Table Of ContentCalled “The Black Pope” by many of his followers, Anton LaVey began the road to High
Priesthood of the Church of Satan when he was only 16 years old and an organ player in a
carnival:
“On Saturday night I would see men lusting after half‐naked girls dancing at the carnival, and on
Sunday morning when I was playing the organ for tent‐show evangelists at the other end of the
carnival lot, I would see these same men sitting in the pews with their wives and children, asking God
to forgive them and purge them of carnal desires. And the next Saturday night they’d be back at the
carnival or some other place of indulgence.
“I knew then that the Christian Church thrives on hypocrisy, and that man’s carnal nature will
out!”
From that time early in his life his path was clear. Finally, on the last night of April, 1966–
Walpurgisnacht, the most important festival of the believers in witchcraft–LaVey shaved his
head in the tradition of ancient executioners and announced the formation of The Church Of
Satan. He had seen the need for a church that would recapture man’s body and his carnal
desires as objects of celebration. “Since worship of fleshly things produces pleasure,” he said,
“there would then be a temple of glorious indulgence. . .”
The Satanic Bible
Anton Szandor LaVey
For Diane
Dedications
To: Bernadino Logara, who knew the value of money
Karl Haushofer, a teacher without a classroom
Rasputin, who knew the magic of a child
Sir Basil Zaharoff, a gentleman
Cagliostro, a rogue
Barnabas Saul, the link with Mount Lalesh
Ragnar Redbeard, whose might is right
William Mortensen, who looked . . . and saw
Hans Brick, who knows the law
Max Reinhardt, a builder of dreams
Orrin Klapp, the walking man
Fritz Lang, who made moving blueprints
Friedrich Nietzsche, a realist
William Claude Dukinfield, who saved me a journey to Tibet
Phineas Taylor Barnum, another great guru
Hans Pöelzig, who knew all the angles
Reginald Marsh, a great artist
Wilhelm Reich, who knew more than cabinet‐making
Mark Twain, a very brave man
And to: Howard Hughes, James Moody, Marcello Truzzi, Adrian‐Claude Frazier, Marilyn
Monroe, Wesley Mather, William Lindsay Gresham, Hugo Zacchini, Jayne
Mansfield, Frederick Goerner, C.Huntley, Nathaniel West, Horatio Alger, Robert
Ervin Howard, George Orwell, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Tuesday Weld, H.G.
Wells, Sister Marie Koven, Harry Houdini, Togare, and the Nine Unknown Men.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION I (1969-1972) by Burton H. Wolfe
INTRODUCTION II (1972-1976) by Michael A. Aquino
INTRODUCTION III (1976-2005) by Burton H. Wolfe
INTRODUCTION IV (2005-) by Peter H. Gilmore
PREFACE
PROLOGUE
THE NINE SATANIC STATEMENTS
(FIRE)
–BOOK OF SATAN–
The Infernal Diatribe
(AIR)
–BOOK OF LUCIFER–
The Enlightenment
I Wanted!: God—Dead or Alive
II The God You SAVE May Be Yourself
III Some Evidence of a New Satanic Age
IV Hell, the Devil, and How to Sell Your Soul
V Love and Hate
VI Satanic Sex
VII Not all Vampires Suck Blood
VIII Indulgence... NOT Compulsion
IX On the Choice of a Human Sacrifice
X Life After Death Through Fulfillment of the Ego
XI Religious Holidays
XII The Black Mass
(EARTH)
–BOOK OF BELIAL–
The Mastery of the Earth
I Theory and Practice of Satanic Magic: (Definition and Purpose of Lesser and
Greater Magic)
II The Three Types of Satanic Ritual
III The Ritual, or “Intellectual Decompression,” Chamber
IV The Ingredients Used in the Performance of Satanic Magic:
A. Desire
B. Timing
C. Imagery
D. Direction
E. The Balance Factor
V The Satanic Ritual:
A. Some Notes Which are to be Observed Before Beginning Ritual
B. The Thirteen Steps
C. Devices Used in Satanic Ritual
(WATER)
–BOOK OF LEVIATHAN–
The Raging Sea
I Invocation to Satan
II The Infernal Names
III Invocation Employed Towards the Conjuration of Lust
IV Invocation Employed Towards the Conjuration of Destruction
V Invocation Employed Towards the Conjuration of Compassion
VI The Enochian Keys and The Enochian Language (The nineteen Keys will be
listed here in chronological order)
Underground Edition Features Table of Contents
The Satanic Bible
INTRODUCTION by Burton H. Wolfe
This is the original introduction, used in the 1969 first edition through 1972
INTRODUCTION
by Burton H. Wolfe*
In the summer of 1966, a few newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area began to take
notice of a body of Devil‐worshippers headed by a former circus and carnival lion handler
and organist, Anton Szandor LaVey. Their practice of the black arts was nothing new in the
world. It had traces in voodoo cults, a Hell‐Fire Club that existed in 18th‐Century England, a
Satanic circle led by Aleister Crowley in England a century later, and the Black Order of
Germany in the 1920’s and 1930’s. But two aspects of the San Francisco group made them
different from their predecessors: they were blasphemously organized into a church, the First
Church of Satan, instead of the usual coven Satanism and witchcraft lore; and they carried on
their black magic openly instead of underground.
