#the devils library

[the-devils-library]

At Satan's Altar: A Collection of Prayers, Chants, Affirmations, Hymns, and Rituals by Marie RavenSoul

Title: At Satan's Altar: A Collection of Prayers, Chants, Affirmations, Hymns, and Rituals

Author: Marie RavenSoul

Publisher: ‎ In Satan's Honour Press

Publishing Date: February 28, 2018

ISBN-10‏: ‎ 1775262405

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1775262404

Last post was a popular atheist text, so I suppose it's appropriate that now we move on to a popular theist text.

Marie RavenSoul is a modern Satanic author and youtuber, her channel can be found here. Her website, In Satan's Honour, can be found here. To my knowledge she is not affiliated with any group but her dedication in this book gives thanks to a "Brother Nero," who I believe may be the same Brother Nero who authored Satanism: A Beginner's Guide to the Religious Worship of Satan and Demons.

At Satan's Altar's subtitle is an apt summary of its content. RavenSoul is not here to provide moral counsel or wax poetic about philosophy, but to provide the tools of a theistic Satanic practice, including hymns, prayers, and rituals. The cover and interior also feature several illustrations, by artists Amanda MacNeil and Letitia Pfinder.

The book is divided into two sections, the first half being dedicated to devotional writings such as chants and prayers, and the second half being more instructional, revolving around rituals and practices the theistic Satanist might partake in. The instructional portion may prove useful to newcomers who have basic questions, such as how to pray, or how to structure a ritual. The Nine Days of Solitude Devotional may be difficult for anyone who is young or in a controlling environment, but could prove beneficial for more experienced Satanists who wish to do something more intensive than daily prayer or a one-off rite.

It is worth noting that RavenSoul calls Satan by other names, such as Lucifer and Baphomet, which some theistic Satanists may consider to be separate demons, rather than other names for Satan himself. She also refers to Satan as "father," a dynamic which may or may not ring true for other Satanists. At Satan's Altar is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. [DISCLAIMER: The Devil's Library is not affiliated with any of the previously mentioned groups or authors. It is an independent project by a single Satanist. Do not mistake my mentioning of an author or group as endorsement for their beliefs and practices.]

Click below for my personal thoughts on the book.

RavenSoul is a talented writer and her dedication to Satan is admirable. While her rather fatherly interpretation of Satan isn't for me personally, I'm sure those Satanists who do see our lord as a father figure would take great comfort in certain pieces of her writing.

However there is an aspect of the book which rubs me the wrong way personally, and that is the matter of cultural misappropriation. RavenSoul conflates Satan with religious figures from a couple of other faiths, namely Iblis and Tawûsî Melek (spelled Melek Ta'us in the book). While I can see why someone would compare these figures to Satan at first glance, my research tells me it is inaccurate and perhaps unwise to do so. Iblis comes from Islam, and while he is a fallen angel and the leader of devils, equating him with the Christian Satan is ignorant and potentially appropriation. More seriously, equating Tawûsî Melek, the peacock angel of the Yazidi religion, to Satan is directly racist and harmful. Yazidis have a history of persecution, and being wrongfully accused of being devil-worshipers is part of that history. Furthermore, Yazidism is very much closed to outsiders (one cannot even marry into the religion, but must be born into it), so making use of their religious figure for Satanic writings is rude and inconsiderate, at the very least. RavenSoul doesn't just make use of Tawûsî Melek's name and image, but references the Al Jilwah, a book which claims to hold authentic Yazidi scripture, but is of dubious origins.

In addition to these comparisons, RavenSoul also conflates Satan with gods like Pan and Set, and while those gods come from open religions, some may not enjoy such comparisons.

I know RavenSoul's work is popular amongst my fellow theists, and I never aim to tell my readers what to do in these review sections. These are my thoughts and only my thoughts, not instructions on where you should draw the line on which books you will or won't make use of.

#satanism #theistic satanism #at satan's altar #marie ravensoul #the devils library #tdl #bookshelf #my posts

[hyakunana]

A Wizard and a Rogue walk into the Archive

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #larian studios #gale dekarios #astarion #house of hope #comics #fanart #enjoy this sort of comic production while i can now that the projects im working on are all paused together #no lil video to prove this occurence bc it was such a casual method at this point dfghjk #but it was funny to have separated these two in library and wyll and shadow rescuing hope #hope: wHERE'S THE HAMMER U DOOFUS / wyll: hold on my magic pockets are working on it #yes i've become what i feared: i've become an astarion main #it's against my nature to leave him at the camp in my durge run since she's the dex one already #Is pillaging the house of a devil a crime? experts weight in

[siliconcat]

this is flirting. btw

#the potion was fed to one of the library devils instead (tragic) #touhou #alice margatroid #patchouli knowledge #alipatchy #pachuali #my art

[libraryoflanie]

“Abuse can feel like love…Why?”

“Starving people will eat anything.”

Penelope Douglas, Nightfall (Devil's Night, #4)

#book quotes #books #books and literature #books & libraries #bookstagram #poetry #poets on tumblr #mahmoud darwish #love quotes #poetsandwriters #penelope douglas #devils night

[thecactifindahome]

From the early notes for The Vampire Armand in the Anne Rice collection at Tulane University.

#the vampire armand #daniel molloy #devil's minion #armand/daniel #tulane library #armand

[stargirl89]

🖤🤍

#books #books & libraries #booklr #devils night series #devils night #penelope douglas #michael crist #damon torrance #will grayson iii #kai mori #corrupt #hideaway #nightfall #kill switch

[n41r]

Look at that, it's Dante, Dante, Dante, and Dante!

They are the Dantes that I know of at the back of my mind, drawn together~

Bonus

#Devil May Cry #Library of Ruina #Limbus Company #Oreca Battle #Dante DMC #Dante LCB #No tag for LoR Dante huh #crossover fanart #I've been stashing the sketch for months- #I'm so happy to be able to finally finish it;;; #I actually don't know much about DMC Dante- #I'm sorry it's a bit lacking- #Also Dante's swords taking so much space- #bruh- #N41R Drawings #Swordsman Dante

[carmine-golde]

Enoch O’Connor moment

Finally got around to drawing a fandom-favorite! Here’s my version of Enoch, with bonus clay guys :)

#miss peregrine book #miss peregrines home for peculiar children #mphfpc #the desolations of devils acre #miss peregrine #hollow city #enoch o'connor #O’Connor #library of souls #a map of days #the conference of the birds #the desolations of devil’s acre #mphfpc art #art

[sleepyminty]

Whenever the developer of a gacha game create a waifu

#gacha games #dmc #dmc vergil #vergil #i swear to god if i hear another child support joke one more time #honkai impact 3rd #punishing gray raven #genshin impact #wuthering waves #i dont need to tag the character since u already know who im talking about #when will dante get a treatment like that? #does hofi kiana count as a dante daughter? #devil may cry #gacha #tag your games #the fact that the developer just make more waifu indicate that vergil is a waifu material by some game developer #literally #when will there be a gacha game crossover with dmc #oh right fgo also has a vergil lookalike #but hajime is more like roland from library of ruina #vergil is now a blueprint of all waifus

[enochs-g0r3-jars]

Imagine mphfpc exactly as it is but instead of saying "Rise up dead man, rise up😈" Enoch says "Wakie wakiee🥰🤗"

#mphfpc #enoch o'connor #miss peregrines home for peculiar children #peculiar children #miss peregrine book #miss peregrine #ransom riggs #mphfpc book #incorrect mphfpc quotes #hollow city #library of souls #a map of days #the desolations of devils acre #alma peregrine #jacob portman #emma bloom #millard nullings #horace somnusson #bronwyn bruntley #olive abroholos elephanta #claire densmore #fiona frauenfeld #hugh apiston #noor pradesh #dead riser #enorace #wake the dead

[cauls-antique-pepperbox-pistol]

Most sane man /s

#caul bentham #mphfpc #miss peregrines home for peculiar children #art #my art #library of souls #the desolations of devil’s acre

[the-devils-library]

The Satanic Bible, by Anton LaVey

Title: The Satanic Bible

Author: Anton Szandor LaVey

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Publishing Date: December 1, 1969 (First Edition)

ISBN-10: ‎0380015390

ISBN-13: 978-0380015399

Alright, let's start with the elephant in the room. This little book is often the only thing people read on Satanism, and for good reason - it made quite a splash when it was published.

Considered the foundational text of the Church of Satan and their specific style of atheistic Satanism (often called LaVeyan Satanism), The Satanic Bible is part philosophy, part religious teaching, and part magical instruction. LaVey is well known for his stance that humanity does not need God, and that believing in God (or Satan, for that matter) as real entities serves only to hold back our potential. However, LaVey argues that humanity does need religion, and that religion requires dogma and ceremony. The dogma and ceremony LaVey offers to the reader is based on one's own happiness and self-satisfaction, as opposed to the Christian values of self-sacrifice for the greater good. His Nine Satanic Statements, Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth, and Nine Satanic Sins are easy to read and understand, and seem to be the inspiration for other Satanist's lists of values, such as The Satanic Temple's Seven Fundamental Tenants.

LaVey embraces sexuality and indulgence, framing sexual energy as the best and most potent source of power for magical workings. Magic is described not as an appeal to a higher power but a seizing of one's own fate, aiming for success and happiness through the manipulation of the world around oneself. The practices he recommends are rooted in ceremonial magic, especially Enochian magic.

The Satanic Bible has had multiple editions and translations since its original publication and is widely available through most online book retailers, as well as sometimes being stocked in magical and metaphysical shops.

[DISCLAIMER: The Devil's Library is not affiliated with any of the previously mentioned groups or authors. It is an independent project by a single Satanist. Do not mistake my mentioning of an author or group as endorsement for their beliefs and practices.]

Beneath the cut you'll find my personal review and opinions on this book.

I've said before on this blog that I am not LaVeyan, and that's still true. While I greatly respect the concept of a non-theistic religion and I lift my glass to all those who work hard to form such religions, I prefer a theistic view of the world. On top of that, LaVey's philosophy does little for me. In truth I consider LaVey's work to not be particularly revolutionary in terms of philosophy. He was a self-admitted fan of Ayn Rand and his brand of Satanic individualism has oft been compared to Randian philosophy with a coat of occult paint slapped on top - I think that evaluation holds true. His magical system also strikes me as unoriginal, given he simply reworked the Enocheon keys. My overall evaluation of the man was that he was a lazy philosopher and a lazy magician, but a skilled showman, and that's how he pulled in as many followers and critics as he did. People were rejecting God and practicing ceremonial magic long before LaVey came along. He just cultivated a compelling aesthetic around it.

I think it's safe to say the book is a product of its time and creator. LaVey is both progressive and regressive, endorsing kink and queer sexuality while also objectifying women in his magical practice (LaVey is, as far as I can tell, the originator of the Satanic tradition of using a nude woman's body as an altar, and he makes a note that during ritual, men should wear robes, but women should dress scantily in order to titillate the men) and having some deep misunderstandings about asexuality. It's also not to be taken lightly that while as far as I'm aware, LaVey himself didn't profess to be a white supremacist, his fondness for Ayn Rand shows a fondness for fascism, he certainly rubbed elbows with white supremacists, and various individuals and groups that broke off from the original Church of Satan have been noted as having a range of Nazi-adjacent views and values, namely the Temple of Set. His list of "Satanic names" is also a very sloppily cobbled together list of names of any god, deity, or spirit who's ever been even slightly associated with negativity, utterly ripped from their cultural context and reduced to keywords that, I assume, LaVey expects the readers to either claim as names of their own or use in rituals. The list includes outright racist cultural appropriation, such as the inclusion of Kali's name, to ignorant misrepresentations of myth, such as calling Loki the "Teutonic devil." As always, I recommend referencing scholarly and culturally conscious resources when it comes to discussions of other religions and mythologies. Do not take a single writer with no credentials at face value.

That being said this is a book I generally recommend people read, with the added note that taking it entirely at face value and assuming it's the one true Satanic text is a mistake. The Satanic Bible is integral to our religious history at this point, but we need not cling to it as entirely or even mostly correct. It is also useful to be familiar with it when interacting with other Satanists, as it's possibly the most commonly read book in the entire religion, so like it or hate it, you probably should have some opinion on it.

#satanism #atheistic satanism #the satanic bible #anton lavey #laveyan satanism #satanic magic #the devil's library #the devils library #tdl #bookshelf #my posts

[sofarsofastmp3]

thanks hanif. cool and normal as always!

i ALSO wish more people talked about the moments that build up to a potential brawl as intimacy.

#this is a library book. so i need to save insane paragraphs any way i can before i start hunting for a used copy #this is a little devil in america btw. really fucking good #abdurraqib #words #h #i can’t keep all the pictures of books i’ve read in my phone anymore so they have to go somewhere

[andhumanslovedstories]

I understand it's the devil talking at the tail end of an all-nighter, but I've done so much and I'm so close to the end, maybe I could go to sleep now and finish the rest of it when I wake up. Again, this is the devil speaking, but yknow that guy might have some interesting ideas, let's let em cook

#i'm going to finish ONE more thing and then triple check that I only have one remaining section to finish and then i may consider this plan #frankly i just don't want to stay up until 9 am so i can go print stuff out at the library #i can print it out for free at work #BUT IS THAT THE DEVIL TALKING

[libraryoflanie]

“Because pain in the body quiets the pain in the head. It feels good, like a kill switch for your brain.”

Penelope Douglas, Kill Switch (Devil's Night, #3)

#book quotes #books #books and literature #books & libraries #bookstagram #poetry #poets on tumblr #mahmoud darwish #love quotes #poetsandwriters #penelope x luke #devils night #kill switch #damon torrance

[heirosol]

#About You: Video Games #crosscode #nier replicant #resident evil #slay the princess #disco elysium #i have no mouth and i must scream #shenmue #the binding of isaac #melty blood #in stars and time #dmc vergil #devil may cry #iwatex #project moon #library of ruina #deadly premonition #ffxiv