The Devil's Bible read in Russian full version. "The Satanic Bible" by Anton Sandor LaVey, Church of Satan and biography of the founder

Anton Sandor LaVey

satanic bible

Publishers' Foreword

We are pleased to finally present the second, revised and expanded edition of Anton Sandor LaVey's immortal creation. We admit that it is being published not only because the first one became a bestseller without any promotion, but also because we consider ourselves obligated to correct the mistakes made both through our fault and through no fault of ours. Unfortunately, the first edition was done in a terrible hurry, so the translation of individual chapters was entrusted to a person far from black magic and the concepts with which LaVey operates in his worldview. This resulted in glaring errors, which, unfortunately, were noticed by us only after the book was published. We apologize for the annoying shortcomings of the first edition and assure that in the second we did everything in our power to convey to you the philosophy of the Black Pope in an undistorted form. We hope that this will serve to attract even more true followers of the Left Path Movement into our ranks. Simultaneously with the fundamental work of modern Satanism, we are releasing "Satanic Rituals", a book that our magicians have been waiting for. Together with "The Devil's Notebook" they form a kind of trilogy - the legacy of thirty years of experience in the application of Satanic principles. Now this heritage is available to the Russian reader. All he had to do was put it into practice. Good luck in your work. A world without end. Ave Satanas!

Moscow

July XXXII Anno Satanas

One winter evening in 1967, I drove across San Francisco to hear Anton Szandor LaVey speak at a public meeting of the Sexual Freedom League. I was intrigued by newspaper articles calling him the "Black Pope" of the Satanic Church, in which baptisms, weddings and funerals are dedicated to the Devil. I was a freelance journalist and felt that LaVey and his pagans could be the subject of a good article; as the editors put it, the Devil “gave circulation.”

I decided that the main topic of the article should not be the practice of black arts, since there has been nothing new in this world for a long time. Sects of devil worshipers and voodoo cults existed long before Christianity. In 18th-century England, the Hellfire Club, which had connections even in the American colonies through Benjamin Franklin, gained fleeting fame. At the beginning of the 20th century, the press covered the exploits of Aleister Crowley, “the most unclean man in the world,” and in the 20s and 30s, hints of a certain “black order” were traced in Germany.

Regarding this old story LaVey and his organization of modern Faustians have added two completely new chapters. First, unlike the traditional Satanic cabal of witchcraft folklore, they blasphemously presented themselves as the Church, a term previously applied only to branches of Christianity. Secondly, they came out of hiding and began practicing black magic openly.

Rather than make an advance appointment with LaVey to discuss his heretical innovations, which was usually the first step in my research, I decided to watch and listen to him as an unrepresented member of the public. In some newspapers he was presented as a former circus and carnival lion tamer and magician, in whom the Devil himself was incarnated on earth, and therefore, to begin with, I wanted to determine whether he was a real Satanist, a mummer or a charlatan. I have already met people under the spotlight of the occult business; By the way, at one time I rented an apartment from Jean Dixon and took the opportunity to write about her before Ruth Montgomery did. But, bearing in mind all the occult swindlers, hypocrites and charlatans, I would not spend five minutes describing the various forms of their tricks.

All the occultists I had met or heard of so far were whitelighters: supposed clairvoyants, soothsayers and witches, with their supposed mystical abilities originating in God-oriented spiritualism. LaVey, who seemed to mock them, not to say spit with contempt, emerged between the lines of newspaper stories as a real black magician who based his art on the dark side of nature and the carnal side human life. There seemed to be nothing spiritual about his “church.”

Anton Szandor LaVey is a man whom the press called the “Black Pope.” LaVey brought Satanism out of the underground and was the first to officially use the term “church” to refer to the organization he created. He is the author of a number of books, among which three of the most popular are: The Satanic Rituals, The Complete Witch, and his most famous work, The Satanic Bible. For many Christians, LaVey and his famous book The Satanic Bible are symbols of Satanism. Lots of people in different countries Ah the world considers him his idol, many curse him. For a long time, the spiritual heritage of this man, thanks to the “Iron Curtain,” did not reach Russia, now the situation is different, for many of our compatriots the issue of spiritual self-determination is acute, and LaVey, as an alternative to Christianity, is considered quite seriously. This article is intended primarily for them, as well as for all those who are interested in this topic. Who was LaVey? Why does he have many followers? Can you trust his works and build your spiritual life on them? We will try to answer these and other questions in this work. The main object of analysis will be the “Satanic Bible,” about which we will say a few words before moving on to LaVey’s biography.

“The Satanic Bible” was written in 1969 in the USA, the same year it was published by Avon Books, and has since been reprinted several times. The main text remained the same, changes were made to the acknowledgments section, and the introduction was changed several times. The introduction for an early edition of The Satanic Bible was written by Barton Wolfe; in subsequent editions, this introduction was removed and replaced by an introduction written by Peter Gilmore. When writing the article, the version with the foreword by Barton Wolfe was used. Unfortunately, the author was unable to find a printed copy of The Satanic Bible, so he had to turn to the Internet. Having compared a number of versions of The Satanic Bible posted on different sites, the author came to the conclusion that the main differences consist in the presence or absence of Wolfe’s preface, as well as the quality of the translation. Apparently, several translations were made, differing in details, while the semantic meaning of the book does not actually change. The chapter titles, depending on the translation, may sound slightly different, but are still recognizable. The Satanic Bible is divided into four sections: The Book of Satan, The Book of Lucifer, The Book of Belial, and The Book of Leviathan. The author decided not to mention these names in the footnotes, since, in his opinion, the title of the chapter is enough to find a quote in the book. Considering that finding “The Satanic Bible” in Russian on the Internet is not a problem (in the author’s opinion, there are even too many of them!), the author did not indicate any specific resources on which it is posted. Anyone can find this book without difficulty, of course, if he still has the desire to read it after reading this article.

First, let's get acquainted with LaVey's biography, as it is presented by his followers. This biography is set out in the book of his student and priest of the “Church of Satan” Barton Wolfe “The Devil's Avenger” (Burton H. Wolfe. The Devil's Avenger, 1974), and in the book of LaVey’s personal secretary and mistress Blanche Barton “The Secret Life of a Satanist” (Blanche Barton Secret Life of a Satanist, 1990). So, Anton Sandor Lavey was born on April 11, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, in the family of a liquor dealer. Among his ancestors were Georgians, Romanians, and Alsatians. LaVey's grandmother was of gypsy blood and since childhood she told LaVey stories about vampires and sorcerers. WITH youth LaVey became interested in mystical literature. In 1942, when LaVey was 12 years old, he became interested in military affairs and became interested in literature with military themes. While attending school, LaVey spent a lot of time studying the occult. At the age of 10, he learned to play the piano on his own, and at 15, he became the second oboist in the Great San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In his senior year, LaVey leaves school, allegedly because he is bored with the school curriculum. He leaves home and joins Clyde Beatty's circus as a cage worker. At the circus, Lavey feeds the tigers and lions. Trainer Beatty, noticing that Lavey has no fear of predators, makes him his assistant. One day, a regular circus musician gets drunk before a show, and Lavey replaces him. After this incident, the circus management leaves him the position of musician and fires his predecessor. At the age of 18, LaVey leaves the circus and joins a carnival, where he becomes a magician's assistant and masters hypnosis. In 1951, at the age of twenty-one, LaVey married. After his marriage, LaVey leaves the carnival and enters the department of criminology at City College of San Francisco. It is interesting to note: LaVey's followers claim that at this time he became Marilyn Monroe's lover for a short period of time. He then takes a position as a photographer with the San Francisco Police Department. According to his biographers, there he encounters manifestations of violence and asks the question: how can God allow the existence of evil? In search of an answer to this question, LaVey plunges headlong into the occult, and on the last night of April 1966, (Walpurgis Night), he, in accordance with magical tradition, shaves his head and announces the creation of the “Church of Satan.” In order to identify himself as a minister of this “church,” he begins to wear a pastor’s collar and a black suit. In the early years of the “church,” LaVey divided his time between conducting satanic rituals (which he himself created) and studying the occult. After his “church” grew stronger, he wrote his famous books. His biographers claim that LaVey was a consultant for a number of horror films, and even acted as an actor. All his life, LaVey was surrounded by scandals; he was invariably one of the favorite characters of the secular press. On October 31, 1997, during Halloween, LaVey dies. Now let's get acquainted with the teaching that LaVey bequeathed to his students.