Wedding, baptism, and funeral ceremonies dedicated to the Devil were held in the
Church of Satan, with the press invited. Rituals in the tradition of the black arts were staged
at midnight in the old dark Victorian house of LaVey, an incongruous building among all the
white and yellow stucco houses in the San Francisco neighborhood a short way from the
cliffs along the Golden Gate. Occasionally the roar of a full‐grown lion that lived in the black
house with the LaVey family (Anton, 39; wife Diane, 26; and daughters Karla, 17, and Zeena,
6) reverberated through the night, spooking the neighbors, who were already upset about
living so close to Hell.
Somehow it was all terribly provocative. Besides, the Devil has always made “good
copy,” as they say on the city desk. By 1967, the newspapers that were sending reporters to
write about the Church of Satan extended from San Francisco across the Pacific to Tokyo and
across the Atlantic to Paris. When a wedding or funeral was held, with a naked woman
serving as altar to Satan, the Associated Press and other wire Services were on hand to
transmit the story and the scandalous photographs to thousands of periodicals. Groups
affiliated with the Church of Satan were organized in other parts of America and in England,
France, Germany, Africa, and Australia. In existence less than a year, the Church of Satan had
already proved one of its cardinal messages: the Devil is alive highly popular with a great
many people.
Anton LaVey, called “The Black Pope” by some of his followers, realized that two decades
ago when he was playing organ for carnival sideshows. “On Saturday night,” he recalls, “I
would see men lusting after half‐naked girls dancing at the carnival, and on Sunday morning
when I was playing the organ for tent‐show evangelists at the other end of the carnival lot, I
would see these same men sitting in the pews with their wives and children, asking God to
forgive them and purge them of carnal desires. And the next Saturday night they’d be back at
the carnival or some other place of indulgence. I knew then that the Christian church thrives
on hypocrisy, and that man’s carnal nature will out no matter how much it is purged or
scourged by any white light religion.”
Although LaVey did not realize it then—he was only eighteen—he was on his way
toward formulating a religion that would serve as the antithesis to Christianity and its Judaic
heritage. It was an old religion, older than Christianity or Judaism. But it had never been
formalized, arranged into a body of thought and ritual. That was to be LaVey’s role in 20th‐
Century civilization.
All of LaVey’s background seemed to prepare him for that role. He is the descendant of
Georgian, Roumanian, and Alsatian grandparents, including a gypsy grandma who passed
on to him the legends of vampires and witches in her native Transylvania. As early as the age
of five, LaVey was delving
_______________________
* Author of The Hippies and the forthcoming book, The Satanists. An article by Wolfe called “The Church That Worships
Satan,” the first complete study of the modern Satanic Church, appeared in the September 1968 issue of Knight magazine
(Vol. 6, No. 8). Publishers Service, Inc., the producer of Knight, has graciously permitted portions of the article to appear in
this introduction.
into Weird‐Tales magazines, and books such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s
Dracula. He felt different from other children, and yet he became a ringleader, glorying in the
organization of mock military orders.
In 1942, when he was twelve years old, LaVey’s fascination with toy soldiers branched off
to concern about the world war. He delved into military manuals and discovered that
arsenals for the equipment of armies and navies could be bought like groceries in a
supermarket and used to conquer masses of people. The idea took shape in his head that
contrary to what the Bible said, the earth would not be inherited by the meek, but by the
strong and mighty.
After entering High School, LaVey became something of an offbeat child prodigy. He did
most of his studying outside the school, delving into music, metaphysics, and secrets of the
occult. At sixteen he became second oboist in the San Francisco Ballet Symphony Orchestra.
Bored with high school classes, he dropped out in his junior year, left home, and joined the
Clyde Beatty Circus as a cage boy, watering and feeding the lions and tigers. Animal trainer
Beatty noticed that LaVey was comfortable working with the big cats and made him an
assistant trainer.
One day the circus calliope player became drunk. LaVey had taught himself to play the
piano by ear and thought he could handle the organ keyboard well enough to provide some
music for the performance that evening. It turned out that he played better and knew more
music than the regular player, so Beatty kept him on the calliope. He accompanied the
“Human Cannonball,” Hugo Zachinni, and the Wallendas’ high wire acts, among others.
When he was eighteen, LaVey left the circus and joined a carnival. He became assistant to
a magician, learned hypnosis, and studied more about the occult. This was a curious
combination. On the one side, he was working in an atmosphere of life at its rawest level—of
earthy music; the smell of wild animals; acts in which a second of missed timing meant
accident; performances that demanded youth and strength, and shed those who grew old like
last year’s clothes; a world of physical excitement that had magical attractions. On the other
side, he was working with the magic in the dark side of the human mind.
Description:Called “The Black Pope” by many of his followers, Anton LaVey began the road to High. Priesthood of the E. The Balance Factor. V The Satanic
