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, 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.

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Biography

Template:Satanism Born Chicago, Illinois, the son of a liquor distributor, his family soon relocated to California where LaVey 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. 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 Israeli War of Independence.

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, 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.

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Criticism

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'".


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LaVey related books

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Books by LaVey

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Books featuring writings by LaVey

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Books about LaVey

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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 (technical advisor, 1981)
  • Charles Manson Superstar (research consultant, 1989)
  • Death Scenes (narrator/host, 1989)
  • Speak of the Devil (featured, 1995)
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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, 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)
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External links

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Writings by LaVey

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Interviews with LaVey

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About LaVey

da:Anton LaVey de:Anton Szandor LaVey fr:Anton Szandor LaVey it:Anton LaVey nl:Anton Szandor LaVey pl:Anton Szandor LaVey pt:Anton LaVey ru:ЛаВей, Антон Шандор fi:Anton LaVey sv:Anton LaVey

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