These churches achieved popularity in the 1970s as part of the counterculture movement of that period. The Church of Satan and Temple of Set are the largest and most visible existing satanic churches. A number of other satanic churches also appeared, but most were small and short-lived organizations that originated as schismatic offshoots of the Church of Satan. Although the Church of Satan claimed hundreds of thousands of members during its heyday, the total active membership of all the satanic churches never exceeded a few thousand. The Church of Satan is the more significant of the two groups; it is the first contemporary church devoted to the worship of Satan, it gave rise to most other satanic churches, and practicing satanists typically trace their beliefs to Anton LaVey's thought. Interest in satanic churches, although not Satanism, declined dramatically with the demise of the counterculture.
The Church of Satan was founded in San Francisco in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey (1930–1997), born Howard Stanton Levey. The details of LaVey's life remain contested, but evidence has mounted that most published accounts are in error and that major elements of LaVey's life were fabricated by sympathetic biographers who created a legendary persona for LaVey.
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