Editing Church of Satan (section)

==History==

===Early years===
In the 1960s Anton Szandor LaVey formed a group called the Order of the Trapezoid, which later became the governing body of the Church of Satan. The group included: "The Baroness" Carin de Plessen, Dr. Cecil Nixon, [[Kenneth Anger]], San Francisco [[Assessor (property)|city assessor]] Russell Wolden, and Donald Werby.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lacey|first=Michael|title=Pieces of the Action: What's worse? A venture capitalist or a guy who smokes cunderage hookers?|url=http://www.sfweekly.com/2007-06-20/news/pieces-of-the-action/|publisher=SF Weekly Jun 20 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title="Satan's Den in Great Disrepair" Lattin, Don (January 25, 1999) |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F1999%2F01%2F25%2FMN77329.DTL |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |url-status=dead |date=January 25, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720054934/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F1999%2F01%2F25%2FMN77329.DTL |archive-date=July 20, 2014 |access-date=May 29, 2012 }}</ref> According to the Church of Satan historiography, other LaVey associates from this time include noted [[science fiction]] and [[horror fiction|horror]] writers [[Anthony Boucher]], [[August Derleth]], Robert Barbour Johnson, [[Reginald Bretnor]], [[Emil Petaja]], [[Stuart Palmer (author)|Stuart Palmer]], [[Clark Ashton Smith]], [[Forrest J. Ackerman]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/has-the-church-of-satan-gone-to-hell/Content?oid=2135375|title=Has the Church of Satan Gone to Hell?|first=Jack|last=Boulware|newspaper=SF Weekly|location=San Francisco|access-date=March 15, 2015|date=June 17, 1998|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402160647/http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/has-the-church-of-satan-gone-to-hell/Content?oid=2135375|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Fritz Leiber Jr.]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.churchofsatan.com/cos-order-of-trapezoid.php |title=A Brief History of the Church of Satan 2. The Magic Circle |publisher=Churchofsatan.com |date= |access-date=2011-01-20}}</ref>

The Church of Satan was established at the [[Black House (Church of Satan)|Black House]] in San Francisco, California, on [[Walpurgis Night|Walpurgisnacht]], April 30, 1966, by  LaVey, who was the church's High Priest until his death in 1997.<ref name="CoS"/>

In the first year of its foundation, LaVey and the Church of Satan publicly performed a Satanic marriage of Judith Case and journalist John Raymond. The ceremony was attended by [[Joe Rosenthal]]. LaVey performed the first publicly recorded Satanic baptism in history for his youngest daughter [[Zeena Schreck|Zeena]], which garnered worldwide publicity and was originally recorded on ''The Satanic Mass'' LP.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Satanic Mass/Zeena's Baptism Track A9 go to 3:42| website=[[YouTube]] |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=s_M09vuLQAc&NR=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Satanic Mass, Track A9 (Zeena's Baptism)|date=1968 |url=http://www.discogs.com/Anton-LaVey-The-Satanic-Mass/release/1166426|publisher=Murgenstrumm, 1968 Vinly LP}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Satanist Anton LaVey Baptising Daughter|url=http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U1556387/satanist-anton-lavey-baptising-daughter|publisher=Bettmann/CORBIS|location=San Francisco, California, USA|date=May 23, 1967|quote=LaVey [...] said the mystic ceremony was the first such baptism in history.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=clippings of Zeena's baptism world wide|url=http://zeena.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=109%3Apress-coverage-of-zeenas-baptism-1967-1968&catid=41&Itemid=57}}</ref> A Satanic funeral for naval machinist-repairman, third-class Edward Olsen, was performed at the request of his wife, complete with an  [[honor guard]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Navy Machinist's Mate Third Class Edward D. Olsen, 26 |url=https://www.alamy.com/navy-machinists-mate-third-class-edward-d-olsen-26-who-was-killed-in-an-automobile-accident-is-buried-with-a-navy-honor-guard-and-the-rites-of-the-satanic-church-which-consigned-his-soul-to-the-devil-dec-11-1967-high-priest-anton-lavey-wearing-cape-at-right-and-holding-the-book-of-black-magic-presided-over-the-service-while-a-navy-bugler-blew-taps-ap-photorobert-w-klein-image521599288.html |website=Almy |access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref>

