Francais | English | Espanõl

Anton LaVey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Anton Szandor LaVey

Anton Szandor LaVey (11 April, 1930 – 29 October, 1997)Former High Priest of the Church of Satan which was founded 30 April in the year 1966, on Walpurgisnacht day, by Anton Szandor LaVey. as well as a writer, occultist, musician, and actor. He is the author of The Satanic Bible and the founder of Satanism, a synthesized system of his understanding of human nature and the insights of philosophers who advocated materialism and individualism, for which he claimed no "supernatural inspiration”. LaVey viewed "Satan" not as a literal deity or entity, but as an historic and literary figure symbolic of Earthly values.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Image:Sigil-baphomet.gif


LaVey was born in Chicago, Illinois to a liquor distributor. His family soon relocated to California where he spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to his biography, his ancestry can be traced to French, Alsatian, German, Russian, and Romanian stock<ref>Barton, Blanche The Secret Life of a Satanist</ref>. His parents supported the development of his musical abilities as he tried his hand at various instruments, his favorite being keyboards like the pipe organ and the calliope.

LaVey's biography tells of his dropping out of high school to join the circus and carnivals, first as a roustabout and cage boy in an act with the big cats, later as a musician playing the calliope. LaVey later noted that seeing many of the same men attending both the bawdy Saturday nights shows as well as the tent revival meetings on Sunday mornings supported his increasingly cynical view of religion. He later had many stints as an organist in bars, lounges, and nightclubs. While playing organ in Los Angeles burlesque houses, he reportedly had a brief affair with the still-unknown Marilyn Monroe, a claim that was later challenged by some.

According to his biography, LaVey moved back to San Francisco where he worked for a while as a photographer for the Police Department. He also dabbled as a psychic investigator, looking into "800 calls" referred to him by the police department. Later biographers have questioned whether LaVey ever worked with the police, as there are no records substantiating the claim. LaVey met and married Carole Lansing, who bore him his first daughter, Karla LaVey, in 1952. They divorced in 1960 after LaVey became entranced by Diane Hegarty. Hegarty and LaVey believed they had a common law marriage, and all believed them to be married. Diane bore his second daughter, Zeena Galatea LaVey in 1964. Zeena later bore Stanton Zaharoff LaVey, Anton and Diane's only grandchild.

Becoming a local celebrity through his paranormal research and live performances as an organist (including playing the Wurlitzer at the Lost Weekend cocktail lounge), he would attract many San Francisco notables to his parties. Guests included Carin de Plessin, Michael Harner, Chester A. Arthur III, Forrest J. Ackerman, Fritz Leiber, Dr. Cecil E. Nixon, and Kenneth Anger.

LaVey began presenting Friday night lectures on the occult to what he called a "Magic Circle" of associates who shared his interests. A member of this circle suggested that he had the basis for a new religion. On Walpurgisnacht, 30 April, 1966, he ritualistically shaved his head, declared the founding of the Church of Satan and proclaimed 1966 as "the year One", Anno Satanas—the first year of the Age of Satan. Media attention followed the subsequent Satanic wedding ceremony of Radical journalist John Raymond to New York socialite Judith Case on February 1st, 1967 (photographed by Joe Rosenthal). The Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle were among the newspapers that printed articles dubbing him "The Black Pope". LaVey performed Satanic baptisms (including one for Zeena), Satanic funerals (including one for naval officer Edward Olsen, complete with a chrome-helmeted honor guard) and released a record album entitled The Satanic Mass.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s LaVey melded ideological influences from Ayn Rand<ref>Lewis, James R. "Who Serves Satan? A Demographic and Ideological Profile". Marburg Journal of Religion. June 2001.</ref>, Friedrich Nietzsche, Aleister Crowley, Mencken, and Jack London with the ideology and ritual practices of the Church of Satan into essays introduced with reworked excerpts from Ragnar Redbeard’s Might is Right and concluded it with “Satanized” versions of John Dee’s Enochian Keys to create books such as The Satanic Bible, The Compleat Witch, (rereleased in 1989 as The Satanic Witch), and The Satanic Rituals.

