In 1975, after ten years of exploring its identity, the original Church of Satan confronted the limitations of its Judæo-Christian imagery and a dismissal of humanity as a self-indulgent animal species. An ethical crisis in that year resulted in the organizational and metaphysical transformation of the Church into the Temple of Set, which in subsequent decades went on to become the preeminent initiatory institution premised upon the affirmation and evolution of the individual consciousness to divine essence and immortality.
This book recounts the Temple's creation and early development, by its founding High Priest, Michael Aquino. It is more a memoir than a history, because the scope of the Temple and the works of its many Initiates are far too diverse for any single book.
Included is also an extensive theoretical discussion of Setian cosmology, philosophy, and magic: the famous "Black Magic" from the Crystal Tablet of Set.
The text is augmented by 97 detailed appendices on a variety of topics by many different Setians over the years. This is a 2-volume work compressed to reduce the 431,000-word set to below 1,000 pages. Volume I is in color; Volume II black/white.
About the Author: Non-fictional books by Dr. Aquino generally fall into three categories: historical, practical, and initiatory.
Historical works include The Neutron Bomb (a study of the domestic and foreign politics surrounding the proposed NATO introduction of that weapon in 1977-8) and Extreme Prejudice (a documentary exposé of the 1986-7 "Satanic ritual abuse" scam at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Two other [2-volume] books - The Church of Satan and The Temple of Set - are not only histories but initiatory analyses as well, examining the philosophical and metaphysical concepts which define and energize those religious institutions.
As one of the U.S. Army's extremely rare Political-Military Affairs Officers [with credentials in Strategic & Space Intelligence, Psychological Operations, Special Forces, Civil Affairs, Defense Attaché, and Foreign Area Officer], Dr. Aquino has also introduced the practical application of "MindWar" as a methodology for reducing, if not eliminating contemporary humanity's obsession with and reliance upon murderous, destructive conventional war (PhysWar"). His 2013 book MindWar introduces this solution and outlines its successive stages of implementation.
Finally a purely-initiatory work, MindStar, addresses the purely-metaphysical "soul" of human thought which MindWar [as a practical curriculum] omits, confronting the elusive questions of human divinity and immortality.
Unsurprisingly Dr. Aquino's fictional ventures - We Break the Sword, FireForce, and Morlindalë ("authored" by The One Ring) - all draw upon extensive political and philosophical principles in their telling. Both FireForce and Morlindalë utilize the literary technique of parody in a serious, rather than humorous exploration and extrapolation of the original source.
Additionally Dr. Aquino has recovered and Edited a collection of childhood poems by his mother, Betty Ford: Pegasus in Pinfeathers.
All of these books are available on Amazon in both printed paperback and Kindle ebook editions.
