An American Satan (2019) - full transcript

(wind whirling)

- America is not a young land.

It is old and dirty and evil.

Before the settlers,
before the Indians,

the evil is there waiting.

(soft music)

(patrons chattering)

(drums playing)

- Hail, Satanists!

- [Audience] Hail, Satanists!

- Hail, Witches!



- [Audience] Hail, Witches!

- And Hail, Warlocks!

- [Audience] Hail, Warlocks!

- Hail, Priests!

- [Audience] Hail, Priests!

- And hail, Priestesses!

- [Audience] Hail, Priestesses!

- Hail, Magisters!

- [Audience] Hail, Magisters!

- And Hail, Magistras!

- [Audience] Hail, Magistras!

- Ladies and gentlemen,
please rise, as I introduce

the high priest of
the Church of Satan,

Magus Peter H. Gilmore.



Hail, Peter H. Gilmore!

- [Audience] Hail,
Peter H. Gilmore!

- Tonight, we consider
those who came before us.

Primarily we think of
Anton Szandor LaVey

our founding Magus and
his great achievement

in conceiving of
the Church of Satan.

We will thrive much better
than simply surviving.

That is our mission,
and we shall do it.

And I know you will all will.

(birds chirping)

(orchestral music)

(orchestral music continues)

Satanism is an atheist
philosophy that uses Satan

as a symbol of pride,
individualism and Liberty.

Anton LaVey called it "the
world's first carnal religion."

He looked at mankind and said

that humans are
just another animal.

Anton LaVey felt there
should be a religion

that dealt with the reality
of the human animal.

And hence he decided
to call it Satanism.

Satan was the figure who wasn't
going to submit to tyranny,

that was going to stand
up for himself above all

and make his own way

and not have any
illusions or delusions.

If you built a church to Satan

that was certainly going
to shake up the world.

It was going to
be revolutionary.

He created the Church of
Satan, founded it in 1966

on Walpurgisnacht, April 30th,

which is the traditional
Witches Sabbath.

And his idea keeps spreading
to people all around the globe

regardless of what
culture they come from.

- Moloch!

- [Audience] Moloch!

- Hacate!

- [Audience] Hacate.

- Shaitan!

- [Audience] Shaitan!

- Dagon!

- [Audience] Dagon!

- Astaroth!

- [Audience] Astaroth!

- Loki!

- [Audience] Loki!

- Behemoth!

- [Audience] Behemoth!

- Lilith!

- [Audience] Lilith!

- Anton Szandor LaVey!

- [Audience] Anton
Szandor LaVey!

(rock and roll music)

- [Peter] There's really
a prime misconceptions

about Satanism, and that is
that we are devil worshipers.

People think that we must
believe in God and the devil

and that we've chosen to go

with the figure of
evil and corruption,

and who's the loser
in that mythology.

For us, none of that is real.

It is mythology.

Satan to us is a figure that

aside from being considered evil

is often by creative
and intelligent people

seen as the adversary,
the opposer, the accuser,

sort of a romantic
rebellious figure.

Satanism is self-satisfaction.

We celebrate indulgence
instead of abstinence.

To us, evil, is that which
harms us or hurts the people

and other things
that we care for.

- May the whore of Babylon
journey forth to the sky

and spread her wings so wide

that all can see her
beauty and glory!

(suspenseful music)

- [Aden] I was raised in a
very, a multi-religious home.

I went to a Catholic school
for the first few years.

My mother's side was Muslim.

My dad's side is Christian.

So I was exposed to a bunch
of different points of view,

and none of them
really seem to satisfy.

I had this love of
fantasy and witches

and horror movies and Halloween.

And so I just started devouring
all these occult texts,

of everything from
Wicca to Voodoo.

And then I finally came
across Anton LaVey.

I own a homoerotic occult
magazine, and I write about sex.

And I would say I'm
mischievous, a misfit, yeah.

When my parents saw the
magazine, (chuckles)

my mother was like "Oh
honey, that's so nice.

I'm proud of you." (laughs)

And my dad was like

"can't you do something
that I can show my friends?

Just one thing, one thing."

(carnival music)

- [Adam] When I was a little kid

and I clearly remember this.

We were sitting on a
back deck in my house

and it was me and my mom.

It was a nice day.

And I remember asking her,

"how do you know
that God's not lying,

and the devil's
telling the truth?"

And she got really mad.

And that was the moment

that I knew for a
fact, it was bullshit.

(people screaming)
(roller coaster roaring)

If you have a logical mind

and you read the
Bible, you're done.

I was interested in
monsters and ghost stories.

And I started reading
occult literature.

I got to the Satanic Bible.

I read the book and said,
"I'm not alone anymore.

I know there's other
people like me."

It's me realizing the
universe isn't helping me.

It's all here.

I can shape and create
and make things happen.

And it can be whatever I want.

And there's no rules.

I'm totally free.

Living as a Satanist,
that's all it is.

You know, one day
you're going to die,

live everyday like
it's your last.

Shemhamforash!

- [Audience] Shemhamforash!

- Hail Satan!

- [Audience] Hail Satan!

(cymbals clanging)

- "Blessed are the
destroyers of false hope,

"for they are the true messiahs!

"Cursed are the God adores

"for they shall be shorn sheep!"

- "Blessed are the Valiant,

"for they shall
obtain great treasure.

"Cursed are the believers
in good and evil

"for they are
frightened by shadows."

(hand slapping)

You're a bad, bad Satanist!
- I Sure am!

I first encountered the
Satanic Bible when I was 13.

I happened to see
it on the shelf

in a just a regular
old bookstore.

I was with a friend
of mine at the time.

