I think Venger is on to something here. A fusion of the Cthulhu mythos, Satanism, Buddhism, and his own idealism which has philosophical value; even for a readership not deeply connected to Lovecraft fiction.

Venger is providing a tool for personal development and growth; a way to transform consciousness that I believe is the fundamental foundation for human existence.

Putting aside the battle over the sources used to write the book, it is apparent to me that Venger finds inspiration in the Cthulhu paradigm. It is that inspiration that is the driving force in achieving his goals. Sharing this work is paramount in his own human development; how can he be spited for that?

Any critical thinker can put aside the semantics of the journey and focus on the destination.

SIN

http://danharms.wordpress.com/darrick-dishaws-cult-of-cthulhu-bible-and-wikipedia-the-similarities/

I felt the same way about this book as I did about the Satanic Bible the first time I read it. It fleshed out a lot of my own views and also gave me some new ones, and also a new paradigm. I thought the book was excellently written, very accessible language for someone who is new to the Cthulhu Mythos, with an explanation of the Gods contained within. I myself am not new to the Mythos and needed no explanation. Venger Satanis deserves credit in the Occult community, in my opinion for his pioneering in the publicized worship of the Ancient Ones. The closest anyone (to my knowledge) has ever come is with the Simon Necronomicon or the text of Al-Azif, which contains nearly impossible criteria for the worship of the Ancient Gods. Overall, I would definately reccomend it for fans of HP Lovecraft and the Mythos and to anyone searching for enlightenment in their lives that also is drawn to the dark side of things.

These days, everybody and their brother seems to be coming up with an idea for their own church. Their own magickal order. Some scheme to achieve a fleeting daliance with their warped ideas of magick, black, white, or grey. However, when something like this comes along, a true bible for a truly worthy idea, one must take notice.

Well written, cohesive, and compelling. Yes, fans of H.P. Lovecraft will feel right at home with what's contained within "Cthulhu Cult". All of the weird and menacing alien beings are there, ready to be acknowledged, at mankind's own peril. But, the system laid out by Venger is more than just a tribute to Lovercraft's mythos. It's a system of self-mastery. It's an awakening of that which is truly magickal, for those who are sincerely aware. All students of the Great Work, take notice! You've stumbled upon the real deal.

This is truly a work of art. It's probably the best left hand path book i've read since the Satanic Bible. I picked up this book and just couldn't put it down until i finished reading it, and it was worth every second of reading. I recommend this book to every occultist out there that wants an excellent resource for great information on the left hand path. Now if you're one of those atheistic occultists that's truly set in your ways and doesn't want anything that may oppose your current views on the left hand path, this might not be your cup of tea, but if you have an inquisitive mind and an open mind for that matter this book can be an excellent experience.

Cthulhu Cult – the Bible of the Cult of cthulhu – is a must for all those whose explorations into the dark have taken them along the route that HP Lovecraft himself did; into the eldritch, the unfathomable, the horrific. Satanism, Sumerian gods and psychology. One only has to read how astute the observations made in such classifications as ‘The three types of people in this terrible world’ and ‘Consciousness’ (particularly to those familiar with Luciferian Gnosticism) to discover that High Priest Venger Satanis’s studies reach into the realms of the sociological and psychological as well as the esoteric and chthonic. For those hardcore Lovecraftian fans, VS provides an excellent bestiary – and cites a plethora of references to Mythos texts – of the terrifying denizens of our nightmares, including such favourites as Yog-Sothoth and Azathoth. Cthulhu Cult includes observations on its position within the Satanic sphere, guidelines for Cultists’ spiritual and mental (and material) advancement, and a healthy set of evil rites. This dark Bible makes no attempt whatsoever to disguise the CoC’s intentions and instead flaunts them – their aim is to take over the world! An excellent read. Edward O’Toole www.aestheteka.com (author of Sophia Bestiae and Grimoire Bestiae)

The Lovecraftian Mythos is a rich area in the public conscious with plenty to help with visualising and this book is a good step to introducing people to philosphy briefly touched upon by both Chaos Magick and Satanic Ritual. Here the author incorporates elements of both traditions into what can be seen as a preamble to use of the Cthulthian Mythos in an entirely independent fashion. At times there is perhaps too much emphasis on the Satanic tradition which is something that the Lovecraft Mythos does not in my mind rest easy with and can act entirely independent of. The Old Ones are above all such nonsense as good and evil they purely ARE. However it is a good scene setter for introducing people from different traditions into what is a rich area for magickical activities. It would be great to see more books along this line to develop it further. This works as a very good opener.

