Despite others' attempts to identify a certain number with Satan, it will be known than Nine is His number. Nine is the number of the Ego, for it always returns to itself. No matter what is done through the most complex multiplication of Nine by any other number, in the end the final equation nine will stand forth. The true ages of times are cast in the likeness of Nine, with all cycles obedient to its Law. All matters of terrestrial concern may be evaluated by the infallible resolution of Nine and its offspring. Action and reaction relative to humanity's tribal needs are contained within successive nine-year periods: the total of both (eighteen years) is called a Working. The beginning and end of each Working is call a Working Year, and each midway point between Working Years displays a zenith of intensity for the Working which has been brought about. Nine eighteen-year Workings equal an Era (162 years). Nine Eras equal an Age (1,458 years), which has been mistakenly called a millennium. Nine Ages equal an Epoch (13,122 years). Each Age (1,458 years) alternates as Fire or Ice, each differing in the means by which the Control presents its dictum. During the Age of Ice, man is taught to refrain from his pride and retreat from himself; then he will be good. During an Age of Fire, man is taught to indulge himself and to tear himself open and look inside; then he will be good. During an Ice Age, God is above. During a Fire Age, God is beneath. Throughout each Age, big things occur each eighteen years, for the Control must maintain a cycle of action and reaction within the greater cycle of Fire and Ice. Meaningful and portentous messages are cast forth each eighteen years, and are acted upon for the eighteen years which follow, at the end of which a new statement appears. The Ice Age from which we recently emerged began in the year 508 "A.D." Just as the Zenith of passion for what each Working has inspired occurs halfway between the Working Years, so the greatest intensity of each Age's message occurs at its midpoint. Thus in the year 1237 "A.D." man's fervor for what the last Ice Age represented had reached its summit. That Age ended in 1966, and the new Age of Fire was born. The twentieth century has prepared us for the future and the coming of the Age of Fire was well heralded in the last Working Years of the Ice Age. The peoples of the Earth have been touched by the vehicles of 1894, 1912, 1930, and 1948, and communication has been well wrought. The new Satanic Age was born in 1966, and that is why His Church was built. The infant is learning to walk, and by the first Working Year of his age - that is to say 1984 - he will have steadied his steps, and by the next - 2002 - he will have attained maturity, and his reign will be filled with wisdom, reason and delight.

REGE SATANAS!

AVE, SATANAS!

HAIL, SATAN!

– Anton Szandor LaVey –