Satanism
Satanism
Church of Satan
PO Box 499, New York, NY 10101-0499
One story repeated continually in the media throughout the 1970s was how Anton LaVey (1930–1997) shaved his head on Walpurgisnacht (April 30) in 1966, proclaimed the beginning of the satanic era, and launched the Church of Satan. LaVey became a celebrity of the burgeoning occult movement and the object of front-page newspaper articles. His early fame came from news coverage of such events as a satanic funeral service for a Navy man killed in an accident at Treasure Island Navy Base, rituals performed with a nude woman on the altar in his black house in San Francisco, the revelation of the actress Jayne Mansfield’s association with the church, and a bit part for LaVey (as the Devil) in the movie Rosemary’s Baby.
LaVey had been a circus animal trainer and carnival organist. While he was with the carnival, he became intrigued by claims of paranormal phenomena and gained a reputation as a ghost-hunting debunker. Over the coming years, LaVey would write five books—The Satanic Bible (1969), The Compleat Witch (1971; reprinted in 1989 as The Satanic Witch), The Satanic Rituals (1972), The Devil’s Notebook (1992), and Satan Speaks (1998). Each explores the philosophy of satanism he embodied in the Church of Satan, and the latter two works include much in the way of social commentary and wry observations on the human condition.
The basic themes of LaVey’s satanism are carnality, self-assertion, anti-establishmentarianism, and the epicurean gratification of man’s physical and mental nature. Satan is seen as a Promethean figure, representing indulgence, vital existence, undefiled wisdom, kindness to the deserving, vengeance, responsibility to the responsible, the notion that man is just another animal, and the so-called sins that lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification when indulged in with moderation. In LaVey’s view, Satan represents the source of these life-enhancing values. Rituals were conceived both as self-transformative psychodramas and as magical acts that focus emotional energy, with the goal being to plant thoughts in the minds of others, who will bring about the sorcerer’s will.
Satanic philosophy is, at its base, atheistic. It embraces social Darwinism and skepticism, and it is meant to be a tool for getting the most out of life, since there is no belief in an afterlife. Each satanist is seen as living according to his own set of values. The Church of Satan opposes illegal acts that are at variance with laws established for the common good. Sex is viewed as the strongest instinct (next to self preservation) and natural in all forms between consenting adults. Drugs use is viewed as escapist and contrary to the realistic view of life as preached by the church.
The church celebrates three main holidays. For individuals, the most important day is one’s birthday. For the group, Walpurgisnacht celebrates the climax of spring and the anniversary of the church’s founding, while Halloween is an ancient harvest festival that now serves as a time to explore the often repressed sides of its celebrants through dressing in masks and costumes. The equinoxes and solstices are also celebrated as seasonal turning points..
Baptism is a ceremony of glorification of the one baptized. LeVey’s works offer rituals for different magical goals (e.g., compassion, lust, destruction) as well as celebratory purposes. The Enochian Keys, which first appeared in print in 1659 in a biography of John Dee (and were later used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) are employed in satanized versions in rituals. The text used for the traditional Black Mass ritual, “Le Messe Noir,” is found in The Satanic Rituals). As performed by the church, it is meant to be not simply a blasphemous pageant against the Catholic Church, but a purging ritual that makes full use of psychodrama to rid individuals of the influence of any sacred cows. Satanic wedding and funeral rites were revealed in The Satanic Scriptures (2007) by High Priest Peter H. Gilmore.
Operating from the San Francisco headquarters, the Church of Satan spread to urban centers across the United States, with grottos in Miami, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York City; and throughout the Midwest. By 1977, one spokesperson claimed more than 10,000 members for the church (lifetime membership is available for a $200.00 registration fee). In the mid-1970s, administratively centralized grottos were deemed counterproductive and disbanded. A more cabal-like underground structure was instituted and continues today. Over the years, groups have emerged that use LaVeyan ritual and philosophy, but that may or may not give LaVey credit and are not affiliated in any way with the Church of Satan.
