h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As a recent convert (if that's the word) to Satanism, I have had trouble finding accurate books on the subject. I haven't been able to find LaVey's books, but I have read some material by Crowley. I was fascinated (and also greatly amused) by the Book of Lies especially. So my question is, where does Frater Perdurabo fit into all of this?

Also, where should I start reading? I'd like some advice.

Thanks,

Z

Crowley is an odd, odd man.

Crowley, leader of the O.T.O was Satanist in philosophy ONLY. While he did call himself the beast, and made numerous references to the number 666, theologically, Crowley was a Kabbalist. Everything from the book of lies to the book of the law is all kabbalistic in nature. The Kabbalah is a system of beliefs established by the Jews.

I don't think Crowley is taken that seriously sometimes because he was highly idiosyncratic, eccentric and a bit of a drug fiend, which kind of blurs things a bit. Although Indulgence and do what thou wilt were his speciality.

Although my understanding of Satanism is flawed, I understood his idea of Magick (note the 'k') was more of a personal thing: He was more into the ancient religions.

He was a fascinating character: someone should make a film of his life.

You start your reading here:

The Confessions Of Aleister Crowley

It's hard going, but gives you an insight into the man himself.

For anyone that wants to know, the books written by Anton Szandor LaVey are as follows...

The Satanic Bible
The Satanic Rituals
The Satanic Witch (aka - The Compleat Witch)
The Devils Notebook (often recommended as the one people should first read, in order to understand the atmosphere of Satanism)
Satan Speaks!

Another great book on the subject, which gives a thorough outlook on the topic of Satanism as a whole is Gavin Baddeley's "Lucifer Rising".

Not to mention a whole range of sites like http://www.churchofsatan.com and those linked from it. There are no questionable material on them, as far as I know.

Crowley and Satanism are not linked.

Crowley was a writer in the great Hermetic tradition and his books are in code, for the most part. There's a phrase to describe this kind of writing, which I can't remember, but basically it means
"If you're smart enough to be able to read this clearly, you're smart enough to understand it properly".

This is where a lot of people get the wrong idea about Al. Don't take anything about him at face value, don't believe a word he says about himself and take what everyone else says about him with a huge pinch of salt.

LONG POSTING ALERT

Quite right - Crowley had nothing to do with Satanism. He believed himself to be the Great Beast 666 from the Book of Revelations, but that this figure had been drastically misinterpreted. He was a freemason and would have gained great power within freemasonry were it not for WB Yeats - however, this caused a great schism within most established masonic groups at the time.

Crowley later had a mystical vision in Algeria where a spiritual being called Aiwass revealed him as, among other things, the prophet of the new aeon and the reincarnation of 16th century English mage Edward Kelley. This was brought about by Crowley visiting an Egyptian exhibit in a local museum and was rather impressed with item 666. He performed various 'calls,' or rituals dsigned to bring about the apocalypse, which was a period of change rather than the end of the world. He also summoned Satan himself at one point.

Crowley founded a new religion called Thelema, in which rulership of tis solar system regularly changes hands. Up to now, it has been ruled by Osiris (yes, the Egyptian god), aka YHVH, God, Allah. According to Crowley, since 1904, it has been ruled by Ra-Hoor-Khwuit, Horus the younger, son of Isis and Osiris, the crowned and conquering child, Choronzon, Satan.

Crowley also redefined magick for a new generation. He began his book 'Magick in Theory and in Practise' with the statement "In this book is spoken of the spehiroth and the path, of spheres and conjurations, of gods, spirits and planes, and many othe things which may or may not exist. It is immaterial whether they exist or not. By doing certian things, certain results will follow. Students are most earnestly requested not to attribute objective reality or philosophical validity to any of them." This was a major step forward in the development of chaos magick.

Crowley also believed that sex was a great thing. While he started off with some good ideas, he became increasingly sadistic and mysoginistic (sp?), seeing women as no more than vehicles to carry vaginas and instituting a rule requiring that all Thelemites who used the word 'I' must slah themselves with a razor blade (Crowley was, naturally, exempt from this rule). This got so bad that he was exhiled from Sicily whenre he was living at the time and died a homeless man in England.

LaVey and the Church of Satan are, by contrast, a great bunch of posers. They say "Hey, look at me, I'm a Satanist," when in reality they just follow humatonic ideals. About the only thing they do differently to humatons is admit when they are wrong. The Church of Satan also has a system of degrees copied from freemasonry, which are in turn adapted from the Qabbalah. They largely plagiarise many of Crowley's teachings, and the modern Church of sata seems, to me at least, to be but a pale reflection of Thee Temple ov Psychick youth.

Interestingly, the Temple of Set which is a splinter group from the Church of Satan has, like Crowley, revivd to Egpytian pantheon. Occulture, it seems, has certain patterns that occur no matter who is in charge.

Oh, and they are making a movie about Crowley's life. Can't think of the name of it right now.