Editing Michael A. Aquino

{{Short description|American Satanist (1946–2019)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2026}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| name               = Michael A. Aquino
| image              = LTC_Michael_Aquino.jpg
| caption            = Undated photo of Aquino
| birth_name         = Michael A. Aquino Jr.
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1946|10|16}}
| birth_place        = [[San Francisco, California]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2019|9|1|1946|10|16}}
| known_for          = [[Temple of Set]]
| spouse             = Lilith Aquino
| religion           = [[Theistic Satanism]]
| denomination       = Temple of Set
| title              = High Priest
| alma_mater         = [[University of California, Santa Barbara]]
}}

'''Michael A. Aquino''' '''Jr.''' (October 16, 1946 – September 1, 2019) was an American [[Political science|political scientist]], military officer and [[Satanism|Satanist]]. He was the founder and high priest of the [[Temple of Set]]. Aquino was also a specialist in [[psychological warfare]] for military intelligence and an officer in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]].

== Early life and education ==
Michael A. Aquino Jr.<ref name="Sant680616">{{Cite news |date=1968-06-16 |title=10 Area Men Get Army Commissions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-barbara-news-press-10-area-men-get/182742956/ |access-date=2025-10-11 |newspaper=[[Santa Barbara News-Press]] |page=A-12 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issue=28}}</ref> was born on October 16, 1946.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Flowers |first=Stephen E. |author-link=Stephen Flowers |title=Lords of the Left-Hand Path: Forbidden Practices and Spiritual Heresies |date=2012-06-15 |publisher=[[Inner Traditions]] |isbn=978-1-59477-692-2 |location=Rochester |language=en}}</ref> His parents were Michael A. Aquino Sr. and Betty Ford.<ref name="Sant680616" /> He was an [[Eagle Scout]] graduate of [[Santa Barbara High School]] (later serving as a national commander of the Eagle Scout Honor Society)<ref name=":1" /> in 1964 before enrolling at the nearby [[University of California, Santa Barbara]],{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=311}} where he received a [[Bachelor's degree|bachelor's]] degree in [[political science]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Melton |first=J. Gordon |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |title=Aquino, Michael A. (1946-) |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/aquino-michael-1946 |access-date=2025-09-15 |website=Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology |via=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref> as an [[ROTC]] [[United States Army]] Distinguished Military Graduate (conferring a then-elite [[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]] commission) in 1968. He returned to the institution after transitioning to [[United States Army Reserve]] service, earning an [[M.A.]] in political science in 1976 and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]]<ref name=":1" />{{sfn|Dyrendal|2012|p=379}}

== Career ==
Following his commissioning in the Army, Aquino served as a [[psychological warfare]] specialist and was deployed in the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=317}}{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=389}} He served with the [[United States Army Special Forces|Green Berets]] and in the 1970s and early 1980s he was a part-time [[NATO]] liaison officer in several European countries. While off-duty on one of these tours, he visited [[Wewelsburg]] Castle, which was used by the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] and [[Heinrich Himmler]], and performed a Satanic ritual there.<ref name="San Francisco Chronicle-1987">{{cite news |last=Lempinen |first=Edward W. |last2=Popp |first2=Robert |date=1987-10-30 |title=New Twist In Presidio Molestings |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle-new-twist-in-pre/182687567/ |access-date=2025-10-10 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle-officer-probed-i/182687613/ A4] |language=en-US |issue=246 |issn=1932-8672}}</ref><ref name="San Jose Mercury News-1987">{{cite news |date=1987-11-08 |title=Satanist accused of molesting girl; Soldier calls probe a witch hunt |newspaper=[[San Jose Mercury News]] |language=en-US |issn=0747-2099}}</ref>{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=292, 322}} Aquino stated that his interest in Nazism was academic and denied that he was racist. The journalist Linda Goldston quoted him as saying: "I'm fascinated by the lessons to be learned from the Nazi experience but not blinded by their excesses", and "There was a small group of brutal and desperate men who governed a country through despotism and tyranny. They were quite brilliant in some respects, yet utterly savage in others."<ref name="San Jose Mercury News-1987" />{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=322}} 

Upon receiving his doctorate in 1980, Aquino returned to his native [[San Francisco]], where he served for the next six years as an [[Active Guard Reserve]] officer at the [[Presidio of San Francisco]]. He also taught at [[Golden Gate University]] until 1986.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=389}} In 1981, Aquino was a reserve attaché at the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA), and a year later he was a student at the [[Foreign Service Institute]], sponsored by the [[United States Department of State]]. As an intelligence officer, he thus gained access to top-secret documents. He later worked as a program analyst at the US Army's Reserve Personnel Center in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], where he was responsible for [[human resources]] issues. Prior to entering his doctoral program, he briefly worked at [[Merrill (company)|Merrill Lynch]] and obtained a license to trade securities on the [[New York Stock Exchange]].<ref name="San Francisco Chronicle-1987" /><ref name="San Jose Mercury News-1987" /> In 1994, Aquino retired from active duty in the army, was honorably transferred to the reserves and awarded the [[Meritorious Service Medal (United States)|Meritorious Service Medal]].

