The Black Pope by Burton H Wolfe The Authentic Biography of Anton Szandor LaVey The Black Pope Copyright © 2008 by Burton H. Wolfe All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Up to three paragraphs of this book may be quoted without permission from the author, provided that whatever is quoted is not taken out of context. Neither the work in its entirety nor sections of it exceeding three paragraphs may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author. For permission, contact the author via this e-mail address: bhwolfe(at)msn.com. Cover photo by Walter Fischer Other e-books by Burton H. Wolfe The Case Against 'Jesus' Lucifer's Dictionary of the American Language How I Live Healthily with Killer Disease For information on how to order, visit http://ebooks.burtonwolfe.com. Print books by Burton H. Wolfe The Case Against 'Jesus' (World Audience Publishers) Lucifer's Dictionary of the American Language (Wild West Pub. House) The Hippies (New American Library) Hitler and the Nazis (Putnam) Pileup on Death Row (Doubleday) i CONTENTS Part One Introduction 1 1968: A Midnight Mass 6 The Great Szandor 17 A Precocious Child 22 Life in the Circus and Carnival 24 Notes on the Carnival Life 31 An Interlude with Marilyn Monroe 34 Nights in Haunted Houses 43 The Magic Circle 51 Anton's 'Magic Seminars' 59 Publicity Galore 69 Part Two The First Church of Satan 75 The Birth and Baptism of Zeena 77 A Satanic Wedding and Funeral 81 Inside the Black House 84 Anton's W arlocks... 93 Mr. Dooloo and the Homosexuals 97 Peter Papadopoulous 102 .A nd His Witches 109 The Black Pope's Ritual Magic 135 The Last Days of Jayne Mansfield 146 ii Part Three Anton's Devil Baby 164 Zeena Unchained 168 The Real Anton: Musician, Collector, 173 Prankster, Philosopher Rise and Fall 187 Diane's Rebellion 195 Enter ' Blanche Barton' 198 Diane's Palimony Suit against Anton 200 Bankruptcy 221 Seclusion and Death 223 An effort to save the Black House 226 Part Four Aftermath 232 A Talk with Sharon Densley/'Blanche Barton' 232 Undevelopments 237 A Talk with Steven Johnson Lebya 239 Mizz Szandora 243 Stanton - the Legacy? 245 The Great Szandor's Great Plan: 250 Artificial Human Companions Appendix Those who would not talk - leaving what happened to Anton's body and other issues of interest unresolved. iii ILLUSTRATIONS Certificate of birth of Howard Stanton Levey 17 The John Hancock Center 19 Anton the 'Gangster' at age 16, brandishing submachine gun 26 Handbill advertising 'Professor Anton Szandor LaVey, 28 The Great Szandor, Player of the Calliope' Anton at the Circus with 'Human Cannonball' Edmundo Zachinni 28 and famed Clyde Beatty Circus clown Lou Jacobs Francisco Lentini, the three-legged man 30 Crafts 20 Big Show 31 The Pike Amusement Park at Long Beach before demolition 32 Anton in 1940's style dress (like Dashiell Hammett) 33 The Mayan Theater at its opening in 1927 34 Los Angeles Times article re burlesque at The Mayan in 1948 35 Marilyn Monroe 41 In two poses naked, and as copied onto a calendar As Norma Jeane Dougherty At Columbia Pictures in 1948 Anton in his early twenties, at the giant Wurlitzer organ 42 Carole Lansing, Anton's first and only wife 44 Would-be naturalist Anton in the woods 50 Deed conveying title to the black house to Anton and Diane 53 The black house before and after fencing to keep out intruders 54 Anton emerging from trapdoor in the black house 55 'Tony' LaVey at the Wurlitzer in the Lost Weekend nightclub 57 Mori's Inn 57 Flyer advertising 'Antone La Vey' on organ at Mori's; the inn 58 High Priestess Diane Hegarty 59 Anton in black cape, playing organ for 'Magic Seminars' 61 Exterior shot of the glorious Fox Theater 63 Lobby of the Fox Theater 64 Inside the Fox Theater 65 iv Robot Isis plucking at her zither 67 Dr. Cecil Nixon adjusting his creation, Isis 67 Togare the lion in canopied bed with Anton 70 A strikingly handsome Anton before he shaved his head 73 Painting by Flandes of Satan appearing to 'Jesus' as monk 76 Birth certificate of Zeena LaVey, showing Diane 'Joo' as mother 77 The 'baptism' of Zeena Galatea LaVey 79 A Satanic Wedding - photo by Joe Rosenthal 82 Satanic Funeral at U.S. Navy Base on Treasure Island 83 One of Anton's macabre paintings 84 Monique Von Cleef 88 Anton in 1966 after shaving his head 92 Anton with silicon-breasted witch posing for sex magazine 97 Anton with one-time pal Sammy Davis, Jr. 108 Anton and Diane instructing at Witches' Workshop 113 Anton with his pit bull Typhon 125 Lilith with huge black snake wrapped around her naked body 129 Covers of The Compleat Witch and The Satanic Witch 134 Police mug shots of Anton, arrested for 'loud noise' from lion 142 Final photo of Anton with lion Togare 143 Hooded sorcerer and witches executing a curse 145 Jayne Mansfield atop 'Mr. America' Mickey Hargitay 146 Jayne with film producer husband Matt Cimber 146 Jayne with attorney/consort Sam Brody and Chihuahuas 147 Example of how Jayne liked to expose her breasts 149 Jayne drinking from Anton's 'Chalice of Ecstasy' in ritual 150 Wreckage of the car in which Jayne was killed 158 Jayne's heart-shaped gravestone 159 The Pink Palace, Jayne's home, shortly before destruction 160 Jayne pestered by her dogs as she plays on her violin 161 v Mosquito fogger truck of the kind involved in Jayne's death 162 Zeena in early childhood, trying to make contact with Togare 165 Lisa Carver with son Wolf 166 Anton with daughters Karla and Zeena at a carrousel 172 Anton in 'Den of Iniquity' with his lifelike mannequins 176 Anton preparing to play on numerous keyboards 180 Anton's 1937 Cord automobile 182 Anton surrounded by witches, including Susan