Devil's Due: Essays of the Elite (Psychology)

by E.R. Vernor

Publisher: Church of Satan Publishing (August 19, 2016)

Softcover, 274 pages

          This is a collection of essays from various members of the Church of Satan. For those who don’t know, The Church of Satan is an official religion, enjoying tax-exempt status in the United States. It was founded by Anton LaVey in 1966 with various religious texts such as The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Witch freely available for purchase. They became famous on the televised freak show circuit with various appearances over the years on The Joe Pyne Show, Geraldo Rivera’s joke show, and The Morton Downey Jr. Show, among others. 

Stripping away the ritualistic elements and the blatant shock appeal of being a “Satanist”, the foundational tenet of the religion is that of individualism. While originally the religion manifested itself, as did many things in the 1960s, as an acceptance of sexual differences or liberality and drug use. But as these are now mainstream values (at least in the case of homosexuality and marijuana) why is Satanism still so controversial? Part of it is misinformation, part of it is public ignorance, part of it is lazy assumptions. But part of it is the religion’s adherence to individualism, while most of the liberal establishment is pulling to a collectivist political nature, where one is ostracized for not regurgitating the proper political mantras. 

          The current Church of Satan is barely a religion. LaVey abandoned religious rituals in the early 80s and focused on the functional aspects of the ideology, i.e. how it applies to a person’s life and how it can better it. Thus it should really be referred to as a philosophy and not a devotion. Satanism embraces those moral aspects which are condemned by other Judaic driven religions. These do not include pedophilia or murder, but encompass ideas such as greed, envy, lust, sloth, and so on. The Satanic perspective of these are natural conditions of humanity and to deny them is to deny a fundamental aspect of yourself. To belong to a religion or organization that attempts to shame you for your basic instincts is to deliberately put your mind in a prison. Satanism is the key to break out.

There are over thirty essays here from various members, low to high, which discuss the philosophical elements of the religion and how they effectively use it in their daily lives. The more esoteric ones are okay, but I felt the essays from ordinary members (tattoo artists, hairdressers, business managers, etc.) carried much more weight. They showed that, unlike certain unnamed religions, much of the Satanic principles had real world application to make the individual's life better. The only flaw I have with the book is that it is very poorly formatted. There are inconsistent gaps between paragraphs, and blank pages between some essays but not others, and whoever laid it out kept the script in double space, rather than reduce it to single. It gives the book an amateurish feel.  

I first came across The Satanic Bible back in the early 80s when Satanism was the new fad running around the teens and heavy metal music. I was in Walden Books (who remembers that chain?) and spotted the ominous black cover lurking in the religion section. Anything taboo always drew me in and seeing something as supposedly forbidden as this lying out in the open was irresistible. Of course I didn’t have enough money, so I stuck it under my shirt and walked out whistling. No one stopped me, no one even looked at me. The end result of paying minimum wage.

I took it to my friends. We oohed and aahed for a while and it wasn’t long until a few others had gotten copies, some purloined as well. As I said, it was a fad. They spent their time getting drunk and doing rituals to impress and scare girls, while I read the whole thing, including the “boring” parts about their philosophy. It must have stuck, because decades later, I find myself rereading these passages and realizing that I had already been living to their ideas. I guess what La Vey writes is correct, “Satanists are born, not made.” That is, they cannot help but adhere to the philosophy of the religion.

           For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.