you truly are. And lastly, if you are a Christian, you should read this book because I assure you that you have no clue what satanism truly is.

In my opinion, Satanism isn't some religion that you convert to, it is who you are. If you open this book and can't put it down, then chances are your a Satanist. If you read the book and say to yourself "wow, this is what I've believed all my life!" ,then your a satanist. When I first read this book long ago, I couldn't put it down. I read the whole book multiple times after. And the more you read it, the more truth you will find.

The last thing I wanna say is, don't use the satanic Bible as you only source of knowledge in Satanism. The satanic Bible is an amazing start and anton lavey was a very knowledgable person, but there's more for you study if your serious about Satanism. Check out the works of aleister Crowley, john dee, Edward kelly, regnar redbeard, frederich niche...etc. Because very important sources in the satanic Bible come from those people also.

I purchased this because I was curious as to what it entailed. The book has always had a bad light shed on it and to no surprise there's literally nothing evil about it. The book was a great read minus the fact what ever company it shipped from wrote "God is the way" on the back page.

Hail Satan! With out Anton Szander Lavey and his Satanic Church, Satanism would be a Wiccan religion. This man set the bar. And had some big balls for putting his life and beliefs out on the table in the time that he did when back wood Pentecostal Church going polatitions where in power in Washington. No matter what your modern views on what Satanism should be, should look like or be marketed as, you Must respect this man and this book. It is the emerald tablet of luciferian practice and beliefs of today's practicing Satanist. So buy it, read it, judge it for yourself, then get the ritual book and practice it for one year. Then move on.

Hail Satan! With out Anton Szander Lavey and his Satanic Church, Satanism would be a Wiccan religion. This man set the bar. And had some big balls for putting his life and beliefs out on the table in the time that he did when back wood Pentecostal Church going polatitions where in power in Washington. No matter what your modern views on what Satanism should be, should look like or be marketed as, you Must respect this man and this book. It is the emerald tablet of luciferian practice and beliefs of today's practicing Satanist. So buy it, read it, judge it for yourself, then get the ritual book and practice it for one year. Then move on.

Love the book as a religious studies reference. My father however had other ideas. He received this book instead of me, opening it in front of EVERYONE I live near. Living in southern Georgia, everyone was religious, and not open minded. So, this caused a mountain of family drama followed by me living with my grandmother for a period of 5 months.
Over. This. Book.
Not a harmful, scary, or dangerous book, but he sure thought it would kill us all.

This book has a brilliantly interesting philosophy: embrace lust rather than abstinence since we are animals after all, and realize that you are your own metaphorical god, which is more important than anything else. While I'm not personally fond of its selfish nature, I do appreciate how it's atheistic at the core, yet uses symbolism—particularly the archetype Satan—as means to visually represent itself and to cause a deserving stir among the Christian crowd. I recommend this controversial read to anyone interested in philosophy and the occult.

For years I saw "The Satanic Bible" peeking at me from bookstore shelves and for years I avoided it like the plague because the superstitious twaddle of my Christian upbringing hoodwinked me into thinking, "If I read THAT, I'll become demon possessed!" Sheesh! I wish I had had the guts to have picked it up thirty years ago! Now, completely devoid of any Christian superstitions, I read LaVey's book. All I can say is that the copy I bought five months ago is now dog-eared with dozens of passages underlined. I would rank it among the top ten best books I've ever read. LaVeyian Satanism is a philosophy for living a happy, more productive life, while keeping tongue firmly in cheek as you jerk the chains of Christians. LaVey has managed to capture in one slender book what Ayn Rand couldn't get across in two thick novels and several other books of fiction and commentary. With a twinkle in his eye LaVey managed to make me realize what I've always felt, but was afraid to admit; that I am my own "god" and if I live my life without religiously imposed guilt, I make my small corner of the world a better place and by extension improve the whole world entire.