Anton LaVey

Founder of the Church of Satan, author of the Satanic Bible

Anton Szandor LaVey

LaVey publicity photo, c. 1992

Title| Author of The Satanic Bible, High Priest and founder of The Church of Satan
Personal life
Born|

Howard Stanton Levey

(1930-04-11)April 11, 1930

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Died| October 29, 1997(1997-10-29) (aged 67)

San Francisco, California, U.S.

Spouse|

Carole Lansing

(m. 1951; div. 1960)​

Partner| Diane Hegarty (1960-1984) Blanche Barton (1984-1997)
Children| 3, including Karla LaVey and Zeena Schreck
Known for| The Satanic Bible
Church of Satan
Signature|
Religious life
Religion| LaVeyan Satanism
Denomination| Church of Satan
Profession| Author, musician, LaVeyan Satanist

Anton Szandor LaVey[1] (born Howard Stanton Levey; April 11, 1930 – October 29, 1997) was an American author, musician, and LaVeyan Satanist.[2] He was the founder of the Church of Satan, the philosophy of LaVeyan Satanism, and the concept of Satanism. He authored several books, including The Satanic Bible, The Satanic Rituals, The Satanic Witch, The Devil's Notebook, and Satan Speaks! In addition, he released three albums, including The Satanic Mass, Satan Takes a Holiday, and Strange Music. He played a minor on-screen role and served as technical advisor for the 1975 film The Devil's Rain[3] and served as host and narrator for Nick Bougas' 1989 mondo film Death Scenes.[4]

Historian of Satanism Gareth J. Medway described LaVey as a "born showman",[5] with anthropologist Jean La Fontaine describing him as a "colourful figure of considerable personal magnetism".[6] The academic scholars of Satanism Per Faxneld and Jesper Aagaard Petersen described LaVey as "the most iconic figure in the Satanic milieu".[7] LaVey was labeled many things by journalists, religious detractors, and Satanists alike, including "The Father of Satanism",[8] the "St. Paul of Satanism",[9] "The Black Pope",[10] and the "evilest man in the world".[11]

## Early life

[edit]

LaVey was born Howard Stanton Levey on April 11, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Michael Joseph Levey (1903–1992) married LaVey's mother, Gertrude Augusta (née Coultron). His parents supported his musical interests, as he tried a number of instruments; his favorites were keyboards such as the piano and accordion. Anton played piano in a Baptist church as a boy, and played oboe in high school.[12][13] He attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California, until the age of 16.[14][15] LaVey claimed he left high school at age 16 to join the Clyde Beatty Circus and later carnivals, first as a roustabout and cage boy in an act with the big cats, then as a musician playing the calliope.[16] He played tunes such as "Harlem Nocturne" by Earle Hagen.[17] LaVey later claimed to have seen that many of the same men attended both the bawdy Saturday night shows and the tent revival meetings on Sunday mornings, which reinforced his increasingly cynical view of religion. In the foreword to the German language edition of The Satanic Bible, he cites this as the impetus to defy Christian religion as he knew it. He explains why churchgoers employ moral double standards.[18] However, journalist Lawrence Wright investigated LaVey's background and found no evidence LaVey ever worked in a circus either as a musician or a cage boy.[1][19]

In the winter of 1948, LaVey began to work as an organist in bars, lounges, and nightclubs. His "genius" on keyboards helped him attain gigs.[11][20] He claimed to have had a brief affair with then-unknown Marilyn Monroe while playing organ in Los Angeles burlesque houses, stating that she was a dancer at the Mayan Theater at the time. This was challenged by those who knew Monroe then, as well as the manager of the Mayan, Paul Valentine, who said she had never been one of his dancers, nor had the theater ever been used as a burlesque house.[21]

According to his biography, LaVey moved back to San Francisco. LaVey met Carole Lansing in 1950, and they married the following year, when Lansing was fifteen years old. Lansing gave birth to LaVey's first daughter, Karla LaVey, born in 1952. In order to avoid the Korean War draft, he studied criminology at City College of San Francisco. LaVey then attained a job as a photographer for the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD),[1] where he worked for three years. (Wright could find no evidence of LaVey working at this job either.)[22] LaVey claimed to have dabbled as a psychic investigator, looking into "800 calls" referred to him by SFPD. Later biographers questioned whether LaVey ever worked with the SFPD, as there are no records substantiating the claim.[1][23]

During this period, LaVey was friends with a number of writers associated with Weird Tales magazine; a picture of him with George Haas, Robert Barbour Johnson, and Clark Ashton Smith appears in Blanche Barton's biography The Secret Life of a Satanist.