== Satanism ==
[[File:Michael A. Aquino costumed for a demonstration ritual.jpg|thumb|Aquino dressed for a demonstration Satanic ritual in 1973]]
In 1969, he joined the [[Church of Satan]], led by [[Anton LaVey]], and quickly rose through the ranks of the group. By 1971, Aquino had been appointed Magister Caverns of the IV degree within the church hierarchy, was the editor of the publication ''The Cloven Hoof'' and sat on the governing council of the nine.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=290}} His career in Satanism was paused when he went on to work in the military.<ref name=":0" />  He met LaVey at a screening of ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]'', where LaVey gave him his business card.{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|pp=311, 314}} They grew to be very close.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=390}} However, conflicts arose over time between LaVey and Aquino regarding the direction of the group. The latter rejected LaVey's [[atheism]] and [[materialism]].{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=290}}{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=314}}<ref name=":0" /> When he started selling positions in the Church of Satan for money, Aquino finally left the group in 1975.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Granholm |first=Kennet |title=Dark Enlightenment: The Historical, Sociological, and Discursive Contexts of Contemporary Esoteric Magic |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-90-04-27487-7 |location=Boston |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=203}} His history of the Church of Satan, entitled ''The Church of Satan'', has had several editions and has been an important source for academics, though how reliable Aquino is has been questioned.{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|pp=299, 314}} He has since extensively criticized LaVey and has, according to scholars, "gone out of his way to make public court documents that reflect negatively on LaVey’s personal life".{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=390}}{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|pp=299, 314}}

After he left the Church of Satan, he started a ritual in which he asked [[Satan]] for advice on what to do next.{{sfn|Dyrendal|2012|p=}} According to him, Satan appeared to him in the summer of 1975 and revealed to him that he wanted to be called [[Set (deity)|Set]], a name that his worshippers in [[ancient Egypt]] are said to have used. Aquino produced a religious text, ''The Book of Coming Forth by Night'', which he claimed was revealed to him by Set in a process of [[automatic writing]]. The book proclaimed Aquino Magus of the new eon of Set, and heir to LaVey's “infernal mandate”. On this basis, he founded the Temple of Set, which is dedicated to the worship of Set. In contrast to LaVey's approach, this group has an [[occult]] and [[Hermeticism|hermetic]] orientation. Aquino's orientation was strongly influenced by the work of the British occultist [[Aleister Crowley]].{{sfn|Dyrendal|2012|p=387}}{{sfn|Introvigne|2016|p=314}} In 1975, the Temple of Set was registered as a non-profit church in California and received state and federal recognition and tax exemption that same year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harvey |first=Graham |author-link=Graham Harvey (religious studies scholar) |date=October 1995 |title=Satanism in Britain today |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary Religion]] |language=en |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=283–296 |doi=10.1080/13537909508580747 |issn=1353-7903}}</ref>

== Child molestation allegations ==
Concurrent with the United States [[Satanic panic]],{{sfn|Gardell|2003|pp=290, 389–390}}<ref name=":0" /> in November 1986, the San Francisco Police began investigating allegations of sexual abuse in connection with the Army's Child Development Center at the Presidio of San Francisco. A girl came forward in August 1987 and identified Aquino as the culprit. At least 58 out of 100 children who had attended the daycare center showed physical and mental signs of sexual abuse, leading to a lawsuit by the parents for $60 million in damages.<ref name="San Francisco Chronicle-1987" /><ref name="San Jose Mercury News-1987" />{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=390}} An investigation against Aquino was launched, but it was closed after insufficient evidence was found.<ref>{{cite news |access-date=2024-09-10 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US |title=The State |date=August 4, 1988 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-04-mn-10261-story.html}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=390}}<ref name=":0" /> The investigation led to Aquino becoming a frequent target of conspiracy theories.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=290}}

Writer and publisher [[Mitch Horowitz]] said that investigators found that in the weeks of the claimed incident the Aquinos were not residing in San Francisco but instead in [[Washington, D.C.]], where Aquino was enrolled in a graduate [[public administration]] program under the auspices of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Although no charges were filed, a continuation board ended Aquino's full-time Active Guard Reserve contract in 1990; while Aquino said that he continued to serve as a decorated (by virtue of his Meritorious Service Medal) part-time space activities officer until his required superannuation under the U.S. Army's up-or-out statutes in 1994, this decision essentially forestalled any subsequent promotion or advancement of his military career. "The Aquinos", Horowitz wrote, "unsuccessfully attempted legal action against the girl's chaplain father and an Army psychiatrist who stoked the false claims. But the couple faced the barrier of gravitating between civilian and military law". Horowitz further wrote that Aquino and wife settled legal actions against two accusatory books out of court.{{sfn|Horowitz|2023|pp=380–381}}