Atkins 187 The 'Hegarty and LaVey Agreement' of 1985 196 High Priest Anton with High Priestess Diane before the breakup 197 Sharon Densley before and after becoming 'Blanche Barton' 200 Two views of Zeena: artificial and natural beauty 207 Nikolas and Zeena Schreck in the late 1980's 211 An aging Anton with son Xerxes 223 Karla LaVey with wax statue of her father following death 225 The condominiums that replaced the black house 230 Nikolas and Zeena, aging and not looking good anymore 237 Church of Satan Priest Lebya, in his American Indian garb 241 Szandora showing off her breasts 243 Szandora on husband Stanton LaVey's lap 245 Final shot of Anton and Diane conducting a ritual 254 vi The Black Pope Part One Introduction In the wake of a shattering divorce, I searched during the late 1960's for a way of life different from the one that had failed me. It was during those days that I grew a full beard, moved into the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and wrote The Hippies (New American Library, 1968). It was also then that I indulged in some sexual experimentation, partly within the Sexual Freedom League. The mindless promiscuity entailed in Sexual Freedom League gatherings was not for me. One of its sponsored lectures, however, caused me to produce several magazine articles and a book which in turn led to this present book. That one lecture was an explanation by Anton Szandor LaVey of modern Satanism as a philosophy and way of life. During the late 1960's numerous stories about Anton, dressed in devil garb featuring a horned cowl and black cape, were appearing frequently on the front pages of daily newspapers and the covers of national magazines. I was intrigued by his audacity in appearing that way in public and by the title of the organization which he had created: Church of Satan. I wondered if his act was just a money­ making scam. Was Anton a mere showman? Or was he seriously mocking Chris­ tianity and creating an antithesis to its religions and churches? To my surprise, Anton's lecture revealed him in a light different from what I had expected. He came across as an intellectual who was serious about what he was doing. His lecture fit its billing. It was a dissertation on Satanism as a way of life and the underlying philosophy leading to that way of life: a philosophy that was grounded upon a rejection of deity worship within a faith-based religion and devotion instead to a materialistic existence based on a perverted reading of the Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest concept, accompanied by a view toward unin­ hibited reveling in carnality. Though Anton's lecture was philosophical and it was filled with literary references, I was not convinced that he was as serious as he sounded. If he rejected deity, why dress as The Devil, a deity in biblical lore, albeit named differently as Satan and Lucifer? Were he and his flock actually worshipping that deity in a church of some kind, or were the Devil and a church as popularly conceived merely being used by them symbolically or as gimmicks? 1 I approached Anton after he had finished talking and the Sexual Freedom League officer had closed the meeting. I introduced myself as a free-lance writer whose work had been published in many newspapers and magazines, and told him I was interested in writing an article, or maybe more than one article, about him. Until then, given my credentials, anyone I offered to write about, whether for ego satisfaction or for a chance to gain publicity, offered immediate cooperation. But Anton, though no less driven by both of those characteristics than anyone else depending upon public image, had another surprise for me. He was willing to be interviewed, but only under one condition: that I show him an assignment from the editor of a periodical with substantial circulation to write about him. "I do not provide my time to writers working on mere speculation," Anton said. "Show me an assignment. Then I will talk to you." Not only did I wind up showing him one assignment, but also I produced letters from editors of several magazines who were eager to publish articles about Anton Szandor LaVey and the Church of Satan. So it was that I gained entrance to the "black house" on California Street in San Francisco which has been a subject in scores of articles about Anton and his "church." As I talked with Anton, I became interested enough in the subject of Satanism past and present to develop an idea for a book about its history and famous individuals identified as Satanists. Since Anton had acquired the largest collection of books on Satanism to be found anywhere, I asked permission to read them in his library, promising to treat them with the same delicate care that he took in handling his books. He told me how very unhappy he had become when friends he had allowed to read some of the books turned the pages of them with sweaty or dirty hands. Assuring him that my hands would be clean and dry, I obtained permission to conduct research via the books in Anton's library, and so it was that I became a daily visitor to the "black house" at 6114 California Street in San Francisco. There was one problem: When Anton arose from his 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. sleep, or sometimes later, he wanted me to join him in the kitchen so that he could talk to me as he ate his breakfast or snacked on some kind of soup that he liked to slurp in the manner of Geezle in the Popeye comic strip which was popular at the time. I was freed for my research after an hour, but later Anton asked me to join him for philosophical discourse that continued to midnight. 2