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To: alt.satanism
From: xeper@aol.com (Xeper)
Subject: Re: Baphomet sigil (FCoS FAQ)
Date: 04 Mar 1999 18:28:38 GMT

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In article <7blemp$pua$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
doctorlao@hotmail.com wrote:

>The Devil Rides out? Fer Gawds sake. It is
>becoming clearer why you carry on so.

The Satanists in that film were quite dignified
[their Crowleyesque bacchanal and obligatory
human sacrifice finale-thwarted-by-God
notwithstanding], with meetings a white tie
affair in suitable mansions and Rolls Royces
the vehicles of choice. Charles Gray made a most
malevolently elegant Ipsissimus indeed, as an
opponent for Christopher Lee's Duke de Richleau.
[The film remains Lee's personal favorite of all
the Hammer Films in which he starred.]

I didn't expect white tie in the Church of Satan,
but I was not anticipating "white socks" either.

>You weren't a member of the Council of Nine.
>The Council of Nine was an in house group.
>You were not among them. Nice try though.

Well, I guess that Anton must have been lying
to me when he informed me in June 1970 that
I was so appointed, and presented me with the
Council medallion which I still retain in my
archives. That deception must have carried
over to the following week when I attended a
meeting of the Council, and on over the next
five years when the LaVeys and I routinely
issued official documents in the name of the
Council, which after the cessation of Friday
night LaVey-home parties in 1970 had
faded away as a planning group for same.

In the _Cloven Hoof_ 12/70, of course, it
was officially announced that "members of
the governing Council are known only to
the High Priest, who solicits their advice
when desired". So if you want to get technical
about it, it was impossible to establish who
might/might not be a member of the Council
from one moment to the next - and in any
case the Council was an entirely toothless
body with an advisory function only - and
even that only when asked. It is not even
mentioned, for instance, in the Church's
Articles of Incorporation.

>Next you will be claiming to be a member of
>the Order of the Trapezoid. Then we will have
>a real chuckle.

I daresay Anton's pen must have slipped when
he inscribed my hardcover _SB_ and _SR_ "To
Magister Michael A. Aquino, Order of the
Trapezoid". :-) As detailed in _COS_, he, Diane,
and I periodically refined the concept of an
O.Tr. significantly past its "white socks" inception
as, per the pre-M.A. _Hoof_ in 1970:

"The Order of the Trapezoid is the 'board of
directors' and security staff of the Church ...
All Priests and Priestesses are automatically
admitted into the Order ..."

By 1973 the O.Tr. had become a much more
sophisticated concept, as I outlined in the
Church _Articles of Protocol_:

"The new _Articles_ look great. Anton liked
the way you handled the distinction between
the Black Order and the Order of the Trapezoid."
- - Diane LaVey to M.A.A. 8/17/73

Interestingly enough, it again took the Temple
of Set to breathe actual life into both the Council
of Nine and the Order of the Trapezoid. The
Temple's Council of Nine has been functional since
its incorporation as the board of directors, and
exercises formal, supervisory authority over the
Temple's executive officers (High Priest, Executive
Director, Treasurer).

The Order of the Trapezoid was reactivated by
my 1983 Working in the Walhalla Crypt of
Wewelsburg Castle, Westphalia, and thereafter
became one of the Temple's most successful
and productive Orders, with a worldwide membership,
newsletter, conclaves, symposia, workshops,
and magical research - today extending far
beyond Anton's [or my] original inferences
from Mortenson, the Law of the Trapezoid,

etc.

Much of the credit is due to the Order's
second Grand Master, Dr. Stephen Flowers,
whose expertise in ancient and modern
Germanic/Nordic occultism is internationally
famous. Currently under its fourth GM, the
Order continues its dynamic programs - all
of which, I can't help adding, makes the
vaporous "Order of the Trapezoid" pretensions
of the Bartonites absurd in the extreme.

And of course in the Temple of Set Council seats,
offices, and memberships/Masterships/Grand
Masterships of its several Orders are very much
a matter of record, so that all Setians know
their identities and how to contact any of them.

>He talked about Redbeard often and credited him
>publicly to members and later in the Satanic Bible
>in print.

No, he did not credit Redbeard with authoring the
"Book of Satan" in the _SB_. He simply included
Redbeard's name among the list of people on the
dedication page. There is a difference.

>>As for the disintegration of the Church in 1975,
>>that was the inevitable result of Anton's own
>>decision to corrupt the Priesthood and other degrees,
>
>Nonsense. He phased out the Grotto systems because
>they were not working.

Not at all. By 1975 there were more Grottos throughout
the country than ever before, with one or two new ones
just before Anton announced his degree-selling decision.
What happened after that decision was that *every single
one* of those Grottos either disintegrated or moved over
to the Temple of Set to become one of its founding Pylons.
Only after that happened did Anton start floating the
transparently ludicrous cover-story appeared that
the "Grottos had been phased out".

I might add that in 1975 the founders of the Temple
of Set really didn't give much of a damn *what*
hot air was issuing from San Francisco, as all of us
were quite busy creating the new Temple, to include
its Pylon system (which is purring along nicely today,
with Pylons from Australia and Japan in the east to
Britain, Scandinavia, and continental Europe in the
West).

>Now if you are still on that "Anton sold degrees" fantasy

You may read Anton's and Diane's pre-announcement
correspondence with me for yourself in _COS_, assuming
Sharon "Blanche Barton" Densley will allow you to
see it.

Or you can just read Anton's announcement for yourself
in the May-June 1975 _Hoof_. Included in the _COS_
Appendices are also letters from several members of
the Priesthood, RAs, and Grotto Leaders reacting to the
policy.