LaVey and Carole divorced in 1960, after LaVey became involved with Diane Hegarty. Hegarty and LaVey never married, but she was his companion for 24 years and mothered his second daughter, Zeena Galatea Schreck (née LaVey) (born in 1963).[24] At the end of their relationship, Hegarty sued for palimony.[25][26]

## Church of Satan

[edit]

Anton Lavey became a local celebrity in San Francisco through his paranormal research and live performances as an organist, including playing the Wurlitzer at the Lost Weekend cocktail lounge.[27] He was also a publicly noticeable figure; he drove a coroner's van around town, and he walked his pet black leopard, named Zoltan.[11] He attracted many San Francisco notables to his parties. Guests included Carin de Plessin, Michael Harner, Chester A. Arthur III, Forrest J Ackerman, Fritz Leiber, Cecil E. Nixon, and Kenneth Anger. LaVey formed a group called the Order of the Trapezoid, which later evolved into the governing body of the Church of Satan.[28] According to Faxneld and Petersen, the Church of Satan represented "the first public, highly visible, and long-lasting organisation which propounded a coherent Satanic discourse".[29]

> Never one for theory, LaVey created a belief system somewhere between religion, philosophy, psychology, and carnival (or circus), freely appropriating science, mythology, fringe beliefs, and play in a potent mix. The core goal was always indulgence and vital existence, based on the devices and desires of the self-made man.

Per Faxneld and Jesper Petersen.[7]

LaVey began presenting Friday night lectures on the occult and rituals. A member of this circle suggested that he had the basis for a new religion. According to LaVey himself, on Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, he ritualistically shaved his head, allegedly "in the tradition of ancient executioners", declared the founding of the Church of Satan and proclaimed 1966 as "the Year One", Anno Satanas, the first year of the Age of Satan. LaVey's image has been described as "Mephistophelian", and may have been inspired by an occult-themed episode of the television show The Wild Wild West titled "The Night of the Druid's Blood" which originally aired on March 25, 1966 and starred Don Rickles as the evil magician and Satanic cult leader Asmodeus, whose Mephistophelean persona is virtually identical to that which LaVey adopted one month later. [30] Media attention followed the subsequent Satanic wedding ceremony of journalist John Raymond to New York City socialite Judith Case on February 1, 1967. The Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle were among the newspapers that printed articles dubbing him "The Black Pope". LaVey performed Satanic baptisms (including the first Satanic baptism in history for his three-year-old daughter Zeena, dedicating her to Satan and the Left-Hand Path, which garnered worldwide publicity and was originally recorded on The Satanic Mass LP).[31][32][33][34]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, LaVey melded ideological influences from Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand,[35] H. L. Mencken, and social Darwinism[36] with the ideology and ritual practices of the Church of Satan. He wrote essays introduced with reworked excerpts from Ragnar Redbeard's Might Is Right and concluded with "Satanized" versions of John Dee's Enochian Keys to create books such as The Complete Witch (re-released in 1989 as The Satanic Witch), and The Satanic Rituals.[37] The latter book also included rituals drawing on the work of H. P. Lovecraft. Admitting his use of Might is Right, LaVey stated that he did so in order to "immortalize a writer who had profoundly reached me".[38]

In 1972, the public work at LaVey's Black House in San Francisco was curtailed and work was continued via sanctioned regional "grottoes". In early 1975, LaVey announced that higher degrees of initiation could be given in return for a financial contribution.[5] In June 1975, editor of the Church's newsletter, Michael Aquino, left the Church of Satan and formed the theistic Temple of Set,[39] claiming to take an unknown number of dissenters with him. The Church maintains this policy announcement was designed to "clean house" of members who did not understand Satanic philosophy.[40]

## Later life and death

[edit]

In 1980, the FBI interviewed LaVey in connection with an alleged plot to murder Ted Kennedy. LaVey told the agents that most of the church's followers were "fanatics, cultists, and weirdos". The agents reported that LaVey's "interest in the Church of Satan is strictly from a monetary point of view," and that he spent "most of his time furnishing interviews, writing material, and lately has become interested in photography."[41]

In July 1984, Hegarty issued a restraining order against LaVey, which he did not contest.[42] LaVey's third and final companion was Blanche Barton. On November 1, 1993, Barton gave birth to Satan Xerxes Carnacki LaVey. Barton succeeded LaVey as the head of the Church after his death and has since stepped down from that role and handed it to Magus Peter H. Gilmore.[43]

According to his family, Anton LaVey died on October 29, 1997, in St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco of pulmonary edema;[44] however, his death certificate lists October 31, 1997.[45] He was taken to St. Mary's, a Catholic hospital, because it was the closest available. A secret Satanic funeral, attended by invitation only, was held in Colma, after which LaVey's body was cremated.

