File: Bnwts-SA
TEMPLE OF SET
Post Office Box 470307, San Francisco, California 94147
Internet:
[email protected]
Michael A. Aquino, Ph.D.
High Priest of Set
June 12, 1994 CE
COMMENTS CONCERNING:
"MY SATANIC ADVENTURE: THE JUICY DETAILS" BY ISAAC BONEWITS
In 1992, updated 1994, Isaac Bonewits published a BBS essay entitled
"My Satanic Adventure", describing and commenting upon his
experiences with Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan ca. 1968. The
1994-update of this essay appends the following paragraph:
"I said back in 1974 that people desperate to smear me would
inevitably bring up those months with LaVey, for lack of anything
better to use, and that prophesy has come true several times. The
printing of 'The Enemies of our Enemies' in _DP_#7 and _Green Egg_,
however, really brought them out of the woodwork. Michael Aquino,
the neo-nazi head of the Temple of Set, has been especially active
in spreading carefully crafted lies (he's a career military
intelligence officer, after all) about my time with LaVey. His
professionally written disinformation is precisely targeted to make
feminists, civil libertarians and Neopagans disgusted with me,
especially if they are unfamiliar with propaganda techniques.
Various other Satanic crackpots, some of whom were denouncing me
fifteen years ago, are joining in with equally ludicrous accusations
and sophomoric insults."
As I did not join the Church of Satan until 1969, a year after the
arrival & departure of Bonewits, I had no contact with him at that
time. Nor did his name ever came up in casual conversation at the
Central Grotto. The Church was growing and developing very swiftly
at that time, and conversation inclined towards national expansion &
organization, refinement of the theology & philosophy of Satanism,
and the ever-present task of public relations.
I first heard of Bonewits in 1972, when he published his _Real
Magic_ book and included in it a number of slurs concerning Anton
LaVey and the early Church of Satan. In answer to my query, Anton
said that Bonewits had joined the Church in its early days and had
shortly thereafter been expelled for being boorish and obnoxious.
Neither the LaVeys nor I had any particular interest in Bonewits, so
that's where the dialogue ended.
From 1972 to 1975 the Church of Satan paid no attention to Bonewits,
and from 1975 to 1993 the Temple of Set paid no attention to him. He
was dismissed as just one more loose cannon in the American occult
subculture. His name was not mentioned once in the newsletters of
either the Church nor the Temple in that 21-year period [and still
has not been since].
Bonewits came to the Temple of Set's attention in 1993, when he
wrote an article denouncing Satanism for Tim Zell's _Green Egg_
neopagan magazine. Since this article contained a great deal of
factual misinformation, seriously defamed our religion, and omitted
any mention of Bonewits' own bias deriving from his past Satanic
involvement and disgrace, I wrote a correction to it (Glinda file:
"Bnwts-GE"). My response was heavily censored by Zell in the next
_Green Egg_, whereupon the Temple of Set simply made the complete,
uncensored text available gratis to anyone who might inquire about
Bonewits' _Green Egg_ article.
Now in this 1994 "Satanic Adventure" paper, Bonewits accuses me of
"telling lies" and "spreading disinformation" about him. As I review
my _GE_-response, I find no comments of mine concerning him that
weren't supported by documented history, or by logical analysis of
his own statements. Accordingly, while Bonewits spends a lot of time
complaining in "SA" about how maliciously I have distorted the truth
about him, he never actually identifies even a single "lie" that I
am supposed to have told about him. In any case I am quite content
for my _GE_-response to be judged on its own merits for objectivity
and reliability.
As noted above, Bonewits came to & went from the Church of Satan
before my time, so I cannot personally testify to whether he is or
is not telling the truth about his experiences in the Church. I will
simply say that when Anton & Diane LaVey discussed Bonewits with me
in 1972, I considered them fair and trustworthy; and today I would
place more credence in their 1972 account than in this latter-day
version offered by Bonewits himself - as in his _GE_ essay he has
amply demonstrated his own disregard for the truth.
