SAR REBUTTAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [A recent issue of the _Sons of the American Revolution Magazine_ included a column by the Chaplain General calling for increasing Christian involvement in the U.S. government. The article concluded:"Compatriots, by inattention or by silence we allow a small but vocal minority to rob future generations of Americans of this precious marriage of Biblical religion and our civil government. To do so would be to forfeit the inalienable human rights of life, liberty, and property, granted by our Creator. As good soldiers of Christ, and in the 'Spirit of 1776', let us hasten to arms"Following is the text of my letter to the editor. It is reproduced here as Setians may find the quotations useful in other situations.] * * * September 1, 1991Mr. Winston C. Williams, Editor THE SAR MAGAZINE * * Dear Mr. Williams: While I respect SAR Chaplain General Paul Butler's personal enthusiasm for his Christian faith, as expressed in his "Chaplain's Call" column for the Summer 1991 issue, I am surprised and offended that he should insist that Christianity be enthroned as an American "state religion" - and that he presumes to label all who defend the Constitutional separation of church and state as "robbers" against whom "let us hasten to arms".As a Society sensitive to the intentions and actions of the Founding Fathers, perhaps we should refresh ourselves as to their actual points of view on the issue of religion:Most importantly, of course, the U.S. Constitution explicitly forbade Congress to create or in any way provide for an establishment of religion. During the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a motion to pray collectively was voted down. Benjamin Franklin noted that there were only two or three besides himself who wanted to open with prayers. Ironically Franklin himself, during his time in England, had been a member of Sir Francis Dashwood's infamous Hell-Fire Club, summarized by Daniel Mannix as "an association dedicated to Black Magic, sexual orgies, and political conspiracies." Adds Mannix: "Franklin was able to meet the Hell-Fire Club on its own ground. As far as any abhorrence of the Black Mass went, Ben announced that he did not believe in the immortality of the soul and he considered evil permissible, since God had created all things and so had presumably created evil also. Even when he was an old man of 84, Franklin wrote to Ezra Stiles, the president of Yale, saying that he doubted the divinity of Christ although he believed in his moral teachings."George Washington, a professed Deist, refused either to take communion or to kneel in church. Pictures showing him kneeling at Valley Forge have nothing more than artists' imagination behind them. [Deists believe that God created the laws of nature but exercised no control over the subsequent evolution of those laws, including the appearance of humanity.]"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity," said John Adams, who became a Unitarian. In 1802 Thomas Jefferson made the Founders' concept of the First Amendment even more explicit, writing that its intent was to build "a wall of separation between church and state", adding that "I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature." During the eight years of his Presidency, Jefferson refused to issue a Thanksgiving proclamation. "I consider the Government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution of the United States from meddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises," he explained in a letter to the Rev. Mr. Miller. Said James Madison: "During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution."Nor did the Founding Fathers put "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance or "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency. "Under God" was added to the Pledge by an act of Congress in 1954, during the McCarthy era. "In God We Trust" began appearing on coins in 1864 and became the official motto of the United States only in 1956. [The motto conceived by the Founding Fathers was "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of Many, One).]If there is indeed a proper "call to arms" for the Sons of the American Revolution, may I suggest it be ever to the defense of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights - documents precious to Americans no matter what their personal preference concerning religion may be. Indeed I find myself wondering, with no disrespect to the person of Dr. Butler, why the S.A.R. feels it appropriate to "maintain an establishment of religion" in the form of a Chaplain's office at all. Sincerely, Michael A. Aquino cc- President General G.H. Brandau (Circulation to national officers & committees requested) EXTRACTED FROM - DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY PAMPHLET NO. 165-13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELIGIOUS REQUIREMENTS AND PRACTICES OF CERTAIN SELECTED GROUPS A HANDBOOK FOR CHAPLAINS HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY APRIL 1978 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Church of Satan Anton S. LaVey Post Office Box 7633 High Priest San