29. And, atheist or not, the Church teaches magic…
Here’s another baffling aspect of the Church with a relatively cogent explanation: magic plays an important role in the atheist Church of Satan. LaVey defines magic as ‘the change in situations or events in accordance to one’s will’. Again, this uses weird images and rituals derived from all manner of esoteric lore, but in reality, is a mixture of stage magic and psychology playing upon what is known about the human brain. For example, when performing ‘magic’ to achieve a goal, the ‘magician’ is effectively meditating, and ‘cursing’ someone simply involves exploiting their existing beliefs or subconscious mind.