Jahanzaib Haque
Comm. 252
24th April, 2002


The Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey is the primary document of the Church of Satan, which presents the incorporation of values, ideology and rituals forming the basis of contemporary Satanism. While the book remains a best seller even today, serious analysis of its contents reveal the work to be a highly elaborate form of propaganda aimed to target a specific audience. In my essay, I will reveal numerous arguments put forward in the Satanic Bible as well as provide a discussion on the success of the book based on Jowett and O’ Donnel’s model of propaganda analysis.


According to Jowett and O’ Donnel, propaganda is “the deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perception, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”


In order to begin analyzing the document, one must first pinpoint the specific intent of the work. On the surface it seems that the Satanic Bible is merely presenting the reader with a new approach to religion, yet in actuality, the book is attempting to sell the reader certain core values the Church of Satan wishes the reader to adopt. The general line of thinking used in the Satanic Bible is to first get the reader to buy into appealing values promoted by Satanism such as individuality, and immediate gratification for the body and soul, then leading into actual rituals and religious dogma designed by Anton Lavey to reinforce those core values.


On a broader level, the Satanic Bible functioned to provide fame and notoriety to its leader and his newly founded church and to gain a strong following within society. This objective was clarified by Anton Lavey two decades after the book’s release in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine where he defined the principle role of the Satanic Bible had been to gain support in numbers for his Church of Satan (Wright, Lawrence).


To achieve this objective, the Satanic Bible is divided into two sections. The first section entitled, “The Enlightenment” is where Lavey provides clear arguments for what values Satanism stands for and why Satanism is the best choice of religion.


The first major claim presented towards the argument is that Satanism incorporates modern day values, which logically make it the religion of the future. This claim is supported within the Nine Satanic Statements in the beginning on the book, which present the religion focusing on indulgence and the importance of individuality, specifically in regards to responsibility which is a core value within the ideology.


The value of individuality is further stressed in a chapter devoted to the issue. Titled, “The God you save may be yourself” Lavey emphasizes the need to recognize the individual as being, “the highest embodiment of human life.”


The second value of indulgence is a repeated theme visible in all parts of the Satanic Bible. Within the Nine Satanic Statements Lavey states, “Satan represents all the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental or emotional gratification.” An entire chapter entitled, “Indulgence over Abstinence” focuses on depicting Satanism as a belief system that represents values modern society focuses on. There is an incredible appeal to logic as Lavey incorporates modern Darwinian theory and Freudian ideology to suggest that it is natural to have desires and to act upon them is healthy. Lavey commits the fallacy of appealing to popularity as defined by Rieke and Sillars, stating that since all humanity has desires of lust, revenge, greed etc. then these desires must be good and should be fulfilled.


Support for this growing need to satisfy desires is provided through examples within our society. Changes within Christian dogma such as those regarding birth-control methods and the incorporation of music within worship and even the use of carnivals (originally pagan tradition) to raise money for charity are all indications that Satanism needs to be incorporated as the new, predominant religion.


This leads directly into the second major claim within the Satanic Bible, which calls for adopting Satanism because all other religions are outdated and false. Lavey provides severe criticism against established churches, making great use of emotion and loaded terms to persuade the reader. A dichotomy is set up within the book, giving the reader the choice between following a life of oppression and guilt by following an established church, or choosing to convert to Satanism and achieving true happiness and freedom.


This claim is developed by Lavey in his Nine Satanic Statements, stating, “Satan has been the best friend of the church as he has kept it in business all these years.” The argument presented shows religious institutions, specifically the Christian church as being a system of control within society, using propaganda such as the threat of, “Satan and Hell” to manipulate and oppress the masses.


Anton Lavey goes further on to engage in vilification of the church, depicting priests as power hungry, “psychic vampires”. These priests are seen to play upon the weaknesses of humans and destroy the will to live, except within a state approved by these individuals. Lavey also creates a mockery of the symbolic Christ, who is described as, “pallid incompetence hanging on a tree” with no real supporting material for these attacks. This example is just one instance out of numerous occasions where Lavey commits the Ad Hominem fallacy of attacking the Christian church rather than examining any of its religious ideology.


The second section of the Satanic Bible leads the reader into Anton Lavey’s devised satanic rituals and dogma, based upon values established in the first section of the book. These rituals and related practices all lend support to Lavey’s established philosophy and help to reaffirm the basic goal of establishing Satanism as a working belief system.


A number of rituals are outlined by Anton Lavey, each serving a function within the framework of Satanic philosophy. Anton Lavey introduces the Black Mass as a weekly ritual to be performed by practicing Satanists. The primary purpose of the Black Mass is to make a mockery of a similar ritual within the Christian church. The Black Mass with its emotional rhetoric and elaborate ceremony functions similar to Nazi rallies (extremely efficient affairs) in World War II in creating emotional fervor and reinforcing established values within the system.


