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Has Satanism Changed for You Too?
This essay originally appeared in The Black Flame in April LII A.S.
When I first heard about The Satanic Bible, I was in 7th grade. It was a frightening and exciting thought, that there would be a bible devoted to Satan’s religion. (I came from a LDS religious background.) My friend, whose brother supposedly had the book, refused to even bring it to school, which only added to the mystery.
My first exposure to the religion of Satanism was The Devil’s Notebook, a collection of essays addressing ideas that were new, interesting and thrilling for me to consume and contemplate. This infused a sense of intellect to the religion that my earlier imaginings hadn’t even considered. The book’s background aesthetic was one of ancient script on a field of red adorned with the Sigil of Baphomet. Satanism was both style and substance. When I finally got my hands on The Satanic Bible later that year, its simple and impactful design filled my imagination with rituals, nude altars and power! The Sigil of Baphomet on a field of black spoke volumes in its simplicity. Then you turned it over and you are hit with the striking and strange visage of Anton LaVey. Talk about a one-two punch of impactful design! The next book I consumed was The Secret Life of a Satanist. Up until this book, Satanism was Anton LaVey to me.
I knew the Church of Satan existed prior to my reading of these books, but the presentation of the religion was always from the Doktor. My understanding of Satanism continued to evolve the more I read newsletters like The Cloven Hoof and books like The Satanic Scriptures and The Fire From Within. The more I studied, the less centered around LaVey the religion became. Certainly, as the founder of the religion, I appreciated his thoughts and ideas, but I quickly perceived a separation between the man and his creation.
By the time I heard of his death, I had been identifying as a Satanist for years. I knew I had always been a Satanist, before I even knew that name. My unwarranted concern for the religion’s longevity was eased when Blanche Barton and later Peter H.
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By Reverend CampbellThis essay originally appeared in The Black Flame in April LII A.S.
When I first heard about The Satanic Bible, I was in 7th grade. It was a frightening and exciting thought, that there would be a bible devoted to Satan’s religion. (I came from a LDS religious background.) My friend, whose brother supposedly had the book, refused to even bring it to school, which only added to the mystery.
My first exposure to the religion of Satanism was The Devil’s Notebook, a collection of essays addressing ideas that were new, interesting and thrilling for me to consume and contemplate. This infused a sense of intellect to the religion that my earlier imaginings hadn’t even considered. The book’s background aesthetic was one of ancient script on a field of red adorned with the Sigil of Baphomet. Satanism was both style and substance. When I finally got my hands on The Satanic Bible later that year, its simple and impactful design filled my imagination with rituals, nude altars and power! The Sigil of Baphomet on a field of black spoke volumes in its simplicity. Then you turned it over and you are hit with the striking and strange visage of Anton LaVey. Talk about a one-two punch of impactful design! The next book I consumed was The Secret Life of a Satanist. Up until this book, Satanism was Anton LaVey to me.
I knew the Church of Satan existed prior to my reading of these books, but the presentation of the religion was always from the Doktor. My understanding of Satanism continued to evolve the more I read newsletters like The Cloven Hoof and books like The Satanic Scriptures and The Fire From Within. The more I studied, the less centered around LaVey the religion became. Certainly, as the founder of the religion, I appreciated his thoughts and ideas, but I quickly perceived a separation between the man and his creation.
By the time I heard of his death, I had been identifying as a Satanist for years. I knew I had always been a Satanist, before I even knew that name. My unwarranted concern for the religion’s longevity was eased when Blanche Barton and later Peter H.