When LaVey died in 1997, Blanche Barton was High Priestess and succeeded him as the Church’s administrative head. In 2001 Peter H. Gilmore was appointed High Priest, and in 2002 his wife Peggy Nadramia became High Priestess, with Barton remaining as the chairperson of the advisory board, the Council of Nine. In 2007 Gilmore wrote The Satanic Scriptures, which brings the philosophy of satanism up to date and explains the workings of the Church of Satan. The book also includes social commentary and important rituals. It is being translated to date into French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Estonian.
Membership
Not reported. Church membership statistics are considered confidential. Church membership is granted for life to new members (who can be expelled if they do not live up to the philosophy), and there is no published account of active members (estimated to be several thousand). Internationally, the church reports concentrations of members in just about every nation in the Americas and Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand, with newer members in the Middle and Far East as well as South Africa. The Satanic Bible has recently been translated into French, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Italian, and Spanish.
Periodicals
The Black Flame (officially endorsed) • The Cloven Hoof.
Sources
Church of Satan. www.churchofsatan.com.
Barton, Blanche. The Secret Life of a Satanist. Los Angeles: Feral House, 1990.
LaVey, Anton Szandor. The Satanic Bible. New York: Avon, 1969.
———. The Compleat Witch. New York: Lancer Books, 1971.
———. The Satanic Rituals. Secaucus, NJ: University Books, 1972.
———. The Devil’s Notebook. Los Angeles: Feral House, 1992.
———. Satan Speaks. Los Angeles: Feral House, 1998.
Lewis, James R., and Jesper Aagaard Petersen. The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of Satanism. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Press, 2008.
Wolff, Burton H. The Devil’s Avenger. New York: Pyramid Books, 1974.
First Church of Satan
Current address not obtained for this edition.
The First Church of Satan was one of several small satanic groups to emerge in the 1990s as the Church of Satan experienced a shift of leadership from founder Anton LaVey (1930–1997) to Blanche Barton and the controversies accompanying that change. John Dewey Alle (b. 1951), known as Lord Egan, had been a member of the church of Satan in the 1970s but turned to other pursuits in the 1980s. In the mid-1990s he decided to reactivate his association with the milieu created by LaVey but quickly found himself in conflict with Barton. He charged the Church of Satan with having shifted its emphasis from a celebration of individualism (the primary message behind the Church of Satan’s outward manifestation) into an assertion of elitism.
Alle founded the First Church of Satan as an instrument to champion the satanic spiritual path. Satanism was viewed as a path for freethinkers and individualists who wished to pursue truth through self-exploration and spiritual stimulation. The church did not center on a particular structure or belief system, but allowed individuals to seek their own way. The church tolerated all spiritual paths, discouraging any dogmatic approach to the spiritual life.
The church also discouraged debate over the existence of Satan. Rather, images of Satan as the promoter of freedom were seen as valid metaphors of the spiritual aspiration, and the Satanic Bible (with the additional teachings offered by LaVey through the Church of Satan) as tools encouraging individuals to develop their personal spirituality.
The church encouraged the creation of satanic covens (groups), though such local groups were considered strictly autonomous. The First Church of Satan did not issue charters for covens, though it did provide material to facilitate their operation. Membership was open to anyone who made a modest donation to the church.
Alle continued to evolve philosophically. In 2003, with the help of his wife, Lillee C. Alle, he created a new magical system based on Hermetics that he termed the Alle Shadow Tradition. The new “tradition” superseded and replaced the First Church of Satan.
Membership
The First Church of Satan was a small organization (low hundreds) that sought to influence people primarily through the Internet. The LaVey movement numbered in the low thousands. Many people were influenced by The Satanic Bible, which has remained in print since its first publication in the 1960s.
Sources
Alle, John. www.myspace.com/crystalscryer
Alle Shadow Tradition. www.alleeshadowtradition.com
First Satanic Church
PO Box 475177, San Francisco, CA 94147
The First Satanic Church is one of several small satanic groups to emerge in the 1990s in the wake of the death of Anton LaVey (1930–1997), the founder of the Church of Satan, and the emergence of Blanche Barton to leadership. Karla LaVey, Anton LaVey’s eldest daughter, did not accept Barton’s leadership, and in 1999 she disaffiliated with the Church of Satan and founded the First Satanic Church in an attempt to recover what she felt had been lost. The church promotes and uses the writings of Anton LaVey.
