The Satanic Scriptures

As part of the greater Satanic conversation, this volume stands as a testament to what Peter Gilmore brings to the office of High Priest in the Church of Satan, and indeed Satanism in general. As Peggy Nadramia - Gilmore's wife - describes in the afterword, Gilmore is involved in many creative pursuits, painting and music among them. For the audience who has not been introduced to him through those endeavors, the written pieces in this book allow the reader a glimpse into the mind of a man who is an efficacious communicator, on the front lines of Satanism's defense for decades.The structure of the pieces is calculated to deliver in such a way that would make reading the essays out of order a mistake. It was for me, anyway. Before I read this from cover to cover, I read most of the essays as their subject drew me. While I agreed with the points Gilmore made in each of them, the weight of the words didn't effectively hit me until I read them in order. Reading the essays in sequence got across overarching points that he couldn't possibly have conveyed in each individual piece. In that sense, there were shades of the effectiveness I saw in LaVey's "Satanic Bible" in terms of conveying what the Satanic perspective concludes.The timeline stretches from Gilmore's time serving in the Priesthood when LaVey was High Priest, dealing with the Satanic Panic, to where I think he really shines and makes contributions to Satanism that are really exemplary of his current title of Magus. His reflections during the Satanic Panic are valuable for those in the intelligent minority who are inclined to think that there is some way to "get through" to everyone in the (fairly unintelligent) majority - a warning against the unSatanic extensions of solipsism. In "Time Travel - Cheap and Easy," he describes a way for Satanists to effectively use our human penchant for habit to express an entirely different time, and I personally believe it can be used as a method to more efficiently articulate emotions creatively.There is also a tendency for Gilmore to use cosmological metaphors to make his points. He refers to each Satanist as a sort of black hole, drawing others into his or her center of gravity in a very clever twist on Aleister Crowley's notion that "every man and woman is a star." Similarly, he describes other, more parasitic kinds of individuals as "intellectual black holes," and wisely warns to avoid them, lest time and energy be completely wasted. Be careful not to mix the two, though. The metaphors are being used for very different reasons.Gilmore also seems to find a lot of value in one of LaVey's essays called, "Satanism is Americanism." At many points in his book, Gilmore references classic American values, freedom and exceptionalism most of all. Perhaps there's a reason the United States has sometimes been called the world's first "Satanic republic." Something I find beautiful about Satanism is that what it opposes is, to a great degree, what Satanists have in common. There are some concepts that we will agree on, but we will all apply them differently in our lives. Gilmore makes several comments on culture, namely in music and art, that discuss possible avenues for the Satanist to express his or her individual creativity. To my mind, this speaks to the way America finds its culture. It came about through rebellion, and the individualistic nature on which it was founded encourages culture to be brought about as the manifestation of individual pursuits.Finally, a brief word on the aesthetics. Gilmore's work on Satanic ritual is not to be overlooked, and he paints a picture with each description (not to mention the ritual instructions) that allows the reader to vividly imagine a place of his or her own inside the ritual environment, and compelled me almost to envision the ritual taking place even as I was reading them. That aside, the book itself is a work of beauty. It was designed by members of the Church of Satan, and the excellent design and feel are exemplary of how high the standards of the church's elitism really are. I eagerly anticipate any creative work Gilmore will release in the future.

