Anton LaVey
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Anton Szandor LaVey (11 April, 1930 – 29 October, 1997), was the founder and High Priest of the Church of Satan, author of The Satanic Bible, and creator of the religion known as 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.
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Biography
Born in Chicago, Illinois, as Anton Howard Levy, the son of a liquor distributor, his parents soon relocated to California where LaVey spent most of his life (in the San Francisco Bay Area). His ancestry was a mixture of French, Alsatian, German, Russian, and Romanian stock. His parents were "in no way religious", and supported the development of his musical abilities and he tried his hand at various instruments. Mainly attracted to the keyboards, he could reproduce songs heard by ear.
In his youth, Anton developed an interest in dark literature and legends, from his eastern European grandmother's tales, and classics such as Dracula and Frankenstein. He also read horror and science fiction pulp magazines, the works of Jack London, and became interested in historical figures such as Cagliostro, Rasputin and Basil Zaharoff. He dismissed the available occult literature, seeing white magic as sanctimonious, and focused on hypnotism and manuals for handwriting analysis.
A conscious outsider, LaVey did not desire to be “one of the boys”, despising gym class and team sports he often cut classes to follow his own interests. He watched films and took his role models from the hard-boiled anti-heroes of American film noir, and was impressed with the cinematographic techniques of German expressionist cinema such as M, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Hitlerjunge Quex, Morganrot and the Dr. Mabuse films.
LaVey dropped out of high school in his junior year, and ended up working in 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 . Seeing many of the same men attending both the bawdy Saturday nights shows as well as the tent revivalists on Sunday mornings provided a background for his cynical view of religion. He later had many stints as an organist in bars, lounges, and nightclubs. While playing organ in Los Angeles area burlesque houses, he related that he had a brief affair with, the then-unknown, Marilyn Monroe.
Eventually, LaVey moved back to San Francisco and worked for awhile as a photographer for the Police Department. He was involved in underground Zionist groups in San Francisco which helped smuggle arms to the Irgun during the Israeli War of Independence. To avoid the draft, during the Korean War, he enrolled in San Francisco City College as a criminology major. He met and married Carole Lansing, who bore him his first daughter, Karla Maritza LaVey, in 1952.
During the 1950s, LaVey worked as a “psychic investigator,” investigating “nut calls” referred to him by the police department. In 1959, LaVey met and became entranced by Diane Hegarty; Carole and he divorced in 1960. 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 “ghost busting,” and live performances as an organist (including playing the Wurlitzer at the Lost Weekend cocktail lounge), he would attract many 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".
On May 23rd, LaVey performed a rite of Satanic baptism for three-year-old Zeena. In December, 1967, a Satanic funeral was conducted for naval officer Edward Olsen (complete with a chrome-helmeted honor guard in attendance). In 1968, a record album titled The Satanic Mass was released, featuring a cover graphic LaVey named the “Sigil of Baphomet". It featured part of Zeena's rite of baptism, in addition to the LaVey reading excerpts from, the as-yet-unpublished, The Satanic Bible over music by Beethoven, Wagner, and Sousa.
At the end of 1969, LaVey melded philosophical influences from Ayn Rand, 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 The Satanic Bible. It was followed in 1971 by The Compleat Witch (rereleased in 1989 as The Satanic Witch), a manual of “Lesser Magic” (reading and manipulating people) compiling the teachings of his “Witches’ Workshops” (using glamour, feminine wiles, and the exploitation of men’s fetishes). A companion volume to The Satanic Bible called The Satanic Rituals was published in 1972. LaVey was the subject of numerous articles in the news media throughout the world, popular magazines such as Look, McCall's, Newsweek, and TIME, in men’s magazines, and on talk shows such as Joe Pyne, Phil Donahue, and Johnny Carson. LaVey performed rituals and explained the philosophy of the Church in a feature length documentary called Satanis: The Devil’s Mass in 1969. LaVey attracted a number of associates, including celebrities such as Jayne Mansfield, Sammy Davis Jr., King Diamond, Marilyn Manson, Robert Fuest, Jacques Vallee, and Aime Michel.