On February 2, 1998, his estranged daughter Zeena Schreck and her then husband Nikolas Schreck published a nine-page "fact sheet",[46] in which they endorsed Wright's earlier allegations and claimed that many more of LaVey's stories about his life had been false.[47]

## Thought

[edit]

LaVey included references to other esoteric and religious groups throughout his writings, claiming for instance that the Yazidis and Knights Templar were carriers of a Satanic tradition that had been passed down to the twentieth century.[48] Scholar of Satanism Per Faxneld believed that these references were deliberately tongue-in-cheek and ironic, but he noted that many Satanists who had read LaVey's writings had taken them to be literal historical claims about the past.[48][49] Although he regularly derided older esotericists, LaVey also relied upon their work; for instance, making use of John Dee's Enochian system in The Satanic Bible.[50] Faxneld therefore believed that there was a tension in LaVey's thought between his desire to establish prestigious Satanic predecessors and his desire to be seen as the founder of the first real Satanic society.[51]

Dyrendel argued that LaVey partook in conspiracy culture as he grew older, for he was greatly concerned with modern society's impact on individual agency.[52] LaVey was conservative in his attitude to law and order and insisted that the Church abide by state law in all of its actions.[53] He supported eugenics and believed that it would be a necessity in the future.[54] LaVey hated rock and metal music, with or without "Satanic" lyrics, and often expressed his distaste for it.[2]

## Reception and legacy

[edit]

Historian of Satanism Gareth J. Medway described LaVey as "A born showman",[5] with anthropologist Jean La Fontaine describing him as "A colourful figure of considerable personal magnetism".[6] Medway contrasted LaVey from the likes of Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Charles Manson, noting that whereas the latter were the charismatic leaders of apocalyptic communes, within the Church of Satan, "No one hung onto [LaVey's] every word, and church members [were] allowed considerable autonomy."[55]

The academic scholars, Per Faxneld and Jesper Aagaard Petersen, described LaVey as "the most iconic figure in the Satanic milieu",[7] while Asbjørn Dyrendel described him as "the founder of modern Satanism".[56] In his 2001 examination of Satanists, the sociologist James R. Lewis noted that, to his surprise, his findings "consistently pointed to the centrality of LaVey's influence on modern Satanism". As a result he "concluded that‍— despite his heavy dependence on prior thinkers‍— LaVey was directly responsible for the genesis of Satanism as a serious religious (as opposed to a purely literary) movement".[57]

His books The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals have been cited as having "an influence far beyond" the Church of Satan's membership.[6] In 1995, the religious studies scholar Graham Harvey wrote that although the Church had no organized presence in Britain, LaVey's writings were widely accessible in British bookshops.[58]

Due to increasing visibility through his books, LaVey was the subject of numerous articles in the news media throughout the world, including popular magazines such as Look, McCall's, Newsweek, and Time, and men's magazines. He also appeared on talk shows such as The Joe Pyne Show, Donahue, and The Tonight Show, and in a feature-length documentary called Satanis in 1970. LaVey claimed that he had been appointed consultant to the film Rosemary's Baby, which revolved around a group of fictional Satanists, and that he also had a cameo appearance in the film as the Devil. However, critics have argued that none of this was true.[59] In an article published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1991, the journalist Lawrence Wright revealed that through his own investigative work, he found that many of LaVey's claims about his life had been untrue.[47] Two official biographies have been written on LaVey, including The Devil's Avenger by Burton H. Wolfe, published in 1974 and The Secret Life of a Satanist by Blanche Barton, published in 1990.