I will start by saying that this book wasn't as entertaining to read as the Satanic Bible. It felt somewhat condescending where TSB didn't despite the philosophy being the same. I normally use words that other people at school(as I go to the community college), simple words such as "volition" or "cognitive dissonance", "dualism", "monism", so on and so forth and those words have a tendency to go over the heads of those around me. I would spend hours talking to the philosophy instructor that I had as a teacher. I have a much better vocabulary than a lot of my peers, they are intimidated by me and often times(from what friends have told me as to why people are stand offish with me), they feel I am talking down to them which I don't mean to. I had no trouble following what the author was saying in the context of the sentences but many times he seemed to use such words as to make reading cumbersome. I enjoy books like "Atheism:The Case Against God" by George H. Smith, or "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. I have no trouble following what those authors are saying, if there is a difficult word I don't normally use, I simply look it up. I felt like the author was going overboard on using complicated wording. Perhaps that is simply part of his persona of being elite. I felt at times he looked down upon people who have genetic defects by birth. I don't think he meant that, but it seems to me he could have been less judgmental towards them(not excusing the herd for being the herd in their blind submission and stupidity, but encouraging those who are not part of the herd who have genetic defects to use the dark knowledge to overcome their defects which he does touch on but not so much). No one has perfect genes, and my personal feelings are the one who is truly enacting satanic philosophy would be the person who has mental defects yet overcomes them all or is able to work around them to be the most successful that they can be(IE:Stephen Hawking). Part of the COS viewpoint is for people to do all they can with the cards they are dealt and not whining or feeling sorry for themselves, I simply feel he should have stressed that point. This book was quite thick, much more so than I expected. I will read it a few more times and give it more of a chance as it wasn't a bad read all in all. TSB had a much greater emotional impact on me than this book. I liked the part of the book mapping out the path that people take to become Satanists, if anyone questions where they are at I believe that part of the book will be quite illuminating. It seems to me though that the authors belief is that Satanism is hard wired into a persons genes as opposed to the potential being hard wired meaning that if a person is part of the herd they are somehow "destined" to remain with the herd as they weren't born to not be in the herd(denying that people can and do change-sometimes those most dedicated to a religious herd in their youth become a mortal enemy of that herd as they age due to being lied to by the leaders of that herd enough to wake them up to the con job they were manipulated with IE:ex-Christian movement). Anton Lavey seemed to believe that the potential is hard wired and the process is one of a human recognizing their true nature as opposed to believing they were that way from birth. People choose whatever path they choose due to mental disposition, circumstances, and DNA. It seems in some respects that the authors idea was more about nature as opposed to Anton Lavey's idea being more about nurture. I know, I know, semantics, I say tomato, you say tomahto. I say potato, you say potahto...it is nitpicky, Anton Lavey's work simply felt different. Had a certain charm, had a certain appeal. Good book none the less. One part of this book that I totally related to was how "Why" is about a sacred word. I don't remember the wording that he used but I have touted asking "Why" as something akin to godliness. Doubt is sacred. Blind obedience to a shepherd is an abomination to human dignity. There was more than just that one part of the book that spoke to me in a personal way like that, that is merely the one that stuck out to me the most.

Bought this to go with the Satanic Bible and Satanic Rights and other demonology and grimoire books, not completely read it all, but seems informative and full of detail, looks very interesting and will definitely be worth a read.

Fantastic addition to the texts of Anton Lavey's Satnic Bible. Adds more insight into other areas of Satanism.

Peter Gilmore has shown his own insights, knowledge and eloquence is on level with Mr. Laveys. I can see why he was chosen to replace Anton as Magus. I like the way he lays it out what a Satanist is in a layman terms as most people have either forgot or never read Anton's books. It's nice that he's conjured up the alternate philosophy that makes the most sense to man's real behaviour instead of going against the grain of nature.

Peter Gilmore adds a mature, scholarly voice to the canon of Satanic thought. He explains misconceptions surrounding Satanism regarding eugenics, racism, and fascism, and also provides great advice for potential members how to advance their standing in the Church of Satan (spoiler: it involves actually living your own life.) The Satanic Scriptures is an absolute essential for anybody who wants to understand the definition of Satanism, and for best effect it should be read after the Satanic Bible. It's not a great metaphor, but you can look at the Satanic Bible and the Satanic Scriptures like the Old and New Testaments: they go together. The Satanic Scriptures aren't complete without the Satanic Bible, so don't get one and not the other, but as a stand-alone text you couldn't ask for a better instructional in Satanism than what Peter Gilmore has assembled here.

NOTHING showed up and only way to request a refund was to "return" the item ? dont waste your time or money!!!