Anton LaVey: Faked Quotes and Misquotes

This alleged quotation is a mish-mash of words taken from two completely different sections of The Satanic Rituals.

In the book's foreword, “Concerning the Rituals”, LaVey points out why the Church of Satan stopped performing Satanic rituals for public audiences. In short, the personal and emotional impact of a ritual is diminished when opened to spectators and participants who are not Satanists. There is no mention of the Freemasons nor Illuminati. Here is the relevant quotation in its full context, which ironically concludes with the Satanic maxim of “Satanism demands study, not worship.”

The most effective rituals are often the most solitary. This is why it is preposterous to attempt a ritual or ceremony with outsiders present who happen to be "sincerely interested" or "want to find out more about it" or "want to see what it's like."

A philosophical commitment is a prerequisite for acceptance into ritualistic activities, and this serves as a rudimentary screening process for organized Satanism. Consequently, a degree of compatibility -- necessary to a successful working -- exists within the chamber. Of course, anyone can say, "I believe," simply to gain access. It will be up to the discerning magician to determine actual sincerity. Because Lesser Magic is everyday magic, a finely attuned sense of discrimination is essential for all accomplishment. In addition, one of the most important "commandments" of Satanism is: SATANISM DEMANDS STUDY -- NOT WORSHIP!

Much later in the book, in the introductory notes for the ritual “Das Tierdrama", LaVey says this:

The rite was originally performed by the Order of the Illuminati, founded in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt as an extension of existing Masonic ritual. Ten years earlier, Gotthold Lessing had influenced many Germans' opinions on the limits of the arts with his critical treatise, Laocoön. The intellectual climate in Germany had reached the point of controversy that in England gave rise to the Hell Fire Club.

Passing off the Bavarian Illuminati as a society with a purely political base is a blunder often made by those who naively think that politics and magic ritual do not mix. Masonic orders have contained the most influential men in many governments, and virtually every occult order has many Masonic roots.

Note that the Bavarian Illuminati ceased to exist well before 1800, and should not be confused with the alleged global oligarchy whom conspiracy theorists refer to as “The Illuminati”. Also note that even if many occult orders have their ritualistic roots in Masonic clubs, it still does not follow that present-day fraternal orders such as the Freemasons are themselves rooted in occultism. Most importantly, LaVey never says “Freemasonry serves as a rudimentary screening process” for anything.