Let's begin our acquaintance by listing the nine satanic commandments with which LaVey begins his book. The author will give these commandments without any comments.

1. Satan represents indulgence, not abstinence!

2. Satan represents life's essence instead of spiritual pipe dreams.

3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deception!

4. Satan represents mercy to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on flatterers!

5. Satan personifies revenge, and does not turn the other cheek after a blow!

6. Satan represents responsibility for those in charge instead of involvement with spiritual vampires.

7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, often worse than those who walk on four legs; an animal which, due to its “divine, spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most dangerous of all animals!

8. Satan represents all so-called sins as they lead to physical, mental and emotional satisfaction!

9. Satan has been the Church's best friend at all times, supporting its business all these years!

LaVey was a Satanist. Who or what was Satan to him? As LaVey wrote: “Most Satanists do not accept Satan as an anthropomorphic creature with cloven hooves, a tasseled tail and horns. He simply represents the forces of nature - the Forces of Darkness, so named only because no religion has bothered to take these forces away from the darkness. Science has also been unable to apply technical terminology to these forces. They are like a vessel without a tap, which very few people have used, since not everyone has the ability to use a tool without first disassembling it and giving names to all the parts that make it work. As we see, for LaVey, Satan is a natural force, impersonal in its essence. LaVey believed that Satan was given the role of an evil character only because he personified the carnal, bodily aspects of human life. Satan, as a personal force, the angel of darkness, was invented by the leaders of Christians in order to dominate them, intimidating them with his existence. It is interesting to note that LaVey denied the idea of ​​his followers "selling their soul" to Satan, which he believed was also a myth created by Christian leaders to control their flock by telling "fairy tales" about Satanism.

What is LaVey's idea of ​​God? Lavey wrote: “A very popular misconception is that a Satanist does not believe in God. The concept of "God" in human interpretation has changed so much over the centuries that the Satanist simply accepts the one that suits him best." According to LaVey, gods are invented by people. Therefore for “Satanist..., “God,” no matter what name he is called, or even not called at all, is seen as a kind of factor balancing nature, and has nothing to do with suffering. It is a powerful force that permeates and maintains the balance of the entire Universe, too impersonal to care about the happiness or misfortune of the flesh and blood creatures living on the ball of mud that is our home." The teaching about God in the “Satanic Bible” is very vague, but apparently, it is close to the views of the Theosophists on this issue: God is like some kind of impersonal energy spilled in the Cosmos. Only people and the forces of “action and reaction of the Universe” are responsible for everything that happens in the world.

In LaVey's teaching there is neither hell nor heaven; everything a person has, he has “here and now.” LaVey denied the law of reincarnation. In particular, he wrote: “If there is nothing in this life in which a person could express his dignity, he amuses himself with the thought of “future lives.” It never occurs to a believer in reincarnation that if his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. created "good karma" by his adherence to the same beliefs and ethics as his own - why then does he live in deprivation and not like a Maharaja? The belief in reincarnation provides a wonderful world of fantasy in which a person can find a suitable way to express his ego, while at the same time claiming to dissolve it." Belief in reincarnation, according to LaVey, is simply self-deception. However, it cannot be argued that LaVey’s teaching completely denies life after death. LaVey believes that it is possible to live after death, although he does not develop this part of his teaching, only lightly touching on this issue. In particular, he wrote: “Satanism...encourages its worshipers to develop a good, strong ego, which gives them the self-respect necessary for a vital existence in this life. If a person has been satisfied with life during his existence and has fought to the end for his earthly existence, nothing other than his ego will refuse to die, even after the extinction of the flesh that contained it...". LaVey denied death as a spiritual awakening in new life. Explaining his teaching on this issue, he wrote: “Death in many religions is presented as a great spiritual awakening (of course, for those who have prepared for afterlife). This concept is very attractive to those whose life does not satisfy them, but to those who have known all the joys that life has to offer, death is seen as some great and terrible cataclysm, the fear of a higher authority. That's how it should be. And it is precisely the thirst for life that allows a carnal person to continue life after the inevitable death of his bodily shell.”

What is Satanism according to LaVey? As he wrote: “Satanism is an overtly selfish, merciless philosophy. It is based on the belief that human beings are naturally selfish and cruel, that life is Darwinian natural selection, a struggle for survival in which the fittest win, that the Earth will go to those who fight to victory in the ceaseless competition that exists in any jungle, including urbanized society". Satanism is a type of “controlled egoism” and is based on “natural human instincts.” His main goal is to satisfy these “natural instincts” of the Satanist. Satanism is essentially a form of hedonism infused with nihilism. Lavey wrote: “Satanism approves of the actions of its followers when they give free rein to their natural desires. This is the only way to become a completely satisfied person without disappointments that can harm you and others. This phrase contains the most simplified description of the meaning of the Satanic faith." One of the main goals of Satanism is material success. In LaVey’s “church” there are even special rituals that promote material well-being.

Should a Satanist do only evil? It should be noted that LaVey rejects the Christian concept of good and evil. His doctrine contains only “natural instincts,” and good and evil are the fantasies of “weak” people, whom he calls “masochists.” Therefore, a Satanist does not have to do evil or good, he simply does what he wants, without worrying too much about the degree of morality or immorality of his actions. As LaVey wrote: “Satanism is not a white light religion; this is a carnal, worldly, bodily religion - everything that Satan rules is the personification of the Left Path. …Satanism is the only known to the world a religion that accepts a person for who he really is and offers a logical rationale for turning bad into good, instead of trying to destroy the bad.” The logical consequence of this philosophy is the acceptance as a norm of what is considered a sin in Christianity. Lavey wrote: “The Christian faith identifies seven deadly sins: greed, pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust and sloth. Satanism advocates indulgence in each of them if it leads to physical, spiritual and emotional satisfaction." Sin is natural for LaVey, he wrote: “Satan never needed a set of rules, since natural vital forces supported man “in sin,” with the goal of self-preservation of man and his feelings.”

How should you treat your neighbors according to The Satanic Bible? LaVey wrote about giving back to others: "Satanism adheres to a modified form of the Golden Rule. Our interpretation of it is this: “Render to others what they have given to you,” because if “You render to everyone as they would render to you,” and they, in return, treat you badly, it is contrary to human nature itself to continue to treat them with respect. You could repay others as if they had repaid you, but if your courtesy was not returned, they should be treated with the fury they deserve."

LaVey rejected the Christian idea of ​​repentance. In particular, he wrote: “When a Satanist does something wrong, he realizes that it is natural to make mistakes - and if he truly repents of what he did, he will learn from it and not do the same thing again. If he does not sincerely repent of what he has done, and knows that he will continue to do the same thing again and again, he has no need to confess and ask for forgiveness.” According to LaVey, there is no point in repentance if a person knows that he will continue to sin. The maximum that a Satanist can repent of is making a mistake, and only if he wants to.

Love for LaVey is just an emotion. In his book he paid a lot of attention to sexual freedom. In particular, he wrote: “Satanism promotes sexual freedom, but only in the true sense of these words. Free love, in the Satanic understanding, can mean the freedom to do just that - whether to be faithful to one person or to give free rein to your sexual passions with as many people as you understand is necessary to satisfy your individual needs. His teaching does not strictly dictate that everyone should indulge in orgies; rather, he encourages his students in the sexual field to do what they like. Lavey continues: “Satanism does not condone orgiastic activities or extramarital affairs of those for whom this is not a natural inclination. It would be unnatural and damaging for too many to be unfaithful to their chosen ones. For others, being sexually attracted to one person would be a disappointment. Everyone must decide for themselves which form of sexual activity is best suited to their individual needs. …Satanism tolerates any form of sexual activity that properly satisfies your needs, whether they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even asexual, as you choose. Satanism also approves of any fetish or deviation that improves or enriches your sexual performance...” The only limitation in sex, according to LaVey: sex should not harm others. You can engage in any sexual perversion if your partner agrees to it. At the same time, according to LaVey, a real Satanist is no more concerned with sex than with any other desire.

