In 2017, who was the high priest of the Church of Satan?

Peter Howard Gilmore was born on May 24, 1958, in upstate New York. An author, composer, and artist, he was appointed high priest of the Church of Satan in 2001. At age 13, he read and embraced the philosophy of “The Satanic Bible”. In 2005, Gilmore wrote a new introduction to it. That same year, his essay on Satanism was published in “The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature”.

Gilmore holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music composition from New York University. He has discussed Satanism multiple times on radio and television, including an appearance on Bob Larson’s Christian radio broadcast.

In 2007, Gilmore’s “The Satanic Scriptures”, a collection of rituals and essays, was published by Scapegoat Publishing. The book has been translated into Estonian, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Gilmore’s book features a prelude by Blanche Barton, who is magistra templi rex—in English, the mistress of the house of the king; she is addressed as Magistra Barton—of the Church of Satan, and who appointed him high priest. The book’s dedication is by Magistra Peggy Nadramia, administrator of the Church of Satan, and Gilmore’s wife.

The church rejects the “devil” of Christian and Islamic belief, but believes in Satan as a positive force for enlightenment and, as in the original Hebrew word, an “adversary”, in opposition to the Abrahamic faiths.