I picked it up.

I started thumbing through it

and he was a religious person.

He said, "Oh, don't touch that.

That's a very dark
and evil book."

And so I put it down.

I wouldn't see it
again until I was 19.

And I picked it up, I read it.

And literally like so
many others just said, "Oh

I'm a Satanist."

"The angel of
self-deceit is camped

"in the souls of the righteous.

"The eternal flame of
power through joy dwelleth

"within the flesh
of the Satanist."

(soft music)

- [Peter] Anton LaVey
wrote the Satanic Bible

to concretize the philosophy
that he was spreading

in the organization
The Church of Satan.

He published it in 1969,
towards the end of the year.

- When I read the book

it kind of stirred up
a lot of excitement.

I was like, "Oh wow!

This is what I am.

This is who I am."

It finally made sense

- Read it, cover to cover.

Couldn't put it down,
recognized myself in every page.

It already fit me.

- I bought the copy and I read
it three times in one night.

And I said, "this is me."

- We understand
this is one life.

You have a short period
of time on this planet

and you have to live it the best

and most pleasurable as you can.

- To some people,
to an average person

especially a Christian
that might scare them

because it makes you
uncomfortable to think,

"wow this is it.

When, I die,
there's no more me."

But we're comfortable with
that, we're not afraid.

- What I feel is
most important to me

about identifying as a Satanist

is the sense of
being your own God.

I am in control of my life.

I dictate what happens

- Love to those who love
and hate to those who hate.

It's what everybody thinks,
but doesn't want to admit.

Satanism is the
most sane, religion

and philosophy out there.

- We don't feel we
have to love everyone.

You don't.

Like Anton LaVey said,

"If you try to love everybody

you're gonna run out
of love very quickly."

- It is good to be
discerning to yourself,

to the things you enjoy

and the people that you choose
to spend your time with.

- We do discriminate.

And as a black person, when
I'm at the Church of Satan,

I can say that
discrimination is not racial.

"We have gathered
forth our symbols

"and prepared our
garnishings of the is-to-be.

"And the image of
our creation lurketh

"as an insatiable basilisk
awaiting his release."

I did start as a Christian boy.

I felt the hypocrisy
was too much.

And when I read
the Satanic Bible

I realized that what interested
me was the symbolism.

It resonated with
me and I bought it.

But when I did, I
was a little nervous.

So I bought it with a copy

of the new Testament
of the Bible,

just a tiny, very,
very inexpensive one

so that they wouldn't look at
me too funny at the register.

(acoustic music)

- My personal
Journey to Satanism

is different from
a lot of people's.

I didn't read the satanic
Bible when I was 13.

I didn't read the satanic Bible

until long after
I knew Dr. LaVey.

He hands me this envelope
and I opened it up.

And "you're the priestess
of the church of Satan."

And I'm like, "Dude, okay!"

I'm very vocal and very
public about my affiliation.

And it's really enjoyable to me

because I like dispelling
myths about Satanists.

I don't have...

I mean, I have a
lot of weird junk,

but I don't have a Cape and I
don't have any black candles.

(orchestral music)

I can't separate
Satanism from myself.

I'm me, and all of
my philosophies align

with the satanic philosophies.

Freedom and joy.

Those are the things that
are important in my life.

(fire roaring)

It may seem contradictory
that our images are all based

on what was traditionally
provided by Christians.

The devil, the
horns, the red suit.

But I have to say that that's
a really attractive image.

(fire roaring)

The devil is fucking awesome!

Magic is making the
world as you want it.

And recognizing
that you did that.

The world you live in
is largely your creation

if not entirely.

(fire roaring)

You don't require
a guy in a dress.

You don't require a church.

You don't require a book
of what you should do

and shouldn't do to
be a human being.

What it is to be a human
being is all around you,

if you open your fucking eyes.

(orchestral music)

I wanna live in a meritocracy.

I wanna get credit
for what I'm good at.

And I wanna not be asked
to do what I'm not good at.

You can't be good at everything.

(suspenseful music)

- [Peter] In
Satanism, we believe

that everything is stratified.

Stratification for
us means accepting

that the world is
not egalitarianism

that everything rises to
its own level or falls.

Stratification is a
way of being realistic

about a hierarchy of nature.

Anton LaVey said that there
was a pyramid structure.

The very small caps
down to the pyramid

of people who are
creative and innovative.

Then there's a middle
sort of larger trapezoid

of people who are productive.

And then there's a much lower

and much larger
part of the pyramid

of people who are
simply believers.

He felt that, of course we
should value people more highly

as they're placed
higher on the pyramid.

And I would certainly
agree with that.

The church of Satan as
a religious organization

was set up in such a way
as not to be a nonprofit.

Anton LaVey felt that churches

were robbing society
by being tax exempt.

So he felt that
we should advocate

the complete taxation
of all churches.

And to that end,
the Church of Satan

has always paid its taxes
and will continue to do so.

(suspenseful music)

- Satanism is a
dangerous philosophy.

It puts a lot of responsibility
on the individual.

It is a very brutal religion.

Elitism, social Darwinism, a
rejection of egalitarianism.

The most important thing
to me about Satanism

is being able to
empower yourself

to withdraw from
mainstream society.

I think Satanism gives
you that framework.

It gives you that ability

to analyze situations
as they really are.

Being that outsider
that looks in

is a very great metaphor for me.

Anton LaVey once wrote that
"Satanism is Americanism."

The American values of
freedom, individuality,

sovereignty and pride,

that I think made it inevitable

that Satanism would
rise in America.

Would be born in America.

- I kind of have a problem
with the term modern Satanism,

because prior to 1966
there was no Satanism.