Hegarty and LaVey separated in the mid-1980s, she sued for palimony and this was settled out of court.
LaVey’s 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, he 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.
He died in St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco of pulmonary edema. His obituary was carried in newspapers around the world.
Criticism
In 1998, estranged daughter, Zeena and her husband Nicolas Schreck released a document titled "Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality (http://www.thefirewithin.dk/library/anton.htm)". It claims LaVey deliberately misrepresented a number of the facts of his life. In "The Georges Montalba Mystery (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/Montalba.html)", LaVey’s biographer, Blanche Barton replies to these accusations.
Books by LaVey
- The Satanic Bible (Avon, 1969, ISBN 0380015390)
- The Complete 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)
Filmography
- 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 in the USA (technical advisor, 1981)
- Charles Manson Superstar (research consultant, 1989)
- Deathscenes (narrator/host, 1989)
- Speak of the Devil (featured, 1995)
Recordings of Anton LaVey
- 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, 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)
External links
Writings by LaVey
- The Nine Satanis Statements (http://churchofsatan.com/Pages/NineStatements.html)
- The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth (http://churchofsatan.com/Pages/Eleven.html)
- The Nine Satanic Sins (http://churchofsatan.com/Pages/Sins.html)
- Pentagonal Revisionism: A Five-Point Program (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/PentRev.html), 1988
- The World’s Most Powerful Religion (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/MostPower.html)
- Enochian Pronunciation Guide (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/EnochianGuide.html)
- Letters From The Devil (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/LaVeyLFTDevil-1969.html) from The National Insider, Vol. 14, No. 17, April 27, 1969.
- On Occultism of the Past (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/LaVeyPastOccultism.html) from The Cloven Hoof, September, 1971 c.e., Volume Three, Number Nine.
Interviews with LaVey
- Section concerning Anton LaVey (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/LaVeyOccultAmerica.html) in Chapter XII (Satan in the Suburbs) of Occult America by John Godwin (Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1972)
- Section concerning Anton LaVey (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/LaVeyEverythingYouEver.html) 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” (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/WaPost.html) by Walt Harrington in The Washington Post Magazine, February 23, 1986.
- “Anton LaVey / The Church of Satan Interview” (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/BOT.html) by Eugene Robinson in The Birth of Tragedy, No. 4 “The God Issue”, November 1986 - January 1987
- "Dinner with the Devil (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/HighSoc.html): 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......” (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/MFInterview.html) by Shane & Amy Bugbee in MF Magazine #3, Summer 1997.
- Interview with Anton LaVey (http://www.velvethammerburlesque.com/pages/antonlavey.html) 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 (http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/LaVeyBiography.html) by Magus Peter H. Gilmore, on the Church of Satan's official website.
- anton lavey (http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id134/pg1/) by Alex Burns at disinformation.
- Anton Szandor Lavey: In memorium (http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/darkangel/Antonsl.html)
- Anton Szandor LaVey tribute (http://www.purgingtalon.com/nlm/tribute.htm)
- Anton LaVey rotten.com's page on LaVey (http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/religion/anton-lavey/)
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- People of Significance entry for LaVey (http://www.dpjs.co.uk/people.html#Anton%20LaVey)
- Ding Dong.. The Witch is Dead ~ A Tribute to the Late, Great Anton Szandar LaVey (http://www.heathenworld.com/chaos/lavey.html)
- Anton LaVey entry (http://www.nndb.com/people/772/000027691/) on NNDB
- Short biographical sketch (http://members.tripod.com/~dope420/LaVey.html) 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? (http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/1998-06-17/news/feature_print.html)" 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)
- [1] (http://www.msdcorp.8m.com/hwolf.htm) Introduction to [The Satanic Rituals], by [Burton H. Wolfe], 1976de:Anton Szandor LaVey
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