Francisco, California 94120 AKA: Satanists HISTORICAL ROOTS: The Church of Satan is an eclectic body that traces its origin to many sources - classical voodoo, the Hell- Fire Club of eighteenth century England, the ritual magic of Aleister Crowley, and the Black Order of Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. It departs from its predecessors by (1) its organization into a church, and (2) the openness of its magical endeavors. CURRENT WORLD LEADER: Anton Szandor LaVey, High Priest. ORIGINS IN THE U.S.: The Church of Satan was formed on Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, in San Francisco California, when Anton LaVey proclaimed the beginning of the Satanic Era. Initial growth came from coverage in the mass media. Articles included coverage of LaVey holding a funeral for a member of the U.S. Navy killed in San Francisco. NUMBER OF ADHERENTS IN THE U.S.: Between 10,000 and 20,000. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: The Church of Satan is focused in the Central Grotto in San Francisco. It accepts or rejects all potential members and charters other grottos (congregations) around the country. Isolated individuals relate directly to eh Central Grotto. Power to regulate members is in the hands of the Head of the Church. LEADERSHIP AND ROLE OF PRIESTS: The Priesthood of the Church of Satan is not comprised of individuals who necessarily adept in the performance of rituals, though pastoral and organizational abilities are not minimized. The rank of Priest is conferred on those who have achieved a measurable degree of esteem or proficiency and/or success; one's level of membership within the Church is commensurate with his/her position outside the Church. Hence a respected career soldier or Commissioned Officer in the Army might qualify, though be totally uninvolved with group activity. This form of stratification determined the leadership and selects the governing body of the Church. Rituals are conducted by a de facto priest i.e., a celebrant member who has evidenced a working knowledge of and ability to conduct services and is authorized by the Central Grotto. WHO MAY CONDUCT A RITUAL? Anyone, but a priest is required for group worship. IS GROUP WORSHIP REQUIRED? No, but it is strongly encouraged, because it is a strong reinforcement of the faith and instillation of power. WORSHIP REQUIREMENTS: Worship in the Church of Satan is based upon the belief that man needs ritual, dogma, fantasy, and enchantment. Worship consists of magical rituals and there are three basic kinds: sexual rituals, to fulfill a desire; compassionate rituals, to help another; and destructive rituals, used for anger, annoyance or hate. Grottos often gather on Friday evenings for group rituals. MINIMUM EQUIPMENT FOR WORSHIP: Varies with the type of ritual performed but is likely to include a black robe, an altar, the symbol of the Baphomet (Satan), candles, a bell, a chalice, elixir (wine or some other drink most pleasing to the palate), a sword, a model phallus, a gong, and parchment. FACILITIES FOR WORSHIP: A private place where an altar can be erected and rituals performed. OTHER SPECIFIC RELIGIOUS RESTRICTIONS: None. DIETARY LAWS OR RESTRICTIONS: None. SPECIAL RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS: The highest holiday in the Satanic Religion is one's own birthday. Every man is a God as he chooses to recognize that fact. After one's birthday, Walpurginsnacht (April 30) and Halloween are the most important. April 30 is the grand climax of the spring equinox and Halloween was one of the times of the great fire festivals among the ancient Druids. The solstices and equinoxes - which fall in March, June, September, and December and mark the first day of the new seasons - are also celebrated. FUNERAL AND BURIAL REQUIREMENTS: The priests of the Church of Satan perform funerals, and the Central Grotto should be contacted in case of death. AUTOPSY: No restrictions. CREMATIONS: Only permitted in extreme circumstances, such as an expedient measure where it is necessary to safeguard the health of others. MEDICAL TREATMENT: No restrictions. UNIFORM APPEARANCE REQUIREMENTS: No restrictions. POSITION ON SERVICE IN THE ARMED SERVICES: None. IS A PRIEST REQUIRED AT THE TIME OF DEATH? No. ANY OTHER PRACTICES OR TEACHINGS WHICH MAY CAUSE CONFLICT WITH MILITARY DIRECTIVES OR PRACTICES: None. BASIC TEACHINGS OR BELIEFS: The Church of Satan worships Satan, most clearly symbolized in the Roman God Lucifer, the bearer of light, the spirit of the air, and the personification of enlightenment. Satan is not a visualized as an anthropomorphic being, rather he represents the forces of nature. To the Satanist, the self is the highest embodiment of human life and is sacred. The Church of Satan is essentially a human potential movement, and its members are encouraged to develop whatever capabilities they can by which they might excel. They are, however, cautioned to recognize their limitations - an important factor in this philosophy of rational self-interest. Satanists practice magick, the art of changing situations or events in accordance with one's will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be