Church of Satan

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Church of Satan

In the late 1960s many were dismayed to learn that one Anton LaVey (1930-1997) of San Francisco, California, had founded a church dedicated to the worship of the devil. The media had a field day with the various events following the founding of the church on April 30, 1966, from LaVey's holding a funeral for a young sailor who died at the Treasure Island Navy Base to his use of a nude woman as an altar for a "wor-ship" service at his home in San Francisco. The house, which served as headquarters of the church, was painted totally black. Following actress Jayne Mansfield's tragic death in a car accident, it was revealed that she had been associated with the church, and LaVey reaped the full benefit from his brief appearance as the devil in the movie version of Rosemary's Baby.

In 1969 LaVey issued the first of three books, The Satanic Bible, which presented the basic beliefs and practices of the church. It was followed by The Compleat Witch (1971) and The Satanic Rituals (1972). LaVey played on the image of a traditional Satanist and did little to counter the speculations of an exploitative press that rarely got beyond the sheer offense of the church's name or took time to look into the church's teachings or practices. Few understood the appeal of such a church in a secularized society.

Unlike traditional Satanism, which operates in a supernatural world of angels and demons, God and Satan, LaVey's assertion of Satanism was initially a statement of disbelief in super-naturalism altogether. Satan was seen not as the evil opposite of God, but as a Promethean figure who represented modern secular man at his best, living in the present with little regard for the future. Satanic principle asserted that humans were simply animals who lived a time on earth and should enjoy that life. They should value indulgence, vital existence, undefiled wisdom, kindness to the deserving, vengeance, responsibility to the responsible, and the practice of those "sins" that lead to mental and physical gratification.

The church's rituals are designed to lead to members' acceptance of a perspective centered on antiestablishmentarianism, self-assertion, and gratification. The church opposes the breaking of any laws made for the common good and opposes the use of drugs, which it sees as perpetuating an escapist view of reality.

The church celebrates several main holidays. Foremost, in keeping with the self-assertive perspective, is one's own birthday. Next Walpurgisnacht and Halloween, traditional magical dates on the agricultural calendar, are also celebrated. A form of baptism includes a ceremony of glorification of the one baptized. The church uses a form of the Black Mass , traditionally a reversal of the Roman Catholic Mass.

The church has a policy of enrolling new members with a lifetime membership; however, active membership is renewed annually and has never been more than a few thousand. There are concentrations of members in England , Holland , and Denmark, and The Satanic Bible has been translated into Danish, Swedish, and Spanish.

The Church of Satan and its literature has given rise to a variety of Satanic groups that follow its beliefs and practices but are administratively separate. The most important group with roots in the Church of Satan is the Temple of Set, headed by Michael A. Aquino, which has developed a new theology based on the identification of the Christian Satan with the ancient Egyptian god Set.

On the day of Anton LaVey's death, October 29, 1997, the church was placed under the control of high priestess, Blanche Barton. The Church of Satan's mailing address is PO Box 210666, San Francisco, CA 94121. The church's official homepage is http://www.churchofsatan.com/.