Church of Satan

In the 1960s Anton LaVey formed a group called the Order of the Trapezoid, which later became the governing body of the Church of Satan. The group included: "The Baroness" Carin de Plessen, Dr. Cecil Nixon, Kenneth Anger, City Assessor Russell Wolden, and Donald Werby.[14][15] According to the Church of Satan historiography, other LaVey associates from this time include noted science fiction and horror writers Anthony Boucher, August Derleth, Robert Barbour Johnson, Reginald Bretnor, Emil Petaja, Stuart Palmer, Clark Ashton Smith, Forrest J. Ackerman,[16] and Fritz Leiber Jr.[17]

In the first year of its foundation, Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan publicly performed a Satanic marriage of Judith Case and journalist John Raymond. The ceremony was attended by Joe Rosenthal. LaVey performed the first publicly recorded Satanic baptism in history for his youngest daughter Zeena, which garnered worldwide publicity and was originally recorded on The Satanic Mass LP.[18][19][20][21] A Satanic funeral for naval machinist-repairman, third-class Edward Olsen, was performed at the request of his wife, complete with a chrome-helmeted honor guard.

The Church of Satan was the subject of a number of books, magazine and newspaper articles during the 1960s and 1970s. It is also the subject of a documentary, Satanis (1970). LaVey appeared in Kenneth Anger's film Invocation of My Demon Brother, acted as technical adviser on The Devil's Rain, which starred Ernest Borgnine, William Shatner, and introduced John Travolta. The Church of Satan was also featured in a segment of Luigi Scattini's film Angeli Bianchi, Angeli Neri, released in the United States as Witchcraft '70.

In 1975 LaVey phased out the Church's "Grotto" system and eliminated people he thought were using the Church as a substitute for accomplishment in the outside world. Thereafter, conventional achievement in society would be the criterion for advancement within the Church of Satan. At the same time, LaVey became more selective in granting interviews. This shift to "closed door" activities resulted in some rumors of the Church's demise, and even rumors of LaVey's death.

In the 1980s the media reported concerns of criminal conspiracies within the Church of Satan. The FBI would later issue an official report refuting the criminal conspiracy theories of this time. This phenomenon became known as the "Satanic Panic". LaVey's daughter Zeena was the spokesperson and High Priestess in the Church of Satan during the 1980s.[22] During this period, she appeared on television and radio broadcasts, in part to educate about the Church, and in part to debunk the mythology surrounding the Satanic Panic — a period of time in the same era in which Satanism was blamed for the actions of Satanic ritual abuse.[23]

From then until her renunciation of the Church of Satan in 1990, Zeena appeared in such nationally syndicated programs as The Phil Donahue Show, Nightline with Ted Koppel, Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show, Secrets & Mysteries and the Sally Jesse Raphael Show. The appearances were made at the behest of the Church of Satan as its spokesperson. She did this on behalf of her father Anton LaVey, who was no longer interested in making media appearances, as she stated while being interviewed alongside her husband by televangelist Bob Larson.[24]

In the 1980s and 1990s remaining members of the Church of Satan became active in media appearances to refute allegations of criminal activity. The Church of Satan and its members were very active in producing movies, music, films, and magazines devoted to Satanism. Most notably Adam Parfrey's Feral House publishing, the music of Boyd Rice, musician King Diamond, and the films of Nick Bougas (a.k.a. A. Wyatt Mann),[25][26] including his documentary Speak of the Devil: The Canon of Anton LaVey. The Church of Satan and Anton LaVey were also the subject of numerous magazine and news articles during this time. One man who may have contributed to the Satanic Panic scare was the serial killer Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night Stalker.[27][28] Ramirez forced one of his victims to "swear on Satan" that she wouldn't scream while he raped her. Ramirez left pentagrams and other occult symbols at numerous crime scenes. Ramirez shouted "Hail Satan" during one of his court appearances and flashed a pentagram that he drew on his palm. At his sentencing in 1989 he stated "I am beyond good and evil. I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells in us all."[29]

After Anton Szandor LaVey's death on October 29, 1997, the role of High Priest was empty for some time. On November 7, 1997[30] Karla LaVey made a press release about continuing the church with fellow high priestess Blanche Barton. Barton eventually received ownership of the organization, which she held for 4 years. Karla LaVey ultimately left the Church of Satan and founded First Satanic Church.