How did LaVey feel about sacrifices? It should be noted here that the author of the article, before writing it, spent a lot of time familiarizing himself with various satanic forums and sites, from which he learned that Satanism is not a single, integral movement; rather, it is a set of different groups that often have different views on one thing. and the same questions. Undoubtedly, there are Satanists who resort to bloody sacrifices (at least on the forums they discuss this practice), most often animals, although, apparently, there are also murders of people, at least there are no special prohibitions on this in their ideology. Have not found. But as for LaVey, he was ambivalent about the practice of sacrifice. On the one hand, he denied it: “Under no circumstances does a Satanist sacrifice an animal or child!” On the other hand, he argued that “symbolically, the victim is destroyed through a hex or curse, which in turn results in the physical, spiritual, or emotional destruction of the “victim” in ways that cannot then be attributed to the wizard. A Satanist makes a human sacrifice only when it can serve two purposes at once: to free the wizard from evil in the form of a curse and, more importantly, to get rid of a very disgusting and deserving individual... you have every right to (symbolically ) destroy them, and if your curse leads to real destruction, take comfort in the thought that you served as an instrument in ridding the world of a saboteur (who the saboteur is, the Satanist decides at his own discretion. - V.P.)! If someone interferes with your success or happiness, you are under no obligation to them! He deserves the fate of being crushed under his heel!” . The purpose of the ritual of sacrifice (for those who perform it), according to LaVey, is to release the energy stored in the blood of the killed victim. Moreover, the main thing in this ritual is not so much the shedding of blood, but rather the torment of the victim before death. Perhaps LaVey did not practice animal sacrifices, much less people, but he did not deny the possibility of killing by magical methods any person whom the Satanist considered his enemy.

How did LaVey feel about the Black Mass? He believed that it was a literary fiction. Since in the black mass it was necessary to use candles made from the fat of unbaptized children, the priests, in his opinion, used this “myth” to frighten “poor” mothers and push them to baptize their children, and thus most enriched the Church. Lavey wrote: “There is an opinion that a Satanic ceremony or service is always called a Black Mass. The Black Mass is NOT a ceremony practiced by Satanists; the only use a Satanist would find for it is as psychodrama. Going further, it should be noted that a Black Mass does not necessarily imply that all participants are Satanists. At its core, the Black Mass is a parody of the religious service of the Roman Catholic Church, but can also be freely translated into satire of any other religious ceremony."

The main satanic holidays are Walpurgis Night (the night of May 1st) and Halloween (All Saints' Eve, October 31st), as well as the birthday of the Satanist. Lavey wrote: “The Satanist believes: “Why not be honest with yourself, and if God is created in my image and likeness, why not consider yourself that god?” Every person is a god if he considers himself such. So the Satanist celebrates his birthday as the most important holiday of the year."

Magic occupies a special place in LaVey's teachings. He defines magic as: “Changing situations and events in accordance with the will of man, which is impossible using conventional methods.” LaVey does not divide magic into white and black, believing that the purpose of magic is to achieve power and satisfy personal desires. In particular, he writes: “He who pretends that magic or the occult interests him for reasons other than the attainment of personal power is the worst example of bigotry and hypocrisy…. It is usually believed that white magic is used only for good and non-selfish purposes, and black magic, we are told, is used only for self-centered or “evil” deeds. Satanism does not draw a dividing line. Magic is magic, whether used to help or to hinder. The Satanist, being a magician, must be able to decide for himself what is fair, and then apply the powers of magic to achieve his goal." At the same time, LaVey assessed very low the majority of works on magic that were widespread in modern society. He wrote: “...with a few exceptions, all treatises and books, all “secret” grimoires, all “great works” on the subject of magic are nothing more than sanctimonious fraud, sinful muttering and esoteric gibberish of chroniclers of magical knowledge, unable or unwilling to provide an objective point of view view on this issue. Writer after writer, trying to define the principles of "white and black magic", have succeeded only in obscuring the object of consideration to such an extent that a person studying magic on his own spends his studies stupidly standing in a pentagram waiting for a demon to appear, shuffling a deck of cards to predict the future, losing the cards have their own meaning, and presence at seminars that only guarantee the flattening of his ego (and at the same time his wallet); and, as a result, exposes himself as a total idiot in the eyes of those who have learned the truth!” .

Which of the leaders of Satanism that preceded him did LaVey sympathize with? He believed that the rituals created by the famous Satanist Aleister Crowley were closest to his spirit. But LaVey found a number of shortcomings in him too: “Besides charming poetry, mountaineering, and a superficial knowledge of some magical trinkets, Crowley's life was an example of posturing and attempts to appear worse than he really was. Like his contemporary, Reverend (?) Montague Summers"Crowley, no doubt, spent his life with his tongue pressed to his cheek, but Crowley's followers today manage to read the esoteric meaning in his every word." In fact, LaVey considered himself the pinnacle of Satanism, which, however, is not surprising given the egocentrism that underlies all of his teachings.

As noted above, Satanism consists of many groups that may have significant differences in their teachings and practices. LaVey is by no means a generally recognized authority among Satanists; many of them are critical of him. Therefore, it would be appropriate to say a few words about the criticism that they subjected LaVey, although this criticism is not in the nature of a “theological” polemic.

At the very beginning of the article, outlining LaVey’s biography, we mentioned that it does not quite correspond historical facts. Let's turn to her critics. Research was carried out on his biography, which resulted in the writing of the following works: Alfred Knopf “Saints and Sinners” (Knopf, A. “ Saints and Sinners», New York, 1993) and Michael Aquino "Church of Satan" (Aquino, M. « The Church of Satan», San Francisco: Temple of Set, 1983). The author would like to introduce readers to some of the conclusions of these studies.

First of all, according to the testimony of LaVey’s relatives, his grandmother was not a gypsy, but a Ukrainian. At the age of fifteen, LaVey did not play in the San Francisco Grand Symphony Orchestra, since such an orchestra simply did not exist in 1945. LaVey did not run away from home and join the circus in 1947, as evidenced by his relatives and the ledgers of Clyde Beatty's circus. Marilyn Monroe was also never LaVey's mistress. Moreover, she never worked as a stripper in the club where LaVey allegedly met her. The owner of the Mayan Burlesque Theater club, Paul Valentine, testified to this. LaVey never worked as a photographer for the San Francisco Police Department. At least, the archives of this institution do not have any information about it. It is also a myth that LaVey announced the creation of the “Church of Satan” on Walpurgis Night in 1966. In reality, at this time LaVey earned money by giving lectures on the occult, which brought in very little income, and the future publisher of his books, Edward Weber, recommended that he create his own “church” in order to attract the attention of journalists. So in the summer of 1966, in announcements about his lectures, LaVey for the first time began to call himself “a priest of the Church of Satan.” It is also a myth that LaVey was a technical consultant in the film Rosemary's Baby, directed by Roman Polanski, and also played the role of the devil in it. In reality, according to the film's producers, William Castle and Gene Gutowski, there were no "technical consultants" on the film. Moreover, Polanski and LaVey never knew each other. And the role of the devil in the film was played by an unknown young dancer. What did LaVey have to do with the film Rosemary's Baby? In 1968, at the premiere of this film in San Francisco, the administration of the cinema in which it was to be shown turned to LaVey with a request to advertise it, which LaVey did. Now about LaVey’s famous book “The Satanic Bible”. In the late sixties of the twentieth century, there was great interest in Satanism in America, and Avon Books invited LaVey to write a book on this topic. An agreement was signed, but LaVey did not have time to write the book by the deadlines specified in the agreement, and then he resorted to plagiarism. His Satanic Bible borrows from the following books: Ragnar Redbeard, Might is Right, Port Townsend: Loompanics (reprint), 1896, Aleister Crowley, Equinox, Ein Rand "Atlas Shrugged" LaVey died not on October 31, 1997, on Halloween, as his followers claim, but on October 29, as stated in death certificate No. 380278667, signed by Dr. Giles Miller.