## Politics

[edit]

Due to James Madole's opposition to Christianity, he sought new religious ideas and was attracted to a merging of fascism and Satanism that led to an alliance between LaVey and Madole. Black Sun by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke states, "James Wagner, a former Security Echelon (SE) commander, recalls that relations between the NRP and the Church of Satan, founded in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey, were cordial. Madole and LaVey frequently met at the NRP office and in the Warlock Bookshop in New York."[60]

## In popular culture

[edit]

* In Season 8 of American Horror Story (American Horror Story: Apocalypse), episode "Return To Murder House" (2018), LaVey is portrayed by Carlo Rota. This portrayal of LaVey received criticism from the Church of Satan, accusing the show of a biased representation of LaVey, who was depicted as worshipping a literal Satan.[61]
* In the feature film Polanski Unauthorized, Lavey is shown as an advisor in Roman Polanski's movie Rosemary's Baby, portrayed by Tom Druilhet.[62]
* Realm of Satan, 2024 documentary about the Church of Satan.

## LaVey-related books

[edit]

### Books by LaVey

[edit]

* The Satanic Bible (1969)
* The Satanic Rituals (1972)
* The Satanic Witch (1989)
* The Devil's Notebook (1992)
* Satan Speaks! (1998)
* Letters from the Devil (2010)

### Books featuring writings by LaVey

[edit]

* Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations: 1558-present! (1989)
* Apocalypse Culture: Expanded & Revised Edition (1990)
* Might Is Right or The Survival of the Fittest: Centennial Edition (1996)

### Books about LaVey

[edit]

* The Black Pope
* The Devil's Avenger: A Biography of Anton Szandor LaVey (1974)
* The Secret Life of a Satanist: The Authorized Biography of Anton LaVey (1990)
* Popular Witchcraft: Straight from the Witch's Mouth (2004)
* Letters From the Devil: The Lost Writing of Anton Szandor LaVey by Anton Szandor LaVey (2008)
* California Infernal: Anton LaVey & Jayne Mansfield: As Portrayed by Walter Fischer (2017)
* Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan: Infernal Wisdom from the Devil's Den (2022)
* Born with a Tail: The Devilish Life and Wicked Times of Anton Szandor LaVey, Founder of the Church of Satan (2024)

## Recordings of Anton LaVey

[edit]

* The Satanic Mass (1968)
* Answer Me/Honolulu Baby (1993)
* Strange Music (1994)
* Satan Takes a Holiday (1995)
* Anton Szandor Lavey The Devil Speaks (& Plays) (2017)

## Films starring LaVey

[edit]

* Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969)
* Satanis: The Devil's Mass (1970)
* The Devil's Rain (1975)
* Death Scenes (1989)
* Speak of the Devil: The Canon of Anton LaVey (1993)
* Iconoclast (2010)
* An American Satan (2019)

## See also

[edit]

