He was not an atheist
He emphatically believed that power in the Universe was a dark force, impartial, and was beyond human kind. He was influenced by the literature of H. P. Lovecraft and prologued the Satanic Bible with quotations from the writings of Arthur C. Desmond, a liberal anarchist from New Zealand known for authoring Might Is Right : The Survival Of The Fittest by Ragnar Redbeard.
he also had an interest in summoning spirits and demons and shamanism/voodoo but was put off by the then 'new age' community who had christianized these forces that frankly they were too scared to actually summon.
One of the most important things Anton LaVey ever wrote of was not using a proxy when summoning spirits and to sacrifice your own energy.
to this day, on the Church Of Satan homepage, there is a link to the Temple Of The Vampire who wrote a whole series of books relating to summoning spirits and developing psychic powers of mediumship
*
"My sources were Sibley Morill and Virginia Harner. Mrs. Harner, mother of famed anthropologist Michael Harner, and Mr. Morrill were members of the "Magic Circle" - the Order of the Trapezoid", which was to become the Church Of Satan. , not to take this quote out of context LaVey is talking about his presumption that Jack London wrote Might Is Right (which is false). this quote is taken from Anton LaVey's forward to the centennial edition of Might Is Right
Michael Harner developed neo-shamanism movement in the West
from the Satanic Bible,
"It is a common misconception that the Satanist does not believe in God"
also,
"The fact of the matter is that if the "magician" is worthy of his name, he will be uninhibited enough to release the necessary force
from his body own body, instead of from an unwilling and undeserving victim." "This discharge of bioelectrical energy is the very same phenomenon which occurs during any profound heightening of the emotions"
in the Satanic Witch
he would underscore this point,
by placing not 1, but 2 books by Dr. Wilhelm Reich in the bibliography
Character Analysis
&
The Function Of The Orgasm
Short explanation of Dr. Wilhelm Reich's work by a Satanist
Clip of Anton LaVey speaking on summoning spirits
he was totally serious about it
he just didn't often talk about it because it'd probably embarrass him
and he was absolutely right
real shamans for instance from Korea don't stand in protective circles when summoning spirits
they entreat spirits by placation
this is ritual magic 101
you NEVER guard yourself, or repress yourself, when you want company, you invite them in
you don't stop them at the door
Video about korean shamanism
LaVey was one of the best writers on shamanism ever
He was only against the Christianization of ritual magic
he was a genuine pagan
Korean Shamans face malevolent spirits, those who bear 'han' (ancient grudges), because it is their DESTINY
that is their JOB
they must face them
otherwise, they would not be shamans
they'd be useless
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