Now let's see how LaVey treated religions. First of all, he believed that “Religions must be questioned. No moral dogma should be taken on faith, no rule of judgment should be deified. There is no inherent sanctity in moral codes." And such a position is not surprising, given that he believed that “man has always created the gods, not they him”; “All religions of a spiritual nature are invented by man. With nothing other than his carnal brain, he created an entire system of gods. Man has an ego, his hidden “I,” and only because he is unable to come to terms with it, he is forced to isolate it outside himself in some great spiritual creature called “God.” In fact, LaVey denied all world religions, considering only his own true. In particular, he wrote: “Eastern mystical beliefs taught people to touch their navel with their heads, stand on their heads, stare at empty walls, avoid shortcuts in everyday life and limit themselves in every desire for material pleasures. However, I'm sure you've seen plenty of so-called yogis with the same inability to quit smoking as everyone else, or "exalted" Buddhists who become just as excited as a "less distracted" person when they meet with a person of the opposite, and in some situations, the same sex. However, when asked to explain the reason for their hypocrisy, these people retreat into the ambiguity that characterizes their faith - no one can condemn them without receiving direct answers. A simple fact in its essence - this type of people, turning to a faith professing abstinence, comes to indulgence. Their compulsory masochism is the reason for their choice of religion, which not only advocates self-denial, but encourages it and, moreover, gives them a sanctified way to express their masochistic needs. The more mistreatment they can endure, the “holier” they become.” All religious people, with the exception of Satanists, are masochists for LaVey. Moreover, martyrdom for faith, when people accept death in the name of devotion to God and unwillingness to betray Him, is also declared by LaVey to be a form of masochism. He wrote: “...to give one’s own life for something not personal, such as a political or religious belief, is nothing more than the highest manifestation of masochism.” Whether LaVey classified his faith as “personal” or not is questionable. Would he be able to die for his faith, or would he throw it aside if necessary? However, if religion is perceived as a business project, then it is indeed stupid to die for such a religion.

Considering that in Russia, the main opponent of Satanism is Christianity, it would be appropriate to pay special attention to the issue of LaVey’s attitude towards Christianity. Reading The Satanic Bible, the author of the article was amazed at how it could be distorted and slandered. However, it is quite possible that this is due not only to LaVey’s desire to belittle Christianity, but also to the elementary ignorance of the author of The Satanic Bible in this matter. In any case, the author will not just try to describe the main accusations LaVey brought against Christians, but will also dare to give them his own assessment, as well as figure out how valid these accusations are. So, how did LaVey feel about Christianity?

It is not difficult to guess that LaVey did not like Christianity. In his book “The Satanic Bible,” when talking about Christianity, he uses a technique that was actively used by militant atheists in the former Soviet Union, the essence of which is to profane Christianity, presenting it in a grotesque form that has little to do with reality. Considering that the majority of LaVey's followers in our country have a vague idea of ​​Christianity (mostly young people), this technique works well. However, war with “windmills” has always been a popular activity for those who criticized Christianity. At least, the author of the article, studying sectarian literature, is constantly faced with the situation of active struggle of various sectarian ideologists with their own invented “Christianity”. As for LaVey, he, first of all, considered Christians to be hypocrites. In particular, when he “worked” (was he working?) as a musician, then, according to his testimony: “... I saw men staring at half-naked dancers at a carnival, and on Sunday morning, when I was playing the organ for the tent evangelists at the other end of the carnival, I saw the same men with their wives and children on the benches, and these men asked God to forgive them and cleanse from carnal desires. And the next Saturday evening they were again at the carnival or in another place (it’s interesting that the Laveys were simultaneously present at both the carnival and in the “other place”? - V.P.), indulging their desires. Even then I knew that the Christian Church flourished on hypocrisy, and human nature found a way out, despite all the tricks with which white-light religions burned it out and cleaned it out.” It should be noted that hypocrisy is condemned, first of all, by Christians themselves. Many examples of his condemnation can be found in the Holy Scriptures (see: Matthew 6:2; 6:16; 15:7-9; Mark 12:15, etc.) . The Apostle Paul also wrote about human weakness: “For I do not understand what I do; for I do not do what I want, but do what I hate” (Rom. 7:15). So LaVey did not discover anything new, and the fact that man is weak is well known to Christians. If a person is weak, wouldn't it be wise to offer him a path in which he will become stronger? The path of struggle with passions is very difficult, and not everyone reaches its peaks. But there are people who are at least trying to do this, and these are Christians. And there are people who “go with the flow” of their passions, considering themselves somehow chosen. In fact, LaVey's philosophy is the philosophy of weak people. Any more or less significant achievement in this life requires work. Knowledge is gained through work; achievements in sports also require work. Working on yourself is also work. LaVey essentially invites his followers to “go with the flow” of their passions. LaVey's path is the path of a slave to passions. The path that turns a person into an animal, into a biological machine. However, this is not surprising, because for LaVey, a person is just an “animal”. But where is the freedom here? What is the strength and pride of Satanists here? Is it because they satisfy animal instincts? Well, cows also live by “natural needs”, instincts, that’s why they are cows. Therefore, the path of Satanism is the path of weak people who lack the strength to curb their own instincts, and who try to justify their weakness through the ideology set forth in books like LaVey’s “The Satanic Bible.”

The Satanic Bible states that: “... the churches based their teaching on the worship of the spirit and the denial of the flesh and intellect. He (Lavey - V.P.) realized the need for a church that would once again elevate the human mind and its carnal desires to the rank of objects of worship.” I would like to note that this statement is a lie. If LaVey had studied the Bible more carefully, he would have learned that it teaches differently, in particular it says: “When wisdom has come into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, then prudence will guard you, understanding will guard you, to save you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks lies” (Prov. 2:10-12). Moreover, Christianity denies blind faith; the Apostle Paul called for testing everything and holding on to what is good (1 Thess. 5:21). And the denial of the flesh is characteristic not of Christians, but of the Manichaeans, with whom Christianity fought. The Manichaeans considered matter to be an evil principle, which they fought, in particular, through the mortification of the flesh. Christians, on the other hand, rejected ideas such as the claim that matter could be evil. What kind of matter is evil if God clothed himself in it? Matter was created by God, and God did not create anything evil (Gen. 1:31). The purpose of ascetic practice in Christianity is not to fight the flesh for the sake of its destruction, this would be suicide, an unforgivable sin, but to curb passions, to control the flesh, which is far from the same thing.

LaVey claimed that “...Catholics believe that Protestants are doomed to perish in hell simply because they do not belong to the Catholic Church. Likewise, many schismatic groups of the Christian faith, such as evangelical...churches, believe that Catholics are pagans who worship idols." Do Roman Catholics believe that Protestants will “perish in hell”? We'll have to disappoint the Satanists. The Roman Catholic Church considers Martin Luther (the founder of Protestantism) a heretic who was excommunicated, but does not believe that the guilt of the fathers lies with the children. A person raised in Protestantism is not responsible for Luther's personal guilt, and therefore will not burn in hell just because he was not born among Roman Catholics! So that the author’s statement does not sound unfounded, let’s let the Roman Catholics themselves express their attitude towards Protestants: “...those who believe in Christ and have received valid baptism are in some, although incomplete, communion with the Catholic Church... justified by faith in baptism, they are united with Christ and, therefore, rightly bear the name of Christians, and the sons of the Catholic Church rightly recognize their brothers in the Lord. ... Also, many of our brothers, separated from us, perform sacred rites of the Christian religion, which, in various ways, according to the different provisions of each Church or Community, without any doubt, can really generate a grace-filled life and it must be admitted that they are capable of opening access to communication in salvation." Now regarding Protestants, do they consider Roman Catholics to be pagans? Considering that Protestantism is a very vague movement, we will talk about classical Protestants, Lutherans. Martin Luther was a very emotional person and allowed himself to speak very harshly about the Pope. Surely this does him no credit. In his letters, he even called him “the Antichrist.” Although, to justify him, it can be noted that at that time any polemic was rarely complete without swearing (mores were like that). In addition, as already mentioned above, Martin Luther was a very impulsive person, which could not but be reflected in the books and letters he wrote. As for the attitude of Lutherans to the Roman Catholic Church, I would again like to upset the Satanists, they do not consider It pagan. However, let’s give the floor to the Lutherans themselves: “Luther, who hurled thunder and lightning at the contemporary Catholic Church - the “Roman harlot,” never even thought that the baptism performed on him in this very church was not valid and required repetition. And subsequently, Lutherans never, under any circumstances, allowed a second baptism." which would be impossible in principle if they considered Roman Catholics to be pagans.

