Summary: Author and Satanist Winter Laake explains how his experiences with the occult have shaped his views on life and the afterlife. Join Skeptiko host Alex Tsakiris for an interview with Winter Laake author of, The Satanic Paradigm. During the interview Laake discusses the hypocrisy of Christianity and Satanism: Alex Tsakiris: I want to venture into is something that you alluded to when you were talking about the failed proposition that is Christianity, at least from your view, and the hypocrisy of it -- the emphasis on self-denial that gets in the way of personal freedoms and self-development. But I wondered, can’t some of those same problems be reflected back on Satanic practices? So, even if you practiced Satanism, and you try and live for the moment, or live for yourself, you’re going to die. You’re probably going to get sick and die. No one escapes that. Crowley didn’t escape that; Anton LaVey didn’t escape that. In the end, we all face the same fate. So aren’t there some of the same contradictions that we see in Christianity? Winter Laake: It does in a sense, and that is where I feel that a lot of scientists are now trying to even break that foothold. They’re seeking singularity which is coming by about 2040 or 20/50 where it will be plausible to not die. I think we will see it in our lifetime. But yes, the hypocrisy exists probably even more so in any Satanic or occult practices. To a lot of people it’s a phase they’re going through. They are very destructive and dangerous people, some of them. They are not nice people. Christians can be pretty ruthless, too, but Satanic practitioners on different levels can be very, very dangerous. Probably more so than Christians. A lot of Satanists don’t like to say that. They want to glaze it over and say, “oh, we’re all nice and get along,” but that’s not necessarily the truth. There’s a lot of hatred. There’s a lot of anger that’s self-created. I personally don’t have that. I have a Mephistophelian kind of concept of where I’m at with things. But yes, hypocrisy is alive and well. It’s in our nature. I think people are a summation of their decisions and I think if they make the asserted effort that they can achieve anything they wish. Winter Laake's Facebook Page Play it: Download MP3 (48:00 min.) Read it: Alex Tsakiris: Today’s guest is a successful author, a consultant on Hollywood horror films. He’s also a psychic and sometimes psychic detective. But Winter Laake is best known through his association with the occult, black magic, witchcraft, and Satanism. Winter, thanks for joining me today on Skeptiko. Winter Laake: Thank you. Alex Tsakiris: As I was just mentioning a minute ago, it’s great to have you on. It’s exciting because I think some of the ways that you approach some of the same topics we’ve been talking about is quite unique and quite interesting for our audience. So let’s start though, with some of the basics that certainly won’t be basics for a lot of people. What is Satanism? What is a little bit about your book, The Satanic Paradigm, and how does this all fit in the larger context of what we often call “the occult?” Winter Laake: Satanism is a huge topic that engulfs many different arenas. You have the antiquity dating back to the Hellfire Club, which were basically practicing Satanists and before, even going into medieval ages and probably since the dawn of man. Mankind, in my opinion, is inherently evil and they are going against their nature by trying to pretend or put a face on that they’re good. Alex Tsakiris: Whenever you talk about evil, now you’re getting into this duality of good and bad that is so much a part of the religious paradigm that you kind of were alluding to. And yet at the same time, one of the things that intrigues me with what I’ve encountered about Satanism is this pull for materialism, as well. So I read Anton LaVey, who maybe you want to tell folks a little bit about,
