Satanism

Part 6

Anton Szandor LaVey

Anton Szandor LaVey (1930—1997) was the founder of the Church of Satan, the first organized church in modern times promulgating a religious philosophy championing Satan as the symbol of personal freedom and individualism. Unlike the founders of other religions, who claimed exalted "inspiration" delivered through some supernatural entity, LaVey readily acknowledged that he used his own faculties to synthesize Satanism, based on his understanding of the human animal and insights gained from earlier philosophers who advocated materialism and individualism. Concerning his role as founder, he said that, "If he didn't do it himself, someone else, perhaps less qualified, would have."

Born in Chicago in 1930, his parents soon relocated to California, that westernmost gathering place for the brightest and darkest manifestations of the "American Dream." It was a fertile environment for the sensitive child who would eventually mature into a role that the press would dub "The Black Pope." From his eastern European grandmother, young LaVey learned of the superstitions that are still extant in that part of the world. These tales whetted his appetite for the outré, leading him to become absorbed in classic dark literature such as Dracula and Frankenstein. He also became an avid reader of the pulp magazines, which first published tales now deemed classics of the horror and science fiction genres. He later befriended seminal Weird Tales authors such as Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Barbour Johnson, and George Hass. His fancy was captured by fictional characters found in the works of Jack London, in comic strip characters—like Ming the Merciless, as well as historical figures of a diabolical cast such as Cagliostro, Rasputin and Basil Zaharoff. More interesting to him than the available occult literature, which he dismissed as being little more than sanctimonious white magic, were books of applied obscure knowledge such as Dr. William Wesley Cook's Practical Lessons in Hypnotism, Jane's Fighting Ships, and manuals for handwriting analysis.

If I didn't do it myself,
someone else, perhaps less qualified,would have."

His musical abilities were noticed early, and he was given free reign by his parents to try his hand at various instruments. LaVey was mainly attracted to the keyboards because of their scope and versatility. He found time to practice and could easily reproduce songs heard by ear without recourse to fake books or sheet music. This talent would prove to be one of his main sources of income for many years, particularly his calliope playing during his carnival days, and later his many stints as an organist in bars, lounges, and nightclubs. These venues gave him the chance to study how various melodic lines and chord progressions swayed the emotions of his audiences, from the spectators at the carnival and spook shows, to the individuals seeking solace for the disappointments in their lives in distilled spirits and the smoke-filled taverns for which LaVey's playing provided a soundtrack.

His odd interests marked him as an outsider, and he did not alleviate this by feeling any compulsion to be "one of the boys." He despised gym class and team sports and often cut classes to follow his own interests. He was an avid reader, and watched films such as those which would later be labeled film noir as well as German expressionist cinema such as M, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and the Dr. Mabuse movies. His flashy mode of dress also served to amplify his alienation from the mainstream. He dropped out of high school to hang around with hoodlum types and gravitated towards working in the circus and carnivals, first as a roustabout and cage boy and later as a musician. His curiosity was rewarded through "learning the ropes" and working an act with the big cats, and later assisting with the machinations of the spook shows. He became well-versed in the many rackets used to separate the rubes from their money, along with the psychology that lead people to such pursuits. He played music for the bawdy shows on Saturday nights, as well as for tent revivalists on Sunday mornings, seeing many of the same people attending both. All of this provided a firm, earthy background for his evolving cynical world view.