Admit it. One has to adimire anyone who takes the time to write their own manifesto. Baring all one's inner beliefs for the scrutiny of others is risky and takes guts. Perhaps if more people wrote down what they beleived, as Venger Satanis has, and opened themselves up for criticism, we'd have far fewer people aimlessly adrift spiritually and/or philosophically in this world. As for the book, this unique fusion of ideas from various occult streams (both traditional and post-modern magick)creates a gloriously frightening hybrid. Anyone who believes the book is nothing more than a jumble of others' ideas slapped together should be reminded that EVERY philosophy/religion is a collection of ideas from other sources. Original thought regarding the human conditon ended about 2,500-3000 years ago. Get used to it. We're all working with borrowed ideas. The trick is which ideas one chooses to create a potent admixture of thought. Like cooking, one chooses existing ingredients and methods to create something unique. Venger Satanis has cooked up one mighty, unwholesome dish, and that is, I suspect, precisely his intent.

At first glace, the skeptical reader might look at the diverse currents gathered here, and expect little but a nastier grade of nerdiness: admitted influences are the yogic philosophy of G.I. Gurdgieff and P.D. Ouspensky; the aggressive and antinomian individualism of Anton Szandor lavey’s particular brand of Satanism, H.P. Lovecrafts’ mythology of utterly alien beings, Godlike yet the products of a materialist universe, and the yet-more alien speculations of Thomas Ligotti, all mixed in with the authors own role-playing game, the Empire of Satanis, and bundled together with the Chaos Magick of Peter Carroll and Phil Hines. Yet the author has done far more than curry-comb the items on his perhaps geek-tinged bookshelf: He has found the common question in all of those canons: in effect arguing that the common cowardice decried by LeVay is held in place by the collective sleep-walking targeted by Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, and further cemented by the actual objective magickal effect of this psychological morass upon collectively created reality, and recalling the call to old individuality and awakening and creativity that these author aimed at, the author yelps: “Hell no!”, and never one to be stuck in the negative, looks to Ligotti, Lovecraft and his own RPG to howl in reply to his own challenge: Hell? Yes! HELL YES!!”—and the model that Ligotti and Lovecraft give us, where all we know is but a membrane—perhaps a mucus membrane—across something vast and dark, this essay dares us—and isn’t waiting for a reply—to sunder our own crass mediocre reality—and not merely that sad symptom called “society”—as the Cthulhu gods or yet more tenebrous entities of Ligotti have done for us in their fiction. In this work, the principle means of defeating the plan of the Great old Ones is to not wait around on our asses for them to do what we might do for ourselves. Yet there is more than a fascinating synthesis of transgressive ideas: there is coherence, style, wit, and sudden turns of phrase and logic such that the reader soon ceases waiting for the juggler to drop all these bizarre objects of contemplation—instead the reader participates in seeing how the motion weaves a pattern of meaning that is so much more than the trick that first brings it together. The different things going into the book are diverse enough that anyone familiar with one might well not know some of the others: yet the synthesis is intuitive and logical, and well set forth, with just enough over-the-top stuff that we see that the author of this philosophy of transcendence -by-excess means business; more than that, we see that the author means aesthetics, after he has aptly demonstrated that aesthetics is the fabric which allows the stuff of busi-ness (action towards a goal) to have tangibility. The graphics,all paintings by the author, are disturbing, exquisite, bluntly wierd and hinting, in their forms, of yet more behind them. The graphics alone are proof that a more creative, if more monstrous reality can be met by some version of this flexible, yet pointed and distinct system. We note that the authors RPG "Empire of Satanis" and it's source-book were received, on the whole, with the kind of frightened knee-jerk moralizing that demonstrates the current essays' entire point. Hopefully the positive reception of this work will cause Empire of Satanis to meet the long-overdue reappraisal by more discerning and creative minds that it deserves.

You said you were going to put it out and did! This book mixes choas magick and Cthulhu Mythos well. This is a great new book of the Left Hand Path and will open the read to new ways of looking at things Herald of the Old Gods Nogthae

i still think your cooler than levay.

