California in the sixties was a total fever dream. Between the Summer of Love and the grittier reality of the Haight-Ashbury scene, something weird was brewing in a black-painted Victorian house on California Street. This wasn't some hippie commune or a peace-and-love circle. It was the birthplace of the Church of Satan San Francisco, and honestly, it’s probably not what you think it is. People hear "Satanism" and they immediately jump to horror movie tropes—hooded robes, animal sacrifices, and spooky basement rituals. The reality? It was more like a theatrical philosophy club mixed with a heavy dose of 1960s shock value and Ayn Rand-style individualism.
Anton Szandor LaVey was the guy behind it all. He was a former carnival organist and police photographer who knew exactly how to push the public's buttons. On Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966, he shaved his head and declared the "Year One" of the Age of Satan. It was a massive middle finger to the status quo. San Francisco was the only place this could have started. The city was a melting pot of radical ideas, and LaVey’s brand of "indulgence over abstinence" fit right into the counterculture, even if the hippies didn't always get along with his more cynical, Darwinian worldview.
The Infamous Black House at 6114 California Street
If you walked by the Richmond District back then, you couldn't miss it. The Black House. It was literally a matte-black Victorian. It looked like a haunted house because, well, that was the point. Inside, it was a maze of velvet curtains, occult artifacts, and a literal trapdoor. LaVey lived there with his family and a full-grown Nubian lion named Togare. Neighbors used to complain about the lion’s roaring, which is hilarious when you think about it. Imagine trying to explain to the SFPD that your neighbor’s lion is keeping you awake.
This house was the headquarters for the Church of Satan San Francisco for decades. It wasn't just a home; it was a stage. This is where the first "Satanic baptisms" and weddings happened. LaVey’s daughter, Zeena, had a famously publicized baptism there when she was three, which sent the media into an absolute tailspin. Reporters were obsessed. They wanted blood and guts, but what they got was a guy in horns talking about how humans are just another animal and that we should embrace our natural instincts rather than repressing them.
The house is gone now. It was demolished in 2001 after a long legal battle following LaVey’s death. Now there’s just a generic-looking apartment building in its place. It’s kinda sad for fans of weird San Francisco history. The physical heart of the movement vanished, but the ideas—and the controversy—stuck around.
What the Church of Satan Actually Teaches
Let's clear something up. They don't believe in a literal Devil.
Seriously.
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If you’re a member of the Church of Satan, you’re an atheist. Or at least, a "Satanist-as-metaphor" type. They see Satan as a symbol of rebellion, pride, and enlightenment—the ultimate rebel against a tyrannical god. It’s an "I-theist" religion. You are your own god. You make your own rules. You take responsibility for your own life.
LaVey codified all this in The Satanic Bible, published in 1969. It’s a mix of Machiavellian social philosophy and ritualistic psychodrama. He wasn't telling people to go out and hurt others. In fact, one of the core "Satanic Sins" is lack of aesthetics and another is herd conformity. They have very strict rules against harming children or animals. If you do that, you’re out. The whole point was about living a life of "vital existence" instead of "spiritual pipe dreams."
The Nine Satanic Statements
These are the backbone of the philosophy. They aren't commandments, but more like a manifesto.
- Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence!
- Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
- Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
- Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!
- Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!
- Satan represents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires!
- Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!
- Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!
- Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years!
It’s pretty edgy, right? Especially for the late sixties. But when you strip away the "Satan" branding, it’s basically a form of radical egoism. It appeals to people who feel like outsiders or who are tired of what they see as the hypocrisy of traditional religion.
Celebrities and the San Francisco Scene
The Church of Satan San Francisco wasn't just for weirdos in the basement. It had some serious star power. Sammy Davis Jr. was famously a member for a while. He even got an honorary "II°" (Second Degree) in the church. He eventually distanced himself because of his career, but for a minute there, the Rat Pack had a touch of the dark side.
Then there was Jayne Mansfield. The blonde bombshell was a close friend of LaVey. There are tons of photos of them together at the Black House. People still debate how "into it" she actually was—some say it was just a publicity stunt, others say she was a true believer. When she died in that horrific car accident in 1967, the tabloids went wild with "Satanic curse" theories because LaVey had allegedly cursed her boyfriend, Sam Brody. It was pure sensationalism, but it kept the Church of Satan in the headlines for years.