Due to his increasing visibility through his books, LaVey was the subject of numerous articles in the news media throughout the world, including popular magazines such as Look, McCall's, Newsweek, and TIME, and men’s magazines. He also appeared on talk shows such as Joe Pyne, Phil Donahue, and Johnny Carson, and in a feature length documentary called Satanis: The Devil's Mass in 1969.

Hegarty and LaVey separated in the mid-1980s, and she sued for palimony. The claim was settled out of court. LaVey’s next and final companion was Blanche Barton, who bore him his only son, Satan Xerxes Carnacki LaVey on November 1, 1993. She succeeded him as the head of the Church after his death.

Anton LaVey died on October 29, 1997, in St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco of pulmonary edema. He was taken to St. Mary's, a Catholic hospital, because it was the closest available. The time of his death was listed as the morning of Halloween, which has since, for reasons open to speculation, been determined to be off by two days. A secret Satanic funeral for LaVey, by invitation only, was held in Colma, and his body was cremated. His ashes were not buried, but were eventually divided amongst his heirs as part of a settlement, on the assumption that they possess occult potency, and can be used for acts of Satanic ritual magic.

Preceded by:
Church established 		High Priest of the Church of Satan
1966-1997 		Succeeded by:
Peter H. Gilmore after vacancy

[edit] Controversy

  • On February 2, 1998, daughter Zeena LaVey and her husband Nikolas Schreck compiled and released "Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality" [1] which accused Anton LaVey of aiding sexual assault of relatives, falsifying information about his career and family life, and plagiarism. In response, Blanche Barton, Anton LaVey's biographer, released "The Georges Montalba Mystery" [2] countering these claims as unsourced slander and misconceptions.
  • John Smulo, a known critic of Anton LaVey, has stated that "Though LaVey justly charges that many Christians are guilty of hypocrisy, LaVey falls short himself. The sixth of LaVey's Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth says, "Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved." <ref> John Smulo - LaVey, The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth. In LaVey’s authorized biography, Barton says that LaVey “attacks most savagely those who ride on his coattails, or who steal his ideas, all the while pretending at originality or innovation—with, at best, a begrudging acknowledgement of their inspiration’s very existence.” Barton, The Secret Life of a Satanist, 222. LaVey’s hypocrisy here speaks for itself. Similarly, Barton speaks of those who obviously drew from LaVey’s philosophy, but “routinely give not so much credit as a notation in their bibliography.” Ibid., 14. However, most of LaVey’s books, including The Satanic Bible, don’t even have a bibliography.</ref> Unfortunately, when it came to writing The Satanic Bible, LaVey hypocritically fell short of following his own rules. Smulo further claimed LaVey's most well known written work, The Satanic Bible relied heavily on many writers of a philisophical nature, most notably Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Aleister Crowley. LaVey has stated that "his religion was “just Ayn Rand’s philosophy, with ceremony and ritual added." <ref>Ellis, Bill - (cited in Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2000, p. 180). (Refer also to the "Satanism and Objectivism" essay on the Church of Satan website where this connection is examined at length.) </ref>, though many say that 'he should be given credit for his creative synthesis of the thought of others into what has become the most influential statement of modern Satanism [citation needed].'

In "The Book of Satan" LaVey relied on a work called Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard to such an extent that without even a footnote or bibliographic reference [3]. LaVey has denied claims of plagarism in the Satanic Bible [4]. LaVey wrote the introduction to a later edition of Might is Right.<ref name=book>Might is Right, (Bensinville, IL: Michael Hunt 1996). Ragnar Redbeard, ISBN .</ref> In an interview with LaVey a question regarding the book arose. LaVey downplayed the seriousness of his plagiarism by stating:

  • "Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard is probably one of the most inflammatory books ever written, so who better to write an introduction? It was only natural that I excerpted a few pages of it for The Satanic Bible." <ref> Shane and Amy Bugbee]] - " The Doctor is in [5]</ref>

LaVey went on to state that:

