Szandora LaVey dot com

On a windy October day in Central Park, Monday, November 5, 2007, Wikinews reporter David Shankbone sat down with the High Priest of the Church, Peter H. Gilmore, who has led LaVey’s congregation of Satanists since his passing in 1997 (he became the High Priest in 2001). They discussed the beliefs of the Church, current events, LaVey’s children and how Satanism applies to life and the world.

In the 1980’s and the 1990’s there were multiple allegations of sexual abuse in the context of Satanic rituals that has come to be known as The Satanic Panic. In the United States, the Kern County abuse cases, McMartin trial and the West Memphis 3 cases garnered worldwide media coverage. One case took place in Jordan, Minnesota, where horrible allegations were made, at which point the Federal Bureau of Investigation was alerted. Twenty-four adults were arrested and charged with acts of multiple crimes related to satanic ritual abuse; only three went to trial with two acquittals and one conviction. Supreme Court Justice Scalia noted in a discussion of the case, “[t]here is no doubt that some sexual abuse took place in Jordan; but there is no reason to believe it was as widespread as charged,” and cited the repeated, coercive techniques used by the investigators as damaging to the investigation.

One of the most visible Satanic organizations—though one that was never a suspect or charged in any of the Satanic Panic cases—is the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey. Members of the Church, such as Peter H. Gilmore, Peggy Nadramia, Boyd Rice, Adam Parfrey, Diabolos Rex, and musician King Diamond, were active in media appearances to refute allegations of criminal activity and the FBI would later issue an official report debunking the criminal conspiracy theories of this time.

Gilmore feels Satanists are often misunderstood or misrepresented. LaVey’s teachings are based on individualism, self-indulgence, and “eye for an eye” morality, with influence from Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand; while its rituals and magic draw heavily from occultists such as Aleister Crowley. They do not worship—nor believe in—the Devil or a Christian notion of Satan. The word “Satan” comes from the Hebrew word for “adversary” and originated from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally applied to an angel. Church of Satan adherents see themselves as truth-seekers, adversaries and skeptics of the religious world around them.

Long since removed from contemporary printings of the book, the first edition of The Satanic Bible contained an extensive dedication to the thinkers who influenced LaVey.

The primary dedication of the book was made to Bernadino Nogara (misprinted as “Logara”), Karl Haushofer, Rasputin, Sir Basil Zaharoff, Alessandro Cagliostro, Barnabas Saul (Dr. John Dee’s first Scryer), Ragnar Redbeard, William Mortensen, Hans Brick, Max Reinhardt, the American Sociologist Orrin Klapp, Fritz Lang, Friedrich Nietzsche, W. C. Fields, P. T. Barnum, Hans Poelzig, Reginald Marsh, Wilhelm Reich and Mark Twain.

The secondary dedication included Howard Hughes, Marcello Truzzi, Marilyn Monroe, William Lindsay Gresham, Hugo Zacchini, Jayne Mansfield, Fredrick Goerner, Nathaniel West, Horatio Alger, Robert E. Howard, George Orwell, H. P. Lovecraft, Tuesday Weld, H.G. Wells, Harry Houdini, Togare (LaVey’s pet lion) and The Nine Unknown Men.

The Satanic Bible, after the introductions by other authors, is divided into four books: the Book of Satan, the Book of Lucifer, the Book of Belial, and finally the Book of Leviathan. LaVey seems to have taken this hierarchy from The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, in which these four demons serve as the chiefs of Hell. Each book approaches a different aspect of Satanism, and serves a unique purpose within the structure of The Satanic Bible.