Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

La VEY, Anton Szandor (1930-1997)

Anton Lavey at his showbusiness best...

Born Howard Stanton Levey, Anton LaVey was the self-styled Head of the Church of Satan in San Francisco, founded in 1966, and author of numerous books including The Satanic Bible, published in New York in 1969.

Probably influenced by Aleister Crowley, he formerly held various occupations, including Palmistry and circus performing, and had been a police photographer. LaVey relied an his show-business background to attract a great deal of publicity and he decorated his house in a bizarre, attention-seeking style.

His rituals relied on psychodrama to free the minds of his disciples and he perceived Satan to equate with the Freudian concept of libido. His performances involved naked women laid an a black altar, swords, candles, incense and incantations.

The principles of the Church of Satan claim the seven deadly sins of the Christian faith to be virtues. Satan, according to LaVey, is less the opponent of God than a 'hidden farce in nature'. The sect expounds the ethics of enlightened self-interest.

He is survived by his consort, Blanche Barton, son Xerxes, ex-wife Diane LaVey, daughters Karla and Zeena Schreck, and grandson Stanton Zaharoff LaVey.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc