LaVey established LaVeyan Satanism in the U.S. state of California through the founding of his Church of Satan on Walpurgisnacht of 1966, which he proclaimed to be "the Year One", "Anno Satanas"—the first year of the "Age of Satan". His ideas were heavily influenced by the ideas and writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand. The church grew under LaVey's leadership, with regional "grottos" being founded across the United States. A number of these seceded from the church to form independent Satanic organizations during the early 1970s. In 1975, LaVey abolished the grotto system, after which LaVeyan Satanism became a far less organized movement, although it remained greatly influenced by LaVey's writings. In the coming years, members of the church left it to establish their own organisations, also following LaVeyan Satanism, among them John Dewey Allee's First Church of Satan and Karla LaVey's First Satanic Church.