9 Questions, 9 Satanic Answers – Magister Carl Abrahamsson
Conducted & Translated by Der Rabe
Hello Carl. Thank you for taking the time to give an interview
to Der Rabe.
As a starter, how would you explain
Satanism to someone who comes again and again with the same old arguments like
child molestation, animal sacrifice, and church burnings, to name but a few? It
is after all difficult to make it clear to these bigoted humans and also to the
media that this is bollocks.
I
think the main thing to do is point to the web site of the Church of Satan,
where everything is so clearly stated. And, in extension, to LaVey’s own
writings. If the people in question are intelligent enough to do that, then
maybe A) nothing needs to be explained by you, or B) an interesting conversation
could arise.
How did you personally arrive at this
philosophy?
In
my teens I felt attracted to Nietzsche but also to a magical approach to life.
Of course, Aleister Crowley pops up immediately with his Thelemic philosophy.
And LaVey. So that’s what happened. I read a lot of books, and resonated with
some of these writers and ideas. LaVey and his Satanism was one of these things
I found invaluable, giving credence to both psychological and magical facets of
the human mind, and connected to a Nietzschean philosophy.
We know each other for quite some time now
and I do know that you personally got to meet Anton Szandor LaVey. How did you meet him and what person was
he?
I
was fascinated by LaVey and his Church and had read all of his writings. At the
same time I was also obsessed with American pop culture, including movie stars
like Jayne Mansfield. Given that she knew LaVey, I was inspired to write a song
called Sweet Jayne, which I recorded with my band at the time: White
Stains. I sent him the record and he wrote a really nice letter back, and
making me a member at the same time. Then I went over to San Francisco to see
him several times. He was an amazingly intelligent and humorous man who led a
very interesting life. He was also supportive of what I was doing in terms of
my own writing and publishing, and that initial inspiration has never really
faded away for me.
You are not only a musician and a
filmmaker but you also write and publish books. Your new book “California
Infernal“ was published
recently. A wonderful collection of photographs of LaVey and Jayne Mansfield. How
did you get to make this project and what does it mean to you?
It
was like a ”full circle” experience. My original inspiration (meaning LaVey’s
relationship with Jayne Mansfield) and that record led to my meeting LaVey.
This was in 1987/88. In 2013 or thereabouts a Swedish collector, Alf Wahlgren,
showed me his collection of photographer Walter Fischer’s prints and negatives.
And they were all of LaVey and Jayne, and also the early days of the Church. I
was thrown back into the original inspiration and it was really fun. We decided
to make a book, and that became California Infernal. That gave me a
chance to tell that old story again, and also to have LaVey’s old friend
Kenneth Anger write a short memento-text. It really became an amazing book!
California Infernal available from trapart.net
As you know, Der Rabe is a German speaking
outpost for the Church of Satan. What is your opinion in general on the understanding of Satanism in German
speaking countries? Do you see any differences when one considers that
the founder of modern day Satanism and the Church of Satan, Anton Szandor LaVey, lived in America?
Hard
to answer. The philosophy of indulgence and life enhancement with inclusions of
ritual is of course universally applicable. LaVey wove in sources from many
parts of the world to create an ultra-pragmatic and applicable method. And of
course the information should be available in different languages and cultures.
So Der Rabe is an inevitable manifestation of that need.
Do you think that Satanism and the
understanding for its philosophy have changed after LaVey’s death, considering
that one has to keep up with the times?
Movements
or groups always encounter many difficulties after a strong leader has passed.
But I’m happy to say that the Church of Satan seems stronger than ever before.
The publishing of new canonical books (Gilmore, Johnson et al) is a sign of
health and a movement forward. I think that general understanding and tolerance
of the Church has increased greatly. It’s all in the presentation, isn’t it?
Is occultism and Satanism similar to surrealism and realism? Or how do you
connect to the occult part of the philosophy, if such a thing does exist after
all?
Although
the Church has declared a secular and atheist stance, there is still an
open-minded attitude towards occult technologies and methods. It all lies with
the individual; to what degree he or she wants to include occult methods or
mind-frames. The hocus pocus is not at all necessary. On a personal level, I
integrate ritual and have a belief in “supra-causal” methods for affecting
changes in life. But that’s me.
Photo Copyright from Vanessa Sinclaire
I would like to address an actual subject.
The cruelty we encounter today with war and terrorism in God’s name is hardly
imaginable. I want to mention that this drama repeats itself in history again
and again and what is considered normal in some Muslim circles is not different
from how Christians acted during the crusades. What do you think how this is
going to develop and how Europe will look like in the future?
It
certainly seems like an increased polarity is happening, in the US and Europe.
I find this very unfortunate because it simplifies the game considerably and
thereby decreases the potential for creative pragmatism and a genuine appreciation
of individualism and liberty – two seminal Satanic qualities. Action now merely
triggers reaction, and when people and cultures are afraid, this process goes
spiral. I’m a strong believer in cultural heterogeneity, and the monotheistic
mind-frame always brings a weak “monoculture” (Christian, Muslim, Jewish etc).
Unenlightened monotheism is to blame for basically everything that’s going
wrong today, and it even endangers the planet as such. If I were in charge, I’d
make sure that people keep their religion at home. It should be banned in
public places and dialogues. If people in public offices are publicly devout
within any form of monotheism, they should be fired. It’s especially sad that
Christianity, which is the weakest form of these three evils, is allowed to
permeate political life, like it apparently is in the US. Applying a Christian
matrix on anything is a guaranteed path to rapid failure.
Finally, what are your plans for the
future? Do you have any new projects we can be looking forward to?
I’m
doing my best at trying to enjoy life to the maximum, and I’m pretty good at
that now. So I write, make music and films, and also publish books that
interest and inspire me (and hopefully others), like The Fenris Wolf
series. So the future basically means more of that: life enhancement via
culture. It’s great now and also will be in the future!
Thank you for your time and all the best
for the future!
Thank
you! And the same to you and Der Rabe.
