Foreword
"It's said that the Devil is in the details. Enki has proven that he knows the Devil, and he certainly is a man of details. He has taken great pains to make sure his past efforts have accurately reflected the Black House, and the results were startling. Now he's moving us into the Front Ritual Chamber, so that we can all feel what it was like to stand in that unhallowed space, the roots of which, Dr. LaVey declared, stretched all the way to Hell.
Our originating High Priest felt strongly that accurate details, stimulating aesthetics, and potent emotions resulted in powerfully effective magical workings. Enki is constructing for us a virtual ritual chamber in which we can all practice and benefit, linked directly to our dark foundational domain, where it all began. In seeking out original resources for history, item placement and accurate dimensions, Enki is a pioneer in VR magical evocations." - Blanche Barton, Magistra Templi Rex within the Church of Satan.
“Warlock Enki’s VR recreation of the main ritual chamber from Magus Anton Szandor LaVey’s Black House is truly a cutting-edge technique for enhancing Greater Magic Ritual via 21st Century technologies. Satanism is a philosophy that encourages seizing the best from past, present and currently evolving human endeavors, so I heartily endorse these fine efforts to preserve this now vanished space in perpetuity.” - Magus Peter H. Gilmore of the Church of Satan
Intro
I started my career in mobile game development and was an expert in that field for 10 years. In 2014 I started working in research & development for MR (mixed reality) while simultaneously exploring VR (virtual reality). With this experience and knowledge I begin to think about how it can be applied towards total environments, ritual, and preservation of historical places.
During this time I came across a few posts where people were asking if Anton LaVey's Black House still existed, hoping to potentially visit the iconic headquarters of the Church of Satan. To their disappointment they were informed that it was demolished on 17th of October, 2001. This got me thinking about creating a virtual version of the Black House. However I had no idea what it looked like or how it was laid out internally. I began collecting images of the exterior and interior of the Black House, contacting individuals who have either lived there or have visited it, and started experimenting with different ideas on how to construct it. It was a monumental task and I began to realize I can't do it alone... which has led me to today and why I am now addressing you, a potential contributor, to help capture a piece of history and immortalize it for anyone to experience for themselves!
What We Need & What You Get
Be a part of history by contributing to the creation of the Black House in Virtual Reality!
Your monetary contributions will help by allowing us to:
- Hire 3D artists to create high quality models and textures.
- Pay for software licenses needed during the production of the experience.
- Pay for fees associated with hosting the completed experience so it can be downloaded and ran by others.
- Help pay for additional equipment so we can test and hone the experience for various platforms.
In return, if you contribute at the "Unholy Contract" level or higher, you will get a free download of the experience when it becomes available. At higher levels you will get additional perks to help sweeten the reward of helping bring this project into reality and making history! Please explore each of the perks listed for more details.
If the goal is not reached, the remaining funds will be used to build a more minimized experience with less detail and features. If the funds exceed the goal, you can expect to see a greater range of device support, higher quality visuals and models, and potentially a multi-player feature so you can experience it with others.
All profits from this project will be donated to the Church of Satan to support its archive.
Other Ways You Can Help
Don't have the money to help support this campaign? No worries, you can still support this project by sharing this campaign in social media or telling your friends about it! Additionally if you have pictures of the interior of the Black House that are uncommon (not easily found on the internet), I would be most interested in seeing them as they would help in the virtual reconstruction.
How This Project Came To Be
When I first became a member of the Church of Satan one of my initial curiosities within the organization was the Black House. It was the home and total environment of Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan. It had been a gathering place for those attuned to their carnal nature invited there by the ringmaster of the circus of iniquity. It was there, in that black Victorian, the Church of Satan was born.
As chance would have it, shortly after becoming a Church of Satan member, I had a business trip to San Francisco, CA. During my stay I decided to walk from Union Square all the way to 6114 California Street to see if the Black House was still there. I didn’t realize how far of a walk it really was until I was a little more than half the way there! Once I arrived, I was disappointed and sad to see that it was demolished, as the only thing left was the fence and a small pile of rubble. A single Baphomet sticker on the gate of the fence was the only reminder that this was once the headquarters of the Church of Satan and the home of Anton LaVey.
Since that time I often wondered what it would’ve been like to enter into the Black House and behold the projections of its master... to hear him play on his keyboards he loved so much, have a drink in the Den of Iniquity alongside LaVey’s Artificial Human Companions, or perform a ritual in the house’s main chamber with an “altar of the flesh” before me.
I knew that even though the house was no longer around that the Church of Satan was. The loss of the house was unfortunate but did not stop the tireless and persistent engine fueled by the Black Flame through its members.
As a memento I created the Black House Project and from it produced a limited edition of Black House models for sale. The first few models were numbered and came in fancy boxes.
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A year or so later during this time my career focus took a turn to be more focused on 3D content for Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality. This got me thinking about preserving historic landmarks to their former glory via VR so that future generations can experience them virtually for themselves. Naturally, I thought of the Black House! I enthusiastically started the project slowly modeling the house based on pictures I have seen. From this I created the 3D printable ornament that is still available today from Shapeways. I poured through as many pictures of the inside and outside of the Black House that I could find. I reached out to Magus Peter H. Gilmore and High Magistra Peggy Nadramia for more, and they kindly provided me with details and pictures from the archives. I reached out to other members as well who’ve visited the Black House in person. They suggested I speak with Blanche Barton, Magistra Templi Rex within the Church of Satan. And so, I did.
I met with Blanche Barton during the 2015 Conclave event where she graciously took time to sit with me and go through the information I had so far to critique and add to it. We also corresponded over email as well to keep the ball rolling afterwards. We met again in 2016 during the 50th Anniversary of the Church of Satan at the headquarters where she reviewed the layouts I had put together and further critiqued them. Without her valuable help and time, I would not have nearly as many details as I have today. Thank you, Blanche! The project was slowly but surely coming together.
However shortly after I moved to London and I became very busy between traveling and my job. The project took a back seat but was not forgotten. Other annoying setbacks occurred and quickly I realized that if I’m going to make this happen, I am going to need more help.
So, what exactly am I trying to create? I am reconstructing the interior of the Black House’s Main Ritual chamber as accurately as I can in Virtual Reality. Items will be interact-able, history relegated, and other interesting experiences can be had inside the virtual Black House. You’ll even be able to perform your own ritual right in the Main Ritual chamber if you are wearing a VR headset. The experience will also be available on a more limited interaction model in 1st person view on your PC. That means all you need to experience it is a PC that meets the minimum requirements and a mouse. For those of you that want the more immersive experience a VR headset is required such as the Windows VR headsets, Vive, or an Oculus.
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Depending on the success of this project other rooms will follow such as the Den of Iniquity. Ideally the entire interior and exterior will be available for you to explore, experience, and learn from.
You can help by donating to this project so the Black House VR experience can become a reality. If the project meets its goal, I will be able to use those funds to pay 3D artists to help create the assets I need, buy additional equipment, pay for software licenses, and other miscellaneous costs that are needed in order to help the project reach its first milestone: The Main Ritual Chamber.
