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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc,talk.religion.newage,alt.psychology.jung
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nocTifer)
Subject: RFD: _The Satanic Witch_ (LONG)
Date: 23 Aug 1997 11:42:44 -0700

499070802 aa2 Hail Satan!

[much excerpted as that elist has a nonquotation policy (ick ick ptooey)]

re: _The Satanic Witch_, by Anton LaVey.
...I like LaVey's humor and style, though I don't consider it to be 
'modern' except in the sense of a clever sell to the atheist, 
hedonistic materialists (the bulk of modern US).


it depends on what you want his text to be.  as philosophic explorations
they are very meager.  as religious tracts they are pretty representative,
though in his preferred paradigm.  this is why I think of them as cons --
they play on the religious' need for answers and point toward liberated
perspectives but offer a kind of tar baby to the fanatics.  in this they
are quite useful (tying up the minds of fanatic Satanists for decades,
enlisting their power to serve LaVey, etc.), but to liberated Satanists
(rather than org- or herd-varieties), they are of minor importance beyond
being a catalyst to greater efforts.


fanatics seize his proffered 'answers' and obsess about them as the 
Revelation of Truth, naive and without exposure to the broader context of 
the debate which LaVey may be addressing yet barely delves.


re his 'Clock descriptions':
I suspect that this is a misperception of Jungian ideology but am not
studied sufficiently to know for sure.  I've been looking more and more
closely at expressions (Jung's, others) on the Shadow, the Anima and
Animus, and while I got the impression that they are sometimes
conflated or overlapped, I don't think 'demonic' is a natural part of
the description of the Anima/us unless certain problems are contained
within the psyche of the individual (particularly a kind of hatred of
the 'opposite' sex).

thus, it may well be that what LaVey describes is pertinent to many
human beings in urban society, but I think the model he describes is
not so general as it is targetted toward the most manipulatable of
its citizenry.  those who are not caught up in these problems will
not be affected by the suggested methods and the witch will be seen
for the (juvenile) manipulator she is, even if her victim plays along.


I think they are tied to particularly vulnerable personality-types.  
the model generalizes in a way which exploits the weaknesses inherent 
to modern society and projects these on the masses.  while some portion 
of it may apply, I think LaVey is exaggerating for the benefit of 
making the book attractive.


re being rooted in materiality to do manipulative (Lesser) Black Magick:
the whole idea begins to break down at a certain point once one meets up 
with another witch, and that this must be understood.  the glamor only 
goes so far, and those with the eyes to see will not be so easily fooled.  
there is a place and a power in switching to *honesty* and disarming 
vulnerability, no less for men than for women.  more on this last below.


'actual elite' and 'thinking of oneself as part of the dominant elite'
are two different things.  there are a host of reasons why some will
consider themselves part of this elite, and many will be right, though
if we are talking about social power, then I don't think that the people
who are likely to dominate this have changed much.  4 o'clock types,
by LaVey's model, are closer to the acceptable 6 than many other more
aggressive and egotistical personalities.  the nerdy hermit may *think*
of hirself as a member of some grandiose elite, but when push comes to
shove she is too anti-social and full of dreams without connections to
materiality to really exercise this.  more often than not the engineer
is the tool of the realm dominators in society (often corporate execs).


re embracing our demonic sides:
I doubt this happens very often, though we might like to idealize that
it does.  especially those who read this book will want to fantasize that
we are in control of the whole shebang, integrating all of the cast-out
parts (Jungian Shadow), and able to muster the force to apply this power
in the world.  typically most of this is based on fantasy and never comes
to application at all, the individual is just one more lowing herd animal
dreaming of liberation.


re how to join the next generation's ruling class:
in general I'd agree with your last statement, and moreover I'd say that
we have to know about people and what gives them pleasure and frightens
them.  sizing up one's opponents is the most important information when
dealing with bluffs and negotiations.  supplementary data such as the
latest math and science are good for background, just as is that on the
stock market and how corporate and legal systems function.


