As a religious institution consecrated by and literally acknowledging the Prince of Darkness, the Church of Satan enjoyed an inspiring, and occasionally either thrilling or terrifying, existence from 1966 to 1975. Beginning as a whimsical and satirical countercultural statement against the social and institutionally-religious hypocrisy of the 1960s, the Church gradually evolved into a positive, sincere, and to its own surprise] virtuous organization, though not without periodic individual and group growing pains: the consequence of allegiance to a supernatural entity only dimly...

As a religious institution consecrated by and literally acknowledging the Prince of Darkness, the Church of Satan enjoyed an inspiring, and occasionally either thrilling or terrifying, existence from 1966 to 1975. Beginning as a whimsical and satirical countercultural statement against the social and institutionally-religious hypocrisy of the 1960s, the Church gradually evolved into a positive, sincere, and to its own surprise] virtuous organization, though not without periodic individual and group growing pains: the consequence of allegiance to a supernatural entity only dimly...

In 1975, after ten years of exploring its identity, the original Church of Satan confronted the limitations of its Judaeo-Christian imagery and a dismissal of humanity as a self-indulgent animal species. An ethical crisis in that year resulted in the organizational and metaphysical transformation of the Church into the Temple of Set, which in subsequent decades went on to become the preeminent initiatory institution premised upon the affirmation and evolution of the individual consciousness to divine essence and immortality.

This book recounts the Temple's creation and early...

In 1975, after ten years of exploring its identity, the original Church of Satan confronted the limitations of its Judaeo-Christian imagery and a dismissal of humanity as a self-indulgent animal species. An ethical crisis in that year resulted in the organizational and metaphysical transformation of the Church into the Temple of Set, which in subsequent decades went on to become the preeminent initiatory institution premised upon the affirmation and evolution of the individual consciousness to divine essence and immortality.

This book recounts the Temple's creation and early...

Throughout the 1980s the United States was shaken by an epidemic of "Satanic Ritual Abuse" witch-hunts targeting schools and day-care centers. Bewildered law-enforcement authorities found themselves besieged by "outraged" parents backed by abuse-pronouncing "play therapists" and tabloid media flame-fanners. That the outrage of the aggrieved parents quickly turned into multimillion-dollar claims and lawsuits merely inspired more copycat scams.

In 1986 it was the turn of the Presidio of San Francisco, where a hapless day-care teacher became the scapegoat-of-choice for parents to file $74...