Anton LaVey, The Occultist Who Founded The Church Of Satan
Not much is known about the early life of Anton LaVey. He dabbled in a series of jobs throughout his young adulthood, all the while gaining a reputation as a bizarre figure in the San Francisco area. He had a pet leopard that he walked around the city, and he gave lectures to small groups on occult themes and his rejection of Christian morals.
Wikimedia CommonsAnton LaVey named himself the High Priest of the Church of Satan in the 1960s.
In The Satanic Bible, which LaVey published in 1969, he wrote of the hypocrisy that pushed him away from Christianity: “On Saturday night I would see men lusting after half-naked girls dancing at the carnival, and on Sunday morning… I would see these same men sitting in the pews with their wives and children.”
“I knew then,” LaVey continued, “that the Christian Church thrives on hypocrisy, and that man’s carnal nature will out!”
So, on April 30, 1966, Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan to worship with other occultists. “He had seen the need for a church that would recapture man’s body and his carnal desires as objects of celebration,” reads The Satanic Bible. LaVey himself stated, “Since worship of fleshly things produces pleasure, there would then be a temple of glorious indulgence.”
LaVey’s “Black House” in San Francisco became the religion’s headquarters. There, as the “High Priest,” he hosted disturbing rituals that used naked women as altars.
Bettmann/Getty ImagesAnton LaVey emerges from a false fireplace in his study.
Despite its name, however, the Church of Satan didn’t worship Christianity’s idea of the Devil. Instead, it was more of a counterculture group that promoted humanistic values and encouraged members to be self-assertive, not weak. Followers were also told to obey the law and not to harm others.
Still, LaVey’s church never had more than a couple thousand members. The “Black Pope” died in 1997, bringing an end to the life of one of modern history’s most infamous occultists.