The Church of Satan was the subject of a number of books, magazine and newspaper articles during the 1960s and 1970s. It is also the subject of a documentary, ''[[Satanis]]'' (1970). LaVey appeared in [[Kenneth Anger]]'s film ''[[Invocation of My Demon Brother]]'', acted as technical adviser on ''[[The Devil's Rain (film)|The Devil's Rain]]'', which starred [[Ernest Borgnine]], [[William Shatner]], and introduced [[John Travolta]]. The Church of Satan was also featured in a segment of [[Luigi Scattini]]'s film ''Angeli Bianchi, Angeli Neri'', released in the United States as ''Witchcraft '70''.<ref name="IMDb-W70">{{cite web |title=Witchcraft '70 Original title: Angeli bianchi... angeli neri |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066577/ |website=IMDb |access-date=7 January 2024 |quote=A mondo style report of satanic rites from around the world. Includes devil worshipping, voodoo cults, church of satan, black magic, naked exorcism and pagan rituals.}}</ref>

One attempt to establish the church abroad was done in connection with Maarten Lamers of the Netherlands who read The Satanic Bible and in 1971 flew to San Francisco to meet LaVey. Back in Amsterdam, Lamers established the first CoS grotto outside the U.S. -- the Magistralis Grotto or the ''Kerk van Satan''. The "Kerk" was in the [[De Wallen|Red Light District]] and connected to a club called Walpurga Abbey where customers could pay by the minute to observe “monastic sisters” of the Abbey masturbate on stage. Lamers insisted that since the sisters were "performing religious acts of [[Sex magic|sexual magic]]", Walpurga Abbey was tax-exempt. The Dutch government disagreed and in 1987, "after a decade of police raids and legal battles", Lamers was compelled to pay 10 million guilders in back taxes.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise/>

In 1972, LaVey stopped holding weekly rituals at the Black House and announced these would be done at the local grottos. Then on September 27, 1974, he declared the end of all regional organizations and that individual members and grottos should report to the Church's Central Grotto in San Francisco. LaVey called this move “Phase IV of his master plan”<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise>[[#JPLS2023|Laycock, ''Satanism'', 2023]]: section 4. The Church of Satan. The Rise and Fall of Anton LaVey</ref>

=== Schisms ===
Starting in the early 1970s, the Church faced internal [[dissent]] and a series of [[schism]]s. The first breakaway was by the Babylonian Grotto and its leader Wayne West, who LaVey [[Excommunication|excommunicated]]. A bigger schism happened with the excommunication of the Stygian Grotto, whose leader established the Church of Satanic Brotherhood in 1973 with units in Dayton, Indianapolis, Louisville, New York City, and St. Petersburg (FL). From the Church's Belphegor Grotto, another splinter group created the Order of the Black Goat, which was allegedly [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] in orientation, led by Michael Grumbowski. A later, more resilient offshoot was the World Church of Satanic Liberation, which ran from 1986 to 2011.<ref>Foertsch, Steven. "An organizational analysis of the schismatic Church of Satan." ''Review of Religious Research'' 64, no. 1 (2022): 55-76, pp. 61-62</ref>

In 1975, the Church of Satan underwent a significant fracture. [[Michael Angelo Aquino]], the editor of the church newsletter and a fairly high level leader in the church, who disagreed with LaVey's changes, left to found the [[Temple of Set]], taking a significant portion of the CoS leadership with him. This schism involved the largest Church branch, the Nineveh Grotto in NJ, and the Lilith Grotto in NY, among others. The Temple of Set reportedly had more than 500 members at its founding, although Anton LaVey claimed that only 29 people left.<ref>Foertsch, Steven. "An organizational analysis of the schismatic Church of Satan." ''Review of Religious Research'' 64, no. 1 (2022): 55-76, pp. 63-4</ref>

