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only rarely drinks alcohol. "I'm always
asked, 'What is a Satanist?'" he says.
"Because people have a lot of different interpretations of it, you know? But the LaVey
tribe, for me, was very confirming, in a spiritual and philosophical way, and it was
describing how I was already living my life.
And The Satanic Bible is a philosophical book
much more than anything else – it doesn't
talk about this god or that god as some god
that you have to do all kinds of stuff for. It's
a questioning book, a way of living, and
there's nothing supernatural in it."
In fact, a few years ago, before LaVey
passed away, King Diamond had the honor
of being personally invited by the man to
the Church of Satan headquaters, the famed
Black House on California Street in San
Francisco. He had just finished a concert in
town when he was approached by two selfproclaimed witches, who beckoned him to
come with them – LaVey wanted to finally
meet him. Next thing he knew, he was on a
guided tour of the church's 13 chambers,
including a sacrosanct vault that had been
sealed off for nearly two years. "So LaVey
stood by these two dobermans in this long
hallway and unlocked the door into the ritual chamber," he recalls. "And he told me I
should probably not pet them. But I did anyway, and I remember he stood there, looked
over his shoulder, and said, "Oh! Good
vibrations, I see!' And then he played keyboards for me, all this horror stuff. And then
he looked over his shoulder again, and with
a smirk started playing the song
"Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen."
"And I asked him if I could speak first, so
I wouldn't stand there like some little boy,
nodding my head," he continues. "And I
said, 'I would like to give you my interpretation of Satanism, and what it means to
me.' So I spoke for 25 minutes, then he took
off his baphomet symbol that he had on his
jacket and pressed it into my hand, and that
just said everything. And then we talked
about all kinds of things, special projects he
was working on, and then we kept a little in
contact after that. I got the phone number to
his red line, and he told me I could call, day
or night. But I never wanted to abuse his
friendship." Still, to this day, the rocker
always carries with him on tour a handwritten letter he received from his mentor – a
true rarity, since LaVey usually dictated all
correspondence.
That's what King Diamond believes is
wrong with the world today. "There's so
much bad or evil attached to religion, and
people kill themselves over different directions in Christianity. And it doesn't have to
be like that – people should keep their
beliefs to themselves, and not try to tell others that they are right," he declares. But what
comes next for him? Mortality-wise? "I am
completely convinced that I am going to
meet my parents' beings in some shape or
form," he says. "It doesn't matter if they
don't even look remotely the same – I will
recognize them when I'm not here anymore,
along with my closest cats. And I'm convinced it doesn't end there, as well.
"But if it does? Well, that was that! And
I'll never know, so what am I worried about?
Enjoy what you've got here. Enjoy it to the
fullest. And get everything out of life now."
Appearing: Nov. 27th, Aragon Ballroom,
Chicago.
Countryside, Milwaukee & Palatine
Sat. Oct 17
Holiday Inn
Countryside
6201 Joliet Road (Rt.66)
Countryside • 847-409-9656
Sun. Oct 18
Serb Hall
5101 W. Oklahoma
Milwaukee, WI
10am-4pm
Sun. Nov 15
Holiday Inn
Express
1550 E. Dundee Rd
Palatine, IL • 847-409-9656
Show Hours: 10-4pm
october
2015
illinoisentertainer.com
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