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CHURCH OF SATAN (COS)


HISTORY

1930 - Anton Szandor LaVey was born Howard Stanton Levey in Chicago, Illinois.

LaVey grew up outside of San Francisco. He dropped out of school and used his musical skills to support himself.

1951 - LaVey married fifteen year-old Carole Lansing. The couple had two children and lived in a home owned by La Vey's parents.

1960 - LaVey divorced Carole Lansing and formed a 25-year relationship with Diane Hegarty. The couple gave birth to Zeena Galatea La Vey.

1966 - Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan (COS) in San Francisco, California.

He shaved his head, donned a hooded black robe, and pronounced himself the High Priest of the COS and the "Black Pope." He proclaimed 1966 to be the first year of the Age of Satan (Anno Satanas).

He painted his parents' house black and purple, and it became known as the "Black House." It became the headquarters of COS.

LaVey and underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger organized the Magic Circle, an occult discussion group, and a topless nightclub act called the "Witches Sabbath," with strippers dressed as witches and vampires, where he promoted his philosophy.

1967 - The Church of Satan performed a satanic wedding ceremony, setting off a flurry of media coverage. He also began performing baptisms and funerals.

1969 - LaVey published the Satanic Bible, outlining the principles of LaVeyan Satanism.

1975 - Michael Aquino, a COS leader, left the church to found the Temple of Set.

1970s – Interest in Satanism declined and LaVey withdrew from public view.

1980 - LaVey and Diane Hegarty divorced. LaVey developed a relationship with Blanche Barton, who became his final companion and bore him his only son, Satan Xerxes.

1997 - Anton LaVey died as a result of a pulmonary edema, and Blanche Barton became the Church of Satan's High Priestess.

2001 - Peter Gilmore became High Priest of Church of Satan after Barton stepped down.

2002 - Peggy Nadramia became High Priestess of Church of Satan.

2006 - The Church of Satan held its first public Satanic Mass in 40 years (06/06/06).

MYTH

Satanism has assumed a variety of forms, real and imagined, through human history.

Allegations of organized worship of Satan can be traced to Europe during the Middle Ages. Fears of Satan worship surfaced during the 15th century witch hunts, and Christian manuals were produced for depicting and combating Satanism, most notably the Malleus Maleficarum (circa 1486) and Compendium Maleficarum (circa 1620).

In colonial America, there was a period of witchcraft allegations and witch hunting, most notably in Salem, Massachusetts.

Through American history conservative Christian groups have taught that Satan is an active, personal presence in human affairs. Satan's presence explains evil and misfortune, identifies heretical faiths, and bolsters Christian solidarity.

Contemporary Satanism can be divided into three versions: reactive esoteric, and rational.

● Reactive Satanism is organized around opposition to Christianity and uses Christian imagery. Satan, is the Devil. This version is most often practiced by adolescents awho use Satanism as a means of engaging in anti-social behavior.
● Esoteric Satanism is more theistically oriented and uses the esoteric traditions of Paganism, Western Esotericism, Buddhism and Hinduism, among others, to formulate a religion of self-actualization.
● Rational Satanism is atheistic and uses Satan as a symbol of rebellion, individuality, carnality and empowerment. Practitioners describe themselves as an "alien" elite and emphasize indulgence and vital existence.

LaVey's philosophy is contained in a number of books:

Satanic Bible (1969). The foundational text on Satanism, describing the philosophy.The book was recruited by an editor at Avon Books. It was influenced by Might Is Right, an 1896 social Darwinist oriented book written by Ragnar Redbeard (a pseudonym) and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged . Has remained in print continuously since 1969 and probably has sold 1,000,000 copies.
● The Compleat Witch (1971). Instructions on how to manipulate others to achieve one's goals.
● The Satanic Rituals (1972). Supplement to the Satanic Bible, describing satanic rituals in other cultures. ● The Devil’s Notebook (1992)
● Satan Speaks (1998).

Principles of LaVeyan Satanism

● There is no transcendent god or moral order
● Human beings are simply animals and the Darwinist struggle for survival and survival of the fittest constitute the fundamental laws of nature.
● Satan is not an actual entity but rather simply symbolizes humanity's true animal nature. Satan symbolizes individualism and self-interest and rejection of institutional controls, particularly religion.
● COS's "anti-theology" inverts traditional Christian values, such as sexual constraints, pride and avarice, and elevates their opposites, such as indulgence, self-assertion, and sexual freedom, as satanic virtues.
● Humans possess a reservoir of power that they can control and that once unleashed can make humans gods. However, these "occult forces" are simply natural forces that are discoverable by science. COS is therefore founded on accepting the laws of science.

COS Philosophy is clearly expressed in its "Nine Satanic Statements" (LaVey 1969:25).

● Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!
● Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
● Satan represents undefiled wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
● Satan represents kindness to those that deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!
● Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!
● Satan represents responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!
● Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, often worse than those that walk on all fours, who, because of his "divine spiritual and intellectual development," has become the most vicious animal of all!
● Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!
● Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years!