LaVey announced that the Temple of Set schism was not a setback but "Phase V" of his master plan,<ref name="JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise" /> however, according to author Amina Lap, from this point on Satanism became a "splintered and disorganized movement".{{sfn|Lap|2013|p=84}}

Schisms from the Church were caused by several factors, according to sociologist Foertsch. He focused on differences in costliness or [[barriers to entry]] for members, disputes over authority and [[doctrine]], and opportunities for [[Niche market|niche development]] in the American [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counter-culture]] world of [[occult]]ism, and persecution of alleged Satanists during the [[moral panic]] (described below) of the 1980s.<ref>Foertsch, Steven. "An organizational analysis of the schismatic Church of Satan." ''Review of Religious Research'' 64, no. 1 (2022): 55-76.</ref>

The same year LaVey painted the Black House beige to lessen unwanted attention and "largely retired from public life".<ref>R. van Luijk, ''Children of Lucifer: The Origins of Modern Religious Satanism'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), p. 363</ref>  (In 1986, the Black House was repainted black.) According to at least one critic, James R. Lewis, LaVey  was not instituting "a Master Plan" but demonstrating that he “was not up to making the necessary personal sacrifices that being a founding prophet and leader required" because his motives for founding the Church were personal enrichment and self-aggrandizement, not spreading some religious truth.<ref name="Footnote-118">R. Lewis, ''Legitimating New Religions'' (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003), p.111.</ref>

===1980s, early 1990s, and "Satanic Panic"===

In the 1980s a phenomenon that became known as the "[[Satanic ritual abuse#As a moral panic|Satanic Panic]]" arose and the media reported concerns of criminal conspiracies by the Church of Satan.  According to a report released in 2020, LaVey indicated to FBI agents who interviewed him on October 31, 1980 that he had lost interest in the Church. 
{{blockquote|“LAVEY STATED THAT HE IS WELL AWARE THAT MOST PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHURCH OF SATAN ARE IN FACT ‘FANATICS, CULTISTS, AND WEIRDOES.’ HE STATED HIS INTEREST IN THE CHURCH OF SATAN IS STRICTLY FROM A MONETARY POINT OF VIEW AND SPENDS HIS TIME FURNISHING INTERVIEWS, WRITING MATERIALS, AND LATELY HAS BECOME INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY.”<ref name=Footnote119>Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Acts Release – Subject: Anton LaVey,”  capitalization as in original. quoted in Joseph Laycock, ''Satanism'', 2023</ref><ref name=JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise/>}} 

During the 1980s and 90s, LaVey  was no longer interested in making media appearances and began a "long period of silence", becoming "increasingly reclusive".<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise/> In 1985, he began sending his daughter Zeena to represent the CoS. She appeared on television and radio broadcasts (including ''[[The Phil Donahue Show]]'', ''[[Nightline]] with [[Ted Koppel]]'', ''[[Entertainment Tonight]]'', ''[[Late Show with David Letterman|The Late Show]]'', ''[[Secrets & Mysteries]]'' and ''[[Sally (1983 TV series)|the Sally Jesse Raphael Show]]'')  {{#tag:ref|She explained that she did this on behalf of her father while being interviewed alongside her husband by televangelist [[Bob Larson]].<ref name="The First Family of Satanism">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WcKrdFHTds | title = The First Family of Satanism | website = [[YouTube]] | place = Denver Colorado | date = 1989}}</ref>|group=Note}}
to both educate about the Church and to debunk Satanic ritual abuse and any connection between those allegations and true Satanism (specifically the Church of Satan).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDNwdcKdboQ | title = KJTV Interviews Zeena LaVey | website = [[YouTube]] | place = Los Angeles | date = 1987}}</ref> She also became the High Priestess of the Church during this time<ref>{{cite web|title=Zeena Schreck Interview in Vice Magazine, Beelzebub's Daughter, by Annette Lamothe-Ramos|date=26 September 2012 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/beelzebubs-daughter-0000175-v19n4/}}</ref> and in 1988 married [[Nikolas Schreck]].<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise/>