High Priest Peter H. Gilmore

Wikinews has related news:

• Satanism: An interview with Church of Satan High Priest Peter Gilmore

In 2001, Blanche ceded her position to longtime members Peter H. Gilmore and Peggy Nadramia, the current High Priest and High Priestess and publishers of The Black Flame, the official magazine of The Church of Satan. The Central Office of the Church of Satan has also moved from San Francisco to New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, where the couple resides. The Church of Satan does not recognize any other organizations as holding legitimate claim to Satanism and its practice, though it does recognize that one need not be a member of the Church of Satan to be a Satanist.

In October 2004, the Royal Navy officially recognised its first registered Satanist, 24-year-old Chris Cranmer, as a technician aboard HMS Cumberland.[31]

On June 6, 2006, the Church of Satan held the first public ritual Satanic Mass in 40 years at the Steve Allen Theater in the Center for Inquiry in Los Angeles. The ritual, based on the rites outlined in The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals, was conducted by Reverend Bryan Moore and Priestess Heather Saenz.[32]

In December 2007 the Associated Press reported on a story concerning the Church of Satan, in which a teenager had sent an email to High Priest Gilmore stating he wanted to "kill in the name of our unholy lord Satan". Gilmore then reported the message to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who informed local police, who arrested the teenager.[33]

The church follows a formulated system of degrees based on meritocracy. These degrees are not open to application or to request and are only awarded to those who demonstrate excellence in the understanding and communication of Satanic Theory coupled with personal achievements in the outside world.[35]

These degrees are:

• Registered Member (no degree)
• Active Member (first degree)
• Witch/Warlock (second degree)
• Priestess/Priest (third degree)
• Magistra/Magister (fourth degree)
• Maga/Magus (fifth degree)

Agents of the Church of Satan are individuals who have been trained to serve as contacts for local media and other interested parties.[35]

Members of the Priesthood make up the Council of Nine, which is the ruling body of the Church of Satan, of which Magistra Templi Rex Blanche Barton is the chair-mistress. Individuals who are part of the priesthood are those who act as spokespersons of the Church of Satan. The priesthood is exclusive to third-, fourth-, and fifth-degree members. Members of the priesthood may be referred to as "reverend".[35] The High Priest and Priestess act as administrative chiefs and primary public representatives; each position (High Priest and High Priestess) is held by a single individual at a time. The current High Priest is Peter H. Gilmore,[36] the current High Priestess is Peggy Nadramia.[37]

The Church of Satan evaluates active members for the Priesthood by their accomplishment in society—mastered skills and peer recognition within a profession—rather than by mastery of irrelevant occult trivia. While expected to be experts in communicating the Satanic philosophy, members of the Priesthood are not required to speak on behalf of the Church of Satan and may even choose to keep their affiliation and rank secret in order to better serve their personal goals, as well as those of the organization. Membership in the Priesthood is by invitation only.

Within Satanism, a Grotto is a clandestine association or gathering of Satanists within geographical proximity for means of social, ritual, and special interest activities.[38] The Church of Satan no longer formally recognizes or charters grottos.[39] The primary reason for the end of the Grotto system is that only a small minority of members ever participated. This was further compounded by the fact that a publicly listed Grotto defeated the ability to remain secret and unknown to the larger populace. The Grotto system was in practice replaced by social media, private online forums, and other methods for members to interact with one another outside of the need for a so-called Grotto Master and annual reports to the central office of the Church of Satan.[39]

On June 6, 2006, the Church of Satan conducted a Satanic High Mass at the Center for Inquiry West's Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles, California. The event was by invitation only, and over one hundred members of the Church of Satan from around the world filled the theatre to capacity. The event was documented, and many members of the Church of Satan were interviewed by the BBC with permission.[40] The main ritual, based on the rites outlined in The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals, was conducted by Reverend Bryan Moore and Priestess Heather Saenz.[32][41] The music for the mass was created and performed by Lustmord and was subsequently released on his album Rising.[42]

Primary sources

• Gilmore, Peter H.; Barton, Blanche; Butler, Timothy Patrick (2007). The Satanic Scriptures. Scapegoat Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9764035-9-3.
• Asprem, Egil; Granholm, Kennet (2014). Contemporary Esotericism. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-54357-2.
• Lewis, James R. (September 2002). "Diabolical Authority: Anton LaVey, The Satanic Bible and the Satanist "Tradition"". Marburg Journal of Religion. 7 (1): 1–16.
• Faxneld, Per;  ——— , eds. (2013). The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977924-6.
• Lewis, James R.; Petersen, Jesper Aagaard, eds. (2014). Controversial New Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515683-6.
• Wright, Lawrence (1993). Saints & Sinners. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-57924-0.