The First Satanic Church sees itself as an elite organization designed to engage those few who wish to engage in a serious study of the occult realm, particularly satanism. The new church differs from the present Church of Satan in several aspects. Although sharing the teachings presented in The Satanic Bible and other writings of LaVey, the First Satanic Church engage in the recruitment of members. Those who become aware of the church and wish to affiliate take the lead in making contact. In addition, although it has several Internet sites, the church does not see itself as a cyberspace organization and demands that prospective members make contact by more traditional means. Prospective members must go through a screening process.
The First Satanic Church sees itself as the purveyor of individualism and self-interest. Satan is the symbol of opposition to the majority mindset that seeks to mold the individual into its image. As such, satanism is neither the inverse of Christianity, but presents another spiritual path. Nor is the church involved with illegal activities such as animal mutilation or sacrifice. The church has established an online community using a cyber address that parodies The 700 Club, the television show of popular Christian televangelist Pat Robertson. The church has also developed a radio outreach, The Voice of Satan. Karla LaVey holds an annual celebration of the Black Mass each year on Halloween.
Membership
Not reported. The church has less than 100 members.
Sources
First Satanic Church. satanicchurch.com/content/.
Luciferian Light Group
PO Box 7207, Tampa, FL 33673
The Luciferian Light Group is an organization founded in the early 1990s that is dedicated to bringing forth the ancient teachings of Lucifer and hastening the establishment of the Satanic Empire. The order is organized as a secret society with an inner circle that is called the Church of Luciferian Light.
Membership
Not reported.
Periodicals
Onslaught.
Temple of Set
PO Box 470307, San Francisco, CA 94147
The Temple of Set was founded in 1975 by members of the international priest-hood of the Church of Satan who had resigned from that institution because of what they considered to be its over-commercialism. A senior initiate, Michael A. Aquino, invoked the Prince of Darkness in quest of a new mandate to preserve and enhance what he held to be the more noble concepts which the Church of Satan had conceived. The mandate was given in the form of The Book of Coming Forth by Night, a statement by that entity in his most ancient semblance as Set. Set ordained the Temple of Set to succeed the Church of Satan. The temple describes itself as an initiatory institution dedicated to Set, an ancient Egyptian deity, the corrupted legends of whom became the basis for the Christian Satan.
Temple initiates do not consider Set an evil figure, nor do they consider the temple merely a refutation of conventional religion. According to temple philosophy, the universe is a nonconscious environment possessed of mechanical consistency. In contrast to the universe, and occasionally violating its laws, is Set. Set has, over a period of millennia, altered the genetic makeup of humans in order to create a species possessing an enhanced, nonnatural intelligence. The techniques and teachings of the temple are designed to identify and develop this higher evolutionary potential in appropriate individuals.
The temple is governed by the Council of Nine, which appoints the high priest of Set and the executive director. There are six initiatory degrees: Setian, Adept, Priest(ess) of Set, Master of the Temple, Magus, and Ipsissimus. The program is designed principally for individuals, although there are local Pylons of the Temple in several parts of the United States. International conclaves for the entire temple are held annually. The temple provides an annotated reading list containing material on a wide range of occult, scientific, and religious subjects. Topics covered include ancient Egypt, historical and contemporary occultism, psychology, ethics, and experimental science.
Membership
In 2002 the temple had approximately 500 members.
Periodicals
Scroll of Set.
Remarks
Among those who joined in the founding of the Temple of Set was Lilith Sinclair, leader of what had been known as the Spottswood (New Jersey) Grotto of the Church of Satan, the largest group of its kind on the East Coast.
Sources
Temple of Set. www.xeper.org/
Aquino, Michael A. The Crystal Tablet of Set. San Francisco, CA: Temple of Set, 1985.
———. Temple of Set Reading List XIX. San Francisco, CA: Temple of Set, 1984.
Scott, Gini Graham. The Magicians. New York: Irvington Publishers, 1983.