Founded in San Francisco in 1966, by LaVey, it is considered the "oldest satanic religion in continual existence", and more importantly the most influential, inspiring "numerous imitator and breakaway groups".

[6] In 2001, Peter H. Gilmore was appointed to the position of high priest, and the church's headquarters were moved to Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City.

[18] High priest Peter Gilmore describes its members as "skeptical atheists", indicating the Hebrew root of the word "Satan" as "adversary" or "opposer.

"[19] Gilmore rejects the legitimacy of theistic Satanists, who believe Satan to be a supernatural being or force that may be contacted or supplicated to, dubbing them "devil worshipers".

[18] In an interview with David Shankbone, High Priest Peter Gilmore stated "My real feeling is that anybody who believes in supernatural entities on some level is insane.

Some Satanists extend this symbol to encompass the evolutionary "force" of entropy that permeates all of nature and provides the drive for survival and propagation inherent in all living things.

The "Rules of the Earth" in LaVey's Satanic Bible specifically prohibited unwanted sexual advances and harming animals or children,[25][26] but the Church also "often featured a nude woman serving as an altar" in its black masses.

He was quoted as saying, “If Satanists didn’t care, they wouldn’t be so dark and pessimistic.”[29][24] In the 1960s Anton Szandor LaVey formed a group called the Order of the Trapezoid, which later became the governing body of the Church of Satan.

The group included: "The Baroness" Carin de Plessen, Dr. Cecil Nixon, Kenneth Anger, San Francisco city assessor Russell Wolden, and Donald Werby.

[34][35][36][37] A Satanic funeral for naval machinist-repairman, third-class Edward Olsen, was performed at the request of his wife, complete with an honor guard.

LaVey appeared in Kenneth Anger's film Invocation of My Demon Brother, acted as technical adviser on The Devil's Rain, which starred Ernest Borgnine, William Shatner, and introduced John Travolta.

[39] One attempt to establish the church abroad was done in connection with Maarten Lamers of the Netherlands who read The Satanic Bible and in 1971 flew to San Francisco to meet LaVey.

The Dutch government disagreed and in 1987, "after a decade of police raids and legal battles", Lamers was compelled to pay 10 million guilders in back taxes.

LaVey called this move “Phase IV of his master plan”[40] Starting in the early 1970s, the Church faced internal dissent and a series of schisms.

A bigger schism happened with the excommunication of the Stygian Grotto, whose leader established the Church of Satanic Brotherhood in 1973 with units in Dayton, Indianapolis, Louisville, New York City, and St. Petersburg (FL).

From the Church's Belphegor Grotto, another splinter group created the Order of the Black Goat, which was allegedly neo-Nazi in orientation, led by Michael Grumbowski.

[42] LaVey announced that the Temple of Set schism was not a setback but "Phase V" of his master plan,[40] however, according to author Amina Lap, from this point on Satanism became a "splintered and disorganized movement".

He focused on differences in costliness or barriers to entry for members, disputes over authority and doctrine, and opportunities for niche development in the American counter-culture world of occultism, and persecution of alleged Satanists during the moral panic (described below) of the 1980s.

[44] The same year LaVey painted the Black House beige to lessen unwanted attention and "largely retired from public life".

)[49] During the 1980s and 90s, LaVey was no longer interested in making media appearances, and began a "long period of silence", becoming "increasingly reclusive",[40] he began sending his daughter Zeena to represent the CoS. She appeared on television and radio broadcasts, (including The Phil Donahue Show, Nightline with Ted Koppel, Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show, Secrets & Mysteries and the Sally Jesse Raphael Show), [Note 2] in part to educate about the Church, and in part to debunk Satanic ritual abuse and any connection between it and true Satanism, and specifically the Church of Satan.

[53][54] On Walpurgisnacht 30 April 1990, Zeena formally renounced any association with the Church or LaVey, whom she now called her “unfather.” She and her husband joined the Temple of Set for a time but in 2002 formed the Sethian Liberation Movement, their own occult left-hand path group.

On November 7, 1997[55] Karla LaVey made a press release about continuing the church with fellow high priestess Blanche Barton.

The Central Office of the Church of Satan has also moved from San Francisco to New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, where the couple resides.

In October 2004, the Royal Navy officially recognised its first registered Satanist, 24-year-old Chris Cranmer, as a technician aboard HMS Cumberland.

These degrees are not open to application or to request and are only awarded to those who demonstrate excellence in the understanding and communication of Satanic Theory coupled with personal achievements in the outside world.

[69] Members of the Priesthood make up the Council of Nine, which is the ruling body of the Church of Satan, of which Magistra Templi Rex Blanche Barton is the chair-mistress.

[71] The Church of Satan evaluates active members for the Priesthood by their accomplishment in society—mastered skills and peer recognition within a profession—rather than by mastery of irrelevant occult trivia.

Within Satanism, a Grotto is a clandestine association or gathering of Satanists within geographical proximity for means of social, ritual, and special interest activities.