impossible. CREEDAL STATEMENTS AND/OR AUTHORITATIVE LITERATURE: The writings of Anton S. LaVey provide the direction for the Satanists - "The Satanic Bible", "The Complete Witch", and "The Satanic Rituals". (See also "Ethical Practices.") Members are also encourage to study pertinent writings which serve as guidelines for Satanic thought, such as Mark Twain, Niccolo Machiavelli, G.S. Shaw, Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, etc. ETHICAL PRACTICES: The ethical stance of the Church of Satan is summarized in the "Nine Satanic Statements": (1) Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!; (2) Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!; (3) Satan represents undefiled wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit!; (4) Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!; (5) Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!; (6) Satan represents responsibility for the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!; (7) Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better more often worse than those that walk on all fours, who, because of his "divine and intellectual development" has become the most vicious animal of them all!; (8) Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!; (9) Satan has been the best friend that the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all of these years! Beyond the above principles, Satanists generally oppose the use of narcotics which dull the senses, and suicide, which cuts off life (the great indulgence), and stand firmly for law and order. The Church of Satan is not to be confused with "Satanist" groups which have been found to engage in illegal acts. HOW DOES THE CHURCH OF SATAN RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS? The church does not proselytize but it welcomes inquiries from honest potential Satanists who hear about the Church from the various books about it, the mass media or word of mouth. New members must go though a screening process before they are accepted. RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER RELIGIONS: The Church of Satan stands as gathering point for all those who believe in what the Christian Church opposes and members are generally hostile to its teachings and resultant behavior patterns. To a lesser extent, the same position for Eastern religions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the Necronomicon FAQ by Colin Low: I guess all those people who still think the Necronomicon is an invention of Lovecraft's just aren't keeping up with the fast-moving pace of modern occult scholarship. It is time to repost the Necronomicon FAQ. Q. What is the Necronomicon? The Necronomicon of Alhazred, (literally: "Book of Dead Names") is not, as popularly believed, a grimoire, or sorceror's spell-book; it was conceived as a history, and hence "a book of things now dead and gone", but the author shared with Madame Blavatsky a magpie-like tendency to garner and stitch together fact, rumour, speculation, and complete balderdash, and the result is a vast and almost unreadable compendium of near-nonsense which bears more than a superficial resemblance to Blavatsky's "Secret Doctrine". In times past the book has been referred to guardedly as "Al Azif", or "The Book of the Arab". It was written in seven volumes, and runs to over 900 pages in the Latin edition. Q. Where and when was the Necronomicon written? The Necronomicon was written in Damascus in 730 A.D. by Abdul Alhazred. Q. Who was Abdul Alhazred? Little is known. What we do know about him is largely derived from the small amount of biographical information in the Necronomicon itself - he travelled widely, from Alexandria to the Punjab, and was well read. He had a flair for languages, and boasts on many occasions of his ability to read and translate manuscripts which defied lesser scholars. His research methodology however smacked more of Nostradamus than Herodotus. As Nostradamus himself puts it in Quatrains 1 & 2: "Sitting alone at night in secret study; it is placed on the brass tripod. A slight flame comes out of the emptiness and makes successful that which should not be believed in vain. The wand in the hand is placed in the middle of the tripod's legs. With water he sprinkles both the hem of his garment and his foot. A voice, fear; he trembles in his robes. Divine splendour; the god sits nearby." Just as Nostradamus used ritual magic to probe the future, so Alhazred used similar techniques (and an incense composed of olibanum, storax, dictamnus, opium and hashish) to clarify the past, and it is this, combined with a lack of references, which resulted in the Necronomicon being dismissed as largely worthless by historians. He is often referred to as "the mad Arab", and while he was certainly eccentric by modern standards, there is no evidence to substantiate a claim of madness, other than a chronic inability to sustain a train of thought for more than a few paragraphs before leaping off at a tangent. He is better compared with figures such as the Greek neo-platonist philosopher Proclus (410-485 A.D.), who was completely at home in astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and