LaVey also compiled a list of "Nine Satanic Sins" (e.g., stupidity, pretentiousness, self-deceit, drug use, consumerism) and "Eleven Satanic Rules of Earth" (e.g., no harming children, killing non-human animals, attacking others unless assaulted first).


RITUALS

Early in COS history the "Black Mass" (a parody of the Roman Catholic Mass) was performed as a means of expressing opposition to Christianity and other institutionalized religion. It was a psychodrama through which blasphemies could be expressed cathartically. Symbols included hooded robes; an inverted crucifix; a nude woman used as an altar; baptisms, weddings, and funerals with satanic content.

The central COS ritual is magic (the capacity to change outcomes, which could not be changed through ordinary methods, in accordance with one's will). All magic is amoral.

● Lesser Magic. A system of manipulation that draws on one's natural ability to manipulate others. There are three types: sexual (with the objective being seduction and ecstasy), compassionate (with the objective being helping loved ones), and destructive (with the objective being to release anger).
● Greater magic involves influencing external events by creating an extreme emotional state that produces high levels of adrenaline. If the levels are high enough, one's vision of what one wishes to happen will penetrate the unconscious mind of the person being influenced. If the time is right, the person will behave as the influencer wishes.

LEADERSHIP/ORGANIZATION

LaVey and his followers crafted an elaborate, but later discredited, hagiography

● La Vey’s grandmother was a Transylvanian gypsy who introduced him to the occult as a child.
● LaVey ran away from home at age 16 and then worked successively in jobs such as an oboe player in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, circus lion tamer with the Clyde Beatty Circus, stage hypnotist, nightclub organist, and police department photographer.
● LaVey claimed romantic affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.

LaVey also developed an exotic persona that attracted media coverage.
● He conducted a satanic ritual with a nude member of his congregation, Lois Morgenstern, serving as the altar
● He drove a coroner's van as a car; painted the walls of his home black; and kept a variety of exotic pets (a tarantula, python, and pet Nubian lion named Tolgare).

A string of celebrities, including Jayne Mansfield, Sammy Davis Jr., King Diamond and Marilyn Manson were linked to COS.

LaVey initially organized the church into local units, grottoes, which were controlled directly by the church.

At the height of the church's popularity there were grottos in many major cities in the U.S.

Membership in COS has been estimated in the hundreds of thousands but probably never exceeded a few hundred.

LaVey abolished the grotto system in 1975 because it catered to pop culture Satanism. He wanted COS to be an underground, alien elite.

COS subsequently became a decentralized organization with two categories of members. "First-level" members simply pay fill out a registration card and pay a fee. The five levels of Active Membership are available only by invitation. The top three degrees constitute the priesthood and are addressed as either Reverend or "Magister/Magistra" and "Magus/Maga." Most members have little contact with grottoes. Grottoes are independent and self-supporting.

The church itself is administered by a Council of Nine, which controls doctrine, the LaVey estate, and LaVey's writings.

COS never made LaVey wealthy or even supported him. By the mid-1970s he lived at a near poverty level and relied on generosity of family and supporters. He lost ownership of the Black House, which was demolished in 2001.

When membership and public interest in the Church of Satan declined in the 1970s, LaVey withdrew from public view.

Following LaVey's death in 1997, Blanche Barton assumed leadership of COS and moved it to New York City. There were several other leaders after 2001. Peggy Nadramia became the High Priestess in 2002. 


CONTROVERSY

Christian churches openly condemn COS, which charges them with suppressing humanity's naturally physical, animal nature and appetites by labeling them as sinful. COS also calls for the strict taxation of donations to all churches.

COS's "anti-theology" espouses rebellion to all authority that limits the expression of individual autonomy and authenticity. Individuals should freely indulge their mental, emotional, and physical qualities.

Representing an "Alien Elite, COS endorses the survival of the fittest and overcoming the weak; it opposes universal human rights and equality.

Virtually all of the details in LaVey's hagiography have been challenged (Gypsy ancestry, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, official city organist, lion tamer in the Clyde Beatty Circus, affair with Marilyn Monroe, studied Criminology at San Francisco City College, worked with the San Francisco Police Department, involved in the production of Rosemary's Baby)

COS experienced numerous schisms through its history. Zeena LaVey Schreck formed the Sethian Liberation Movement and Karla LaVey established the First Satanic Church.

The most important challenge came from Michael Aquino, who founded the Temple of Set in 1975. Aquino teaches that there is a living satanic deity, Set.  

During the 1980s COS was swept up in a wave of satanic subversion fear that swept across North America and Europe, centering around claims of the existence a massive, international, underground, hierarchically organized satanic network. The public face of Satanism was “organized satanists,” consisting of the satanic churches, which publicly engaged in the worship of Satan.