kings are no longer to be found, except perhaps in industry, providing 
convenience and faddish entertainment.  the fools are now on television 
somnambulizing the herd.  now the corporation calls the shots, pulling 
political and media strings and still resisting androgynic symbolism.  
it is simply too profitable to dispense with facile gender roles.


re where this leaves the manipulatress?  
given the immature state conditioned by the culture, in a position (as well
as herself) which can easily be exploited.  I think this is the value of
TSW, its heavy concentration on just what kinds of power are available (and
have been available for centuries) to the clever woman.  the trouble is, of
course, that it doesn't go as far as she might like and unless she is very
practiced it may backfire.


specialization in drama have raised some of the standards required for 
success, but the average joe on the street still operates from sex 
drives (this is what advertizers capitalize on when they sell through 
eros-based ads) and these are easily manipulated.

 
I don't think that Jung ever connected the Anima/us.  what I've seen so
far indicates he thought that these were left-over biological gene-remnants
which polarized in response to the selection of gender at conception.  this
is a kind of biological presumption which has the capacity to undermine his
entire psychological theory, though I don't think it should.

how I presume he'd describe the conditions are that the Anima/us is
increasingly demonized, becoming more and more a part of the Shadow.
I think this is one of the reasons that some tantrics and Satanists may 
focus on wrathful gods of opposite gender to their biological structure 
(as I do in dedication to Kali).  it is an attempt to simultaneously
integrate the Shadow and the Anima/us.


re going deeper into the Satanic to find authentic patterns of desire:
I think this 'Satanic' must involve the challenge of taboo, activities
which are at times considered 'perverted' or 'insane' to the average
joe and jane citizenry (BDSM, witchcraft, blood rites, etc.).

on the initial pass of these deeper archetypes I would recommend caution, 
however.  sometimes the Anima/us which is integrated to the Shadow can 
be incredibly abusive.


we are talking, especially if adhering to Jungian models, of an 
'individuation', what I understand as the integration of repressed 
psychic contents and a real separation from the herd on the basis of 
uniqueness and self-knowledge.  this is to what Greater Black Magick 
should lead, apparently even by LaVeyan descriptions.


society in its present configuration is integral to the problem.  
parental technocracies intentionally maximize through education and
media-steering the immaturity of the herd so as to retain consumers.

it is the *emotional* center which is most damaged within at least
modern American culture.  asceticism makes no room for real expressions
of emotion, or if they do these are increasingly exascerbated through
constraint to limited channels and roles.  I don't think that it is
a mere coincidence that Christian religion makes such a big deal about
Jesus residing 'in the heart'.  in some way the religious are attempting
to grapple with this problem too, though often without knowing what they
are doing.

I don't think it just takes mentation or will.  I think it takes a
certain ability to let go of our gods, those ideas and objects which
we have been taught are essential to our lives, whereas they are truly
degrading our experience and encouraging our enslavement.  letting them
go (rather than just changing them for other gods) liberates as we come
to see ourselves as fulfilling that capacity (the best sense of 'being
one's own god' rather than some fantasy-trip without substance).


re rejecting conventional gender roles:
very wise, though this may not address LaVey's real point.  I got the
impression that his point was that if there exists a vulnerable spot in
the culture we live (and you seem to strongly agree with thim about this
vulnerability, this damage you attribute to Christians and I attribute to
organizations generally), then we can learn to exploit it in order to
get what we want.  I think this is more of an opportunity for women than
it is for men and that this is why LaVey focusses on 'the Satanic *Witch*'
rather than on 'the Satanic Warlock' or whatever one would desire to call
the male counterpart.

that is, while I agree that as a Satanist and/or witch it is extremely
VALUABLE to do as you are doing -- essentially dismissing the artificial
constraints of gender roles and with what we associate them, by ignoring

them completely you also ignore a set of triggers which might easily be
used against the herd to your advantage.  compare this to phone sex and
the blatant eros-focused media hooking into male Anima-repression.