On Walpurgisnacht 30 April 1990, Zeena formally renounced any association with the Church or LaVey, whom she now called her “unfather,” changing her [[Maiden and married names|maiden name]] to her then married name Schreck, the surname she retained after her divorce.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schreck |first1=Zeena |title=FAQ on Zeena Schreck's website |url=https://www.zeenaschreck.com/general-info.html |website=zeenaschreck.com}}</ref> Shortly after leaving the church, Zeena testified against LaVey in support of her mother's (Diane Hegarty) [[Palimony in the United States|palimony]] lawsuit against LaVey. The court awarded Hegarty half of LaVey’s property, forcing him to sell [[Black House (Church of Satan)|the Black House]] and bankrupting him.<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise/> Zeena and her husband later joined the Temple of Set for a time but in 2002 she resigned and formed the [[Zeena_Schreck#Sethian_Liberation_Movement|Sethian Liberation Movement]]. 

In the 1990s remaining members of the Church of Satan became active in media appearances to refute allegations of criminal activity. Members of the Church who were active in producing movies, music, films, and magazines devoted to Satanism include [[Adam Parfrey]]'s [[Feral House]] publishing, the musician [[Boyd Rice]], musician [[King Diamond]], and the filmmaker [[Nick Bougas]] (a.k.a. A. Wyatt Mann).<ref>{{cite web|title=Nick Bougas, a.k.a. A Wyatt Mann|url=http://garrisongraphics.blogspot.de/2015/02/racist-and-anti-semtic-cartoonist-wyatt.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Buzzfeed article by Joseph Bernstein "History Of The Internet's Favorite Anti-Semitic Image"|website=[[BuzzFeed]] |date=5 February 2015 |url=http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-surprisingly-mainstream-history-of-the-internets-favorit#.xfzZKwrNG}}</ref>

In 1994, Kenneth Lanning, an [[FBI]] expert in investigating child sexual abuse,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/heimbach050102.htm |title=Testimony of Michael J. Heimbach, Crimes Against Children Unit |last=Heimbach |first=MJ |date=2002-05-01 |publisher=United States Congress |access-date=2008-04-30 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061230100851/http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/heimbach050102.htm | archive-date = 2006-12-30}}</ref> produced a report on Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) aimed at child protection authorities, which stated that despite hundreds of investigations, no corroboration of SRA had been found. Following this report, several convictions based on SRA allegations were overturned and the defendants released.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Debbie |title=Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt |year=1995 |isbn=9780595189557 |publication-date=January 1, 1995 |pages=230|publisher=iUniverse }}</ref>

===After LaVey===
[[File:Karla LaVey.jpg|thumb|[[Karla LaVey]] during a "Black X-Mass" celebration in 2012|left|270x270px]]
After Anton Szandor LaVey's death on October 29, 1997, the role of High Priest was empty for some time. On November 7, 1997<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oocities.org/athens/olympus/6666/obit5.html |title='Black Pope' of Satanic Church dies aged 67 |agency=Reuters |location=San Francisco |date=November 7, 1997 |first=Andrew |last=Quinn}}</ref> [[Karla LaVey]] made a press release about continuing the church with fellow high priestess [[Blanche Barton]]. Barton eventually received ownership of the organization, which she held for 4 years. Karla LaVey ultimately left the Church of Satan and founded [[First Satanic Church]]. On October 16, 2001, the Black House, the original home of the Church, was demolished after a fundraising effort failed to raise enough to buy it.<ref name=ft.135>{{cite web |last1= Gilmore |first1=Peter H. |title="Yes, We Have No Occultism." |url=https://www.churchofsatan.com/yes-we-have-no-occultism/ |accessdate=8 January 2024}}</ref> (In 1992, LaVey had sold the house to a real estate developer to raise money to  settle a divorce but the developer allowed LaVey to continue to live in the house for free.)<ref name=JPLS2023:sect.4-Rise/>

[[Image:Peter H Gilmore by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|High Priest [[Peter H. Gilmore]]]]
{{Wikinews|Satanism: An interview with Church of Satan High Priest Peter Gilmore}}
In 2001, Blanche ceded her position to longtime members Peter H. Gilmore and [[Peggy Nadramia]], the current High Priest and High Priestess and publishers of ''[[The Black Flame (magazine)|The Black Flame]]'', the official magazine of The Church of Satan, who managed an active CoS group in New York. The Central Office of the Church of Satan has also moved from San Francisco to New York City's [[Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan|Hell's Kitchen]] neighborhood, where the couple resides. The Church of Satan does not recognize any other organizations as holding legitimate claim to Satanism and its practice, though it does recognize that one need not be a member of the Church of Satan to be a Satanist.

