About The Book. From Chapter 1. Step right up! Slightly before the filmmaking was set in motion, there was another project that had got me thinking along similar lines: the book California Infernal - Anton LaVey and Jayne Mansfield as Portrayed by Walter Fischer. It was a lavish volume of photographs I had published on my own Trapart Books imprint in , and which really got my memory lane muscles working.
The sometimes candid and sometimes blatantly strategized photos by master paparazzo Walter Fischer became little gateways into the dusty vaults of my memory.
Growing up during the s in Stockholm, Sweden, I led a very stable, safe and secure life. No wonder then that I gravitated to the realms of underground comics, weird science fiction and dark occultisms.
Many unconventional strains of culture inspired my prurient youth, and they all merged into substantial parts of my being; most of which are in fact very much alive still. American pop culture was one seminal part of this imprint cluster. My parents had friends in the US, and they regularly sent comics, candy and clothes to me that all became parts of my identity.
I was often in there, being willingly enchanted before I could even fully figure out what was being said on the pages in question. Occultism was exciting and it still is! What healthy teenager can resist such an alluring title and tome? And I was thrilled to discover that he had actually founded The Church of Satan in - the very year I was born! Anton LaVey was one of these recurring favorites. The photos were titillating, to say the least: LaVey looked so sinister in his black cape and devil horns, and there were always nude ladies serving as altars; smiling seductively at the cameras.
All of these things definitely made an impact on my malleable teenage boy mind. I was pleasantly surprised when I was offered the use of the Walter Fischer images for the California Infernal project — some thirty years later!
Were they coming back to haunt me, or what? Writing the intro for that book made me roam my memory as well as my diaries. One question surfaced over and over: If I had had these wonderful experiences at the Black House, then surely others had, too? I travelled with my wife, Vanessa Sinclair, to New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco to conduct filmed interviews, and later on followed up with a set if standardized questions via e-mail for this book project, specifically.
This mosaic of stories from long ago created a pattern that tilted and jolted my mind, and opened up for more than mere memories or details. It was a pattern mainly consisting of warm and positive emotions for this unique and creative individual who inspired us so much, and in so many different ways.
The most striking thing about Anton LaVey in this kind of rear view mirror, is that he has made a real impact on culture. The similarities with good science fiction are obvious: by writing about the future and thereby inspiring the young in their life choices, and - even more importantly, according to LaVey - their aesthetics, science fiction also helps define the future beyond the mere fictional aspects.
LaVey's intuitive assumptions became obsessions, and when he eventually divulged these, they became little spells that affected the big picture in various ways. From the late s and onwards, the musically skilled LaVey played keyboards in many different settings: at nightclubs, events, bars, circuses and sideshows. The accumulated experiences of seeing how people behaved in various states of successful and quite often not so successful states of lustful inebriation became the cornerstones of his philosophy of life.
This also included wisdoms from other animals than the human one - mainly large cats, like lions and tigers - as he learnt how to interact with them at the circus. Satan was without a doubt the most feared symbol around, and therefore the most attractive. He was established in his Black House and held lectures and classes. Topics could range from vampires, werewolves, freaks, the Black Mass, death, ghosts, gothic culture and many other things.
Media attention was massive. Legendary occultist Aleister Crowley viewed Satan symbolically. Its founder Gregor A. Sometime between and , Anton Lavey, a former carnival worker and musician, held night classes in the occult. Regular attendees eventually formed the Church of Satan.
These sessions were mostly discussion-based but on April 30, , the group formalized as the Church of Satan and the meetings became more ritual-based, incorporating theatrics, costuming and music. Lavey became known as the Black Pope. Anton Lavey, of the First Satanic Church, performing a satanic ceremony, The Satanic Bible gave the church a national reputation and served as a strong vehicle for its significant growth.
Ohio barber and part-time spiritual medium Herbert Sloan claimed in that he started the first Satanist organization, the Our Lady of Endor Coven of the Ophite Cultus Sathanas, in Sloane described his group as focused on the metaphysical aspects of Satan and offered service, communion and coffee and donuts socializing afterward. As the Church of Satan grew in size, internal rifts developed, leading some members split off to start their own branches. Newsletter editor Michael Aquino left to form the Temple of Set in , and plenty others followed.
The next decade brought in newer denominations like the Luciferian Children of Satan, founded by Marco Dimitri in Italy in Dimitri was convicted of child abuse but was later cleared. The Satanic Reds formed in in New York, and combined Satanism with socialism and Lovecraftian concepts—a subgenre of horror fiction. The s Satanic Panic saw Christian fundamentalists push the idea that Satanic cults were systematically abusing children in rituals and committing widespread murder, and successfully convince the general public through sensational news coverage.
Serial killer Richard Ramirez , when finally captured in , claimed to be a Satanist, employing Satanic symbolism to his look and claiming to know Lavey, adding fuel to the fire of the panic. Lavey claimed they had briefly met in the streets in the s, but Ramirez had never set foot in the church. The panic escalated, with Satanic Ritual Abuse becoming a standard aspect of high profile cases like the McMartin School in California. These criminal cases featured a consistent lack of evidence and alleged coercion on the part of child psychologists pushing the conspiracy theory.
The zeal of the fundamentalists led to few if any investigations or prosecutions of actual Satanists. Most of the victims of the frenzy were other Christians. In Barton appointed author and Church member Peter H. Gilmore as high priest and his wife, church administrator Peggy Nadramia, as high priestess. The GCL follows many LaVeyan principles with touches of the occult and has chapters in other countries. The most successful result of church divisions is The Satanic Temple.
It first gained attention in with a satirical rally against Florida Governor Rick Scott, but grew into a more organized group quickly.
Calling itself a non-theistic religion embracing the Devil as a symbolic form of rebellion in the tradition of Milton, the Temple devoted itself to political action focused on the separation of church and state, religious equality and reproductive rights. The Satanic Temple gained notoriety through two attempts to have a statue of Baphomet legally placed on two state capitol grounds—Oklahoma in and in Arkansas in —in reaction to government-sanctioned 10 Commandments monuments.
The Temple launched a physical location in Salem, Massachusetts, in and was recognized as a religion by the U. Lewis and Jesper Aa. Petersen, published by Oxford University Press , But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Great Society was an ambitious series of policy initiatives, legislation and programs spearheaded by President Lyndon B.
Johnson with the main goals of ending poverty, reducing crime, abolishing inequality and improving the environment. In May , President Lyndon B. The Orangeburg Massacre occurred on the night of February 8, , when a civil rights protest at South Carolina State University SC State turned deadly after highway patrolmen opened fire on about unarmed black student protestors. Three young men were shot and killed, and The s started off as the dawn of a golden age to most Americans.
On January 20, , the handsome and charismatic John F.
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