LaVey was a flamboyant leader who appealed to many of the entertainment figures in Hollywood. It has been rumored that Sammy Davis Jr., Keenan Wynn, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, and singer Marilyn Manson were all linked at one time or another with LaVey. (Some sources claimed that LaVey was involved with Marilyn Monroe in her early years in Hollywood, but this apparently has been discredited by those close to Monroe.) Anton LaVey’s teachings detail a lifetime’s celebration of total excess. According to the Church of Satan’s promotional literature, “The Church of Satan is an eclectic body that traces its origin to many sources—classical voodoo, the Hellfire Club of eighteenth-century England, the ritual magic of Aleister Crowley, and the Black Order of Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. It departs from its predecessors by (1) its organization into a church, and (2) the openness of its magical endeavors.” In 1969, Anton LaVey released his teachings through the publication of The Satanic Bible. The Black Pope contends that there are nine Satanic statements:
Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!
Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
Satan represents undefiled wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!
Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!
Satan represents responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!
Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all fours, who, becauseof his “divine spiritual and intellectual development,” has become the most vicious animal of all!
Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratifications!
Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years!2
Each of these supposed virtues represents smashing the weak and following the doctrine of Social Darwinism, the survival of the fittest. It seemed that LaVey’s purpose was to establish an organization for “nonjoiners.” This fellowship would have weekly meetings and rituals and take the name of the original rebel, Satan, as their patron. To the Satanist, his religion is but an enlightened carryover from the humanistic teachings of the Renaissance. In Blanche Barton’s The Secret Life of a Satanist, Anton LaVey states, “We don’t worship Satan, we worship ourselves using the metaphorical representation of the qualities of Satan. Satan is the name used by Judeo-Christians for that force of individuality and pride within us.”
According to his biographers, LaVey, while working with the Clyde Beatty Circus, noticed the circus’s male customers eyeing the dancing girls on Saturday night during circus performances, only to watch them come reverently to the Sunday church services with their families the next morning. Anton LaVey played the organ at those services and became convinced of the hypocrisy of man, an indictment of modern religion. Obviously, he must have smiled with delight as “crying ministers” confessed to extramarital affairs with prostitutes, and television ministries crumbled due to fraud and deceit. Yes, Satan is very much alive and well and with us today!
Given his background in the circus, it would be only natural for Anton LaVey to become a great carnival pitchman. Instead of showing bearded ladies and men with two faces, LaVey would offer up naked women lying upon his living altar. Dressed in a costume complete with miniature horns, LaVey would offer up (down?) praises to his infernal lord. There were hints of drugs, sex, and other indescribable behaviors taking place in his grotto (the official name for each licensed church). It appears that the more outrageous the charges, the more publicity the self-named Black Pope received. In the late 1960s, LaVey appeared, complete with shaven head and costume, in newspapers, magazines, and television. It was also at this time that LaVey flashed “the sign of the horns.” The sign is made by holding up the little and index fingers of the left hand. The thumb holds the ring and middle fingers down. In Satanic terms this supposedly is a symbol of denying the three (the Holy Trinity) and raising the two (Satan and the Anti-Christ).
I must admit that when Richard Dawson was host of the Family Feud television game show and at every show’s conclusion raised his hand in what appeared to be the same gesture, I thought to myself, What if? Of course, with the thumb extended it becomes sign language for “I love you.” What a strange parallel! This newfound publicity brought LaVey many inquiries as to membership, but for some followers their association with LaVey could prove to be dangerous to their careers. The rumor of a Satanic curse had played throughout the media earlier in 1967. The most startling example of this supposed power concerns the death of the Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield, who was among the early members of LaVey’s church.
Following Marilyn Monroe’s tragic death, Mansfield was now the new blond bombshell and was specifically groomed by Hollywood to take Monroe’s place. As she was making her way up the ladder of success, her lover, an attorney named Sam Brody, approached LaVey and informed the Black Pope that Jayne would be leaving the Church and that she would cut all ties with LaVey. Brody realized that linking Mansfield to black magic and devil worship could very well destroy her now promising career. One photograph actually made its way into publication showing Mansfield kneeling in front of a smiling LaVey drinking from a chalice in what appeared to be some form of dark communion service. It also appears that LaVey was interested in a romantic relationship with Mansfield and several of her friends remember Jayne teasing him on the phone. The interest was obviously one sided.
LaVey told Brody he would see him dead within one year and went through a ritual satanic curse, conjuring up all the forces to destroy him. LaVey also told Jayne that Brody was “under a dark cloud” and warned her not to be alone with him. He especially urged her not to get in a car with Brody. LaVey stoically stated, “I made it clear what would happen.”
Several months later, on July 29, 1967, Jayne and Sam Brody were driving to New Orleans when their car was in a bad crash with a tanker truck spraying for mosquitoes. It was a grisly scene. Preliminary press reports claimed that Mansfield was decapitated, but it now appears that one of the actress’s wigs gave that illusion. The San Francisco police showed no interest in pursuing an inquiry of murder by proxy basically because they could never prove it.3 When LaVey was interviewed following the accident he claimed wryly that he had only cursed Brody. LaVey had also mentioned a strange coincidence that had occurred the morning of the accident. It seemed that while he was cutting out an article on himself from a local newspaper, he just by chance turned the article over and saw that he had mutilated a photo of Jayne Mansfield that was on the other side of the article. With his scissors, Anton LaVey had unintentionally severed the actress’s head from her body. This coincidence occurred just hours before the fatal crash. Due to the increase of publicity, membership in the Church of Satan grew to an estimated 18,000 by the end of 1969, a strangely fitting end to the decade of the sixties along with the disaster at Altamont and the Manson murders. Some individuals report that LaVey had placed a curse upon the entire hippie movement of the sixties, due to their careless use of drugs and complete apathy toward life. It is reported that on the night of August 9, 1969, he performed a ritual that would bring the powers of darkness down upon what he referred to as the “psychedelic vermin.” Was it yet another coincidence that on this same night the Manson family murdered actress Sharon Tate and a small group of her guests in the so-called “Helter-Skelter” murders? It is true that public opinion radically turned against the flower children, and the “Summer of Love” crashed and burned that summer night in 1969. Strangely enough, one of the murderers, Susan Atkins, had once performed as a topless dancer in one of LaVey’s early occult-influenced sideshows before he had founded the Church of Satan.
The newfound notoriety of Anton LaVey enabled him to accept a number of film roles as well as technical advisor. In fellow Satanist Kenneth Anger’s f
ilm Invocation of My Demon Brother, LaVey played the role of Satan. The role of Lucifer was played by Manson family member Bobby Beausoleil. Anton LaVey’s biography claimed that he was then hired as a technical consultant to Roman Polanski’s film adaptation of Rosemary’s Baby, concerning modern-day Satanism in New York. In this film LaVey was also said to be have been given a walk-on role as the devil. But in the autobiography Step Right Up! I’m Gonna Scare the Pants off America by William Castle, the film’s producer, there is no mention of LaVey being hired as a technical consultant or having any role in the film whatsoever. The role of the devil was obviously played by John Cassavetes in makeup, and a small male dancer wore the rubber devil’s suit in another scene. Shortly following the release of this film, Roman Polanski’s wife, actress Sharon Tate, was viciously murdered by the Manson cult in California. (Polanski’s life was destined to be filled with tragedy. His mother died in a concentration camp and in one incident, when he was but a child, he was used as target practice for German soldiers. In 1974, he received great acclaim as the director of Chinatown. However, in 1979, Polanski was arrested for sex with a minor and fled when he was released on bond. To this day he has avoided the United States, and his latest film, The Pianist, has brought him even greater commendation.)
Anton LaVey would be hired as a technical director and actor in which he led a group of Satanists in a ceremony in The Devil’s Rain. This 1975 film stared such established stars as William Shatner and Ernest Borgnine, and rumors of strange, unexplained occurrences on the set followed the film’s debut across the country. The same hysteria would later be relived when The Exorcist was released. Rumors of mysterious fires, and the eminent death of some of the film’s actors, continued the urban legends of the occult and its consequences. Of course, the untimely deaths of several of the actors who played roles in the Poltergeist film series has now continued yet another strange chapter in film tragedy and urban legendry.
Anton LaVey continued to flout middle-class values by performing a Satanic funeral service for one of his members in San Francisco. In one vivid photograph, carried by newspapers throughout the world, LaVey performed a baptismal ceremony using his three-year-old daughter, Zeena, as the initiate. The child sat dressed in a red robe upon the living altar adorned with a naked woman, while her father, wearing his ceremonial robes, administered the rites of baptism. To many this was completely appalling, but for the Church of Satan the article provided worldwide publicity and requests for membership came in from around the world.
LaVey’s carefully planned but covert transition into the music business was revealed in Blanche Burton’s 1990 publication, The Church of Satan. LaVey decided auditoriums and stadiums could be used to spread the word to new followers through what was described as “Black Metal concerts.” The newly staged concerts had the power of a religious crusade. At this time, rumors of backward tracks and so-called satanic messages being hidden in recordings filled the media. Some bands placed warning labels on their releases claiming that some of their songs contained secret backward tracks. The effectiveness of these backward messages affecting people on a subliminal basis has been disputed by psychologists. The brain typically does not recognize backward phonemes and cannot rearrange them into words that would have any influence on human thoughts and behavior.
The main element behind Black Metal was to generate enough publicity to bring Satanism into the mainline press. Many young fans took to the music and carved their new heroes’ names on their notebooks as well as on their flesh. The band’s image was paramount and the message was true rebellion. LaVey points to young people adopting the salute of “two thumbs,” which was now more popular than the Mason’s handshake.4
With the release of Hotel California even the Eagles were placed under closer scrutiny. Some listeners suggested that the name for the LP came from the street address of the Church of Satan in San Francisco. The church was formed from a remodeled brothel and was said to be located upon California Avenue. This became what some fanatics considered to be a strong indication that some members of the Eagles had now become willing initiates into the dark side. Singer/drummer Don Henley composed the lyrics of the title song, which took on a strange Twilight Zone—like atmosphere. The story line that concerned “steely knives,” “kill the beast,” and “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” provided references that some believed were influenced by occult practices. Did the “steely knives” represent sacrifice? Did not being able to “leave” conjure forth the tragic story of Jayne Mansfield, the former member of the Church of Satan, who in her leaving only hastened her own terrible death? Another lyric that stated “We’ve not had that spirit here since 1969” brought back terrible memories of Altamont and the Manson murders. It was also the very year that The Satanic Bible was first printed.
Another puzzling scene from Hotel California deals with an album photo showing the Eagles standing in the lobby of a crowed hotel. A living sea of humanity surrounds them, but upon the balcony, a figure half hidden by the darkness gazes down upon the crowd. The figure sports what appears to be a cleanly shaven head and neatly trimmed black goatee, resembling none other than Anton LaVey himself. The Eagles have denied any reference to Satan or the occult within the song and have suggested that the mysterious figure upon the balcony was only an extra who had simply been in the wrong place at the time of the photo shoot. Nearly twenty years after the release of Hotel California, and the original breakup of the Eagles, the band reformed for their Hell Freezes Over tour. The name for the album and tour came from an expression credited to the band members, who angrily said they would reform only if hell froze over. Since the reforming of the Eagles, Henley has taken on Satan once again. In “The Garden Of Allah” Henley has Satan return to earth once more to check on the progress of man. The song title was taken from the name of a scandalous Hollywood hotel that was the very picture of decadence. In a 1995 interview with CNN Henley stated, “I think if people listen closely they will see the humor in it. I mean the devil shows up in a seersucker suit and gets angry because it’s so hot here that it reminds him of home and he’s all sweaty.” Henley even persuaded Kirk Douglas to play the role of Satan in the rock video. Douglas agreed, but only after consulting his rabbi.
With the development of theatrical rock throughout the 1970s, concert attendance continued to soar. Many rock groups then decided to wrap themselves in the mantle of the occult. It was at this time that KISS appeared in complete makeup. Their stage antics included spitting up blood and blowing fire, and in many cases seeing their performance was like going to the circus. KISS bassist Gene Simmons once stated, “We wanted to look like we crawled out from under a rock in Hell. We wanted parents to look at us and instantly want to throw up.”5 The legions of their fans multiplied as many followers appeared at KISS concerts dressed in the same costumes as their idols. It wasn’t long after KISS’s popularity rose until rumors started to appear stating that KISS was an anagram for something much more sinister. It was suggested that the group’s name actually stood for “Knights in Satan’s Service.” KISS vocalist Paul Stanley challenged this accusation by sarcastically saying that the group’s name actually stood for “Kids In Sunday School.” Some music insiders claimed that the letters of the group’s name actually represented their formula to success: “Keep It Simple Stupid!”
The lightning bolt double S ’s were said to be Satanic S ’s. I didn’t know that a Satanic alphabet existed, but the two letters bear a striking resemblance to the insignia worn by Hitler’s elite SS troops. Of course, Hitler and Goebbels were no strangers to the occult, crafting the very swastika as a symbol of occult powers. The Nazi legend mentions that Heinrich Himmler’s fascination with the occult led him to create the SS insignia based upon an ancient Teutonic runic symbol found in an archaeological dig.
Other metal acts were also placed under closer scrutiny. The group W.A.S.P. was said to be an anagram for “We Are Satan’s People.” You can imagine the relief when
W.A.S.P. founder Blackie Lawless set the record straight. He calmly insisted that the name W.A.S.P. actually stood for “We Are Sexual Perverts.” I’m sure that shortly after this announcement many parents gave a heartfelt sigh of relief !
Another rock group that was said to be one of Satan’s minions was the popular group AC/DC. The group’s name was said to be a “hidden reference” to “Anti-Christ/Devil’s Children,” or “Anti-Christ/Devil’s Crusade,” or even stranger yet, “After Christ the Devil Comes.” Perhaps the most logical reference relates to the properties of electrical power, AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current). The lightning bolt between the lettering reinforces the insignia of electrical power. Of course, it takes thousands of volts to provide the massive sound system and the stacks of Marshall amplifiers with the decibel force needed to conjure forth the gods of rock and roll. Perhaps this explanation was not sinister enough for AC/DC’s detractors. To some observers, the lightning bolt bore a resemblance to a satanic S, that of the hated Nazis SS insignia. An interpretation for the lightning bolt was even said to be explained in the book of Luke: “And he said unto them, ‘I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven’”(Luke 10:18).
Less dramatically, some insiders claim that it was band members Angus and Malcolm Young’s sister Margaret who gave the band its name after viewing the word ac/dc on the electrical information of her sewing machine. Angus has also claimed that he spotted the word on his mother’s vacuum cleaner. I’m sure that some detractors will remember a specific make of vacuum that has the name “devil” associated with it to further lay claim to a hidden Satanic purpose.
Take a Walk on the Dark Side Page 15
