The Cloven Hoof, Issue 120

The Cloven Hoof

Second Quarter, XXII Anno Satanas Copyright 1987 C.E. by the LiEckren of Satan, P.O. Box 210082 San Francisco, Ca 94121 U.S.A.

Vol. XX, #2 120th Issue

EVANGELISTS VS. THE NEW GOD

Anton Szandor LaVey

It comes as no surprise that the televangelists are now being cashiered on all fronts, either through scandal or absurdity. People are wising up about the Bakkers and Roberts' only because it is time for them to be allowed to wise up. And why? Because the Christ-sellers were beginning to compete with the very god that they were unknowingly employing: T.V.

In previous centuries, the Church was the great controller, dictating morality, stifling free expression and posing as conservator of all great art and music. Instead we have T.V., doing just as good a job at dictating fashions, thoughts, attitudes, objectives as did the Church, using many of the same techniques but doing it so palatably that no one notices. Instead of "sins" to keep people in line, we have fears of being judged unacceptable by our peers (by not wearing the right running shoes, not drinking the right kind of beer, or wearing the wrong kind of deodorant). Coupled with that fear is imposed insecurity concerning our own identities. All answers and solutions to these fears come through television, and only through television (only through Christ can one be redeemed). Only through exposure to T.V. can the new sins of alienation and ostracism be absolved.

T.V. is the universal articulating factor. We don't have to go out early Sunday mornings to get religion--that was too much work. Now all we have to do is get out of bed and press the magic button and church comes to us. We become intimate with it's comforting presence from the time we pop out of our mother's womb--it is indeed much more omnipresent than the old God used to be, as much as they claimed He had his eye on the sparrow, etc. Now it's true. There are television sets in every home, every restaurant, every hotel room, video stores in every shopping mall--now they're even small enough to carry in your pocket--electronic rosaries. It is an unquestioned part of everyday life. Kneeling before the cathode-ray God, with our T.V. Guide concordances in our hands, we maintain the illusion of choice by flipping the channels when we wish (chapters and verses). But the God stays on. The trick is, it doesn't matter what is flashing on the screen--all that's important is that the T.V. stays on.

When the Church based its mandate on the Holy Bible, claiming it was the word of God Almighty, there was some room for doubters since it was such a glaring fallacy of logic. The Holy Fathers devised the necessity for "faith" in hopes of covering up the inherent problem. But when T.V. masquerades as "entertainment," there's no room for doubt. There is nothing to doubt. There is no absurd premise being advanced, so no one-has any cause to resist--so the universal dictates meet no resistance whatsoever. Why should they? It's a case of "Well, after all, you still must believe in God," but even more effective because there is nothing presented to believe or disbelieve. T.V. just is. No matter how much of a free thinker you are, there is still the influence of television in your life. To deny T.V. now would be as atheistic as Ingersoll denying the existence of God.

Naturally the televangelists had to be cut off--they were keeping people from concentrating on the new faith. The ends are the same as they always have been. To keep the sheep in line, and to keep them depositing money in the right places. Now it's not the Catholic Church, but various other annexes of morality and acceptability. You'll buy your stamp of approval just as surely as when they passed the collection plate. The televangelists got too greedy, using the name of the old God to syphon off too big a chunk of money for themselves.

That's why, the present "religious war" isn't between any forces of "Good" o and "Evil". It is being waged between The Media (the State) vs. Churches (Catholic and otherwise), who are tying up millions of dollars worth of valuable property and assets. As Satanists, we have the advantage of realizing this early in the game. It has never been enough for us to be atheistic--we have learned how to smash religious ignorance by beating them at their own game. Not only denying but using Christians' own manufactured fears to destroy them.

We can use T.V. as a potent propaganda machine. We already are using it to our advantage in the form of MTV Satanic-rock visuals. The stage is already set for the next step--infiltration of the philosophy of Satanism and potent (emotionally inspiring) music to go along with the inverted crosses and pentagrams. Then the conspiratorialists will really have something to worry about. Instead of holding our rituals in chambers designed for a few dozen people, we are moving into auditoriums crowded with ecstatic Satanists thrusting their fists forward in the sign of the horns. As much "bad press" as the Church of Satan has received from the media over the past two years--Satanic child abuse, sacrifices, etc.--mention of The Satanic Bible only points people in our direction. Perhaps that's the plan after all.

The key is to use television and not be used by it. Inventors of warfare weaponry don't stand out in the field and try their stuff out on themselves. If it takes turning your television to the wall or throwing it out the window, do it. Filtered exposure from other people is bad enough. We are adversaries to be reckoned with, and must not be taken in by our own infernal devices. We must allow stratification to develop, that a world for the vital and the living may be maintained.

Perpetuation of the Useless

It has been said that America is losing its position as the world power and will soon pass into a state of World Power Emeritus, much as England is now. It seems likely, since the U.S. is no longer in the business of creating or making anything. Now many businesses are in the business of losing money. We are working on the perpetuation of the useless--whether in offices, condos, people, or jobs. People who have money invest in keeping the system going, building large complexes and fully expecting them to stay empty. Everything is guaranteed by government loans and the banks gain in interest. Plenty of jobs are created everyday where people are not really expected to work--but to serve as paycheck recipients so they can spend money and keep the loop going. The job is only a means to an end--occupational welfare. It seems there's no business like no business.

People who are plugged into our system show up at their jobs but have learned the exquisite skill of looking busy without really doing anything. The real "job" comes after they come home with their paychecks and report to their cathode-ray god to find out what they're supposed to buy next. That's their job--to spend money in the right directions, to be concerned about the prescribed innocuous topics, and to augment and perpetuate popular (and profitable) doctrine.

Their purpose is most certainly not to be useful, driven, creative--alive. But then, true Satanists understand the necessity for stratification and the insidious separation process that is going on around us. So when you get a sinking feeling that society is working in direct opposition to what you're trying to accomplish, don't worry--it really is working against you. But it just means you're alive. And well....

--ASLV

The Magic of Mastery--by Peter H. Gilmore

Being a Satanist, one is often mistaken for being a purveyor of mystic claptrap like so many "occultists" when in truth we are masters of reality, striving to understand and utilize the universe for our personal indulgence. One of the surest outward signs of a Satanist is not the sporting of all black clothing or the prominent display of the Baphomet sigil, granted these are dead giveaways, but the projection of the self-confidence and success which springs from mastering a field. Satanists can do things and do them quite well! This is why they have chosen to embrace Satanism, the only religion to revere the talented few who stand above the dim and barren hordes.

There is true magic in the mastering of skills. Most members of the herd will look with awe upon a talented and accomplished practitioner. To them, the producing of quality results with the effortless seeming ease of mastery will appear to be pure wizardry. Just think of how similar to occult practices are many fields when one becomes an "initiate." There is the inevitable jargon that serves as an "arcane" language. Computer programming has such mystic tongues as COBOL, Pascal, and Fortran Painting has many "exotic" terms such as medium, ground, umber, cerulean and uses such esoteric items as aromatic oils, varnishes and athame-like pallet knives. Cooking has many abstruse practices such as maceration, basting, and sauteeing and we know how effective a tool of lesser magic it is. Let's not forget mastery of mechanical and electronic things as those who know nothing about their vehicles and machines always look at mechanics and repair men as a priesthood privy to obscure and forbidden rites. Music is a wonderful practice in that it has weird symbols which are incomprehensible to most people while the result of virtuosity is the ability to communicate directly with people's emotions. Remember that such past masters as Paganini and Liszt were thought to have made pacts with the Devil for their skills.

In truth, anyone who excels in a material field has made a pact with Satan, as they have embraced the belief that success in the here and now is of the greatest importance. This is why Satanists are wonderful people to be around for they are brimming with honed talents to be experienced.

So to be a master of magic toss out those musty grimoires, unless they're printed by Chilton: Pick some field and become-an advanced practitioner. Be a writer, pastry chef, seamstress, flower arranger, plumber, sculptor, carpenter, photographer, electrician, pilot, beautician, steelworker, whatever you have an affinity for. You'll amaze those around you, gain their respect and envy, achieve material success and you won't even have to say "Shemhamforash" in public. The better you are, the more Satanic you'll be, a member of the true elite of the able. The sheep will be so dazzled that they won't even notice Baphomet around your neck, if you chose to wear it. But when they do, they'll certainly think there's something to it because of your position of achievement in the "mundane" world. We not only rejoice in the fleshly life, we are masters of it. That is Satanic magic.

The Weak Shall Inherit?--Blanche Barton

Do human beings really have a natural inclination to kill off the best, the most beautiful, the most successful? It seems to be a recurring theme. Not only are the most elaborate theaters and homes torn down, the best automobile designs eliminated, the most entrancing natural areas overrun, the best music neglected--but the best people are torn down as well. Destroy the best and succor the weak.

When agrarian society developed, allowing us to store provisions, we were constrained to divide all goods equally. Instead of hunting for our food, with the strongest or smartest rewarded with the spoils, everyone is expected to get a "fair share," meaning that the inferior are rewarded right along with those who have done the majority of the producing. People are mistaken when they say, "It's a jungle out there." In the jungle, troublemakers and sheep wouldn't last long. Egalitarianism would be fine if people naturally strove to better themselves but it seems not to be the case--the spiral continues downward. As agrarian grew into consumer society, it became necessary to encourage stupidity and malleability.

After that with unique value or abilities is taken out of the picture, the second or third best is lauded as great achievement. The competition has been eliminated. The best, instead of being preserved and honored, is always the first to go. By the time people are alerted to the terrible waste (if they ever are), it's too late--the best has already been destroyed by the mob. The great is crushed under the heel of mediocrity just to make room for the new.

It is particulary sad because the best could really make a utopia. We are not an inferior species. But this determination toward destruction is an insistent theme and would, inevitably, be the death knell of the human race.

Of course, we know the alternative. The final evolution of philosophy, the final integration of the rational and the irrational has been presented in the form of Satanism, and its influence has steadily expanded over the past twenty years. Most people find it overwhelming. Those who accept Satanism as a way of life are literally choosing life over death, not only individually but for our species. Those who refuse it are lost--the alternative has been presented to them and they have made their decision. They are nothing but weeds choking the life from the strong. Rather than succoring the weaklings, we can maintain a Satanic overview, finding ways to use the situation rather than be used by it. We must understand the ecology of such a system--if the feeble inherit the earth, we will still inherit the wealth.

¿NOV SAMOZ KAPOP?