Prior to Anton LaVey
codifying Satanism,

and defining it in
the Satanic Bible.

Satanism was really
just a loose term

that was banded
about by Christians

to be used as an insult

against anything that
they didn't like.

(Orchestral music)
(birds chirping)

- We keep be membership numbers

of the Church of Satan a secret.

I'm the only one who knows how
many new members there are.

And even I may not know
because we've had members

for a very long
time, 50 years now

and not all our
records are digital.

So I couldn't tell you
exactly even if I wanted to.

But it is in the thousands,
you can be sure of that.

And it is in almost every
country on the planet.

(orchestral music)

- The Church of
Satan is organized

in a hierarchical structure.

People approach us, they
pay a one-time fee of

it's $200 at this point, it may
go up, (laughs) times change

but they pay a fee
to be a member.

And that means they're
essentially supporting

the philosophy in
the organization.

(orchestral music)

- There are people who
approach the Church of Satan

for membership and are rejected.

I mainly reject them because

they haven't read
the Satanic Bible

and they don't understand
our philosophy.

It's very important to us

that people understand
what they're getting into

when they say they're Satanists,

they have to understand
what Satanism really is.

- The gamut is amazing
with the kind of people

we have in our organization.

We have some of the world's
leading environmental activists

as part of the Church of Satan

and people who are involved
in artificial intelligence

and virtual reality

and people who are
painters and photographers

and chefs who are opening
their own restaurants

and getting great reviews.

- Just every walk of
life that there is,

you could be sitting
next to a Satanist

in your doctor's
office or on the bus.

They're everywhere.

(jazz music)

- I wanted to join just to
kind of affirm my loyalty

to the principles
that yes, I'm serious.

This is my perspective on life.

Gave me a pat on
the back saying,

"it's okay to feel this way.

It's okay to wanna
tear someone apart.

As long as you don't
actually do it.

It's okay to want
to screw people.

It's okay to want wild
and crazy fetishes.

You can be reasonable and
rational and responsible, silly

and sexual and
bestial and greedy.

You can be all these things.

And that is the
human condition."

(jazz music)

Satanism is a
culmination for me.

It's a label I look
for desperately.

For me, ritual is to engage
in the world as I wish it was.

I can do whatever I want.

If I want pink candles, instead
of black, I can do that.

On my altar I have a candle

in the shape of a
very large penis

and that's not in
the satanic Bible.

But, I like dick.

So it's going to my alter.

In the ritual chamber I
didn't have to grow up.

It's my Nevernever land.

It allows me to never forget

that the things you loved as a
child, don't have to go away.

"In Nomine Dei Nostri
Satanas Luciferi Excelsi.

"In the name of Satan
the Ruler of the Earth,

"the King of the World,

"I command the
forces of darkness

"to bestow their
infernal power upon me.

"Open wide, the Gates of hell.

"Come forth from the abyss

"and greet me as your
brother and friend.

"Grant me the indulgences
of which I speak.

"I've taken thy name
as a part of myself.

"I live as a beast of the field
rejoicing the fleshly life.

"I favor the just and
I curse the rotten.

"By all the gods of the pit

"these things of which I
speak shall come to pass

"come forth and
answer to your names

"by manifesting my desires."

(acoustic music)

Do you guys think I need
a bigger dick candle.

(acoustic music continues)

- This is my room where
the real magic happens.

The bell and the
knife and the chal...

I like this stuff.

I think symbolically
it's powerful.

I prefer when I'm
doing these things

I hand write a lot
of the stuff out.

I prefer that.

It's a form of theater for
me and I have it right here.

(soft music)

- Well, I think like
a lot of Satanists

I was born not
converted to Satanism.

I was born a Satanist.

We all have different
paths, but eventually

we find the satanic Bible and
then it's a big revelation.

Then you say, "Oh, this is
what I've been all my life.

But I didn't know that's what

I was supposed to
be calling myself."

(organ playing)

I had been a member
of the Church of Satan

for a number of years.

I had recently
graduated from college

and I was taking a trip to
San Francisco with my mother.

And I just wrote to the
church to have a few minutes

with Anton LaVey,
just to shake his hand

and thank him for
what he's given to me

and so many people
as a philosophy,

that's certainly made a
big difference in my life.

So I got an answer
back that said

"he would be glad
to meet with you."

I'd built up a lot
of expectations about

who he might be or
what he might be like

but we hit it off really well.

He was funny.

He played music for me.

He told jokes.

He had some remembrances.

He was a wonderful,
wonderful spirited person.

We corresponded, we talked
over the phone and he said

"you will move to San Francisco

and you will be here as
part of the organization.

You'll be very
helpful around here."

And I said, "okay, I don't
have any plans for that.

But if you say it's
going to happen, okay."

(organ playing)

He talked a lot about Voltaire

and Oscar Wilde, Jack
London, the romantic poets

the existentialist, Nietzsche,
Sartre, H.L. Mencken.

So people should understand

when he started the
Church of Satan,

he did it out of a general
disdain for most people

and in a love of life

and a frustration
that people don't live

as fully and completely
as they could.

- Satan can take the form
of a beautiful woman.

Satan can take the
form of a sleek animal.

An automobile can
be very Satanic.

- It was such an extension
of his personality

that, people could
just look at him

and the way he lived his life

and understand what
Satanism is about.

(orchestral music)

- Anton LaVey was a really
fascinating individual.

When he was young he spent time

in the carnival
and circus worlds.

He played Calliope
and other things

and even learned some lion
taming at a period in history.

So he learned how
as a human being,

he could interact with
a big, dangerous animal,

which is kind of the way

you have to treat most
people around you also.

