The Satanic Bible was written by Anton LaVey in 1969. It is a collection of essays, observations and basic Satanic rituals, and outlines LaVey's Satanic ideology. It contains the core principles of Satanism and is considered the foundation of the philosophy and dogma that constitute Satanism.
Long since removed from contemporary printings of the book, the first edition of The Satanic Bible contained an extensive dedication to the thinkers who influenced LaVey. The primary dedication of the book was made to Bernadino Nogara (misprinted as "Logara"), Karl Haushofer, Rasputin, Sir Basil Zaharoff, Alessandro Cagliostro, Barnabas Saul (Dr. John Dee's first Scryer), Ragnar Redbeard, William Mortensen, Hans Brick, Max Reinhardt, the American Sociologist Orrin Klapp, Fritz Lang, Friedrich Nietzsche, W. C. Fields, P. T. Barnum, Hans Poelzig, Reginald Marsh, Wilhelm Reich and Mark Twain. The secondary dedication included Howard Hughes, Marcello Truzzi, Marilyn Monroe, William Lindsay Gresham, Hugo Zacchini, Jayne Mansfield, Fredrick Goerner, Nathaniel West, Horatio Alger, Robert E. Howard, George Orwell, H. P. Lovecraft, Tuesday Weld, H.G. Wells, Harry Houdini, Togare (LaVey's pet lion) and The Nine Unknown Men.
The Satanic Bible, after the introductions by other authors, is divided into four books: the Book of Satan, the Book of Lucifer, the Book of Belial, and finally the Book of Leviathan. LaVey seems to have taken this hierarchy from The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, in which these four demons serve as the chiefs of Hell. Each book approaches a different aspect of Satanism, and serves a unique purpose within the structure of The Satanic Bible.
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