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To: alt.satanism From: xeper@aol.com (Xeper) Subject: _The Church of Satan_ (4th Ed.) Date: 05 Mar 1999 03:18:56 GMT -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 As a result of the latest discussion (or back-arching/ tail-poofing contest) between "Dr. Lao" and myself on this newsgroup, I've received several emails asking for further information about my _Church of Satan_ history: When will it be available, to whom, and what changes can be expected? This fourth and final edition will be ready sometime between June & December of this year. As with the previous editions, it will not be available to the general public, but only to Setians and others who demonstrate a serious and responsible interest in the Church's philosophy and history. For example, copies of the 3rd Edition have been acquired by various historians, nonsensationalistic journalists, the Institute for the Study of American Religion, etc. This reflects the Temple of Set's general approach to its initiatory publications: that they should be accessible only to those with the probable intelligence, education, common sense, and good judgment not to misunderstand or misuse them. The flagrant abuse and misrepresentation of the _SB_ and the _SR_ by the Great Unwashed - and particularly its religious-crank and "witch- hunting" extremists over the years - is a lesson in point. Copies of _COS_ have previously been produced on a by-order basis, in exchange for a donation to the Temple of Set to cover the costs of reproduction and mailing. The 4th Edition will probably continue this, but I am considering going back to the high- quality stock, "elephant hide" professional binding, and color plates of the 2nd Edition. That would make it more of a collector's item, but also more costly. So it is a tradeoff between elegance and maximum accessibility. Still undecided. The 4th Edition will not be simply the 3rd with an added chapter about the events ca. Anton's death. Rather I am going through the entire work with two basic ideas in mind: (1) Earlier editions were written for an audience with some personal familiarity with the social eras and climates of the 1960s/70s. We now see new generations of persons interested in Satan and Satanism, many of whom weren't even born in 1975. A bit more background into the Haight-Ashbury climate of San Francisco in the mid-60s, the antiestablishment counterculture of the later 60s, and the New Ageism of the early 70s as they all influenced the Church are called for. (2) The magical and philosophical personalities, ideas, and sources which influenced Anton and other Satanists in those days need to be brought out in greater detail. By today's Internet standards, the "occult philosophy" field in the 60s was far more primitive and difficult to access. Those were the days when Lovecraft was unknown unless you were among a relative few who had heard about him and ordered the few hardcover collections of his works from an equally-obscure Arkham House. "Satanism" was a virtually untouched topic outside of a sprinkling of antiquated reprints (_La-Bas_, Montague Summers, etc.) and Dennis Wheatley's part-Crowley/part-Theosophy/part-Huysmans novels. German occultism, both Weimar and Nazi, was unexplored. The Crowley renaissance was yet to occur, with the now-famous Castle Books pirate edition of _Magick in Theory & Practice_ the only thing of his around outside of old private collections. Anton LaVey came on the scene with these & related resource limitations, but also with an interesting assortment of non-traditional personalities, ideas, and literature to add to the stewpot. Among the best parts of the _Satanic Bible_, _Satanic Rituals_, and _Compleat Witch_ were the dedication pages of the two former items and the bibliography of the latter. [I understand that the dedications pages have been censored from current printings of the _SB_/_SR_. Since the 3rd Edition of _COS_ much interesting research has been done within the Temple concerning those dedication sources, most particularly by Dr. Stephen Flowers in his _Lords of the Left-Hand Path_ and _Black Runa_ books (Austin: Runa-Raven Press). Zeena and Nikolas Schreck have also provided extensive documentation and personal commentary on many early influences and later orientations. "Eat your heart out, Isaac!" Dept.: While I am tempted to include the full frontal photo of Anton (he is wearing his horned cowl, however) from that famous magazine _Jaybird_, I will probably forgo it in favor of a vastly more shocking item: his Cub Scout membership card from 1940 (he was a Bobcat Cub Scout and promised to be square and obey the Law of the Pack). Guess that became trapezoidal and the Law of the Jungle later on. As with previous editions, the 4th will cover the Church's functional existence 1966-75, with only marginal attention to the zombie-throes thereafter. The reason for this is primarily theological and metaphysical: that I think prior to 1975 the Church was on a very real, very authentic path to the Mysteries of the Powers of Darkness, and that thereafter all of that evaporated into simply the manufacturing and selling of the Anton LaVey personality cult. Persons interested primarily in that can of course consult the 1980s stuff produced by Densley and her entourage. _COS_ will correct as many of their falsehoods as reflect upon the reality of the 1966-75 Church, and leave the post-75 intrigues to be argued over by others. I expect _COS_ #4 to "close my personal book" on the Church of Satan. Thereafter I will be looking at a history or personal memoir of the Temple of Set 1975-96 (when I retired from the High Priesthood). That project has previously proved impractical, simply because the range of activity within the Temple of Set, the material produced, and the multiplicity of personalities involved have been so much more vast than its predecessor organization. But I'll give it a shot, since the ability to footnote to the _Scroll of Set_ back- issue collection, the _Jeweled Tablets of Set_, etc. won't require the "all in one" format of _COS_. Michael A. Aquino, Ph.D. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP Personal Privacy 6.0.2 iQA/AwUBNt9K02RWyNykJwrDEQLF2QCeIedQy5DqOUqZN4srWX/VCWRTgfoAoKDg xL0PQ2zOlwlE/eFeloawRp2/ =vgD4 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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