For a period of time

he was a police
photographer, freelance

and he would take
pictures of crime scenes

where he'd see like the results

of how people dealt
with each other.

- I saw a slice of life

that very few people
see on a regular basis.

I saw the effects of mayhem
from spouse to spouse,

children splattered
by hit-run drivers.

(dramatic music)

- [Peter] He grew
up in a culture

that was embodied in filmed noir

where there were very specific
male and female archetypes,

where no one was
there to help you,

that life was a struggle
and you might lose.

And if you won, it
might not really be all

that it's cracked up to be.

And by playing music in bars

for people where people drink
and tell you their stories

you really got a sense of what
the human animal was like.

(orchestral music)

- [Blanche] When the
'60's came around,

he was very excited in a sense

that people were getting away
from conventional religions

but he saw that a lot of,
what they called hippies

were going in a completely
wrong direction.

Drugs for many people had become

as harmful as spiritual
self delusion.

- And it was disintegrating
into like suicides

and self-destruction
and misogyny

and attacks on
political leaders.

And he's like, "you gotta
like deal with your own shit.

I'm gonna blast that door down.

I'm going to steal the
fire away from the gods

and I'm gonna give it to you

now what are you
going to do with it?"

- To a certain extent

he certainly respected
the New Age explorations.

He tried Crowley's group.

He tried other theosophists.

He tried the Rosicrucians.

He knew what he was looking for.

He was looking for real, no
bullshit, no nonsense magic.

- That's really
what led Anton LaVey

to creating the church of Satan

by examining not only

what Crowley's people
were doing, his disciples

but what was happening in
the Neo-pagan religions.

As all of that was growing,
LaVey sort of said,

"well nothing's out
there that satisfies me."

(indistinct)

And at the time
there was a whole

occult revolution going on,
particularly in California.

So the idea of
this kind of spooky

alternative religion
caught his eye.

He'd been a carny and he had
worked in the spook shows.

So he knew showmanship
was really crucial

to get anything launched.

Again, a very American thing.

- The '60's were nuts and
people who didn't live

through them don't remember
how nuts they were.

He seemed to me like the
lone voice of reason.

- I believe that hate is
necessary in a controlled way.

Just as much as
love is necessary.

- Are you married?

- Oh yes.

- Do you have any little devils?

- Oh yes, I have two.

- Are you gonna raise
them as Satanic kids?

- Certainly, but not to go
around and chopping people up

or sacrificing human beings.

- He wanted to be an instigator

and he wanted to inspire people

to move towards their passion

and not the flavor of the week

or the celebrity of the moment.

- I think Satanism

in LaVey's terms,

was more about addressing the
soul-oriented values of man

and understanding man's
real nature, real character.

(orchestral music)

- [Blanche] He had learned
a lot from the people

that he worked with
in the carnival

especially from the freaks.

They were using what they had

the specialness that
they were endowed with.

And they were greatly respected.

Natural freaks were greatly
respected within the community.

(orchestral music continues)

He started gathering
an eccentric group

of people around him.

A lot of characters,
a lot of socialites

a lot of people that
were movers and shakers

who had different
ideas about religion

and really were very enthused
about the supernatural,

the occult, and wanted to
explore it more with him.

- [Anton] Most of the
people that are in my group

are professional people.

They're business people.

They're people that are from
very responsible walks of life.

- [Blanche] He bought
the black house,

the original black house.

He started having parties
on a regular basis.

He started giving lectures

on the occult on
cannibalism, on vampirism.

- I also try to help people

with various problems
and enlighten them

on these concepts of magic
folklore and offbeat religions.

- [Blanche] He acquired a lion,
he got Togare and raised him

and he would take him to
the local elementary schools

so that the children
could pet a real lion.

He got a reputation as being
a San Francisco, eccentric.

Someone that people
like to spend time with.

- You realize that this was
like the West Coast version

of Andy Warhol's Factory.

Those people were probably
the most interesting people

on the West coast.

He's a guy who
knew what he wanted

and he knew how to get it.

And he was definitely a showman.

He knew how to market himself,

he knew how to brand himself,

become immediately recognizable,

and his face was associated
with a philosophy

that a lot of people
still believe in.

- In a lot of ways LaVey was

like the William
Blake of the occult.

Was he a charlatan?

Yeah, he was the
charlatan to those

he didn't want
anything to do with

and that was a way
to protect himself.

His whole image was a mirror
that he put up to society.

- [Announcer] And with
the special participation

of Anton LaVey, High Priest
of the Church of Satan.

(beast roaring)

"The Devil's Rain."

(inferno blasting)

- LaVey had a real opportunity

to just be like a
figure in Hollywood.

And he knew if he did
that, if he moved to LA

he would not have time

for his own music,
for his own drawings.

He didn't wanna be
a slave to that.

He didn't wanna be a pop slave.

In the '70's, '80's, you
saw a lot of creative people

that were inspired
and liberated.

And liberated as
opposed to liberal.

And those are completely
like opposite things now.

- [Anton] My relationships
with some of the sex goddesses

of the past have been largely

as a result of luck,
more than anything else.

- When I was writing the
biography of Anton LaVey

he would start telling me
these wonderful stories.

He talked about his
time with Marilyn Monroe

or he talked about
Jayne Mansfield.

And, he was a high priest
of the Church of Satan.

During the time that
we were together,

we had an open
relationship, let's say.

He had certain responsibilities
that he had to fulfill.

And I was enthusiastic with
those responsibilities as well.

We're Satanists,
we're not prudes.

We enjoy lust and
happiness and indulgence

and I think that's why
we hit off so well.