* Left-hand path
* LaVeyan Satanism
* The Satanic Bible

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Wright, Lawrence – "It's Not Easy Being Evil in a World That's Gone to Hell", Rolling Stone, September 5, 1991: 63–68, 105–16.
2. ^ a b Harrington, Walt. "Anton LaVey America's Satanic Master of Devils, Magic, Music, and Madness". The Washington Post Magazine, February 23, 1986.
3. ^ Mitchell 2015, p. 102.
4. ^ Brottman, Mikita (2004). "Carnivalizing the Taboo". In Prince, Stephen (ed.). The Horror Film. Rutgers University Press. p. 172\. ISBN 9780813533636.
5. ^ a b c Medway 2001, p. 21.
6. ^ a b c La Fontaine 1999, p. 96.
7. ^ a b c Faxneld & Petersen 2013, p. 79.
8. ^ Petersen, Jesper Aagaard (2009). Contemporary Religious Satanism. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9780754652861.
9. ^ Lewis 2002, p. 5.
10. ^ "Anton LaVey, Church of Satan founder". SFGate. November 7, 1997.
11. ^ a b c "ROLLING STONE – SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL – 920S-000-004". maryellenmark.com.
12. ^ "Elaborate Christmas Program for Public this Friday Evening at 8:15 in Assembly Hall at Tamalpais HI". San Anselmo Herald. December 13, 1945. Retrieved August 9, 2022. "and oboe - Howard Levey"
13. ^ Awasu, Wilson (June 20, 2014). Being Single. WestBow Press. ISBN 9781490840925.
14. ^ Hatfield, Larry D. (November 7, 1997). "Anton LaVey, Church of Satan founder". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
15. ^ Stafford, Matthew (Tam 1978) (August 22, 2008). "Cool for school: For 100 years, it's been one Tam thing after another..." Pacific Sun. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2012.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
16. ^ "Rise of S.F. Satanist Church Cult". the San Francisco Examiner. January 29, 1967. Retrieved August 9, 2022. "A calliope player at 16 for the Clyde Beatty Circus, who went on to training lions and tigers"
17. ^ Video on YouTube
18. ^ LaVey, Anton Szandor (1999). Die Satanische Bible (Satanic Bible). Berlin: Second Sight Books.
19. ^ Wright, Lawrence. "It's not easy being evil in a world that's gone to hell". maryellenmark.com. Rolling Stone Magazine.
20. ^ Johnson, Lloyd (September 11, 1959). "Bright Lights". San Mateo Times. p. 17\. "Anton La Vey, genius of the calliope and organ entertains Sunday afternoon and evenings"
21. ^ The Church of Satan by Michael Aquino p. 17–19, detailing information from Harry Lipton, Monroe's agent, Paul Valentine and Edward Webber.
22. ^ Laycock, Satanism, 1981: section 4 The Church of Satan. From the Magic Circle to the Church of Satan.
23. ^ Lewis, James R. (2003). Legitimating New Religions. Rutgers University Press. p. 109\. ISBN 978-0813533247.
24. ^ Lattin, Don (January 25, 1999). "Satan's Den in Great Disrepair". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 16, 2009. "Both Karla LaVey  [sic] and Schreck were the product of LaVey's common-law marriage to Diane Hegarty from 1962 to 1986. One of the highlights of that unholy union was Schreck's 1967 Satanic baptism at the Black House, when she was three years old."
25. ^ "Palimony Suit Rests on Bed of Nails". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 11, 1988. Retrieved September 16, 2009. "On paper, the agreement seemed friendly enough: She got the 1967 Jaguar. He got the 1936 Cord, the 1972 Datsun 280 and the 1976 Cadillac limousine. Still to be decided were the medieval torture implements, the crystal ball, the devil bust, the bed of nails and the classic wooden coffin. But now, the whole thing has become a devil of an issue in San Francisco Superior Court, as the nation's first prince and princess of darkness square off in legal proceedings."
26. ^ Phillips, Richard (September 13, 1988). "The End is Near". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2009. "Anton Szandor LaVey, high priest of San Francisco's Church of Satan, lived with Diane Hegarty for 22 years. Now they are squaring off in a palimony suit over household property."
27. ^ Font, Amanda (October 20, 2023) [October 20, 2023]. "How the Church of Satan Was Born in San Francisco | KQED". www.kqed.org. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
28. ^ High Priest, Magus Peter H. Gilmore. "The Magic Circle / Order of the Trapezoid". churchofsatan.com.
29. ^ Faxneld & Petersen 2013, p. 81.
30. ^ LIFE Magazine, Shana Alexander & Feb 17, 1967, p. 31.
31. ^ "The Satanic Mass/Zeena's Baptism Track A9 go to 3:42". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013.
32. ^ "The Satanic Mass, Track A9 (Zeena's Baptism)". Murgenstrumm, 1968 Vinly LP. 1968.
33. ^ "Satanist Anton LaVey Baptising Daughter". San Francisco, California, USA: Bettmann/CORBIS. May 23, 1967. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. "LaVey [...] said the mystic ceremony was the first such baptism in history."
34. ^ "Clippings of Zeena's baptism world wide".
35. ^ Lewis, James R. "Who Serves Satan? A Demographic and Ideological Profile". Marburg Journal of Religion. June 2001.
36. ^ "Satanism: The Feared Religion".
37. ^ Gallagher 2013, p. 103.
38. ^ Gallagher 2013, p. 104.
39. ^ Medway 2001, pp. 21–22.
40. ^ "Pretenders to the Throne: Regarding the Temple of Set".
41. ^ David Gambacorta (January 12, 2020). "Satan, the FBI, the Mob—and the Forgotten Plot to Kill Ted Kennedy". Politico. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
42. ^ Medway 2001, p. 100.
43. ^ "Peter H. Gilmore".
44. ^ "Anton LaVey; Founded the Church of Satan". Los Angeles Times. November 8, 1997. Retrieved June 21, 2020. "Anton LaVey, who founded the Church of Satan in 1966 and wrote the "Satanic Bible" as a guide for international followers, has died at the age of 67. LaVey was cremated Tuesday after a satanic funeral at Woodlawn Memorial Chapel in Colma. Security concerns led his daughter, Church of Satan High Priestess Karla LaVey, to demand "absolute secrecy from all who knew of LaVey's death and satanic funeral," family spokesman Lee Houskeeper said. ..."
45. ^ "Anton S. Lavey Dies at 67". Washington Post. November 9, 1997. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
46. ^ Schreck, Zeena and Nikolas. "Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality". churchofsatan.org. Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
47. ^ a b Lewis 2002, p. 6.
48. ^ a b Faxneld 2013, p. 78.
49. ^ Faxneld 2013, pp. 82–83; Dyrendel 2013, p. 133.
50. ^ Faxneld 2013, p. 79.
51. ^ Faxneld 2013, p. 81.
52. ^ Dyrendel 2013, pp. 137, 138.
53. ^ La Fontaine 1999, p. 99.
54. ^ Lap 2013, p. 95.
55. ^ Medway 2001, p. 377.
56. ^ Dyrendel 2013, p. 124.
57. ^ Lewis 2001, p. 5.
58. ^ Harvey 1995, p. 290.
59. ^ La Fontaine 1999, p. 96; Lewis 2001, p. 51.
60. ^ Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity (Chap. 4) by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (2001, ISBN 0-8147-3155-4)
61. ^ "Carlo Rota". IMDb.
62. ^ "Polanski Unauthorized (2009) - IMDb". IMDb.

