Written by Andrew K. Arnett
A post by @DanaDooDah caught my attention on X. It asserted that Paul E. Vallely, an advisory council member for Turning Point USA, was co-author with Michael Aquino on the book From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory. I was unfamiliar with Paul E. Vallely, but Michael Aquino wasn’t a name I would immediately associate with TPUSA—a nonprofit political organization aligned with the Christian right. The reason being, Micheal Aquino was a member of Anton LeVay’s Church of Satan who went on to form his own Satanic cult, the Temple of Set.
The Turning Point USA website lists Paul E. Vallely as an advisory board member. He has an extensive, indeed, distinguished bio attached. Major General Paul E. Vallely served in the Vietnam War, retiring in 1991 as deputy commanding general, United States Army Pacific. He is a former senior military analyst for Fox News. Vallely was part of the leadership of Turning Point USA and currently sits on its advisory board. The bio however, does not mention his association with Aquino. His Wikipedia page however does. It states:
“In 1980, Vallely co-authored a paper with then military PSYOP analyst Michael A. Aquino, founder of the Satanist Temple of Set as his commanding officer in the 7th PSYOP Group, titled From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory. MindWar is defined as “the deliberate aggressive convincing of all participants in a war that we will win that war.” The paper contrasts a use of psychological operations such as propaganda with a new approach.”
Michael A. Aquino (1946 – 2019) was a a military officer, political scientist and Satanist. He was an officer in the U.S. Army and a specialist in psychological warfare for military intelligence. Here’s an interesting story. Aquino claims that at Midsummer 1975, Satan appeared to him during a ritual, instructing Aquino to reveal Satan’s true name—Set. Set of course was a god worshipped in ancient Egypt. Aquino set out to write the religious themed The Book of Coming Forth By Night. According to Aquino, this was done through a process of automatic writing, revealed to him by Satan himself. Aquino commented, “there was nothing overtly sensational, supernatural, or melodramatic about The Book of Coming Forth By Night working. I simply sat down and wrote it.” The book proclaims the arrival of a new stage in the spiritual evolution of mankind, to be known as the Aeon of Set.
If you find Aquino’s account reminiscent of Aleister Crowley’s own experiences during the writing of The Book of the Law, then there’s a good reason—Aquino has presented himself as Crowley’s heir. Crowley wrote his own religious text, The Book of the Law, in 1904 during a visit to the Great pyramids in Cairo. Crowley claims a preternatural intelligence by the name of Aiwass dictated the book to him in three days, via his wife/Scarlett Woman Edith Rose Kelly. The book announced the arrival of a new spiritual epoch, known as the Aeon of Horus. It was only fitting that Crowley would assume the role of its prophet.
The Book of Coming Forth By Night by Aquino makes many references to Crowley’s The Book of the Law. Indeed, Aquino engages with Crowley’s philosophy to a far greater extent than LeVay had done during his own career. Likewise, the book proclaims Aquino to be the Magus of the new Aeon of Set and rightful heir to Crowley’s mandate of “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” Aquino established the Temple of Set borrowing much from the structure of Crowley’s former mystical orders, including the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis.
I’m not sure how this all jives with the Christian beliefs proposed by TPUSA, but conversations must get pretty interesting there around the water cooler. At least, it may raise an eyebrow or two.
Andrew K. Arnett is a writer for New Dawn Magazine and author of the book The Crowley Conspiracy available on Amazon.
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