- The realization early
on that I was part

of this unique family that
wasn't like anything else except

for things like "The Munsters"
maybe, or things like that

that were of course,
totally fictional

that no one actually took
seriously as a family dynamic.

But I was living it nonetheless.

By the time I came
into the picture,

things had quieted
down a little bit.

I used to tell Zeena that,

I wish that I could have some
kind of like normal existence

where I could, go bicycling
or whatever with my siblings

and have Sunday
picnics in the park.

And I mean, it wasn't
like that at all.

Anton was very peculiar

in all of his habits
and all of his tastes.

And so he wouldn't
venture out very much.

And sometimes when he would,
he would go out in disguise.

Problems aside, he was just
an exceptional, interesting,

sweet, childlike
kind of personality.

Coolest grandpa ever possible.

- He, wasn't gonna
tell you what to do

but you better fucking do it.

And how many people did it?

How many people are doing it?

How many people are just
using the label it's like,

so they can scare
their Catholic grandma?

(Steven laughs)

(acoustic music)

- Well, my family,

it's funny 'cause some
of them will see this.

My mom knows and doesn't
like talking about it.

My father's side of the family
are very religious Catholics.

And again, I don't
ever talk about it.

Maybe they know and I don't
really care if they know.

And if they do know,
all right, cool.

I think they'll notice

that I've never tried
to convert them.

The best way to
raise my children

is for them to be themselves.

Find what you like, what
you love and go for it.

And to me, that's the
most Satanic thing.

If they identify
with Satanism, great,

if they don't, I don't care.

(acoustic music continues)

- I don't know what
disturbed my family more.

Me, telling them I was gay.

Me, telling them
I was an atheist.

Or me telling them
I was a Satanist.

They kept throwing
away the books

every time they found them.

So the Satanic Bible I
have now, the paperback,

is the fourth one I had to buy.

They just kept throwing out
all my copies of Anton LaVey.

But then again, I kept
leaving them in the car.

- My father was not
entirely comfortable

but since I was responsible,
he supported it enough

to Just let me do
whatever I was doing.

We used to tease each other.

So I would say, "Oh you're
the most Satanic Christian

that I've ever met."

And he would say, that I'm
the most Christian Satanist

that he's ever met. (laughs)

- Every family
reacts differently.

It depends on how they grew up.

It depends upon what they've
been indoctrinated into

what they've seen in the
media or what they've heard.

We're brought up in environments

where you want that support.

You want that acceptance
from your parents

or from your family.

And unfortunately, a
lot of us don't get it.

- I think maybe they thought

it was maybe a phase
I was going through.

And as I got older,
they were just like,

"okay it's clearly not a phase,

'cause you're here,
you are an adult

and you're still
identifying as a Satanist."

- My mother actually
excommunicated herself

from the Catholic church
when I was growing up.

- My family's reaction
was pretty neutral

because there are a bunch
of Darwinists already

they're not very
religious people.

My mother was
another person who,

she encouraged me to join, so.

(suspenseful music)

- [Diabolus] I spent my
youth in Astoria, Oregon,

at a very lovecraftian
type of city.

My parents were
children in the '60's.

So they were very interested
in the experimental lifestyles

which were very big at that time

that involved psychedelia,
involved in the drug world

but also the burgeoning
interest in the occult.

Growing up in a family in which
that was an important aspect

is how I came to be acquainted

with Satanism and
the Satanic Bible.

(waterfall roaring)

I joined the Church of Satan

because I felt that this
was unique and different.

(waterfall roaring)

The rest is history.

(suspenseful music)

- We do not believe
in an actual,

as I said, in actual entity.

We are atheists.

At least as far as the
church of Satan is concerned.

We feel that Satan is polemic,

he is allegorical
and he is symbolic.

He represents the
forces of nature

that make mankind something
unique and individual.

That element that allows us

to perceive ourselves
as gods, as opposed

to worshiping a sentient
beings outside of ourself.

(suspenseful music)

- [Diabolus] That was a standard
Church of Satan party line

which I was willing to use

to help develop the philosophy
of the Church of Satan.

Deep down inside every
man has his own views

and his own perspectives
and his own truth.

And mine was very, very
different than that.

(suspenseful music)

"All religions are a joke."

That was one of the
things that was stated.

My perspective on that.

I don't believe that what
I'm practicing is a joke

even though what I'm
practicing is not a religion.

I couldn't hold to
that perspective

and still remain true to myself.

It doesn't mean that I
don't appreciate the people

I was surrounded with

but I couldn't be on
board with a sinking ship.

(suspenseful music)

I am a theistic Satanist.

I mean, if you
wanna categorize it

in such primitive terms.

The existence of a
super-consciousness

or an over consciousness

that's something that
I ultimately accept.

So anybody who wants to say,

"well that's just delusional

or that's just
fantasy thinking."

It's like, that's fine for you

but either A that's a
personal perspective

or B is a claim of omniscience.

And we completely deny
that in the Chaos Imperium.

(suspenseful music)

Oh, friend and
companion of the night,

thou who delightest in the
baying of dogs and spilt blood,

who wanderest in the
shades among the tombs,

who longest for blood and
bringeth terror to mortals.

Gogro! Mormo!

Thousand-faced moon!

Look favorably upon
our sacrifices!

- Diabolus Rex, he was
one of those Satanists

I grew up reading his
interviews and watching them,

and loving his art.

So, when he left the
church I was like,

"Aw, that sucks, but oh, well."

- If there's a time when
someone wants to go off

on their own or leave the
organization, that's fine.

(piano playing)

- In 1975, we had a split
in the Church of Satan.