yo, darrick is the fucking bomb, fuck all yall, i wish i was kicking it with him right now, fucking hot bitches in a magick circle, we shall awaken MARDUK together one day, because i already have. i cant afford his book, but im sure its pure gold, one day he will be along my side when i become emperor of the stupid ass planet. SHABAZ!! THE INVOCATION OF THE NINIB GATE Spirit of the Wanderer of the Wastes, Remember! Spirit of the Planet of Time, Remember! Spirit of the Plane of he Hunter, Remember! NINIB, Lord of the Dark Ways, Remember! NINIB, Lord of the Secret Passages, Remember! NINIB, Knower of the Secrets of All Things, Remember! NINIB, Knower of the Ways of the Ancient Ones, Remember! NINIB, Horned One of Silence, Remember! NINIB, Watcher of the Ways of the IGIGI, Remember! NINIB, Knower of the Pathways of the Dead, Remember! In the Name of the Covenant sworn between Thee and the Race of Men, I call to Thee! Hearken and Remember! From the Mighty Gate of the Lord of Gods, MARDUK, Sphere of the Great Planet, I call to Thee! Hearken and Remember! NINIB, Dark Wandered of the Forgotten Lands, Hearken and Remember! NINIB, Gatekeeper of the Astral Gods, Open Thy Gate to me! NINIB, Master of the Chase and the Long Journey, Open Thy Gate to me! Gate of the Double-Horned Elder God, Open! Gate of the Last City of the Skies, Open! Gate of the Secret of All Time, Open! Gate of the Master of Magickal Power, Open! Gate of the Lord of All Sorcery, Open! Gate of the Vanquisher of all Evil Spells, Hearken and Open! By the Name which I was given on the Sphere of MARDUK, Master of Magicians, I call Thee to Open! IA DUK! IA ANDARRA! IA ZI BATTU BA ALLU! BALLAGU BEL DIRRIGU BAAGGA KA KANPA! BEL ZI EXA EXA! AZZAGBAT! BAZZAGBARRONIOSH! ZELIG!

Two decades ago I left the magickal community due to the constant immature bickering between "disiplines" and I see the behavior is still alive and well. I'll stick to my solo work... Geez, people. It's a book. The author has a right to his opinion. Stop trying to disprove the guy or attack his credibility -- his opinions are just as valid as yours. If you didn't like the book, then don't buy it, move along, and leave the reviews to folks with a better grasp on their mental faculties. I came here to read a review of the book, not observe a pissing contest between adolescent boys. Your attacks on others won't stop ME from buying the book, but it will stop me from considering your outburst as anything more than verbal diarrhea.

It's hard to do new things in the world of Magick and the Occult. When one is treading the path worn bare by the past greats like Crowley and Regardie, more modern visionaries like Anton LaVey, or even the relatively recent (and continuing) contributions of Hine and Carroll, it's nearly impossible to come up with new ideas, until you stop and realize that Crowley, Regardie, LaVey, Carroll, Hine, and others didn't really INVENT anything, at least not in total. They synthesised what they knew, what they expierenced, and what they themselves had concocted.

In Cthulhu Cult, Venger Satanis has done a pretty damn good job, in my opinion, of synthesizing several different magickal systems into a cohesive, but graciously loose and interpretive, system. A more descriptive name for the book could have been "Mythos-oriented Chaos Magick for the Satanist" which of course would have made a really STUPID title, but an apt description.

I, of course, have only read the book, and the proof of the pudding of any magick system is in it's application, which is something I look forward to working with.

This is not a well-written or interesting book. The author knows the works of Lovecraft, Ligotti, Phil Hine, and Anton LaVey, but doesn't seem to understand any of them well, or at least does not notice when his own ideas doesn't correspond to them. (I pass no judgment on the Gurdjieff material, as I'm not familiar with it.)

Much of the book is devoted to repeated claims that Cult members are free to believe whatever they want. The book also claims that the author has a direct line to the Old Ones and that the world will be engulfed in a holocaust when they return, which somewhat narrows the field of acceptable beliefs.

A substantial portion of the Cthulhu Mythos section can be found word-for-word on Wikipedia and at other sites. It would have been more helpful if the author had explained what these beings mean in his personal pantheon.

The ritual portion of the book includes the author's own system of black magic, which consists of commands to awaken followed by three three-line poems to be said three times a day for a year. The book is rounded out by the "Nine Angles," in a section modeled on the Enochian chants at the end of the Satanic Bible. Overall, this section is sketchy and incomplete by any standards.

The author is also an advocate of ritual murder, and the book presents women as sex objects. Those who object to either of these will be highly displeased with those sections.

I should add that the OCR in the PDF version is poorly done, making running searches via Acrobat completely useless.

Why, in a world with such authors as Phil Hine, Peter Carroll, Anton LaVey, Don Webb, Michelle Belanger, Konstantinos, S. Jason Black, Christopher Hyatt, Kenneth Grant, Michael Bertiaux, Stephen Flowers, etc., anyone needs this book is beyond me. It will probably receive some recognition for the title, and those who have read little on dark side occultism might be impressed. Knowledgeable occultists will likely find its contents highly disappointing.