LaVey also did not like the Christian Sacrament of Repentance. In particular, he wrote: “...even if a person lived his life without following the laws of his faith, he can, in his last hour, send for a priest and perform his final repentance on his deathbed. A priest or preacher will immediately come running and “settle” with God the issue of admission to the Kingdom of Heaven...” Indeed, Christianity testifies to a God of Love, a God who is merciful. God is not a judge who is subject to formal legislation and has no power over it, He is the Legislator! At the same time, He places mercy above the law of formal justice. This can be seen from the parable of the vinedressers (Matt. 20.1-15). God does not look at what kind of reward should be given to a person for the deed he has committed, but at the fact that a person exists. He judges not by form, but by human essence. As for the Sacrament of Repentance, it is again presented in LaVey’s work in a perverted form. Repentance is not a magical rite, as a result of which a person’s sins are automatically removed and he goes to heaven. The teachers distort the Christian doctrine in this way. At least, the Orthodox Church does not perceive this Sacrament that way. The Sacrament of Repentance is much deeper than just a magical act, which LaVey is used to. A Christian repents not before the priest, but first of all before God, the priest is only a witness. It should also be noted that it is not the priest who forgives sins, but God. The priest only asks God for their forgiveness, but if God sees that there is no sincere repentance (and repentance is, first of all, a change of mind, an internal readiness to completely eliminate sin from one’s life), that a person has not changed internally, then there is no automatic removal of sins happens, and a person will not go to any heaven, no matter how many rites of confession he formally goes through.

LaVey also understood “original sin” in a very unique way. In particular, he wrote: “In order to insure the process of reproduction of humanity, nature made lust the second most powerful instinct after self-preservation. Realizing this, the Christian church nevertheless made fornication the “original sin.” Thus, it turns out that no one can escape sin. After all, the very fact of our existence is the result of sin - Original sin." It should be noted that LaVey's statement is outright stupidity. Unfortunately, there are no footnotes in his work and it is not clear whether he himself came up with what he wrote about Christians, or picked it up in some sectarian literature, which is abundant in America. In any case, as far as the author knows, neither Orthodox, nor Roman Catholics, nor Protestants (at least Lutherans) equate “original sin” with sex. Sex in itself is not a sin; moreover, God blesses it in marriage (Gen. 1:28). Fornication is a betrayal of a loved one. A fornicator deprives himself of the fullness of spiritual unity (Matthew 19:6) with his loved one, and thereby prevents the possibility of his spiritual growth and takes the path of degradation. In Christianity, the family is considered a small church, just as Jesus Christ is one with His Church, so a husband and wife should be one with each other. This unity spiritually replenishes the spouses, transforms them into a new spiritual quality, which is lost through fornication. But again, fornication and “original sin” are not the same thing; rather, fornication is a consequence of “original sin,” but by no means an identical concept. As for the “original sin” itself, it consists of renunciation of God, the desire to illegally magically become “gods” without God, the desire to achieve this without expending any effort, and, above all, moral labor. “Original sin” manifests itself in people as a tendency to commit sinful acts. A striking manifestation of “original sin” is LaVey’s ideology, in which, as he himself admitted, the main thing is not sex, but serving one’s ego. So the problem of “original sin is not in sex, but in man’s relationship with God.

LaVey also has an interesting understanding of the Christian doctrine of posthumous existence. He wrote: “Since man’s natural instincts lead him into sin, all people are sinners; and sinners go to hell. If we all go to hell, we will meet our friends there. Paradise must be inhabited by very strange creatures, if all they led a righteous life on earth for was to get to a place where they could spend all eternity strum the harps(emphasis added by us. – V.P.).” It should be noted that a person’s “natural instincts” cannot lead to either heaven or hell. The presence or absence of sinful aspirations leads there, i.e. "unnatural instincts" Sin is a renunciation of God, this is precisely an unnatural desire, and it will really have a strong impact on the posthumous fate of all people. But Christians don’t plan to “strum harps,” and don’t even imagine devils with frying pans in hell. Paradise is a state of being with God, but this is not some kind of sleep or a state of complete inaction, or even more so “strumming harps”, no, on the contrary, it is endless growth in the spirit through the knowledge of God, through personal communication with Him. As for hell, hell is a place devoid of light, a place where there is no God (although is such a place even possible!). In any case, hell is a place where God, by His mercy, allows those who want to live without Him to put this dream into practice. Hell is a place where a person knows no peace, where he is tormented by unsatisfied passions, which LaVey so recommends to indulge. Passion can be satisfied as long as there is a body; without a body, there is no satisfaction, and passion does not disappear with the death of the physical body. The hell that LaVey's students will go to is within themselves, although they do not realize it. In general, Christianity does not set itself the goal of drawing a map of heaven or hell; it pays more attention to issues of moral improvement. We'll find out how it will be when we get there.

22.10.2015 26.08.2019 - admin

Devil's Bible, also known as the Codex Gigas or The Satanic Bible, is a unique medieval manuscript whose history is surrounded by legends. The Latin name of the manuscript translates as “Giant Book,” and it is quite justified: today the Devil’s Bible is the largest handwritten book in the world. Its weight is about 75 kilograms, and the binding measures 92x50 centimeters.

Of course, this manuscript is unusual not only for its size. The Devil's Bible got its name from the page on which there is an image of Satan, which attracted attention throughout the book's existence and gave rise to legends. The devil has attributes traditional for medieval symbolism: a forked tongue, horns, clawed paws. The ermine skin he is wearing may symbolize higher power. On the pages adjacent to the image of the devil, there are strange shadows resembling traces of flame. Many considered them a symbol of evil possession.

The famous image of Satan in the Codex Gigas.

Depictions of Satan appear in other medieval books, but none are as large or as detailed. It is also unusual that the author of the manuscript depicted him in a closed cell, while usually the Devil was depicted in hell.

Another notable feature of Codex Gigas is its composition. The book includes the Old and New Testaments, historical and natural science works, as well as spells intended to drive out the Devil. Although medieval manuscripts were often heterogeneous in composition, such a set of texts is not found in any other manuscript of this period.

The unusual nature of the book gave rise to a legend about its creation. According to legend, a certain monk violated the rules of the monastery and, as punishment for this, he was to be walled up alive. To avoid death, he asked to postpone the execution for one night, promising by the morning to create a manuscript that would include all the knowledge known to mankind, and thereby glorify the monastery. When the monk realized that it would not be possible to finish the work on time, he turned to Lucifer in prayer. The devil magically completed the manuscript, but in payment for the work he took the monk’s soul, and added a “devil’s page” to the book itself.

History of the manuscript

Indirect evidence, such as mentions of famous historical figures in the memorial lists included in the manuscript, suggests that the work on the book was completed around 1230. It is believed that the Devil's Bible was created in a monastery in Podlazice (Czech Republic). Some researchers believe that this is unlikely, since no other manuscripts have survived from this small and poor monastery.

During religious wars In the 15th century this monastery was destroyed. In the following decades, the location of the Codex Gigas changed several times until it became part of the collection of Emperor Rudolf II at the end of the 16th century. After the end of the Thirty Years' War, the book came to Sweden as a war trophy. She remains in this country to this day. In 1697, there was a fire that almost destroyed the book. They managed to save it by throwing it out of the window, but several pages were lost forever. In addition, a person who was under the window was injured by a fallen book.