In October 2004, the [[Royal Navy]] officially recognised its first registered Satanist, 24-year-old Chris Cranmer, as a technician aboard {{HMS|Cumberland|F85|6}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3948329.stm |title=UK &#124; Navy approves first ever Satanist |publisher=BBC News |date=2004-10-24 |access-date=2009-06-07}}</ref>

===6/6/06 High Mass===

On June 6, 2006, the Church of Satan held the first public ritual Satanic Mass in 40 years at the [[Steve Allen Theater]] in the [[Center for Inquiry]] in Los Angeles. The date corresponds to the [[Number of the beast|number of the Beast]], 666, from the biblical Book of Revelation. The ritual, based on the rites outlined in ''The Satanic Bible'' and ''The Satanic Rituals'', was conducted by Reverend Bryan Moore and Priestess Heather Saenz.<ref name="Lacitybeat.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3916&IssueNum=158 |title=Los Angeles CityBeat — The Devil's Advocates |publisher=Lacitybeat.com |date= |access-date=2009-06-07 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223231729/http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3916&IssueNum=158 |archive-date=2008-12-23 }}</ref>

The event was by invitation only, and over one hundred members of the Church of Satan from around the world filled the theatre to capacity.   Many members of the Church of Satan were interviewed by the [[BBC]] with permission.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5051540.stm | work=BBC News | title=The Nick of time | date=2006-06-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/church-of-satan-high-priest-6-6-06-is-just-a-day-like-any-other/|title=Church Of Satan High Priest: 6/6/06 Is 'Just A Day, Like Any Other'|work=BLABBERMOUTH.NET|date=24 April 2006 }}</ref> The music for the mass was created and performed by [[Lustmord]] and was subsequently released on his album ''Rising''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lustmord.com/albums/ |title=Albums |publisher=Lustmord |date= |access-date=2015-11-19}}</ref>

===Example of law abidingness===
In December 2007 the [[Associated Press]] reported on a story concerning the Church of Satan, in which a teenager had sent an email to High Priest Gilmore stating he wanted to "kill in the name of our unholy lord Satan". Gilmore then reported the message to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], who informed local police, who arrested the teenager.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/teen-held-after-e-mailing-satanic-group-threat-to-kill-grandparents |title=Teen Held After E-Mailing Satanic Group Threat to Kill Grandparents|publisher=FoxNews.com |date=2007-12-15 |access-date=2009-06-07|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217165333/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316967,00.html|archive-date=2007-12-17}}</ref>

=== ''Realm of Satan'' documentary ===
In January 2024, the film ''Realm of Satan'' was shown at the [[Sundance Film Festival]]. The film is similar to a [[Documentary film|documentary]], though it consists primarily of scenes staged with members of the Church of Satan. One reviewer described it as "an 80-minute art installation in which Satanists are rendered—and deliberately render themselves—performative characters in a diabolical play of their own making."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schager |first=Nick |date=Jan 22, 2024 |title='Realm of Satan': Meet the Church's Magicians, Porn Stars, and Broomstick Makers |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/realm-of-satan-meet-the-churchs-magicians-porn-stars-and-members |work=Daily Beast}}</ref> The film is directed by Scott Cummings and it shows a variety of satanic [[ritual]]s, which may have been performed for the film alone.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eddy |first=Cheryl |date=January 25, 2024 |title=Realm of Satan Brings Dark Glamour to a Misunderstood Culture |url=https://gizmodo.com/realm-of-satan-sundance-review-satanic-church-documenta-1851193817 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref>