Every culture has its devil. The sower of all evil, the father of lies, and enemy of humankind, Satan or whatever name he goes by is a figure to be feared and loathed. But in sunny San Francisco, 1966, the Church of Satan was founded, an organization of people sick of conventional morality and religion, who have ever since worked to promote their dark lord, Satan, and find new members with ironically evangelical fervour. So why was the Church established, what has it been up to, and why would anyone want anything to do with it? Let’s find out!
40. The Church of Satan was founded by the ‘Black Pope’, Anton Szandor LaVey
Howard Stanton Levey was a relatively normal kid. Born in Chicago, Illinois, on April, 11, 1930, Levey moved with his family to California at a young age. Maybe you went to school with someone just like him: he loathed sports but loved horror movies and science fiction novels. What made him rather unique was his interest in occult lore and strange beliefs at a very young age, inspired by his Ukrainian grandmother’s tales. After learning all he could about the occult and related branches of science, the name ‘Howard’ simply wasn’t evil enough, and Anton Szandor LaVey was born.