Michael Aquino started something
called The Temple of Set.

And Aquino actually became
a very mystical person.

He really felt that Set existed

as an isolate consciousness,

some supernatural intelligence.

And he could
communicate with that.

- Temple of Set,
very transcendent,

movement towards
something greater

and beyond the physical world,

distinct from the highly
materialistic aspects

of the Church of Satan,

which only came much later in
the Church's Satan's history.

Initially there was something
much more acceptable

about the idea that Satan
might be some kind of godhead

that actually existed
in physical reality

and that the Satanists
could contact.

(piano playing)

- That was the most
well organized version

of that kind of
theistic thinking.

When you're dealing with like
a left-hand path philosophy.

It doesn't seem to
have a very wide reach

but it's there for the
people who it would satisfy.

And in fact, if people
approach the Church of Satan

who are really mystical and
wanna believe things like that,

we send them off
to other people.

(chain clanging)
(dog growling)

- It's a common misconception
that theistic Satanists

or those who believe in
some form of consciousness

of a satanic element somehow

are automatically
involved in worship.

You can have a direct connection

with this over consciousness
or superconscious

which has nothing
to do with worship.

It's more teacher to
student and learning

from that position to be
able to promote a form

of self-evolution to
something greater.

(suspenseful music)

- I knew Diabolus Rex,
an accomplished artist.

I don't really know
what he's been up to.

(suspenseful music)

- [Diabolus] The Ragnarok
Engine is an Escathonic,

experimental and
theoretical project.

Escathonic meaning,
end of the world.

Ragnarok was the end
of the age of the gods.

Well, everybody perceives
themselves as the new gods,

so we have to move against that.

The Ragnarok Engine is a way

of being able to create gateways

and bring in the most
definitive aspects of evil.

(suspenseful music)

And so I've poured
all my resources

and everything that I hold

as a conviction of
power into this.

(suspenseful music)

(carnival music)

(Adam whistling)

- Well, Satanism is
not for everybody

because it requires
extreme responsibility.

It's interesting, 'cause
I look at this country,

The United States, and our
constitution is the same thing.

The first amendment to me

is the most singular
important thing we have.

It's free speech.

You're allowed to say
whatever you want,

whether it be hateful or not.

And I think this
is really healthy.

What's hate speech?

What does that even mean?

What if I say, I hate
people who read comic books?

Is that hate speech?

To me, the only way to have
that work is all speech is good.

The second amendment is there
for me to protect my property.

It's also there to protect
me from an invading army.

And it's also there to protect
me from my own government.

People that don't like it,

I quickly point out
what happened in Europe,

not that long ago.

Within a minute,
people were like

"Oh, shit, there's
Nazis everywhere."

Like it just happens.

Our founding fathers, I think
when they put it in there

they were like, "this is
the safety right here, boom!

People can fight back."

If you have free speech, people
will get offended, obviously

if you have guns, people
are gonna get shot.

So the question is, do
you wanna live somewhere

that's completely no
gun violence at all,

but there's laws on
regulating speech

or do you wanna live somewhere
where it's a little wild?

There's a lot of shit going on

and you have to be
responsible, or you're fucked.

I choose that.

That's what I like.

I'll take the gun violence.

I'll take it.

If that's part of the freedom
rules, I'd rather that.

- The people who
founded our country,

Jefferson, Franklin, Thomas
Paine, they were deists.

They were anti theists,
anti organized religion.

And they were
certainly influenced

by the freedoms of
the enlightenment.

And so the way our very
country was structured

was much more leaning toward
what we now understand

as Satanism than
dependence on religion

and God and powers
outside yourself.

- [Reporter] Experts
say there are

as many as 50 to 60,000
human sacrifices a year,

a result of an estimated
100,000 self-styled Satanists

in this country.

In 1988 Los Angeles
had 64 preschools

with report and
Satanic activity.

- I absolutely believe
it without any doubt.

Based on the information
that's been given to me

across the country,
by numerous survivors

and by confidential
sources and informants.

- Basically from the
late '60's, early '70's

there was all these
books coming out

"The Exorcist",
"Amityville Horror".

Yeah, they're fun movies but
they're Christian propaganda.

They made more people go to
church than anything else.

It scared people.

So out of that arose
this like false pretense

that there's this Satanic
underground community

that is breeding
babies for sacrifice.

- Oh, the satanic panic.

That was the just,
you know, America.

(suspenseful music)

- The satanic panic was
essentially launched

by a book called
"Michelle Remembers"

where a psychiatrist
dealt with a woman

who claimed to have remembered
memories of being abused

by a Church of Satan,

which had her do all
kinds of heinous things

in the name of the devil.

When the book came out, it was
listed as being a true story.

And that started amongst
the evangelical Christians

this wildfire of people
replicating these tales.

"Michelle Remembers" was
followed by Mike Warnke

who was a fellow who came
out with a book claiming

that he'd been part
of the Satanic cult

that had this amazing
reach in the world.

They were involved with
invoking actual demons

who would teleport
people, places.

It was called "The
Satan Seller."

Other people started imitating
it because these books sold.

This is a commercial venture.

It was really the commercial
success of this literature

of satanic cults that got
evangelical Christians

into saying, "this a good deal."

- These symbols of Satanism
are turning up everywhere,

on walls, on clothes,
on album covers,

and even on bodies
of murder victims.

- [Raul] People like Bob
Larson who spread this,

and certain therapists
and psychiatrists

who were using unethical
techniques to implant memories

from their patients then
these patients claim

that they were part of
these satanic cults.

- We're talking about people
in some cases who are coming

to us as patients who were
raised in Satanic cults

from the time they were born.