Over the past three centuries, the Devil's Bible has only once left the storage of the Royal Library of Stockholm. From September 2009 to January 2008 it was on display in Prague, at the Czech National Library.

Modern research

At the beginning of the 2000s, a group of researchers from different countries studied the manuscript to establish the true history of its creation. They used paleography and forensic methods, studied the author’s handwriting, determined the composition of the ink and the characteristics of the material from which the pages were made.

As a rule, scribes prepared the ink themselves, using one of the technologies known at that time. To determine the composition of the ink, the pages were examined under an ultraviolet lamp. As a result, it was discovered that the entire book was written with ink of approximately the same composition.

Features of the book's design, including the way the famous image of the Devil is executed, suggest that the author was self-taught and not a professional scribe. Manuscript researcher Christopher de Hamel describes the hypothetical author of the Codex Gigas as a man obsessed with an idea: while working on the illustrations, he tried to make them as impressive as possible. He had a certain artistic talent, but was not trained in illustrating books, unlike professional scribes who followed certain canons.

Manuscript page.

Decorative elements on the pages of the manuscript.

According to the researcher, the same impression is created by the handwriting in which the book is written. The fact that the handwriting is the same on all pages of the manuscript is another important argument in favor of the fact that the Codex Gigas is the fruit of the labors of one person.

Researchers estimate that working on one page took about an hour. Writing a book could take about five years, but only if the scribe worked on it almost around the clock. In addition, preparatory work, for example, cutting out sheets, took some time. It could take several days to write one decorative letter. At the same time, the author of the book could not help but follow the daily routine established in the monastery. Taking these factors into account, the time required to create a unique manuscript is estimated at 25-30 years.

It is possible that this work was entrusted to the monk as punishment for some offense. In the Middle Ages, there was a belief that a person could cleanse his soul of sins by rewriting sacred books. This may be the reason for the unusual set of texts included in the manuscript. The author of the book wrote “instructions” for his own salvation, and that is why there were spells next to the Bible, and the image of Satan itself is adjacent to the page on which the kingdom of heaven is depicted. It is also possible that the Devil is depicted inside a certain building to demonstrate the contrast between the “city of God” and the “city of the devil.”

Codex Gigas spread. Photo: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/)

The “shadows of flames” were also explained on several pages. Researcher Michael Gullick concluded that pages adjacent to the image of the Devil attracted more attention from the owners of the book, they were opened more often, and as a result the parchment darkened under the influence sun rays. Thus, these “shadows” do not indicate the “obsession with evil” of the author of the book, but the interest that the page with the image of the Devil aroused among its subsequent owners.

The legend about the creation of the book may have arisen due to the incorrect reading of one word. Throughout the book’s existence, the word “inclusus” in the name of its author (Hermanus Inclusus) was interpreted as imprisonment, imprisonment, walling up alive as punishment for some sins. But it also has another meaning - seclusion, hermitage. Then it may indicate the monk’s voluntary decision to leave the world in order to devote himself to working on the manuscript.

Composition of the manuscript

Along with biblical texts, a significant place in the codex is occupied by historical ones, which are allocated about 100 sheets. It is noteworthy that these are not only works about world history (“Jewish Antiquities” and “Jewish War” by Josephus), but also texts dedicated to local realities - “Czech Chronicle” written by Kozma Prazhsky, a list of names of the monastery brethren, a calendar with a memorial list .

Another 40 sheets are occupied by “Etymologies” by Isidore of Seville. The main purpose of this work is to answer the question of the origin of all types of human activity and everything that is in the Universe through the study of the origin of words. "Etymologies" include a description of many significant events of secular and.

The texts included in the Devil's Bible are arranged so that they form a single narrative covering everything known at that time world history- from Old Testament times to the era in which the author of the book lived. The Old Testament, which tells the history of the Jewish people, is supplemented by “Jewish Antiquities” and “History of the Jewish War.” These books are followed by the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, which mark the transition to the history of Christianity. This part of the book also includes natural science and medical works. The presentation of sacred history ends full text New Testament.

After this, the author proceeds to describe the history of specific people - the inhabitants of Bohemia, which is presented in the Czech Chronicle, starting with the plot of the Christianization of the country. The calendar located at the end of the book reflects the history of the Catholic Church as a whole and the local church. It contains the names of the monastery’s benefactors, deceased monks, as well as famous historical figures that era. The memorial list was written by the same scribe who authored the rest of the manuscript. This makes it significantly different from memorial calendars in other manuscripts, which were created by many scribes over a long period of time.

The Codex Gigas was not just a manuscript of stunning size and unique design, but also a book of extreme importance for the religious life of the monastery. The fact that it was read many times is evidenced by notes in the margins made in different handwritings. The medical treatises included in the book could also be of practical value.

Despite the fact that the legendary features of the Devil's Bible have received a completely rational explanation, this book remains a unique historical monument. The Codex Gigas has no analogues among medieval manuscripts: it is the result of the work of one monk, reflecting the worldview of an entire era.

And now here's a legend...

Middle Ages. 1230 In a secluded monastery cell in Bohemia (Czech Republic), a monk, whose terrible sins have been kept secret, asks the senior monks to spare his life. This monk belonged to the Benedictine order, who were called the Black Monks. They wore black clothes, took a vow of celibacy and complete obedience, and subjected themselves to severe physical tests, self-flagellation, and starvation. However, there were also among them weak in spirit who succumbed to various temptations. Their mistakes were severely punished, ranging from excommunication to solitary confinement. The sinful monk is destined for an even more terrible fate - he must be walled up alive in one of the walls of the monastery.

The senior monks were adamant in their decision. Suddenly, Divine inspiration descends on the sinner. He promises that he will write the greatest book of his time, which will contain the Bible and all the knowledge available to mankind. Such a book will glorify the Benedictine monastery for all time. The monk also promised that he would complete such a huge task in just one night. He begged the senior monks for a long time until they finally agreed to give him one last chance for salvation. If he does not fulfill his promise by morning, the execution will inevitably take place. The sinful monk began to work. He wrote the book until he was completely exhausted. When midnight struck, the monk realized that he could not fulfill his promise, and he decided to enter into a terrible agreement: he asked for help from the fallen angel - Satan. Satan responded to the call and helped the monk write the most terrible, mysterious, and most attractive book in the world.

So says the legend...

Codex Gigas, the Codex Gigas, (or "Devil's Bible") is a long 13th-century manuscript from Bohemia, one of the historical lands of the Czech Republic. A manuscript noted for its size and striking full-page depiction of the devil.

This book, made from 160 skins, can only be lifted by 2 people. Legend has it that the Codex Gigas was written by a monk who, after being sentenced to death by being walled up alive, made a deal with the devil. With the help of the Devil, the monk wrote a book in one night (and the devil painted a self-portrait). Oddly enough, the handwriting in the book is amazingly clear and uniform, as if it was actually written over a short period of time. However, scientists believe that such work would take from 5 years (if writing without interruption) to 30 years.

This book is considered the most controversial, strange, and has a supernatural appeal. Many great people of this world tried to take possession of it, but it brought nothing but misfortune to everyone. The book became the object of hunting for many alchemists and magicians. For her sake they killed, sold their souls, went to execution. Everyone who has ever seen it testifies to the hidden power coming from the book. It has some kind of devilish nature, perhaps because on one of the pages the devil himself is depicted in all his “glory”. This medieval manuscript is rightfully considered the eighth wonder of the world. It contains the Old and New Testaments, medical recipes, magic spells, 14 Latin texts, “Etymology” by Isidore of Seville, “Bohemian Chronicle” by the medieval chronicler Cosmas of Prague, “The Jewish War” by Josephus, a calendar of church holidays and a list of names of the monks of the monastery. The combination of texts in the book is so unique that you will not find this anywhere else. The height of the book is 90 cm, weight – 74 kg, width – 49 cm, thickness – 22 cm. Initially, the book had 640 pages, now it has 624 pages. Many medieval books used a material that was similar to parchment. It was made from animal skin. It is said that 160 donkey skins were used to create the devil's bible. The Codex Gigas is the only book in the world that contains sacred spells for exorcism along with the Old and New Testaments.

