The black house on California Street is gone now. It was torn down years ago, replaced by a bland apartment complex that looks like every other building in San Francisco. But in the late sixties, that pitch-black Victorian was the center of a cultural earthquake. People imagine the founder of the Satanic Church as some kind of hooded, ancient sorcerer dwelling in a cave. In reality? Anton LaVey was a guy who loved carnivals, played the calliope, and had a pet lion named Togare.
He was a showman. Honestly, if you want to understand the Church of Satan, you have to understand that it started less as a "religion" and more as a massive middle finger to the stifling social norms of 1966. LaVey didn't believe in a literal, red-horned Devil. That’s the first thing everyone gets wrong. He used "Satan" as a symbol for rebellion, indulgence, and the idea that humans are just animals. It was basically Ayn Rand’s philosophy with better costumes and more theatrical flair.
The Carny Who Created a Religion
Anton Szandor LaVey wasn't born with that name. He was Howard Stanton Levey, a kid from Chicago who moved to California and supposedly spent his youth playing in circus bands and working as a photographer for the San Francisco Police Department. Some biographers, like Lawrence Wright, have spent a lot of time debunking bits of LaVey’s backstory. Did he really have an affair with Marilyn Monroe? Probably not. Was he a police photographer? The records are fuzzy.
But does the "truth" of his resume actually matter? Not really.
LaVey understood something fundamental about the human psyche: we crave ritual. He saw people at the circus enjoying the spectacle, and then he saw those same people at church on Sunday, looking miserable and guilty for the things they enjoyed on Saturday night. He decided to cut out the middleman. He started hosting "Magic Circles" in his basement on Friday nights. Eventually, a guest—supposedly publicist Edward Webber—told him he was sitting on a goldmine. On Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, LaVey shaved his head, declared it "Year One," and the Church of Satan was born.
It was a brilliant bit of branding.
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By the time the "Summer of Love" hit in 1967, LaVey was the most famous occultist in the world. He was officiating "Satanic weddings" and baptizing his daughter, Zeena, in a ceremony that made international headlines. He wasn't hiding in the shadows. He was on The Joe Pyne Show. He was a technical adviser on Rosemary's Baby. He was a celebrity.
What the Founder of the Satanic Church Actually Taught
If you actually sit down and read The Satanic Bible—which, fun fact, has never gone out of print since 1969—it’s surprisingly pragmatic. And kind of grumpy. It’s not about killing goats. In fact, one of the primary rules of the Church of Satan is that you don't harm animals. You also don't harm children.
Basically, LaVeyan Satanism is "Epicureanism on steroids."
It’s built on nine statements. They focus on vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams. They preach vengeance instead of turning the other cheek. They champion responsibility to the responsible. If someone is nice to you, be nice back. If they mess with you, "destroy them." It’s a very "eye for an eye" philosophy that resonated with people who felt like the traditional church was just a giant guilt machine.
The Nine Satanic Sins
LaVey was obsessed with human stupidity. To him, that was the ultimate sin. He hated herd conformity. He hated "self-deceit." He wanted people to be their own gods. It's a hyper-individualistic worldview.
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- Stupidity (The number one sin)
- Pretentiousness * Solipsism (Expecting others to treat you the way you treat them)
- Self-deceit
- Herd Conformity
- Lack of Perspective
- Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies
- Counterproductive Pride
- Lack of Aesthetics
Wait, aesthetics? Yeah. LaVey was a big believer that how you present yourself and your environment matters. He loved the "noir" look of the 1940s. He hated the hippies. He thought they were dirty and aimless. He wanted his Satanists to be sharp, disciplined, and powerful.
The Myth vs. The Man
The 1980s were rough for the Church. The "Satanic Panic" kicked into high gear, fueled by talk shows like Geraldo Rivera’s and books like Michelle Remembers. People were suddenly terrified that there were underground cults kidnapping kids. It was all nonsense, of course. No evidence of widespread organized Satanic ritual abuse was ever found by the FBI.
LaVey stayed mostly quiet during this. He was living in his black house, getting older, and watching his creation evolve. He eventually moved away from public ceremonies and focused on "Phase Two"—the idea that you don't need to meet in a basement; you just live your life as a Satanist in the real world.
He died in 1997. Heart failure. There’s a weird rumor that he died on Halloween, but he actually died a couple of days before, on October 29. Even in death, people wanted to make his story more "thematic."
The Church still exists today, led by Peter H. Gilmore. It's much more of an "underground" organization now, mostly because the internet made the shock value of the 1960s impossible to replicate. But the core philosophy hasn't changed. It’s still about the individual. It’s still about ego.
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Why Should You Care?
You might think this is all just weird history, but LaVey’s influence is everywhere. Every time you see a movie that uses occult imagery to make a point about personal freedom, or a rock band using pentagrams to look edgy, that’s LaVey’s legacy. He took "the Devil" and turned him into a pop-culture icon of rebellion.
But more than that, he forced a conversation about religious hypocrisy. Whether you agree with him or think he was just a talented grifter, he pointed out that most people say they believe one thing while doing another. He called out the gap between what people should do and what they actually do.
Reality Check: The Theistic Satanism Split
One thing to keep in mind is the massive divide in the "Satanic" world. LaVey’s group is atheistic. They don't believe in a literal Satan. However, there are groups out there—often called "Theistic Satanists"—who actually do believe in a spiritual entity. LaVey had no time for them. He thought they were just as "delusional" as Christians, just on the other side of the coin.
Then you have The Satanic Temple (TST), which is a totally different organization founded much later. They do political activism and lawsuits. The Church of Satan (LaVey’s group) generally hates TST. They think TST is too political and not "Satanic" enough. It’s a whole drama.
Actionable Takeaways for the Curious
If you're looking into this because you're interested in the history of counterculture or the psychology of belief, don't just rely on YouTube documentaries. Most of them are sensationalist garbage.
- Read the source material. Pick up The Satanic Bible or The Devil's Notebook. Even if you find the philosophy repulsive, it’s better to understand it directly from the founder of the Satanic Church rather than through the lens of a 1980s talk show host.
- Separate the man from the myth. Understand that LaVey was a performer. He used hyperbole and tall tales to build a brand. Treat his biography with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially the parts about his early "adventures."
- Look at the context. You can't understand LaVey without understanding the 1960s. He was a reaction to the "Summer of Love" just as much as he was a reaction to traditional Christianity.
- Identify the psychological hooks. Think about why "Indulgence instead of Abstinence" is such a powerful marketing tool. It’s the same logic used by modern "self-help" gurus who tell you to "get what’s yours."
The legacy of Anton LaVey isn't found in dark rituals or spooky incantations. It's found in the modern obsession with the self, the rejection of "herd" behavior, and the commodification of the "edgy." He was a carny who realized the world was just one big midway, and he decided to run the best booth on the lot.