I will, however, comment on a few specifics:
(1) Bonewits claims that he was appointed a "Satanic Minister". In
1969 the term "Satanic Minister" was briefly used, to describe an
official function in the Church lesser than that of the formal
Satanic Priesthood, but I have never seen any evidence that Bonewits
was appointed such a Minister - nor do I recall his claiming it in
_Real Magic_. As all such positions were formalized via a signed
certificate from Anton LaVey as High Priest, I discount Bonewits'
claim unless he produces such a certificate. [The title of "Satanic
Minister" was discontinued in 1970 to be replaced by the non-
Priesthood Regional Agent system in the Church's national
organization.]
(2) Bonewits says that LaVey was angry with him for ad-libbing some
pseudo-Enochian during a ritual, and that this somehow proves that
Anton really didn't know anything about Enochian ceremonial magic.
Bonewits' logic here escapes me, because it would seem perfectly
reasonable to me for Anton to disapprove of Bonewits' corruption or
lampoon of a seriously-regarded ceremony. As for Anton's own
Enochian background in 1968, it came from his complete set of the
original edition of Crowley's _Equinox_, as well as Regardie's
_Golden Dawn_. This is by no means as complete and accurate an
exposure as would subsequently become possible via the major 1970s'
and 80s' publications on Dee and Enochiana, but it was substantial
for the mid-60s. Anton had the highest regard and respect for the
Enochian Keys, and his "Satanic" version of them in the _Satanic
Bible_ - which so irked traditional occultists such as Regardie -
conveyed a special power and terror of its own unapproached by the
Judaeo/Christian versions in the _Equinox_ and _Golden Dawn_ [which
would later be revealed as substantially modified from Dee's
original papers].
(3) Bonewits next alleges that he was asked to "play various silly
parts" in "faked-up rituals" for documentary films, such as one in
which he climbed into a coffin with a naked woman, stabbed a voodoo
doll with a knife, and asked Anton for blessings.
-- (a) In the "Ceremony of the Stifling Air", a Masonic-theme ritual
contained in Anton's _The Satanic Rituals_, a participant in the
role of the Pope responsible for the persecution of the Knights
Templar enters a coffin with a naked woman, with whom he has sex
after being whipped on his own naked buttocks by another woman. [The
title of the ritual refers to the atmosphere of the coffin after the
lid is lowered on the two inhabitants.] While there is a "CSA"
sequence in the 1968 documentary film _Satanis: The Devil's Mass_,
the Pope is clearly not Bonewits. If Bonewits did assume the role of
the Pope in other "CSA" rituals, however, the _Satanis_ sequence at
least illustrates his sequence of actions. Bonewits does appear in
_Satanis_ - in a ritual wherein he asks Anton to increase the size
and power of his penis. [In this 1994 "Satanic Adventure" essay
Bonewits accuses Anton of not knowing how to actually do magic. I
suppose that means the spell didn't work after all. Tough luck.]
-- (b) Attacking a voodoo doll with a knife, pins, etc. is a fairly
ordinary type of curse ritual, used at that time in the Church of
Satan as well in many other branches of occultism. The important
point here is that such rituals were taken seriously in the Church,
and no one was ever asked to perform one insincerely. Accordingly I
expect that Bonewits stabbed the doll with a knife wishing similar
harm to an actual person, and it would be instructive to know who
that person was, what if anything subsequently happened to him/her,
and what he/she did to "justify" such a knife attack by Bonewits.
-- (c) As noted above, Bonewits did indeed ask Anton for a blessing
during a ritual sequence in _Satanis_. If he "can't remember the
dialogue" in the film, here is a transcript:
* * * * *
ANTON LaVEY: "And what is your desire?"
ISAAC BONEWITS: "I desire the Prince of Darkness to bestow upon a
certain section of my anatomy a tribute that will enable it to
perform its duties better to my satisfaction and its own. I desire
the power of Satan and the searing lust of Lucifer, the erectness of
Belial, the glistening moistness of Leviathan, that these demons
should grant to me the ability to satisfy myself and as many of
those as I choose to do so."