metaphysics, but was sufficiently well versed in the magical techniques of theurgy to evoke Hekate to visible appearance; he was also an initiate of Egyptian and Chaldean mystery religions. It is no accident that Alhazred was intimately familar with the works of Proclus. Q. What is the printing history of the Necronomicon? No Arabic manuscript is known to exist; the author Idries Shah carried out a search in the libraries of Deobund in India, Al-Azhar in Egypt, and the Library of the Holy City of Mecca, without success. A Latin translation was made in 1487 (not in the 17th. century as Lovecraft maintains) by a Dominican priest Olaus Wormius. Wormius, a German by birth, was a secretary to the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, Tomas de Torquemada, and it is likely that the manuscript of the Necronomicon was seized during the persecution of Moors ("Moriscos") who had been converted to Catholism under duress; this group was deemed to be unsufficiently pure in its beliefs. It was an act of sheer folly for Wormius to translate and print the Necronomicon at that time and place. The book must have held an obsessive fascination for the man, because he was finally charged with heresy and burned after sending a copy of the book to Johann Tritheim, Abbot of Spanheim (better known as "Trithemius"); the accompanying letter contained a detailed and blasphemous interpretation of certain passages in the Book of Genesis. Virtually all the copies of Wormius's translation were seized and burned with him, although there is the inevitable suspicion that at least one copy must have found its way into the Vatican Library. Almost one hundred years later, in 1586, a copy of Wormius's Latin translation surfaced in Prague. Dr. John Dee, the famous English magician, and his assistant Edward Kelly were at the court of the Emperor Rudolph II to discuss plans for making alchemical gold, and Kelly bought the copy from the so-called "Black Rabbi" and Kabbalist, Jacob Eliezer, who had fled to Prague from Italy after accusations of necromancy. At that time Prague had become a magnet for magicians, alchemists and charletons of every kind under the patronage of Rudolph, and it is hard to imagine a more likely place in Europe for a copy to surface. The Necronomicon appears to have had a marked influence on Kelly; the character of his scrying changed, and he produced an extraordinary communication which struck horror into the Dee household; Crowley interpeted it as the abortive first attempt of an extra-human entity to communicate the Thelemic "Book of the Law". Kelly left Dee shortly afterwards. Dee translated the Necronomicon into English while warden of Christ's College, Manchester, but contrary to Lovecraft, this translation was never printed - the manuscript passed into the collection of the great collector Elias Ashmole, and hence to the Bodleian Library in Oxford. There are many modern fakes masquerading as the Necronomicon. They can be recognised by a total lack of imagination or intelligence, qualities Alhazred possessed in abundance. Q. What is the content of the Necronomicon? The book is best known for its antediluvian speculations. Alhazred appears to have had access to many sources now lost, and events which are only hinted at in the Book of Genesis or the apocryphal Book of Enoch, or disguised as mythology in other sources, are explored in great detail. Alhazred may have used dubious magical techniques to clarify the past, but he also shared with 5th. century B.C. Greek writers such as Thucydides a critical mind and a willingness to explore the meanings of mythological and sacred stories. His speculations are remarkably modern, and this may account for his current popularity: he believed that many species besides the human race had inhabited the Earth, and that much knowledge was passed to mankind in encounters with being from other "spheres". He shared with some neo-platonists the belief that stars are like our sun, and have their own unseen planets with their own lifeforms, but elaborated this belief with a good deal of metaphysical speculation in which these beings were part of a cosmic hierarchy of spiritual evolution. He was also convinced that he had contacted these "Old Ones" using magical invocations, and warned of terrible powers waiting to return to re-claim the Earth - he interpretated this belief in the light of the Apocalypse of St. John, but reversed the ending so that the Beast triumphs after a great war in which the earth is laid waste. Q. Why did the novelist H.P. Lovecraft claim to have invented the Necronomicon? The answer to this interesting question lies in two people: the poet and magician Aliester Crowley, and a Brooklyn milliner called Sonia Greene. There is no question that Crowley read Dee's translation of the Necromonicon in the Ashmolean, probably while researching Dee's papers; too many passages in Crowley's "Book of the Law" read like a transcription of passages in that translation. Either that, or Crowley, who claimed to remember his life as Edward Kelly in a previous incarnation, read it in a previous life! Why doesn't he mention the Necronomicon in his works? He was surprisingly reticent