Satanism in the Suburbs: Exploring previous locations of Thee Satanic Church

Terry Taylor's Thee Satanic Church operated in and around Chicago in between 1971 and 1974, under a variety of incarnations including The Orthodox Satanic Church, and Thee Orthodox Satanic Church of the Nethilim Rite.  Previously I've posted an introduction with newspaper articles (including the involvement of Dr. Evelyn Paglini), and a magazine advertisement for the organization.  Thee Satanic Church was operated in conjunction with Taylor's bookstore, House of Occult (not to be confused with the Occult Bookstore, as many books and websites erroneously report).

I was curious as to the locations that these entities inhabited, and made a trek to the various houses and storefronts that used to house this local Satanic group.  One of the more interesting aspects was the incredibly quaint suburban surroundings where Taylor, Paglini & company continued to place their diabolical organizations.

This Edgewater building was listed as the home of Terry Taylor's bookstore, House of the Occult, in 1972.  Advertisements for the bookstore featured a design that included the logo of Taylor's

 This Oak Park residence was home to Thee Satanic Church, according to various advertisements and other sources around 1974.

This western Chicago ice cream shop sits on the 1974 location of Taylor's House of Occult bookshop.

This is the location in Melrose Park, listed in various sources as late as 1976 as being home to both Thee Satanic Church and the International Psychic Center (the organization which Paglini directed Thee Satanic Church into after the split with Taylor - some sources make this sound like an offshoot, some consider Thee Satanic Church to be a rival organization to Taylor's).

Dr. Evelyn Paglini, just a few years after her split from Taylor, on television advising regarding the "Curse of the Evil Devil Stone."


Dr. Evelyn Paglini has remained in the public eye, but I can find no trace of Taylor.  If anyone has any further information, it would be greatly appreciated!

Terry Taylor and Satanism in Chicago during the 1970s

In 1966, Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco.  He would publish the Satanic Bible in 1969.  CoS "grottoes" would pop up across the country, though oddly enough it appears that there was not one in Chicago.  Instead Chicago had Terry Taylor.  To introduce Taylor, I'll quote from Arthur Lyon's sensationalistic-yet-level-headed 1988 book Satan Wants You.

"The Orthodox Satanic Church, in existence from 1971 to 1974 in Chicago, which at its height claimed more than five hundred members, taught a similar system of beliefs (to The Lady of Endor Coven, located in Ohio).  The group's anti-LaVey philosophy taught that God the Creator created Satan, who, in turn, became the teacher of all knowledge.  Through ritual, prayer, and songs, held every Saturday night at Chicago's Occult Book Shop (*), members were exhorted to absorb as much of Satan's wisdom as they could.

"In 1974, this group broke up after its leader, Terry Taylor, owner of the Occult Book Shop(*) was taken to court by his ex-wife to keep him from bringing his daughter to the cult's rituals.  Taylor, she claimed, not only drove the girl to the shop in a hearse but also slept in a coffin.  A splinter sect, Thee Satanic Church, was started by Dr. Evelyn Paglini, of the International Psychic Center, but it folded shortly thereafter."

Taylor's store was actually called House of the Occult, located near Belmont and Central Avenue.  He did not own the Occult Bookstore.

Despite only having been in existence for a few years, Taylor seems to have gotten quite a lot of press.  I've found very little regarding his beliefs, or anything incredibly specific regarding The Orthodox Satanic Church (which at one point was known as Thee Satanic Orthodox Church of Nethilim Rite).  Still, his name shows up in quite a few publications.

Below is the beginning of an interview with Brad Steiger:
"We've had our windows at the House of Occult smashed six times in the last six months," he said.  "Salt has been dumped in our gas tanks.  We've been threatened twice with a gun.  Someone set street gangs on us.  We wrote to the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., and now we have police protection."

Despite the fact that Taylor is regularly described as being a Theistic Satanist (and at least one local organization claims to be following in this lineage), Taylor has this to say:
"...(W)e just do not believe that there is a devil.  There is an active and a passive section in our minds, but neither is necessarily good or evil, plus or minus."

Chicago Tribune - March 8, 1974.

"They think I'm in league with the devil and have an 'in' with him," he said.  But Taylor neither believes in the devil - "a Christian invention" - nor performs exorcisms.

Chicago Tribune - March 26, 1974

http://newspaperarchive.com/singleviewer.aspx?pdfid=76797676

Anyone with more information about Taylor and associated organizations is encouraged to make contact.