Anton LaVey
Anton Szandor LaVey (
11 April,
1930 –
29 October,
1997) was the founder and High Priest of the
Church of Satan, and author of
The Satanic Bible. He is often known as a "founder of
Satanism."
He claimed no supernatural "inspiration" for this religion, but rather synthesized his understanding of human nature and the insights of earlier philosophers who advocated
materialism and
individualism. LaVey viewed Satan not as a literal deity or entity, but as a historic literary figure symbolic of Earthly values.
Born in
Chicago, Illinois, the son of a
liquor distributor, his family soon relocated to
California where he spent most of his life (in the
San Francisco Bay Area). His ancestry could be traced to a mixture of
French,
Alsatian,
German,
Russian, and
Romanian stock
[Barton, Blanche The Secret Life of a Satanist]. His parents supported the development of his musical abilities as he tried his hand at various instruments, his favorite being keyboards like the
pipe organ and the
calliope.
Anton regarded his development as being heavily influenced by dark literature and legends,
horror and
science fiction pulp magazines, the works of
Jack London,
film noir,
German Expressionism, and historical figures such as
Cagliostro,
Rasputin and
Basil Zaharoff. He cited his eastern European grandmother's stories and folktales as influential.
LaVey's biography tells of his dropping out of
high school to join the
circus and
carnivals, first as a
roustabout and cage boy in an act with the big cats, later as a musician playing the
calliope. LaVey later noted that seeing many of the same men attending both the bawdy Saturday nights shows as well as the tent revival meetings on Sunday mornings supported his increasingly cynical view of religion. He later had many stints as an organist in bars, lounges, and nightclubs. While playing organ in
Los Angeles burlesque houses, he reportedly had a brief affair with the still-unknown
Marilyn Monroe, a claim that was later challenged by some.
According to his biography, LaVey moved back to
San Francisco where he worked for a while as a
photographer for the Police Department. He also dabbled as a psychic investigator, looking into "800 calls" referred to him by the police department. Later biographers have questioned whether LaVey ever worked with the police, as there are no records substantiating the claim. During this time, it has been alleged, he was involved in underground
Zionist groups in
San Francisco which helped smuggle arms to the
Irgun during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War.
LaVey met and married Carole Lansing, who bore him his first daughter,
Karla LaVey, in 1952. They divorced in 1960 after LaVey became entranced by
Diane Hegarty. Hegarty and LaVey never married, but was his companion for many years, and she bore his second daughter,
Zeena Galatea LaVey in 1964.
Becoming a local celebrity through his
paranormal research and live performances as an organist (including playing the
Wurlitzer at the Lost Weekend cocktail lounge), he would attract many
San Francisco notables to his parties. Guests included Carin de Plessin,
Michael Harner, Chester A. Arthur III,
Forrest J. Ackerman,
Fritz Leiber, Dr. Cecil E. Nixon, and
Kenneth Anger.
LaVey began presenting Friday night lectures on the
occult to what he called a "
Magic Circle" of associates who shared his interests. A member of this circle suggested that he had the basis for a new
religion. On
Walpurgisnacht,
30 April,
1966, he ritualistically shaved his head, 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. Media attention followed the subsequent Satanic wedding ceremony of Radical journalist John Raymond to New York socialite Judith Case on February 1st, 1967 (photographed by
Joe Rosenthal).
The San Francisco Chronicle and the
Los Angeles Times were among the
newspapers that printed articles dubbing him "The Black Pope".
LaVey performed
Satanic baptisms (including one for Zeena),
Satanic funerals (including one for naval officer
Edward Olsen, complete with a chrome-helmeted
honor guard) and released a record album entitled
The Satanic Mass.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s LaVey melded philosophical influences from
Ayn Rand[Lewis, James R. "Who Serves Satan? A Demographic and Ideological Profile". Marburg Journal of Religion. June 2001.],
Nietzsche,
Mencken, and
Jack London with the philosophy and ritual practices of the Church of Satan into essays introduced with reworked excerpts from
Ragnar Redbeard's
Might is Right and concluded it with "Satanized" versions of
John Dee's
Enochian Keys to create books such as
The Satanic Bible,
The Compleat Witch, (rereleased in 1989 as
The Satanic Witch), and
The Satanic Rituals.