 
re what is male and female in nature:
I don't think you'll find that.  check out feminist literature of the
more lesbian styles and you'll begin to see androgyny being touted as
an ideal (as the book of this name by June Singer).  there are many 
other connections to this ideal, such as in alchemical drawings (heiros 
gamos) and even the Levi Baphomet (who is drawn with breasts and 
phallus).  yet my understanding is that the real goal here is not 
locking onto yet *another* static category, another set of 'correct 
gender role assignments', but liberating ourselves from identifying 
any of them with particular gender characteristics, being so 
conversant with all aspects of what are today called 'gender roles'
that we can manifest them ourselves per our desires and needs.


it is quite likely that what is contained within TSW applies more 
within the Satanist and BDSM communities (where hedonism and 
gender-specific imagery are encouraged) than in mainstream society 
(where it would be rejected based on its erotic content unless 
skillfully muted).

these divisions are contrived and would go further to say that *any* 
gender views are going to be so contrived, culturally-derived and 
largely a function of education and coercion.  the empowered Satanist is
as comfortable in 'drag' as in 'ordinary gear'.  it brings to mind the various
native ams who effected this empowerment, such as the Berdache, though without
making it a specialization (where it is then called 'cross-dressing', 
'transvestitism' and at the extreme, 'transsexualism').  

as Buscaglia has said, when people think we are 'crazy' we are provided a 
much wider latitude of acceptable behavior.  I have tested this out in my 
life and found it to be true, not without its obvious hazards for the unwary 
and ignorant (walking into a biker bar in drag and hitting on the gruff-looking 
patrons is liable to result in a hospital bill unless one is supremely 
skilled -- see a toned-down version of this in the film about drag queens 
with Patrick Swayzee; the title is something mentioning Julie Newmar, the 
old television Catwoman).

in sum, I think TSW is a good basic primer on what Satanists often call
'Lesser Black Magick', but for the Greater variety it is insufficiently
deep and self-involved to make any real headway.  LaVey constructed a
workable model for those who might like it, and it has some ties not
only to traditional psychological paradigms but also to the occult world
(notice the latter chapters deal with divination, ceremonial magic, and
media manipulation -- the latter being LaVey's real strong-point).

it should be supplemented by studies in sociology and image-manipulation
(theatre), as well as serious discipline in assertiveness and self-
reflection.  this last is its natural conclusion in the case of meeting 
up with one whose skills are comparable to one's own and, lacking such a
reflective and expressive skill, will at least leave one powerless, if
not completely in the hands of those who will see through the disguise
and reveal to us that which we'd overlooked and repressed in ourselves.

there are other books which may approach the matter somewhat more
sensationally (believe it or not), or from the perspective of corporate
ladder-climbing.  titles like _How to Succeed in X_, where 'X' is
some business or political arena are pretty common.  convincing other
people is a major skill in sales, and so as you can imagine there are
a host of texts available to instruct one on this occupation.

also, LaVey's is NOT the first of this type associating itself with
witchcraft, far from it.  there is a long history of books of this
genre, though perhaps less stylistically-adept and not typically
associated with what is ostensibly a legitimate organization (CoS).
I have a few on the Haus bookshelves and have found them very
inspirational.  titles like _The Weekend Witch: Everywoman's Guide
to Enchanting Her Man_, by Lynda Lawrence, Books For Better Living,
1974 and _The Complete Book of Magic and Witchcraft_, by Kathryn
Paulsen, Signet's Pentacle Press, 1970 offer less and more occult-
oriented approaches, respectively.

his does appear to be more psychologically-based, however, and
is probably one of the most lurid since the Neopagan movement
via Gardner adopted the 'witch' label as a cutesy bunny-hugging
'nature-worshipper' who would *never* manipulate anyone.  in
this way he plays on the popular conceptions (witch as enchantress)
and dismisses the neuvo-witches with great style, capitalizing on
the dissonance as well as on the controversy.

blessed beast!
________________________________________________________________________
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