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Kenneth Anger, the underground filmmaker, was also part of the circle. This was a time when the occult was "in." You had Rosemary’s Baby in the theaters and Charles Manson (who, for the record, had nothing to do with LaVey) in the news. The lines between art, rebellion, and religion were incredibly blurry.
The Split: Satanism Isn't One Big Happy Family
Like any religion, the Church of Satan had its schisms. The biggest one happened in 1975. Michael Aquino, a high-ranking member and an officer in the U.S. Army, got into a massive disagreement with LaVey. Aquino thought the church should be more "theistic"—meaning he actually believed in a literal prince of darkness. He also didn't like LaVey’s practice of "selling" priesthoods for money.
Aquino left and formed the Temple of Set. It was a messy divorce. This is an important distinction because today, when people talk about the Church of Satan San Francisco, they often confuse it with the Temple of Set or, more recently, The Satanic Temple (TST).
The Satanic Temple—the ones who put up the Baphomet statues at state capitols—is a totally different organization. They’re political activists. The Church of Satan actually hates them. The Church of Satan thinks TST is just a bunch of "social justice warriors" using Satanic imagery for political stunts. The LaVeyan Satanists prefer to keep to themselves, focusing on personal mastery rather than trying to change the law.
The Satanic Panic of the 1980s
Things got dark in the eighties, but not because of anything the Church was doing. The "Satanic Panic" swept the U.S., fueled by talk shows like Geraldo Rivera and Oprah. Suddenly, every daycare center was suspected of being a front for underground Satanic cults. People were being arrested based on "recovered memories" that were later proven to be totally fabricated by therapists.
The Church of Satan San Francisco became a scapegoat. LaVey spent a lot of time on television trying to explain that they didn't sacrifice babies or drink blood. He’d sit there in his cape, looking like a movie villain, and calmly explain that "Satanism is a religion of the mind." It was a weird time. The FBI eventually released a report in 1992 stating there was no evidence of a large-scale Satanic conspiracy, but the damage to the Church's public image was done. They went from being "cool counterculture" to "potentially dangerous" in the eyes of middle America.
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Where is the Church of Satan Now?
After LaVey died in 1997, the headquarters moved. His partner, Blanche Barton, took over for a while, and then Peter H. Gilmore became the High Priest. He moved the administrative center to Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.
So, does the Church of Satan San Francisco still exist?
Technically, there isn't a central "church" building in SF anymore. They don't do "congregations" like Christians do. They have "Grottos," which are small, private groups of members who meet up to socialize or perform rituals. It’s very secretive. You can’t just walk into a building on a Sunday morning. Membership is through mail-order (or online now), and you only get in if you pay the $225 fee and prove you aren't a nutjob.
The influence of that original San Francisco movement is everywhere, though. You see it in heavy metal culture, in the "edgy" aesthetic of modern fashion, and in the "I do what I want" attitude of Silicon Valley libertarians.
Why People Are Still Fascinated
There’s something about the Church of Satan San Francisco that refuses to die. Maybe it’s the mystery of the Black House. Maybe it’s because humans love a villain. Or maybe it’s because, in a world that feels increasingly controlled, the idea of being your own god is incredibly seductive.
If you’re looking into this because you’re curious about the history, or maybe you’re a bit of a rebel yourself, here are some actionable ways to understand the topic better without falling into the "conspiracy theory" rabbit hole:
- Read the source material. Don't rely on what some YouTuber says. Read The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey. Even if you don't agree with it, you'll see exactly what the philosophy is (and isn't).
- Visit the Richmond District. Go to the spot where 6114 California Street used to be. It's just an apartment building now, but standing there gives you a sense of how "normal" the neighborhood is compared to how "weird" the Black House was.
- Check out the "Black Pope" documentary. There are several films about LaVey’s life that use archival footage from the 60s. Seeing him speak in his own voice is the best way to understand his "performance art" approach to religion.
- Distinguish between the groups. If you see a news story about Satanists, check if it's the Church of Satan (the individualists) or The Satanic Temple (the activists). They are fundamentally different.
The Church of Satan wasn't about evil in the way we usually define it. It was a reaction to the mid-century American lifestyle. It was a theater of the macabre designed to make people think for themselves. Whether you think LaVey was a genius or a con man, you can't deny he changed the cultural landscape of San Francisco forever.