Aquino sued as the result of two books that implied he was guilty in the case: ''[[Painted Black (book)|Painted Black]]'' by [[Carl Raschke]] and ''The New Satanists'' by Linda Blood. Blood was a former member of the Temple of Set; Aquino alleged the book defamed him and the Temple of Set.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=203}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenfeld |first=Seth |date=1994-10-29 |title=S.F. temple, couple in 'New Satanists' sue author for libel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-sf-temple/182747101/ |access-date=2025-11-02 |work=[[San Francisco Examiner]] |pages=A-2 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issn=2574-593X}}</ref> The case was settled out of court.{{sfn|Medway|2001|p=203}}

== Death ==
After a long illness, Aquino died on September 1, 2019 at 72 years of age.{{sfn|Horowitz|2023|p=381}}

== Publications ==
=== Psychological warfare ===
* ''From PSYOP to MindWar'' (1980, with [[Paul E. Vallely]])
* ''The Neutron Bomb'' (1983)
* ''MindWar'' (2013)
* ''Mindstar'' (2015)
* ''Findfar'' (2017)

=== Satanism ===
* ''The Book of Coming Forth by Night'' (1975)
* ''The Wewelsburg Working'' (1982)
*''The Church of Satan'' (1983; has several editions up to 2009)
*''The Crystal Tablet of Set'' (1985)
* ''Black Magic'' (2010)
* ''The Church of Satan I'' (2015)
* ''The Church of Satan II'' (2015)
* ''The Temple of Set I'' (2016)
* ''The Temple of Set II'' (2016)
* ''IlluminAnX: Rosicrucianism Reawakened'' (2017)
* ''The Satanic Bible: 50th Anniversary ReVision'' (2018)
* ''Ghost Rides'' (2018, with Stanton LaVey, Diane LaVey)

=== Various ===
* ''FireForce: A Star Wars Parody'' (2016)
* ''Ode to Esme: Memoirs of Captain Nemo'' (2017)

== Documentaries ==
* ''The Occult Experience'' (1985)
* ''Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground'' (1988)
* ''The Cook Report: The Devil's Work'' (1989)
* ''The Devil Made Me Do It'' (1990)

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
* {{Cite book |author=Dyrendal |first=Asbjørn |editor-last1=Bogdan |editor-first1=Henrik |title=Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism |editor-last2=Starr |editor-first2=Martin P. |year=2012 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-986309-9 |location=New York |language=en |chapter=Satan and the Beast: The Influence of Aleister Crowley on Modern Satanism}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gardell |first=Mattias |author-link=Mattias Gardell |title=Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism |title-link=Gods of the Blood |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8223-8450-2 |location=Durham |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title=Modern Occultism: History, Theory, and Practice |first1=Mitch |last1=Horowitz |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-7225-0626-1 |publisher=G&D Media|location=New York|language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Introvigne |first=Massimo |author-link=Massimo Introvigne  |title=Satanism: A Social History |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=978-90-04-24496-2 |language=en|chapter=Aquino vs. LaVey: The Schism of 1975|year=2016|location=Boston}}
* {{Cite book |last=Medway |first=Gareth J. |title=Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8147-5645-4 |language=en}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Dyrendal |first=Asbjørn |title=The Invention of Satanism |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-518110-4 |location=New York |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Holt |first=Cimminne |chapter=Michael Aquino (Temple of Set), The Book of Coming Forth by Night (1975) |year=2023 |title=Satanism: A Reader |pages=237–251 |editor-last=Faxneld |editor-first=Per |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780199913534.003.0014 |isbn=978-0-19-991353-4 |editor2-last=Nilsson |editor2-first=Johan}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=James R. |author-link=James R. Lewis (scholar) |title=Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-57607-292-9 |location=Denver |language=en |chapter=Aquino, Michael A.}}

==External links==
{{sister bar|auto=yes}}{{New Religious Movements}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquino, Michael Angelo}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:2019 suicides]]
[[Category:American LaVeyan Satanists]]
[[Category:American founders]]
[[Category:American political scientists]]
[[Category:Channellers]]
[[Category:Clergy from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Founders of new religious movements]]
[[Category:Satanic priests]]
[[Category:Satanist religious leaders]]
[[Category:Temple of Set occultists]]