Due to his 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
Joe Pyne,
Phil Donahue, and
Johnny Carson, and in a feature length documentary called
Satanis: The Devil's Mass in 1969.
Hegarty and LaVey separated in the mid-1980s, and she sued for
palimony. The claim was settled out of court. LaVey's next and final companion was
Blanche Barton, who bore him his only son,
Satan Xerxes Carnacki LaVey on
November 1,
1993. She succeeded him as the head of the Church after his death.
An
eclectic individual, LaVey was fond of
music,
painting, antique automobiles,
firearms, and
animals (particularly the
big cats). He was an accomplished musician and made recordings of traditional music on which he played all the instruments on his
keyboard synthesizers. LaVey also painted as a hobby throughout his life. Over the years, LaVey attracted a number of notable allies and associates, including celebrities such as
Jayne Mansfield,
Sammy Davis Jr.,
King Diamond,
Robert Fuest,
Jacques Vallee,
Marc Almond,
Aime Michel,
Boyd Rice, and
Marilyn Manson.
Anton LaVey died on
October 29,
1997, in
St. Mary's Hospital,
San Francisco of
pulmonary edema. He was taken to St. Mary's, a
Catholic hospital, because it was the closest available. The time of his death was listed as the morning of
Halloween, which has since, for reasons open to speculation, been determined to be off by two days. A secret
Satanic funeral for LaVey, invitation only, was held in
Colma, and his body was
cremated. His ashes were not buried, but were eventually divided amongst his heirs as part of a settlement, on the assumption that they possess
occult potency, and can be used for acts of
Satanic ritual magic.
In 1998, estranged daughter
Zeena Schreck and her husband
Nicolas Schreck released a document titled "
Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality". It claims LaVey deliberately misrepresented a number of the facts of his life. In "
The Georges Montalba Mystery", LaVey's biographer,
Blanche Barton, replies to these accusations.
Among the accusations:
* Anton's former wife Diane claimed that she forged
Marilyn Monroe's autograph and inscription to Anton, which he had used as his proof of his affair. According to the Schrecks, Harry Lipton, (Monroe's agent) also denied that a tryst between Monroe and LaVey could have been possible.
* The
San Francisco Police Department reportedly have no record of Anton LaVey ever working there in the 1940s, although some have pointed out that such antiquated records are far from complete. There are similar claims and rebuttals about some of LaVey's
circus jobs.
* Zeena disputes LaVey's claim to have played on an obscure
LP of organ music credited to "Georges Montalba" in the 1950s, but gives no proof for her position.
* Anton LaVey claimed his Church had "hundreds of thousands" of members at the peak of its popularity. Zeena insists "The membership of the
Church of Satan never exceeded 300 individuals". Blanche Barton maintains that both figures are exaggerations but that LaVey's is far closer to the truth.
* A number of charges of
violence and
sexual perversion have been leveled against LaVey by the Schrecks, who cite "
San Francisco Police records" as their source, though these records have not appeared in print or on the internet to accompany the accusations.
Most of the accusations the Schreks level towards LaVey were taken from a 1996 Rolling Stone article by Lawrence Wright. The Schreks, like Wright, offer no evidence to support their claims. Blanche Barton has pointed out, as have other critics of Zeena Schreck, the incongrous intensity of Zeena's zeal to tear down her father's reputation and to attempt to contradict virtually everything he ever said. Barton further notes, responding to Zeena's claims in an open letter to the SF Weekly, "Like so many celebrity kids, she's built an identity for herself by painting her father as a lying, abusive, talentless, selfish S.O.B. ...She finds great joy and satisfaction in trying to discredit her father, and, by doing that, gains praise from all the wrong people, who have their own agendas which she's feeding. She was more than willing, however, to acknowledge Anton LaVey as her father when it came time for the division of his assets after his death, even though she'd refused to speak to him for the last seven years of his life, and gave herself credit for killing him with a 'ritual curse'".