- The various cases where
people's lives were thrown apart

because of these allegations
that they were abusing children

are part of this great
satanic conspiracy.

- The truth is children, lie

and adults encouraged
children to lie

to feed into their
own bullshit stories.

And that's what the
satanic panic was.

If you read the testimony
in the McMartin Preschool,

the fact that anybody
believed any of them

for a second is just...

You just, you slap
your forehead.

It's just insane.

- People were
claiming that children

were literally being
shown like animals

that you would only see in
zoos and being transported

into exotic locations
and then somehow returned

to the preschool
that they were at.

And you're thinking,
"how could this happen?"

And of course the
explanation was Satan.

- It would be a whole lot
easier if these people wore

or had horns and a
Pitchfork and a red suit

but they just don't.

They could be your
next-door neighbor.

- Cops for Christ were
a big deal then too.

I dealt with people like that.

I was actually
set upon by people

who just didn't like
the way you looked

or they had a
marginalized understanding

of what they thought
you represented.

And every day was an adventure.

- It was a real problem.

LaVey felt like
he was in danger.

People would drive by and
throw shit at the house.

You have to understand that
the satanic panic happened

during the Reagan years.

Fundamentalism was the
flavor of the month.

Religion and people were
gloaming onto that but,

make no mistake, that
was a very dangerous time

to be living in America.

- These things don't
have to be real at all

but they get passed around.

And suddenly a friend of
a friend of a friend said

"I know somebody who
was involved in that."

So this whole mythology grew.

- But there were
people who believe that

because it helped
forge an agenda

for the reorientation
of American society.

(rock and roll music)

- During the satanic panic is
when I discovered Satanism.

And I remember one of the things

that was being spread
around was heavy metal music

and Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing games

will expose you to Satanism.

- I believe that
Dungeons & Dragons

is a direct quote
from the pit of hell,

if you wanna call it that.

It is a mind-bending game,
a mind-changing game.

And it's involved with all kinds

of occult and pagan religions.

And Anton LaVey, the writer
of the Satanist Bible says,

"there is no such thing
as white witchcraft."

- For being a Satan
worshiper, he should know.

- Yeah, he should know

- And guess what?

It worked, it worked.

It actually did do that to me.

So whatever they said
actually was true.

- All the things you love.

- Whether Satan exists
is a matter of belief.

But we are certain
that Satanism exists.

To some it's a religion.

To others it's the practice
of evil in the devil's name.

- Hail, Satan!

- [Peter] And indeed there
were some crazy people

who believed in the
devil and worshiped him

we used to call them
Geraldo Satanist,

'cause we feel that that's where
the inspiration was coming.

Not from any actual
other Satanists or
any actual Satanism.

- We had some Satanists
that were interested

in the Charles
Manson phenomenon.

Some Satanists kind of saw him

as a symbol of the
end of the '60's.

This kind of rebellion,
this counteraction

from the '60's hippie
culture, right?

So I think they
took that aesthetic

and that kind of mythology
and they ran with it.

LaVey himself was actually
really annoyed by that.

He wrote several times that

he wished Charles Manson
was just shot in the head,

and that was over with.

- LaVey knew Susan Atkins.

She worked as a stripper in
his Topless Witches revue.

And he said, "Boyd, this girl

was an accident
waiting to happen.

If it hadn't been Charlie Manson

it would've been somebody else."

Like an incredible amount
of people cross paths

with Manson, people
that you never expect.

And a lot of people
ended up going through

well, The Black House as well.

So I just think,
it was an odd time.

When the Manson thing
originally happened

all the Manson girls wrote
letters to Anton LaVey.

- The people that do
that nonsense shit,

they're the theistic idiots.

They're the ones that
believe in the nonsense.

They're the ones that
can't draw the separation

between fantasy and reality.

If they're doing it,
it's not Satanism.

When I hear babies being
murdered and child molestation,

I think of Christians
and Catholics.

- [Carissa] I think a lot
of them are (indistinct)

- [Adam] Yeah, they
do! They should!

That's real! That can be proven!

- We, for our part
during the satanic panic,

Anton LaVey didn't
want to dignify

a lot of these journalists

with actually having the High
Priest of the Church of Satan

on their shows.

He said, "you know,
the philosophy

and the organization
have matured

to the point now where
I have plenty of people

that I trust to
go on these shows

and say, no, we don't
sacrifice animals.

And this is what we stand
for, and this is what we do.

- We are here.

We're not going away.

And Christianity and the
day of the cross are done.

- It was the best story
going at the time.

And so there was
a need to be able

to defend this
opposite position.

- For Anton LaVey, what he was
doing was meeting with people

from the Humane Society, from
animal protection societies

from cult awareness, places

even Christians
who were concerned

about what was going
on in Christianity

and these people that
were being counselors

and hanging out their
shingle as Satan busters.

So he was meeting with the
right people to get the word out

defining what Satanism
is and what it isn't.

- The FBI and other
law enforcement started

to really investigate this

because it had really gotten
to be this crazy mythology

with all of these
books coming out

and people supporting this.

And they found that it
wasn't true. Surprise!

That it was a hysteria.

- Anybody who would bother

to even take the cursory
look at our text.

The first thing it says is
that we don't harm children

and we don't harm animals.

There are no sacrifices.

That's all shit.

That's Christian shit.

- I went out there and
had to sit next to people

who are claiming to
be breeding babies

and slaughtering them.

And try to say, I
represent this philosophy

which is about reason and
about self-satisfaction.

And that is atheist.

When all these people think

that I must be a animal
sacrificer and baby-breeder.