about his real sources - there is a strong suspicion that '777', which Crowley claimed to have written, was largely plagiarised from Allan Bennet's notes. His spiritual debt to Nietzsche, which in an unguarded moment he refers to as "almost an avatar of Thoth, the god of wisdom" is studiously ignored; likewise the influence of Richard Burton's "Kasidah" on his doctrine of True Will. I suspect that the Necronomicon became an embarrassment to Crowley when he realised the extent to which he had unconsciously incorporated passages from the Necronomicon into "The Book of the Law". In 1918 Crowley was in New York. As always, he was trying to establish his literary reputation, and was contributing to "The International" and "Vanity Fair". Sonia Greene was an energetic and ambitious Jewish emigre with literary ambitions, and she had joined a dinner and lecture club called "Walker's Sunrise Club" (?!); it was there that she first encountered Crowley, who had been invited to give a talk on modern poetry. It was a good match; in a letter to Norman Mudd, Crowley describes his ideal woman as "rather tall, muscular and plump, vivacious, ambitious, energetic, passionate, age from thirty to thirty five, probably a Jewess, not unlikely a singer or actress addicted to such amusements. She is to be 'fashionable', perhaps a shade loud or vulgar. Very rich of course." Sonia was not an actress or singer, but qualified in other respects. She was earning what, for that time, was an enormous sum of money as a designer and seller of woman's hats. She was variously described as "Junoesque", "a woman of great charm and personal magnetism", "genuinely glamorous with powerful feminine allure", "one of the most beautiful women I have ever met", and "a learned but eccentric human phonograph". In 1918 she was thirty-five years old and a divorcee with an adolescent daughter. Crowley did not waste time as far as women were concerned; they met on an irregular basis for some months. In 1921 Sonia Greene met the novelist H.P. Lovecraft, and in that year Lovecraft published the first novel where he mentions Abdul Alhazred ("The Nameless City"). In 1922 he first mentions the Necronomicon ("The Hound"). On March 3rd. 1924, H.P. Lovecraft and Sonia Greene married. We do not know what Crowley told Sonia Greene, and we do not know what Sonia told Lovecraft. However, consider the following quotation from "The Call of Cthulhu" [1926]: "That cult would never die until the stars came right again [precession of the Equinoxes?], and the secret priests would take Cthulhu from His tomb to revive His subjects and resume His rule of earth. The time would be easy to know, for then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild, and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstacy and freedom." It may be brief, it may be mangled, but it has the undeniable ring of Crowley's "Book of the Law". It is easy to imagine a situation where Sonia and Lovecraft are laughing and talking in a firelit room about a new story, and Sonia introduces some ideas based on what Crowley had told her; she wouldn't even have to mention Crowley, just enough of the ideas to spark Lovecraft's imagination. There is no evidence that Lovecraft ever saw the Necronomicon, or even knew that the book existed; his Necronomicon is remarkably close to the spirit of the original, but the details are pure invention, as one would expect. There is no Yog-Sothoth or Azathoth or Nyarlathotep in the original, but there is an Aiwaz... Q. Where can the Necronomicon be found? Nowhere with certainty, is the short and simple answer, and once more we must suspect Crowley in having a hand in this. In 1912 Crowley met Theodor Reuss, the head of the German Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O), and worked within that order for several years, until in 1922 Reuss resigned as head in Crowley's favour. Thus we have Crowley working in close contact for 10 years with the leader of a German masonic group. In the years from 1933-38 the few known copies of the Necronomicon simply disappeared; someone in the German government of Adolf Hitler took an interest in obscure occult literature and began to obtain copies by fair means or foul. Dee's translation disappeared from the Bodleian following a break-in in the spring of 1934. The British Museum suffered several abortive burglaries, and the Wormius edition was deleted from the catalogue and removed to an underground repository in a converted slate mine in Wales (where the Crown Jewels were stored during the 1939-45 war). Other libraries lost their copies, and today there is no library with a genuine catalogue entry for the Necronomicon. The current whereabouts of copies of the Necronomicon is unknown; there is a story of a large wartime cache of occult and magical documents in the Oster-horn area near Salzburg. There is a recurring story about a copy bound in the skin of concentration camp victims. This F.A.Q. was compiled using information obtained from "The Book of the Arab", by Justin Geoffry, Starry Wisdom Press, 1979 Colin Low has never read the Necronomicon, never seen the Necronomicon, and has no information as to where a copy may be found.