>perhaps you will be kind enough to name just one person
>who paid for a degree. We don't need the full list from
>your Church of Satan database. Just one will do. Be sure
>to ignore this request as you have so many times before.

A very easy question to answer, which I have never
ignored. Prior to Anton's announcement, *no one* in
the Church bought *any* degree. Advancements to
both the II* and the III* (Priesthood) were by formal
examination and extensive evaluation alone. [I've
reprinted the III* nomination/examination paper
on this newsgroup.] Advancements to the IV*
(John Ferro, Charles Steenbarger, and myself) were
by Anton's personal decision, with no monetary
consideration whatever.

After Anton announced the degree-selling decision in
June 1975, I had no further involvement with his
operation and have no idea what he did with that
stupid policy. I can't believe [as I told him when
trying to dissuade him] that anyone would respect
an initiatory degree, much less a "priesthood", that
was simply a matter of writing a check.

>>in the case of the Bessy Baphomet in the 1980s -
>>trademark misrepresentation.
>
>Oh, pleeze! Spring books did not exactly have a
>beagle about it, and Avon has had no trouble using
>the symbol for thirty years. Michael Aquino is the
>only person on this planet complaining.

Of course Spring Books didn't complain, because the
Bessy Baphomet was already arguably in the public
domain from the Wirth original. Avon wouldn't
have used it on the _SB_/_SR_ if they hadn't been
certain it was PD.

In short, no one [including me] made any issue
about the emblem whatever until Densley in the
1980s _Cloven Hoof_ and in correspondence with
independent users began threatening them with
legal action and claiming that emblem as exclusive
Church of Satan property. All I did, when people
came to me about it, was alert them to the Bessy
and Wirth precedents that disproved Densley.

>You keep saying "white socks" as if it were the worst
>possible name to give a group of individuals. Forgive
>Dr. Lao since he has never heard the term before.

Kindly re-read the _Berkeley Tribe_ quote in my
previous post. [If the sock fits, wear it.]

>>No, the accurate history of the Church of Satan, and
>>of Anton LaVey as its High Priest, are important
>>historical and philosophical topics which I think
>>deserve to be made available to others with a serious
>>interest in Satanism.
>
>As long as it is Michael Aquino's version, you mean.
>You are interested in distorting the facts as fits your
>own cosmology. You are a legend in your own mind.

That is why _COS_ is extensively footnoted, quotes
at length from pertinent documents and correspondence
throughout its text, and includes all of those 159 Appendices
(many of which run several pages of #10 type). In short,
readers can examine for themselves the same material
on which I base my history and analysis, and decide
for themselves if my reasoning is objective, inclusive,
and fair. Over the decades I have had no complaints
whatever in this regard - except from Densley-spaniels
like yourself who simply can't stand the fact that the
book exists to explode all the _Secret Life of a Satanist_,
etc. falsehoods.

>>This only comes up here because you are prancing
>>around representing yourself as a prominent official
>>and authority on the Church, and so far I haven't
>>seen anything
>
>Yes you have Michael. You just won't admit it. Dr. Lao
>talks of things only known by insiders and you know it.

I think it's reasonable to conclude that you were one
of the "white socks" groupies pre-1970, and that
you hung around the LaVeys' home as much as
they would let you after that.

Beyond that I haven't seen the slightest evidence
in any of your posts that you were worth a damn
to the Church of Satan, or held any position in it
beyond Satanist I*. Your reluctance to identify
yourself so that the Church's database can be
checked just reinforces me in this estimate,
frankly.

>As to the "Typhon Tusk" you must be kidding.
>Did you ever see the Typhon Tusk? 

Yes, Rev. Larry Green sent me the issues. The
Grottos all exchanged newsletters and gave one
another startup advice, as did the LaVeys. If
you were too busy  to contribute
something towards its improvement, or even
volunteering to edit it, I'd say that's about in
keeping with what I've seen of you here: Friday
night LaVey party groupie, absolutely useless to,
and uninterested in the Church of Satan otherwise.

>>Or perhaps something about the Chinese Satanic tradition,
>>as per my own "'Yellow Peril': Satanism in China" article.
>
>Isn't that where you went on about the Triads and all? Gad,
>what *were* you thinking?? Well, that was a long time ago.
>We all make mistakes. Dr. Lao will forget about it if you will.

I enjoyed researching the article, the majority of letters
from members indicated that they enjoyed reading it,
and on 5/31/73 Diane LaVey wrote to me:

"Your 'Yellow Peril' piece would make Fu Manchu smile!
It's really a good article - well-researched and lucidly
presented. [I'm a chart freak!] This 'tolerant' new world
in which we live has taken a lot of the spice out of
literature and films that used to thrill us with stories of
foreign or alien evil-doers with mysterious powers, and
the inscrutable oriental figures were among the most
colorful. I wouldn't be surprised if half the people under
30 who read journalistic descriptions of Anton LaVey as
having a Fu Manchu-style moustache or beard, or 'a
countenance that conjures up memories of Ming the
Merciless' (extraplanetary origin but nonetheless oriental
implication), really can't envision what the writer
intends him to. At least the readers of the _Hoof_ will
have something to think about."

Evidently that was too much to expect of the white
socks types, who, if they hadn't long since drifted
away in search of other alleviation of their Friday
night boredom, could do nothing now but wistfully
orbit around the LaVey house,  searching for any
domestic excuse to sublimate their obsolescence.

Michael A. Aquino, Ph.D.
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