### Sources

[edit]

* Alexander, Shane (February 17, 1967). "Opinion and Comment: The Feminine Eye: The Ping is the Thing". LIFE magazine.
* Dyrendel, Asbjørn (2013). "Hidden Persuaders and Invisible Wars: Anton LaVey and Conspiracy Culture". In Per Faxneld; Jesper Aagaard Petersen (eds.). The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 123–40\. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-977924-6.123-40&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2013&rft_id=info:doi/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001&rft.isbn=978-0-19-977924-6&rft.aulast=Dyrendel&rft.aufirst=Asbjørn&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Faxneld, Per (2013). "Secret Lineages and de facto Satanists: Anton LaVey's Use of Esoteric Tradition". In Egil Asprem; Kennet Granholm (eds.). Contemporary Esotericism. Sheffield: Equinox. pp. 72–90\. ISBN 978-1-908049-32-2.72-90&rft.pub=Equinox&rft.date=2013&rft.isbn=978-1-908049-32-2&rft.aulast=Faxneld&rft.aufirst=Per&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Faxneld, Per; Petersen, Jesper Aa. (2013). "The Black Pope and the Church of Satan". In Per Faxneld; Jesper Aagaard Petersen (eds.). The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 79–82\. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-977924-6.79-82&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2013&rft_id=info:doi/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001&rft.isbn=978-0-19-977924-6&rft.aulast=Faxneld&rft.aufirst=Per&rft.au=Petersen,+Jesper+Aa.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Gallagher, Eugene V. (2013). "Sources, Sects, and Scripture: The Book of Satan in The Satanic Bible". In Per Faxneld; Jesper Aagaard Petersen (eds.). The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 103–22\. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-977924-6.103-22&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2013&rft_id=info:doi/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001&rft.isbn=978-0-19-977924-6&rft.aulast=Gallagher&rft.aufirst=Eugene+V.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Harvey, Graham (1995). "Satanism in Britain Today". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 10 (3): 283–296\. doi:10.1080/13537909508580747.283-296&rft.date=1995&rft_id=info:doi/10.1080/13537909508580747&rft.aulast=Harvey&rft.aufirst=Graham&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* La Fontaine, Jean (1999). "Satanism and Satanic Mythology". In Bengt Ankarloo; Stuart Clark (eds.). The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe Volume 6: The Twentieth Century. London: Athlone. pp. 94–140\. ISBN 0-485-89006-2.94-140&rft.pub=Athlone&rft.date=1999&rft.isbn=0-485-89006-2&rft.aulast=La+Fontaine&rft.aufirst=Jean&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Lap, Amina Olander (2013). "Categorizing Modern Satanism: An Analysis of LaVey's Early Writings". In Per Faxneld; Jesper Aagaard Petersen (eds.). The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 83–102\. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-977924-6.83-102&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2013&rft_id=info:doi/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199779239.001.0001&rft.isbn=978-0-19-977924-6&rft.aulast=Lap&rft.aufirst=Amina+Olander&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Lewis, James L. (2001). "Who Serves Satan? A Demographic and Ideological Profile". Marburg Journal of Religion. 6 (2): 1–25.1-25&rft.date=2001&rft.aulast=Lewis&rft.aufirst=James+L.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Lewis, James L. (2002). "Diabolical Authority: Anton LaVey, The Satanic Bible and the Satanist "Tradition"". Marburg Journal of Religion. 7 (1): 1–16\. doi:10.17192/mjr.2002.7.3733.1-16&rft.date=2002&rft_id=info:doi/10.17192/mjr.2002.7.3733&rft.aulast=Lewis&rft.aufirst=James+L.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">
* Medway, Gareth J. (2001). Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism. New York and London: New York University Press. ISBN 9780814756454.
* Mitchell, Charles P. (June 8, 2015). The Devil on Screen: Feature Films Worldwide, 1913 through 2000. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0533-3.
* Petersen, Jesper Aagaard (2013). "From Book to Bit: Enacting Satanism Online". In Egil Asprem; Kennet Granholm (eds.). Contemporary Esotericism. Sheffield: Equinox. pp. 134–158\. ISBN 978-1-908049-32-2.134-158&rft.pub=Equinox&rft.date=2013&rft.isbn=978-1-908049-32-2&rft.aulast=Petersen&rft.aufirst=Jesper+Aagaard&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anton+LaVey" class="Z3988">

