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LaVeyan Satanism is the name given to the form of Satanism promoted by American occultist and author Anton LaVey (1930-1997). LaVey founded the Church of Satan (CoS) in 1966 in San Francisco. Although LaVey is thought to have had more impact with his Satanic aesthetics of "colourful rituals" and "scandalous clothes" that created a "gigantic media circus", he also promoted his ideas in writings, such as The Satanic Bible. LaVeyan Satanism has been classified as a new religious movement and a form of Western esotericism by scholars of religion. LaVey's ideas have been said to weave "together an eclectic range of thinkers and tropes", combining "humanism, hedonism, aspects of pop psychology and the human potential movement", along with "a lot of showmanship", but also to be "contradictory". His ideas were heavily influenced by the ideas and writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand and Arthur Desmond.
The religion's doctrines differ from the popular image of Satanism as the worship of an evil supernatural entity. Adherents do not consider Satan to be a literal being or entity, but a positive archetype representing pride, carnality, and enlightenment. They embrace him as a symbol of defiance against Abrahamic religions, which adherents criticize for suppressing humanity's natural instincts and encouraging irrationality. Church doctrines are based on materialism and philosophical naturalism, rejecting the existence of the supernatural (including Satan and God), body-soul dualism, life after death, and the view that mankind are above animals and exist in an moral universe. It promotes a philosophy based on individualism and egoism, coupled with Social Darwinism and anti-egalitarianism. LaVey valued success, "not evil for its own sake".LaVey's followers in the Church of Satan maintain that he and the church "codified ... Satanism as a religion and philosophy", and some Satanic splinter groups, such as John Dewey Allee's First Church of Satan and Karla LaVey's First Satanic Church follow LaVey's ideas, but others do not. The Temple of Set embraces "Theist" supernatural Satanism, while the large and active Satanic Temple, though atheist, rejects LaVey and Ayn Rand's ideas on hierarchy and self-centeredness for a "left-wing", “socially engaged" Satanism, agitating for separation of church and state, reproductive rights, and transgender rights.Despite LaVey's materialism/naturalist philosophy, he also "hinted" at the possibility of paranormal forces, and believed magic could and should be used for material gain, personal influence, to harm enemies, and to gain success in love and sex. "Magic" in LaVeyan Satanism involves ritual practice meant as psychodramatic catharsis to focus one's emotional energy for a specific purpose (called "greater magic" and very much resembling psychotherapy); and also psychological manipulation using applied psychology and glamour (or "wile and guile") to bend another individual or a situation to one's will (called "lesser magic").