For many centuries, scientists and specialists asked themselves the same questions: for what purpose was such a book created and who created it? Was it one person or a group of people? The exact date of creation of the manuscript is not known. Only the approximate date of completion of work on the book is known - 1230 in the medieval Czech Republic. The birthplace of the book is the Czech monastery of the Benedictine Order in Podlazice. Codex Gigas has “survived” many centuries, many historical events and disasters and practically “got away with it” from all troubles, but many people who own it are not so lucky. Perhaps the manuscript absorbed the character of the Middle Ages, the Dark Ages, which were filled with terrible events: constant wars, epidemics, and sheer superstitions. At the end of the 13th century. Everyone already knew the legend about the sinful monk who sold his soul to write the devil's bible. Thanks to the book, the Benedictine monastery truly became famous. However, he was threatened by a financial crisis. To avoid complete ruin, the abbot of the monastery decided to sell the Codex Gigas to another monastery. Already at that time it was believed that the possession of such a great book meant high authority and respect. And so the devil's bible passes into the possession of the order of white monks who wore white robes, in contrast to the Benedictines who wore black robes. The book was transported to the town of Sedlec, which is located near Prague. The white monks placed the book of honor in an equally honorable place, next to the cemetery, which was consecrated with earth brought from Golgotha ​​itself. Later, the order of white monks also suffered ruin. The Bishop ordered the monks to return the Codex Gigas to the black monks. After this incident, the monastery was struck by a deadly epidemic - the plague. The Black Death took the lives of tens of thousands of people. The cemetery was overflowing with the bodies of the unfortunate. By the end of the pandemic, about 40 thousand corpses turned these places into catacombs. Today the monastery in Sedlec is a very eerie museum - an ossuary. This is one of the sinister chapters in the history of the devil's bible.

In the 16th century Codex Gigas served as a kind of album. Many clergy from Prague and secular people visited the Benedictine monastery of Broumov to study the book. One of them was Christopher Schlichting, a supporter of the famous mystic, alchemist and physician, Paracelsus. In 1565 crown prince Rudolf II received a prediction from Nostradamus, which predicted the death of his father. Prince Rudolph was destined to become the Holy Roman Emperor, the King of Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the German King. After this prediction, Rudolf develops a lifelong passion for the occult. He coveted the Codex Gigas. With the help of various favors and honors shown to the Benedictine monastery, the prince won the favor of the abbot of the monastery, and he presented him with the book as a gift. Emperor Rudolf completely lost himself in the study of the devil's bible. It seemed that a great acquisition had been created for such a great ruler. However, the emperor's luck soon turned away. He became withdrawn, absent-minded, prone to paranoia, and locked himself in his castle, like an unsociable hermit. Unable to rule his empire, Rudolf soon loses the support of his subjects. He waged an internecine war with his brother Matthias. In 1611, the nobility forced him to abdicate the Czech throne, which was occupied by his brother. The emperor died alone, leaving no heirs. Rudolf's kingdom was in the hands of his enemies. In 1648, Swedish troops captured Prague. The emperor's castle was plundered, including the royal library. The warriors took out of the country the most outstanding book of the library - the Codex Gigas.

Having plundered the castle of Emperor Rudolf, the Swedish officers decided to present the Codex Gigas to their unusual monarch - Christina, the only female king in Europe. Christina's father, Gustav II, treated his daughter as if she were his son. He raised, taught and dressed her like a boy. Having ascended the throne, Christina takes an oath not on behalf of the queen, but on behalf of the king. Having received an unusual book as a gift from her warriors, Christina ordered it to be placed in the library in the castle. In the official list, the Codex is listed first among all valuable manuscripts. However, Christina was not destined to keep it for long. Less than ten years later, in 1654, Christina abdicated the throne. She converted to the Catholic faith and went to Rome. Having packed her most valuable things for the journey, the queen did not take the Codex Gigas with her. And the devil's bible remained in Stockholm.

At the end of the 16th century. in 1697, King Charles XI of Sweden died in the royal castle in Stockholm. Suddenly, a fire suddenly breaks out in the castle. The Royal Family was forced to leave her monastery. The servants save everything that can be saved from the fire. One of the servants threw the Codex Gigas out of the castle window. Thus, the strange, mysterious book was saved from the fire. Did this book really bring misfortune to its owners, or did the natural, destined course of events parallel the procession of the Codex Gigas? It is possible that this is all just a coincidence, but perhaps not.

An almost inhuman labor, Codex Gigas was nevertheless created by one a simple person. The handwriting in which the entire book is written is very uniform. While writing the book, the author could have lost his sight, suffered from illness and grown old, but scientists have never found any obvious errors in the Code. It’s simply impossible to believe in such a colossal work, especially when you see it with your own eyes. Perhaps this is why the well-known legend about the condemned monk who sold his soul to the devil was born. Evidence that this book was written by one person was found by scientists and experts during the investigation, which was carried out through text analysis, handwriting, paper and ink samples. In the Middle Ages, monks made their own ink. There were two types of ink: made from metal and from ground up insect hives. If the Codex Gigas was written by one person, then the ink had to be only one type. Scientists have proven that the book used ink made only from insect hives, which means there was only one author. The features of calligraphic handwriting also prove the correctness of this hypothesis. It can be assumed that working non-stop, around the clock, the monk-scribe could cope with such a gigantic creation in 20 - 30 years, and certainly not in one night. The fact that a monk convicted of sins worked on the Code can be explained by the fact that in medieval monasteries the rewriting of sacred books was a frequent form of punishment. Then it was believed that a person could atone for his sins by rewriting sacred texts. It is possible that the scribe created instructions for his own salvation, because... The content of the book emphasizes caring for the body and mind, protecting the immortal soul.

Some features of the drawings in the Gigas Codec indicate that its author was a good artist, but far from a professional. He just wanted to make his work larger, thicker than it had been done before. Perhaps he was a talented self-taught person. Typically, professional monastic scribes worked in huge rooms called scriptoria. The monks had their own techniques and methods. If you take a medieval manuscript and compare it with the Codex Gigas, the difference is immediately visible. The code looks old-fashioned and rather unprofessional. However, such an unprofessional and newcomer created a real furor around his work. After all, creating a full-length drawing of the devil was a very daring and dangerous act. During the harsh Middle Ages, people believed that those who did or said something different from others were under the power of evil spirits.

It was the image of the unclean on page 290 of the Codex Gigas that brought the manuscript notoriety. It's no joke, no other Bible contains such a huge drawing, a real embodiment of evil. Half human, half monster with a forked red tongue and raised clawed hands. The devil is wearing an ermine skin, which symbolizes the highest power. Perhaps this is what Satan from the legend looked like. However, the artist depicted the monster as if it were locked within the walls of its own evil. The author deprived him of his usual freedom, which no one had ever done before. The nature of the image of the devil can tell a lot about the time in which the author lived, about his psychology, about his education. In the Middle Ages, people were not sure of anything, their lives were constantly exposed to various threats, and they believed that threats came only from the devil. Therefore, the devil bothered their minds more than turning to God.

People nicknamed Codex Gigas the devil's bible for a reason. In addition to depicting the evil spirit, the book contains a group of witchcraft spells and also describes the ritual of “exorcism.” The evil attacker was the greatest fear of medieval man, attacking and penetrating into the human essence. To cope with such a scourge, it was necessary to carry out a terrible and frightening ritual of exorcism, where the priest and the victim fought for the soul of the possessed. There are also interesting moments in which particularly superstitious individuals see a sign of possession by evil. Firstly, immediately after the image of the devil, 8 pages were torn out. It is not known what was written on the missing pages, but this only fueled the interest of the superstitious public. Secondly, after the fire of 1697, which almost destroyed the Codex Gigas, strange shadows appeared on some of its pages. Moreover, these shadows appeared precisely on those pages adjacent to the image of the devil. And it is the page with the famous drawing that seems darker than all the other pages. But... These shadows can also be explained. They could have appeared on the pages thanks to ultraviolet radiation to which the book's material, the leather, was constantly exposed, practically tanning it. For many centuries, people paid attention, first of all, to the drawing of the devil, which indicates an insatiable human interest in relation to the evil one.