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anton LaVey.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Anton LaVey.

### Writings by LaVey

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* The Nine Satanic Statements
* The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth
* The Nine Satanic Sins
* Pentagonal Revisionism: A Five-Point Program, 1988
* The World's Most Powerful Religion
* Enochian Pronunciation Guide
* Letters From The Devil from The National Insider, Vol. 14, No. 17, April 27, 1969.
* On Occultism of the Past from The Cloven Hoof, September 1971 c.e., Volume Three, Number Nine.

### Interviews with LaVey

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* Section concerning Anton LaVey in Chapter XII (Satan in the Suburbs) of "Occult America" by John Godwin (Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1972)
* Section concerning Anton LaVey in "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sorcery, But Were Afraid to Ask" by Arlene J. Fitzgerald (Manor Books, 1973)
* "Anton LaVey: America's Satanic Master of Devils, Magic, Music, and Madness" by Walt Harrington in "The Washington Post Magazine", February 23, 1986.
* "Anton LaVey / The Church of Satan Interview" by Eugene Robinson in "The Birth of Tragedy", No. 4 "The God Issue", November 1986 – January 1987
* "Dinner with the Devil: An evening with Anton Szandor LaVey, the High Priest of the Church of Satan" by Reverend Bob Johnson in "High Society", August 1994.
* "The Doctor is in......" by Shane & Amy Bugbee in "MF Magazine" #3, Summer 1997.
* Interview with Anton LaVey by Michelle Carr and Elvia Lahman, originally published in the September 11, 1997 Velvet Hammer souvenir programme.

### About LaVey

[edit]

* Anton Szandor LaVey: A Biographical Sketch by Magus Peter H. Gilmore, on the Church of Satan's official website.
* Anton Lavey by Alex Burns at disinformation.
* Anton LaVey at IMDb
* People of Significance entry for LaVey
* Short biographical sketch with particular focus on his influence on Marilyn Manson, taken from "Spin magazine" (February 1998, pg. 64).

Religious titles

Preceded by

none

|  High Priest of the Church of Satan
1966–1997  | Succeeded by

Peter H. Gilmore
(after vacancy)

* v
* t
* e

LaVeyan Satanism

High Priest|

* Anton LaVey (1966–1997)
* Peter H. Gilmore (2001–present)

High Priestess|

* Diane Hegarty (1966–1985)
* Zeena LaVey (1985–1990)
* Karla LaVey (1990–1999)
* Blanche Barton (1997–2002)
* Peggy Nadramia (2002–present)

Organizations|

* Church of Satan
* First Satanic Church
* (see also The Black House, Grotto, Council of Nine)