I'd be put in green
rooms separate

from all the other guests

because they didn't
wanna be near me

because of course I must be
doing these horrendous things.

And it really took a long time

for that to grind to
a halt and roll back.

(suspenseful music)

- Marilyn Manson in that
time was getting popular.

And he brought
Satanism a new audience

'cause he openly
talked about it.

Back then, it wasn't cool.

Like now you can be
like, "Oh, I'm a member

of some stupid satanic group"
and people are like, "Yeah!"

But back then, it
wasn't like that.

It was serious.

You couldn't tell anybody.

The first open member and
open Satanist is King Diamond.

He's the first rock
and roller to say,

"Hey, you know I'm a Satanist."

I mean, Coven from the
'60's, but that's...

It's was very different then.

- [Cartoon] I hear
you vomit here.

I can't think of Hank and
there's Santa in the backyard.

- [Reporter] "Scooby
Doo" cartoon.

- [Interviewee] Our children
are being lobotomized

by manipulative psychologist.

- [Announcer] Kids
in the occult.

- [Announcer] I wonder where
was Satanism when we were kids?

Why didn't we get into it?

- [Reporter] Because
of parent concerns

that some Halloween costumes

can be linked to devil
worship and satanic cults.

- Joanna.

- Sometimes I don't obey.

- Punish him with
a rod severely.

¶ Stand up and sit down ¶

¶ And stand up and sit down ¶

¶ And stand up and sit down ¶

¶ And stand up and sit down ¶

¶ And stand up ¶

- This is why Satanism exists

is so that we can
constantly remind people

that whenever you
create an enemy

then things can be very
dangerous for everyone.

That's why you have
to think for yourself.

- I haven't come forth
in a great many years

because I didn't
want to be relegated

to another guest
on a TV talk show.

But I can assure you
Satanism is here to stay.

(organ playing)

- During Anton LaVey's last
years he had surrounded himself

with people that he grew close
to, that he drew energy from.

We had had a son together.

He had heart problems brought
about by the rheumatic fever,

sort of weakened him.

And he didn't want
to be seen as weak.

So his time became
very precious.

He wanted to spend it
with people he enjoyed,

who contributed to his life.

He was doing more recording

so that his music
would get out there.

But he just wanted to
spend the time that he had

with his son and playing
his music and writing

- [Anton] I will never die.

- [Joe] You won't?

- [Anton] No, of course
not. I've made arrangements.

(audience laughing)

(organ playing)

- He lived every single day.

It was homination
his philosophy.

And how many people
can say that?

- I loved spending time
alone with my grandfather.

It felt like the entire
world just disappeared.

- I wish he was around now

because people are afraid
to speak their mind.

People are walking on
eggshells, and he hated that.

Everyone's walking around
with a good guy badge now

'cause they're a victim of
this, and a victim of that.

- The Church of Satan today,

I try to maintain
as close as possible

as to the vision
Anton LaVey set out.

In fact, in our conversations

that was something
I promised him

that I would be doing
for him as time went on.

I think that the
philosophy that he created

is absolutely spot on for
recognizing the reality

but with human animal functions

I don't think his philosophy
needs to be changed at all.

- [Ruth] Honestly, the thing

that I really like
about Satanism is

that it doesn't change because
human beings don't change.

- [Adam] So where does
this all go for the future?

Well, Satanists
are born, not made,

they're being born right now.

And some of them will
read that book and say,

"yeah, this is for me."

There's other satanic
groups that come and go,

but the Church of Satan
has been around now for,

what is this 52 years?

That's pretty good.

- You don't worship anything.

You question everything.

And the power that you
have comes from within you

and you don't take
anything on faith.

There's no such thing
in Satanism as faith.

We challenge, we question,

we challenge ourselves to
do better, to achieve more,

that's what's embodied
in our principles.

- Because we know
as Anton LaVey said,

"the first 99 years are
always the toughest."

(audience laughing)

I think the future is
assured, the Church of Satan

is thriving and shall
be a great black river

that continues to flow into
the great future to come.

So thank you all for
bringing that into being.

Shemhamforash!

- [Audience] Shemhamforash!

- Hail, Satan!

- [Audience] Hail, Satan!

(cymbals clanging)

- Hail, Satan!

- [Audience] Hail, Satan!

(cymbals clanging)

- Hail, Satan!

- [Audience] Hail, Satan!

(cymbals clanging)

(suspenseful music )

(bell ringing)

(bell ringing)

- I formed the Chaos Imperium
to be an alternative idea

to contemporary magical
practices and perspectives.

This isn't a psychic order,

it doesn't have a very
large group membership,

it is not initiatory,
it is not religious.

I'm its only human
representative,

though within the group
there's 7 other entities

that we have invited through
magic to be part of it.

(wind whirling)

(acoustic music)

¶ The Devil is my woman ¶

¶ And she's got a voodoo hair ¶

¶ The Devil is my woman ¶

¶ And she's got a voodoo hair ¶

¶ She missed my blues ¶

¶ She dances to my rare ¶

- She says it's too tight.

¶ But you know she ¶

¶ She missed my blues ¶

¶ She dances to my rare ¶

And watch her shimmy, now.

Then she goes...

¶ The preacherman
don't like her ¶

¶ But I've seen him
at the back door ¶

¶ The preacherman
don't like her ¶

¶ But I've seen him
at her front door ¶

¶ The Devil is my woman ¶

¶ The Devil is my woman ¶

¶ The Devil is my woman ¶

¶ And you can't lock her up ¶

(audience cheering)

¶ So you better
treat her right ¶

♪ Or she's gonna string you up ♪

(audience applauding)

(acoustic music fading)