ANTON LaVEY: "So it has been stated, and so this virile member shall
prosper and shall ride forth as the Beast of Abominations, and shall
come forth as the Behemoth and shall enjoy itself and all the carnal
pleasures of the flesh and its minions. So you shall reap the
rewards of desire, and all your lustful thoughts will bear
fruition."
* * * * *
Bonewits speaks of "several documentaries", but as far as I know
there was only the one (_Satanis_). Bonewits excuses his
participation by saying that he was only 17 at the time [Anton says
he was 19]. Either age was sufficient for a young man to know how to
behave responsibly and decently - if Bonewits is now insisting that
he did not.
In the earliest days of the Church of Satan, Anton and some of his
student witches posed for a variety of ceremonial-setting photos in
which they [but never he] were naked. No sexual activity was shown,
and it would be quite clear to anyone without a sex-obsessed mind
that the photos were merely dramatic and prankish. If Bonewits found
such filming all so frightfully "pornographic", one wonders why he
thrust himself so energetically into it, so to speak, at the time.
Bonewits next asserts that Anton had "read only a tiny fraction of
his huge library of occult books". This is simply absurd, as anyone
who has known Anton at all personally can attest. Although not
college-degreed, he was impressively self-educated - and well-
familiar with his library - which was noteworthy for *not* being
exclusively or even predominantly "occult", but contained a wide
range of texts in such fields as sociology, philosophy, history,
entertainment, and psychology. A good sampling of the books on the
shelves of his "Purple Room" is given in the bibliography to his
_The Compleat Witch_ (later republished as _The Satanic Witch_).
Next Bonewits asserts the misgivings he felt about the ominous
presence of neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen in the 1968 Church of
Satan. If so, they must all have departed within the next year,
because when I joined in 1969 I never saw a single jackboot or white
sheet. Yes, Satanists held some strong and radical personal opinions
on social issues - but these were from *all* points of the political
spectrum. Anton's own contempt for neo-Nazism is a matter of
historic record per his [later published] 1970s letters to me on the
subject, and he counted among his friends people of all races and
colors. As his true name (Howard Levey) indicates, of course, he
himself came from a Jewish family.
At least by 1969 there was no "orgy room" at LaVey's California
Street home. There was a recreation room downstairs well-known as
the "Den of Iniquity", but its only furniture were consisted of a
bar, tables, and chairs. There was no bed or mattress. Adjoining it
was the "Council Chamber", a solemn black ritual chamber in which
the Council of Nine met. It indeed contained a stylized coffin
serving as a council-table, surrounded by 10 chairs (one for LaVey
as High Priest). A chair was also provided for anyone being
interviewed. As a member of the Council in 1970, I - wearing black
robes & ominous hood - participated in meetings and interviews of
prospective members. From the 4/13/70 issue of _Newsweek_ magazine:
"San Francisco's Church of Satan has a reputation for orgy and mad
perversity in the middle-class neighborhood where it is located. It
shows interested outsiders a film called _Satanis_ which purportedly
reflects the Church's rituals - black-robed men and women conducting
a Black Mass (a mocking inversion of the Christian Mass) with a nude
woman for an altar. Members proclaim their hate and lust, and leader
Anton LaVey blesses them: 'May all your lustful thoughts reach
fruition. Hail, Satan!' A trouserless man is flagellated on a coffin
lid; then the coffin opens to reveal a nude girl, the man descends
into the coffin, and it is closed - or almost closed, for it is now
a bit crowded.
"So things go in the film. But a few weeks ago _Newsweek_'s Nick
Kazan was screened for membership in the Church of Satan by seven
black-hooded members in a candlelit basement decorated with human
skulls. He found the whole ritual 'not only unfrightening but
comically reminiscent of fraternity initiations'. Then he attended
the mass itself. The service, he reported, 'contained very little of
the film's drama or nudity and in fact was a highly stylized, arcane
bore'. The flagellant in this mass not only wore trousers but had
placed a copy of Playboy inside them for padding.'"
[A grumpy Anton LaVey wrote to _Newsweek_: "If one cannot see the
sardonic element implied by the placing of the _Playboy_ magazine
inside the seat of the flagellant's trousers, then I suppose the
viewer would consider just about anything an 'arcane bore' short of
a Doris Day or John Wayne movie."]
So it would have been a delicate individual indeed to "faint" from a
Council interview, as Bonewits insists that he convincingly feigned.
As for the Nine "hauling him upstairs" to "revive", there were no
stairs. The basement was accessible from the main floor only by two
concealed trapdoors - one behind the mummy-case in the main ritual
chamber, the other in the Purple Room's fireplace. [Yes, quite a
house!] One's credibility is strained by the picture of the Council
of Nine floundering to haul a possum-playing Isaac Bonewits straight
up a narrow ladder through the overhead trapdoor.
Well, Bonewits does conclude the account of his Satanic days, both
within and without the Church of Satan, by admitting that he was
"foolish". However this is justified by his being only 17, he
insists, and is to be equated to the similar foolishness of other
famous pagans and witches as teenagers. "For that matter, what were
LaVey, Aquino, and Thorsson doing during their teenaged years? This
could be an entertaining research project."
O.K., Isaac, since you asked, I'll be happy to tell you what I was
doing ages 17-21:
* Honor Graduate, Santa Barbara High School 1964.
* Gold Sealbearer/Life Membership Award, California Scholarship
Federation 1964.
* SBHS delegate, American Legion California Boys State 1964.
* Community Service Awards, Santa Barbara Lions & Exchange Clubs
1964.
* National Councillor, Eagle Scout Honor Society, Boy Scouts of
America 1964-65.
* National Commander, Eagle Scout Honor Society, BSA 1965-66.
* Distinguished Service Award, Eagle Scout Honor Society, BSA 1967.
* Vigil Honor Award, Order of the Arrow, BSA 1967.
* Lt.Colonel, National Society of Pershing Rifles (College ROTC
fraternity) 1966-68.
* Department of the Army scholarship, University of California 1966-
68.
* Lifetime Membership Award, National Society of Scabbard & Blade
(college ROTC fraternity) 1966-68.
* Chapter Charter President, Regional Conference Chairman,
Distinguished Service Key recipient, Alpha Phi Omega fraternity,
1965-68.
* National Sojourners Scholarship Award, University of California
1968.
* Distinguished Service Award, Department of California, Reserve
Officers Association of the United States 1968.
* Distinguished Military Graduate, Department of the Army,
University of California 1968.
* B.A. Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara
1968.
* Psychological Operations Extension Course, John F. Kennedy Special
Warfare Center, U.S. Army 1968.
* Additional memberships in the World Future Society, L5 Society,
Commonwealth Club of California, World Affairs Council of Northern
California, Cousteau Society, American Military Institute, American
Political Science Association, and the Smithsonian Institute.
At age 21 I graduated from the University of California, was
simultaneously commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army,
and was assigned first to the 82nd Airborne Division and then to the
JFK Special Warfare Center for Special Forces and Psychological
Operations training before a tour in Vietnam. So much for that.
Bonewits closes his "Satanic Adventure" paper with a passionate
proclamation that he is really/truly a serious occult scholar who
has been tragically maligned, that all Satanists are indeed Orcs,
and that any neopagan who tolerates, much less cooperates with such
heinous creatures is betraying Gondor to Mordor. Ringwraiths such as
Michael Aquino are especially to be feared and avoided. "As I have
said before, the enemies of our enemies are our enemies' enemies,"
concludes Isaac thunderously - to which I can only respond, "Huh?"
In a postscript [shortly after righteously denouncing Jimmy Swaggart
and Oral Roberts] Bonewits asks you to send him some money if you
liked his essay and want him to write more like it. Well, that's
your business - but please don't send me any money in the hopes that
I'll write more essays like this one, because I would really rather
not. I find Isaac Bonewits tiresome.