Influential figures|

* Pope John XII
* Martin Luther
* John Calvin
* Huldrych Zwingli
* Henry VIII
* John Wesley
* John Smyth
* Voltaire
* David Hume
* Francis Newport
* Thomas Paine
* Pope Innocent VIII
* Friedrich Nietzsche
* Ayn Rand
* Herbert Spencer
* Arthur Desmond
* Fyodor Dostoevsky
* Charles Darwin
* Sigmund Freud
* Niccolò Machiavelli
* Carl Jung
* Jacques Collin de Plancy
* Wilhelm Reich
* Joris-Karl Huysmans
* P.T. Barnum
* Paracelsus
* John Dee
* Éliphas Lévi
* Henri Antoine Jules-Bois
* Gérard Encausse (Papus)
* Raymond Abellio
* Joseph-Antoine Boullan
* Stanislas de Guaita
* Urbain Grandier
* Adam Parfrey
* Michael Angelo Aquino
* William Mortensen
* Salman Rushdie
* Billie Eilish
* Albert Einstein
* Aleister Crowley
* Martin Luther King Jr.
* Niccolò Paganini
* Maria de Naglowska
* Stanisław Przybyszewski
* Helena Blavatsky
* Karl Marx
* Friedrich Engels
* Grigori Rasputin
* Vladimir Lenin
* Joseph Stalin
* Leon Trotsky
* Felix Dzerzhinsky
* Napoleon Bonaparte
* Adolf Hitler
* Alfred Rosenberg
* Martin Bormann
* Benjamin Franklin
* Benito Mussolini
* Hans F. K. Günther
* H. P. Lovecraft
* Edward Bernays
* H. L. Mencken
* Jack London
* Pope Francis
* Ambrose Bierce
* Benjamin De Casseres
* Arthur Schopenhauer
* Max Stirner
* Bernardino Nogara
* Basil Zaharoff
* Mark Twain
* John Milton
* Nikolay Novikov
* Peter the Great
* Edgar Allan Poe
* Victor Hugo
* Francis Dashwood

Literature|

* The Satanic Bible
* The Satanic Witch
* The Satanic Rituals
* The Secret Life of a Satanist
* We Are Satanists
* The Devil's Notebook
* Satan Speaks!
* Letters from the Devil
* The Satanic Scriptures

| Other media|

* The Satanic Mass
* Satanis: The Devil's Mass
* Speak of the Devil: The Canon of Anton LaVey
* The Black Flame
* Satan Takes a Holiday
* Strange Music
* Death Scenes

|

Satanic holidays|

* Birthday
* Equinoxes
* Walpurgisnacht
* Solstices
* Halloween
* Yule

Ideas and concepts|

* Amorality
* Animalism
* Antihumanism
* Balance of nature
* Blasphemy
* Burlesque
* Carnality
* Carnivalesque
* Carpe diem, carpe noctem
* Communism
* Capitalism
* Elitism
* Epicureanism
* Egoism
* Egotheism
* Eugenics
* Fascism
* Grotesque body
* Hierarchy
* Individualism
* Iconoclasm
* Jungian psychology
* Law of the jungle
* Lex talionis
* Marxism
* Materialism
* Meritocracy
* Misanthropy
* Naturalism
* Pragmatism
* Psychic vampire
* Realism
* Self-preservation
* Social Darwinism
* Social stratification
* Universal Darwinism

Related topics|

* An Interview with Peter H. Gilmore
* Sigil of Baphomet
* Satanic panic
* Hellfire Club
* The All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters

* v
* t
* e

Greater and lesser magic

Greater magic|

| Concepts|

* Adrenal energy
* Autosuggestion
* Catharsis
* Closet drama
* Creative visualization
* Magical thinking
* Mental energy
* Mind's eye
* Power of suggestion
* Psychodrama
* Psychotherapy
* Self-hypnosis
* Synchronicity
* Willful suspension of disbelief
* Wishful thinking

|

Activity|

* Barbarous name
* Black Mass
* Body worship
* Curse
* Diabolical rebaptism
* Emotional exorcism
* Enochian Keys
* Fertility rite
* Hail Satan
* Host desecration
* The infernal names
* Osculum infame
* Shemhamphorasch
* Sign of the horns
* So mote it be
* Voodoo

Tools|

* Bell
* Candles
* Censer
* Chalice
* Effigy
* Electrostatic generator
* Elixir
* Flash powder
* Gong
* Imagery
* Mask
* Parchment
* Phallus
* Scourge
* Skull
* Sword

Lesser magic|

| Concepts|

* Barnum effect
* Cold reading
* Confidence trick
* Covert hypnosis
* Evil eye
* Glamour
* Body image
* Body odor
* Persona
* Phrenology
* Physiognomy
* Somatotype
* Psychological manipulation
* Kinesics
* Reactivity
* Sleight of hand
* Smoke and mirrors
* Soft power
* Sprezzatura

|

Related fields|

* Cryptozoology
* Folk psychology
* Fortune-telling
* Ghost hunting
* Herbalism
* Hypnotism
* Witchcraft
* Theatrical séance
* Ufology

Related topics|

* Psychological theories of magic
* Medical explanations of bewitchment
* Myth and ritual
* Magia Naturalis
* Voodoo death

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Portugal
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Poland
* Israel
* Finland

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

People|

* Trove
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef

*[c.]: circa
*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template