  • "The book has been so indelibly linked with me, it was felt that any new edition should have my name on it." <ref> Shane and Amy Bugbee]] - " The Doctor is in [6]</ref> However, the question of why the book had been indelibly linked to him was oddly not brought up.
  • According to Lawrence Wright, Anton LaVey's real name was Howard Stanton Levey and was of Jewish descent <ref>Wright, Lawrence - "It’s Not Easy Being Evil in a World That’s Gone to Hell", Rolling Stone, September 5, 1991: 63-68, 105-16. Cf [7], [8] </ref> <ref>Barton, Blance - "Barton writes, in “The Secret Life of a Stanist, and Gavin Baddeley in Lucifer Rising, that, “LaVey’s grandson, born in 1978, was named “Stanton Zaharoff” in his honor.” Referring to the influence that Sir Basil Zaharoff had on LaVey, as opposed to “Stanton” being LaVey’s middle birth name, Barton, , 24. When referring to LaVey’s grandson’s first name, Barton says that he was named after a character in William Lindsay Gresham’s novel Nightmare Alley. Ibid., 42. What Barton fails to mention in both instances is that “Stanton” was Anton LaVey’s middle birth name. </ref><ref>Baddeley, Gavin - Lucifer Rising: A Book of Sin, Devil Worship and Rock 'n' Roll by Gavin Baddeley, Paul Woods (Plexus Publishing (UK), 2000, ISBN 0-85965-280-7) page 214. Referring to the influence that Sir Basil Zaharoff had on LaVey, as opposed to “Stanton” being LaVey’s middle birth name,</ref> <ref>Smulo, John - "A Critical Biography of LaVey: Hypocrisy, Plagiarism and LaVey [9]</ref> <ref>Wright, Lawrence – Saints and Sinners </ref> <ref>Wright, Lawrence - "In a well-documented article by one of LaVey’s daughters, Zeena LaVey, and Nikolas Schreck, entitled 'Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality', virtually all of the oft-repeated details about LaVey were shown to be fictitious. Zeena LaVey and Nikolas Schreck, Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality, <ref> Joe Abrams]] - " The Church of Satan [10]</ref>

[edit] Trivia

In order to meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article's trivia section requires cleanup.
Content in the trivia section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article.

[edit] LaVey-related books

[edit] Books by LaVey

[edit] Books featuring writings by LaVey

[edit] Books about LaVey

[edit] Filmography

  • Invocation of my Demon Brother (short, uncredited role as Satan, 1969)
  • Satanis: The Devil's Mass (featured, 1970; released on DVD by Something Weird Video, 2003)
  • The Devil's Rain (technical advisor, role as High Priest, 1975)
  • The Car (creative consultant, 1977)
  • Doctor Dracula, aka Svengali (technical advisor, 1981)
  • Charles Manson Superstar (research consultant, 1989)
  • Death Scenes (narrator/host, 1989)
  • Speak of the Devil (featured, 1995)

[edit] Recordings of Anton LaVey

  • The Satanic Mass, LP (Murgenstrumm Records, 1968; re-released on CD with one bonus track, "Hymn of the Satanic Empire, or The Battle Hymn of the Apocalypse," by Amarillo Records, 1994; Mephisto Media, 2001)
  • Answer Me/Honolulu Baby, 7" single (Amarillo Records, 1993)
  • Strange Music, 10" EP (Amarillo Records, 1994; now available through Reptilian Records)
  • Satan Takes A Holiday, CD (Amarillo Records, 1995; now available through Reptilian Records)

[edit] References

<references />

[edit] External links

Image:Wikiquote-logo-en.png
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

[edit] Writings by LaVey

[edit] Interviews with LaVey

[edit] About LaVey

cs:Anton LaVey da:Anton LaVey de:Anton Szandor LaVey es:Anton Szandor LaVey eo:Anton Szandor LaVey fr:Anton Szandor LaVey hr:Anton LaVey it:Anton LaVey lt:Anton Szandor LaVey nl:Anton Szandor LaVey pl:Anton Szandor LaVey pt:Anton LaVey ru:ЛаВей, Антон Шандор sk:Anton Szandor LaVey fi:Anton LaVey sv:Anton LaVey

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Anton_LaVey"
Personal tools