Books by LaVey
*
The Satanic Bible (Avon, 1969, ISBN 0380015390)
*
The Compleat Witch, or, What to do When Virtue Fails (Dodd, Mead, 1971, ISBN 0396062660); republished as
The Satanic Witch (Feral House, 1989, ISBN 0922915008); re-released with an introduction by
Peggy Nadramia, and an afterword by Blanche Barton (2003, ISBN 0922915849).
*
The Satanic Rituals (Avon, 1972, ISBN 0380013924)
*
The Devil's Notebook (Feral House, 1992, ISBN 0922915113)
*
Satan Speaks!, introduction by Blanche Barton, foreword by
Marilyn Manson (Feral House, 1998, ISBN 0922915660)
Books featuring writings by LaVey
*"Misanthropia,"
Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations 1558-Present, edited by
Bob Black and
Adam Parfrey (Amok Press and
Loompanics Unlimited, 1989, ISBN 0941693031)
*"The Invisible War,"
Apocalypse Culture: Expanded & revised edition, edited by
Adam Parfrey (
Amok Press, 1990, ISBN 0922915059)
*"Foreward,"
Might is Right, or The Survival of the Fittest by
Ragnar Redbeard, LL.D., edited by
Katja Lane (
M.H.P. & Co., Ltd, 1996, ISBN 0915179121)
Books about LaVey
*
The Devil's Avenger: A Biography of Anton Szandor LaVey by
Burton H. Wolfe (Pyramid Books, 1974, ISBN 0515034711,
Out of print)
*
The Secret Life Of A Satanist: The Authorized Biography of Anton LaVey by Blanche Barton (Feral House, 1990, ISBN 0922915121)
*
Popular Witchcraft: Straight from the Witch's Mouth by Jack Fritscher ; featuring Anton LaVey (
University of Wisconsin Press : Popular Press, 2004, ISBN 029920300X, hardcover, ISBN 0299203042, paperback)
*
Invocation of my Demon Brother (short, uncredited role as
Satan, 1969)
*
Satanis: The Devil's Mass (featured, 1970; released on
DVD by
Something Weird Video, 2003)
*
The Devil's Rain (technical advisor, role as High Priest, 1975)
The Car (creative consultant, 1977)
Doctor Dracula, aka
Svengali (technical advisor, 1981)
*
Charles Manson Superstar (research consultant, 1989)
*
Death Scenes (narrator/host, 1989)
*
Speak of the Devil (featured, 1995)
*
The Satanic Mass,
LP (Murgenstrumm Records, 1968; re-released on
CD with one bonus track, "Hymn of the Satanic Empire, or The Battle Hymn of the Apocalypse," by Amarillo Records, 1994; Mephisto Media, 2001)
*
Answer Me/Honolulu Baby, 7" single (Amarillo Records, 1993)
*
Strange Music, 10"
EP (Amarillo Records, 1994; now available through Reptilian Records)
*
Satan Takes A Holiday,
CD (Amarillo Records, 1995; now available through Reptilian Records)
Writings by LaVey
*
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
*
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
*
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 Szandor Lavey: In memorium*
Anton Szandor LaVey tribute*
Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality by Zeena and Nikolas Schreck
*
Find A Grave Entry*
People of Significance entry for LaVey*
Ding Dong.. The Witch is Dead ~ A Tribute to the Late, Great Anton Szandar LaVey*
Anton LaVey entry on
NNDB*
Short biographical sketch with particular focus on his influence on
Marilyn Manson, taken from
Spin magazine (Feb. 1998, pg. 64).
*"
Has the Church of Satan Gone to Hell?" by Jack Boulware
SF Weekly, Jun 17, 1998
*http://www.unimarburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/lewis3.html Lewis, James. R., "Diabolical Authority: Anton LaVey, the Satanic Bible and the Satanist Tradition," in
The Marburg Journal of Religion, v.7 no.1 (Sept 2002)
*
Introduction to
The Satanic Rituals, by
Burton H. Wolfe, 1976
*
In Memory of LaVey (Russian web-page)
