Myth: Anton LaVey Deathbed Conversion to Christianity

Serpent

Anton LaVey had a deathbed conversion to Christianity.

 

Anton Szandor LaVey died in a San Francisco Roman Catholic hospital, St. Mary's, which was then considered to specialize in the sort of cardiac issues which plagued his health. He had been taken there after he lost consciousness at his home in The Black House, and he never regained consciousness in his final hours at that hospital. He passed away from pulmonary edema, without in any way denying his philosophy as a Satanist. Having been raised in a secular Jewish family, Jesus was always a repulsive myth to him, so the lie that he converted to Christianity in his final moments is particularly nonsensical. This falsehood was begun, and is currently spread, by evangelical Christians, none of whom knew him, nor were they present for his passing. As per his wishes, he was given a Satanic funeral and his remains were then cremated. Anton Szandor LaVey died as he lived—as a Satanist.

Caroline Wazer, for Snopes, researched this falsehood and debunked it in this article.

—Magus Peter H. Gilmore

Magistra Blanche Barton, who was Anton LaVey's partner in his final years, wrote this account of his final hours:

Anton LaVey had a history of heart valve problems resulting from a fever he acquired in his teens. It wasn't entirely uncommon—my mom had what her doctors called rheumatic heart disease caused by the same thing, a fever of some kind she had when she was young that had permanently damaged the valves of her heart. She was born in 1926; Dr. LaVey was born in 1930. It was an era before antibiotics were widely available. Dr. LaVey started experiencing consequences in 1990. They put him on blood thinners to mitigate the load on his heart, and, as a consequence, by 1997, he was dealing with various bleeding sites in his body and was in the hospital several times for transfusions. Because of the bleeding problems, they took him off the Coumadin, and within two weeks, he died. His heart failed without the aid of the blood thinner.

The night Anton LaVey died, we had Margie Bauer, a young woman who regularly worked in The Black House, doing office work downstairs with my dad, who was also living with us at that time. Dr. LaVey was feeling tightness in his chest, said he felt cold, and speculated he may have acquired pneumonia from a recent hospital visit. I said we should call an ambulance; he said let's wait until Marge left at her appointed time. He'd be fine. Marge was scheduled to leave at midnight, I think. Maybe 1 am. Her boyfriend was picking her up. I let Karla (Anton's eldest daughter, who was living upstairs with us) know that her father was in distress and we'd be heading to the hospital as soon as Marge left.

I said goodnight to Marge at the appointed time then called 911. Karla was with her father in another room. By that time he had slumped forward and was no longer able to answer us when we spoke to him. The ambulance responded in good time (only a few blocks away) and rushed him to UCSF St. Mary's near Haight. I was suspicious of that location because Anton had previously been treated at UCSF Medical Center many times and I trusted them. I called one of his doctors who assured me that St. Mary's was the primary hospital for coronary care, so I agreed that Dr. LaVey be taken there.

By the time I got our son, Xerxes, settled downstairs with his grandfather and arrived at the hospital, Dr. LaVey was already sequestered there, behind the medical veil of machines and white coats. I think they tried to insert stents in his heart and other life-saving measures. Karla and I held vigil in the waiting room together for several hours, but she headed home a bit after dawn. I stayed, and was told an hour or two after Karla left that her father was gone. I called her back to the hospital, and we both said goodbye to him after he had already passed. That was on the morning of October 29th, 1997.

As far as I know and I was told, Anton LaVey never regained consciousness after he collapsed in the Black House. I didn't have contact with him from the time he was rushed into the ambulance until 7 or 8 am when they told me he was gone. Because they were trying to save his life, I was not allowed at his bedside. If there are people—evangelists trying to make money off Dr. LaVey's death, for example, who obviously weren't with him, or nurses or doctors making claims from the hospital where he died—I cannot speak to that. This is the truth as I experienced it regarding Anton LaVey's death. There were no last words, and no deathbed conversions. In the last weeks of his life, when we both knew he was failing, there was only more conviction from LaVey in both deed and soul. He was increasingly disdainful of most of humanity, and saved his energy to write, play music, play with his son, and share stimulating conversation with those he valued most. There was not a whisper of regret for anything he had created or set into motion.

—Magistra Blanche Barton, (October 3, 2024)

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