In support of core values within Satanism, Lavey presents, “satanic magic” which allows the follower of the faith to fulfill his/her natural desires, specifically, any cardinal sin outline in Christian philosophy such as lust, revenge etc. Lavey provides detailed descriptions of how each magic ceremony must be performed; incorporating numerous images and symbols commonly associated with classic Satanism such as the pentagram and the image of a horned goat. These symbols serve as visual propaganda, helping to affiliate members of the Church of Satan and working as symbols of power for those within the organization.


A close analogy can be drawn between Hitler and Goebbel’s Nazi propaganda used in World War II (Jowett & O’Donnel, 237) and the effectiveness in Lavey's ability to convert people to Satanism. Following the seven cardinal rules for successful propaganda outlined in the Mein Kampf, Lavey began his religious career by appealing to his target audience with highly emotional rhetoric, incorporating only a small set of core values within his easily comprehendible ideology. Throughout the Satanic Bible we see repetition of these basic ideas and a constant focus on his side of the issue.


Hitler and Goebbels also emphasized constant criticism of enemies of their ideology, giving special focus towards the Jewish community in Germany to direct the hatred generated within their target audience (Jowett & O’ Donnel, 237). Similarly, the Satanic Bible creates/assimilates an atmosphere of hatred towards established religious institutions, particularly focusing on the Christian church whom the intended target audience can easily identify and channel their hatred toward.


Despite its somewhat unethical nature and usage of propaganda techniques, the Satanic Bible was an instant bestseller and remains in print to this day. It served to launch the Church of Satan with Anton Lavey as its high priest, gaining the organization media attention and thousands of faithful followers (Feral House).


The success of this book can be seen as a result of three inter related issues of historical context, its intended target audience and its great philosophical and emotional appeal to values inherent within its target audience.


Avon Books in collaboration with Anton Lavey released the Satanic Bible in 1969 as a commercial ploy (Lavey, Zeena). The book was released during a period of great civil unrest within the United States and was targeted at the large number of people left disillusioned by a complex set of events surrounding the Vietnam War and the slow demise of the existing Hippie culture. These events left a significant population in a state of despair and hopelessness. There was a need for a new ideology, which, according to Maslow’s model of motivation would provide this niche within society with a sense of belonging, and self esteem.


Given this need within society, Anton Lavey designed the Satanic Bible to provide a religious ideology based upon predominant values within the subculture, such as individuality and a general hatred for established institutions. This ideology proved to have the desired effect it was designed for, with people of similar attitudes associating themselves with the Church of Satan in order to fulfill their need to belong to an organization based on their ideals. Such was the success of the Satanic Bible at its release in 1969 that it outsold the Christian Bible on college campuses all over the United States (Harrington, Walt). The failed ideology of Timothy Leary and the hippie culture was quickly replaced in small sections of the population by Lavey’s carefully designed religious philosophy.


The Satanic Bible and its ideology have had far reaching affects within the American culture, particularly within the entertainment industry which regularly presents satanic individuals such as Marilyn Manson who affiliate themselves with the Church of Satan (Spotlight Ministries). Other affects are visible within many new subcultures such as the Punk culture or Anarchist culture, both of which use the pentagram and Satanic ideology within their belief systems. Similarly, the Gothic subculture functions upon rituals and symbols taken directly from the Satanic Bible (Robinson, B. A.). These examples outline just a small segment of the tremendous influence the propaganda laid out in the Satanic Bible has had within society.






Works Cited:

“Feral House Publishing.” Feral House. 2001: 20 April 2002. <http://www.feralhouse.com>.

Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’ Donnel. Propaganda and Persuasion. Sage Publications, 1999.

Harrington, Walt. “Anton Lavey.” Washington Post Magazine. (1986): 64 Pars. 20 April 2002. <http://www.churchofsatan.com/pages/wapost.html>.

Lavey, Anton S. The Satanic Bible. New York: Avon Books, 1969.

Richard D. Rieke and Malcom O. Sillars. Argumentation and Critical Decision Making. Addison Wesley Longman, 2001.

Robinson, B. A. “Satanism, Gothic Satanism, Satanic dabbling.” Religious Tolerance. 36 Pars. 20 April 2002.

“Spotlight Ministries.” Marilyn Manson. (1999): 19 Pars. 21 April 2002. <http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/manson.htm>.

Wright, Lawrence. “Sympathy for the Devil.” Rolling Stone #612. Feb-March 1991: 12.

Zeena Lavey and Nikolas Schreck. “Anton Lavey: Legend and Reality.” First Church of Satan. 30 Pars. 20 April 2002. <http://www.churchofsatan.org/aslv.html>.