In her youth, she was a spokeswoman for the sect created by her father, but later decided to follow her own spiritual path.
Today at 59 years old, the American Zeena Lavey is one of the most famous ex-Satanists in the world. During the the 80sshe was High Priestess of the Church of Satan — which was founded by his father, Anton LaVey – It is spokesperson from the religiongiving several television interviews in which he sought to defend the Church and his father from critics.
The girl ended up becoming the face and voice at the head of the cult, being even more relevant than the man himself. founder. Later, however, he became disillusioned with the institution and abandoned it.
Traumatic childhood
Among some of the shocking events of the early life of Zeenaare the fact that she starred, at the age of 6, in the first baptism already done by the Church of Satan, and also the fact that got pregnant with just 13 years. The child’s father, however, was never revealed.
She also lived in an environment of constant stress, given that his residence was a frequent target of harassment by neighbors and other people who went to the place to express their hatred towards Satanism. Furthermore, Zeena He received death threats from a young age due to his connection to the Church of Satan.
We were not liked in our neighborhood, as our presence created a lot of disharmony. He [Anton LaVey] attracted many psychopaths who left threatening messages on the answering machine that we had no choice but to listen to day and night”, she reported in an interview with Vice, published in 2012.
“I was also trained to write down the license plate number of any car that was left parked in front for too long, because vandals would threw eggs and shot at the house. The sound of a car engine still bothers me today – the sound that always preceded an attack – the Satanism it wasn’t a loved thing”, added the former Satanist.
‘Postmodern’ beliefs
Second Zeena LaVey, his father didn’t really believe in Satan, the fallen angel who rules hell and represents evil in Christian beliefs. He created a “postmodern version of satanism” that encouraged pride and attitudes individualistsseeing Satan as an archetype that personified these principles.
My father was experimenting with various tricks: giving lectures on Friday nights that he called the ‘magic circle’, putting on burlesque shows with strippers dressed as witches, and vampiresbut nothing that was necessarily ‘satanic'”, she explained regarding the origins of the Church.
“He had a pet lion that he took with him through the streets of San Francisco, so he was really doing everything he could to promote himself locally. It wasn’t until a publicist wrote a story about him, referring to him as the ‘first priest in Satan‘, is that he had the idea that he could start his own religion”, he revealed Zeena.
Breakups and returns
The woman moved away from her family and Church of Satan, however, he ended up returning to the sect when he saw Christians accusing the satanists of being behind a series of horrendous acts, such as child sacrifice.
In the 1980s, Christian fundamentalists began to use the church as a bexpiatory ode, the group they could point to as responsible for these secret cattle mutilations, child abductions, and crazy government-related conspiracy theories they heard about in the news. I panicked, feeling like they were attacking my religion and my father, so I contacted him and asked him what his plans were to resolve the situation,” she recalled to Vice.
Anton LaVey, however, he had no plan, so his daughter ended up occupying a leadership position within the cult. It was at this moment that she began to make her famous television appearances in order to rehabilitate the image of the Church of Satan — which also helped attract new followers, renewing the North American public’s interest in satanic sect.
After a few years, however, Zeena had his definitive break with religion. She continued to nurture her spirituality, practicing, for example, black magic.
A curious detail, in fact, is that when the American resigned from her position as High Priestess of the Church of Satanthe new followers who had joined the sect on her behalf also abandoned the cult.
In 2017, she managed the Sethian Liberation Movement with your husband, Nikolas Schreckwith the proposal to teach magic for those interested in practicing it.
“I teach people all over the world, regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds: drug addicts, child stars, members of religious sects such as Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of Iranian Marxist political groups. I felt the need to help people who have an immediate need for spiritual assistance, and the techniques I teach can help them overcome their problems in the same way I did,” he explained. Zeena LaVey.