The Codex Gigas is a unique creation, the largest medieval book completed in several decades by one person. This man managed to glorify his creation for centuries, but he modestly left his personality in the shadows. Nobody knows who this man was. However, there is a version that the book was written by a hermit monk named Herman the Hermit, as evidenced by the entry in the list of names in the book - Hermanus Monahus Inclusus.

It is possible that the legend of the sinful monk was based on a misinterpretation of the Latin word found in the Codex Gigas - Inclusus, which means "conclusion". For many years the meaning of this word was regarded as a terrible punishment, i.e. walling up alive, but the word itself is much closer in meaning to the word “recluse.” So, the terrible legend, which still excites the fears of superstitious people, can be refuted and proven that it is just a legend. Most likely, the scribe was a hermit monk who voluntarily retired to his cell, i.e. leaving the outside world and its temptations. For this monk, the Codex Gigas may have been a quest for insight as well as his life's work. Far from being inspired by evil, he was inspired by divine blessing. He gave people hope for salvation, gave them the opportunity to choose, showed this choice in the form of drawings located opposite each other - a drawing of the devil and a drawing of the Kingdom of Heaven. Good and evil measure their strength before eternity on the pages of the Codex Gigas.

The Codex Gigas is located in Stockholm within the walls of the Royal Swedish Library. In 2007, Codex Gigas was exhibited for the first time in its homeland in the Czech Republic in Prague. Despite the revealed mysteries, the huge manuscript will continue to arouse interest among people and will evoke in their minds images of a strange hermit monk creating a unique creation of his tireless hands. The legend was right about one thing: the monk really took the risk of creating a book that glorified not only certain places, but also certain events that influenced the course of history.

sources

http://www.omen-center.ru/publ/38-1-0-175

http://zireael777.com/mysteries/kodeks-gigas-ili-bibliya-dyavola

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0 %B9_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81

and a few more world mysteries for you: let's remember about or for example. And here's another The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

There are a huge number of religions, their denominations and sects in the world, each of which preaches its own values. Most religions have their own god, gods, or beings that are worshiped by their adherents.

Everyone knows that there are only three world religions - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Each of them has its own sacred book, which contains all the knowledge about religion and its canons. For Christians it is the Bible, for Muslims it is the Koran, for Buddhists it is the Tripitaka.

In addition to the god that people worship, there is also an antipode - a creature with negative energy that forces people to do things that are contrary to a particular faith. The most popular creature from this category is the Devil.

He has many names - Devil, Devil and others. There are many theories about its origin. The main theory is that the Devil is Lucifer, a fallen angel.

The story of Lucifer is familiar to many people who have something to do with Christianity. He was an angel and served God. Lucifer was handsome, smart and quick-witted, many angels revered him, turned to him for advice and listened.

At some point, the angel decided that he himself could rule God’s creatures, since he was strong and smart. By starting a rebellion, Lucifer believed that he would take the place of God and become the supreme ruler of all creatures.

However, he underestimated the power of God, and therefore the revolution did not take place - the battle was lost. The angel had minions who believed him and were on his side - with them he was expelled from Paradise. So, the fallen angel Lucifer began to rule the world of sinners -. And those very henchmen help him in this -

We gleaned this information from the Bible, which is the holy book of Christians. Not many people know, but there is another scripture called This is a huge manuscript of 624 pages, the creation of which took the skins of 160 donkeys.

Creation legend Devil's Bible says that it was written by a certain monk. The writing of the book dates back to the late 12th - early 13th centuries. The circumstances under which the manuscript was created are very vague.

The monk committed some sin, to atone for which he had to write a book in one night. It is not entirely clear to whom and why he had to do this, and what kind of sin was committed. However, the monk realized that he could not cope overnight, so he turned to the Devil for help, who helped create the manuscript.

This is also a very controversial point - why did the monk turn to God and not to God, since he was a minister of the church? Besides, he already had a sin, so why did he decide to aggravate his already precarious position? Unfortunately, there are no answers to these questions. But there is a legend about the creation of the book, and we start from it.

A manuscript specialist at the National Library of the Czech Republic believes that this scripture was compiled by one monk over a long period of at least 10 years. The book originally consisted of 640 pages, but only 624 have survived in readable form. It is also emphasized that the probable date of creation of the book is the beginning of the thirteenth century.

It has quite clear content. Of course, the title of the book is associated with instructions for, scary images and other unpleasant things, but that’s not the case. More precisely, it’s almost not like that - there are still scary and strange images in the book. In total, 624 pages contain:

• New Testament;
• Old Testament;
• "Etymology" by Isidore of Seville;
• "The Jewish War" by Josephus;
• stories for preachers;
• different forms of conspiracies;
• drawings
• and other.

Contrary to speculation, it was never banned, and some generations of monks even studied the Holy Scriptures using it. It is noteworthy that on page 290 there is a portrait of Satan.

He looks quite terrifying: a toothy mouth, horns, a growth on his head, clawed four-fingered hands and feet. His look is quite crazy; looking at him even makes you shiver. This is where our familiar description of the Devil comes from - from his Bible.

And if the ordinary Christian Bible states that Lucifer takes the form of a bright man, then, apparently, his real essence is depicted here. As already mentioned, only 624 pages out of 640 have survived to this day - 16 pages are hopelessly damaged.

Eight pages before the portrait of the Devil and eight after are filled with ink, so that it is no longer possible to restore and read them.

In fact, the scripture does not contain any sinister data, secrets or information that was previously unknown. is a simple book, but incredibly valuable. And its value lies not in the fact that it was allegedly written with the participation of Satan.

The main value is that the scripture has survived to this day in good condition. In addition, the dimensions of the book are impressive - length is about 90 cm, width is about 50 cm, and weight is 75 kilograms.

It’s not so easy to even move such a volume, let alone carry it around like a collection of poems. Of course, the manuscript is of great value as an ancient book, the texts of which can still be read today.

This tome was written by one monk, according to various sources his name is either Herman or Sobislav. The writing continued either for one night alone with Satan, or for 10 years.

The writing took place in the monastery of the city of Podlazice, which is located approximately 100 km from the capital of the Czech Republic. After this, the book was moved several times, and each time brought some kind of misfortune.

This was the opinion of the ministers of the churches in which the scripture was contained, but it is not known for certain whether this is true or a coincidence. For example, at the beginning of the 14th century the scripture was kept in the city of Kutna Hora. At the same time, the plague came to the city, and almost the entire population died as a result of the disease. Of course, all the bumps went to the innocent book, although who knows...

Currently stored in Sweden, Stockholm. The Scriptures are the property of the National Library of Sweden. The book came here after the end of the Thirteen Years' War, when it was brought as a trophy.

This happened in the 17th century, and since then no mystical coincidences or misfortunes brought by the book have been noticed.

Why "The Devil's Bible"

As we can see, the book does not contain any horror with the exception of the portrait of Satan. This is partly why it was called the Devil's Bible. Also, this name comes from the legend of writing, in which the Devil himself allegedly participated.

Another version according to which it follows that the book deserved its name is the already described mass death of the inhabitants of the town of Kutna Hora.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to find out what is on the 8 pages in front of the portrait, which are filled with ink. It is also impossible to find out what was written on the 8 stolen pages. Who knows, maybe they were the ones who carried the curse that killed people due to the plague at the beginning of the 14th century.

Currently, only representatives of the National Library of Sweden, where the scriptures are kept, have the right to turn the pages. At the same time, their hands must be gloved, and the pages should be turned over as carefully as possible.

Fortunately, there are several copies in the world Devil's Bible, which are brought into a modern format - they contain the same texts and drawings as the original.