Anton Szandor LaVey born April 11, 1930 of Georgian and Alsatian ancestry, is the founder and high Priest of the Church of Satan. He has worked as a lion trainer, police photographer, criminologist, artist, clinical hypnotist, his musical career started when he was five, and through the years he's studied violin, drums, trombone, oboe, piano, organ, calliope. He played the oboe with the San Francisco Ballet orchestra at the age of 16, later to become the city's official organist for all civic functions. He's played band, theatre and pipe organ most of his life and now has the versatility of modern synthesizer's technology, which allows him to duplicate acoustic instruments of all sort. Those who've heard Dr.LaVey playing are already familiar with his magical/musical skills in orchestrating, arranging and performing "occult" music. As a reflecting of the three-dimensional villain, Anton LaVey is a complex and, in many ways, frighteningly deceptive man. Supremely ego-driven, he integrates characteristics most people would consider irreconcilable.

On April 30, 1966(Walpurgisnacht) Dr.LaVey proclaimed the opening of the Church of Satan, an elite organization for eccentric, productive non-joiners. LaVey pointed out that "calling it a Church enabled me to follow the magic formula of one part outrage to nine parts social respectability that is needed for success. But the main purpose was to gather a group of like-minded individuals together for the use of their combined energies in calling up the dark force in nature that is called Satan." Of course LaVey pointed out to anyone who would listen that the Devil to him and his followers was not the stereotyped fellow cloaked in red garb, with horns and a tail, holding a pitchfork ready to nail sinful humans that are following their true instincts.