Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and liberating figures. Generally, those Satanists who believe in the Judeo-Christian concept of Satan are linked into the belief system of today's Judeo-Christian religions, as they believe in the same theology presented in the Bible.
Satan, also called Lucifer by many Christians, first appears in the Books of Chronicles provoking David to take a census of Israel. In the Book of Job he is called "the Satan" (meaning "the opposer") and acted as the prosecutor in God's court. A character named "Satan" was described as the tempter of Jesus in many of the Gospels of early Christians.
Christianity and Islam typically regard Satan as the adversary or enemy, but extensive popular redactions and recompositions of biblical tales have inserted his presence and influence into every aspect of adversarial role back to the Creation and Fall. By Christians and Muslims especially, the figure of Satan was treated variously as a rebellious or jealous competitor to human beings, to Jesus, and characterized as a fallen angel or demon ruling the penitential Underworld, chained in a deep pit, wandering the planet vying for souls or providing the impetus for all worldly travesty.
Particularly after the European Enlightenment, some works, such as Paradise Lost, were taken up by Romantics and described as presenting the biblical Satan as an allegory representing a crisis of faith, individualism, free will, wisdom and enlightenment. Those works actually featuring Satan as a heroic character are fewer in number, but do exist; George Bernard Shaw, William Blake, and Mark Twain (Letters from the Earth) included such characterizations in their works long before religious Satanists took up the pen.
Although the public practice of Satanism began in 1966 with the founding of the Church of Satan, some historical precedents exist: a group called the Ophite Cultus Satanas was founded in Ohio by Herbert Arthur Sloane in 1948. Inspired by Gnosticism and Gerald Gardner's Wicca, the coven venerated Satan as both a horned god and ophite messiah.
A particular antique Norwegian grimoire, in contrast to other Christian-oriented magical texts which describe Satan as an inferior spirit to be enslaved, contains a spell wherein the magician is instructed to renounce God and the Holy Spirit, and "completely swear to Lucifer, ruler of the Dark Abyss". The text itself claims to be originally from a manuscript in Wittenberg, similar to the many occult chapbooks pseudonymously ascribed to Doctor Faustus.
There was also a late 17th century French moral panic against alleged satanism during the Poison Affair (1675–1682), which occurred during the reign of Louis XIV and dealt with accusations of widespread poisonings, infanticide and forgery, presided over by an alleged satanic social network, which had no actual substance but reflected the aforementioned pre-Enlightenment popular religious anxieties.
Satanist groups that appeared after the 1960s are widely diverse, but two major trends are Theistic Satanism and Atheistic Satanism. Theistic Satanists venerate Satan as a supernatural deity. In contrast, Atheistic Satanists consider themselves atheists, agnostics, or apatheists and regard Satan as merely symbolic of certain human traits. This categorization of Satanism (which could be categorized in other ways, for example "Traditional" versus "Modern"), is not necessarily adopted by Satanists themselves, who usually would not specify which type of Satanism they adhere to. Some Satanists believe in God in the sense of a Prime Mover but, like Atheistic Satanists, still worship themselves, due to the deist belief that God plays no part in mortal lives.
Despite heavy criticism from other religious groups, there are signs that Satanistic beliefs have become more socially tolerated. Satanism is now allowed in the Royal Navy of the British Armed Forces, despite much opposition from Christians, and, in 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States debated over protecting the religious rights of prison inmates after a lawsuit challenging the issue was filed to them. The number of practitioners of Satanism has also been found to be on the rise in Polandduring recent years, despite Poland's long reputation as Europe's most devoutly Catholic country.
Accusations of Satanism
Historically, some people or groups have been specifically described as worshiping Satan or the Devil, or of being devoted to the work of Satan. The widespread preponderance of these groups in European cultures is in part connected with the importance and meaning of Satan within Christianity.
Christianity
- Pagans celebrating Pan, Athena, Odin, Perkunas or other pagan deities were often claimed by the Catholic Church to be worshiping the Devil and his minions.
- The Witch trials in Early Modern Europe.
- Gilles de Rais (15th century, France) was a French nobleman who was tried and executed for the murders of hundreds of children in quasi-Satanic rituals.[
- Johann Georg Faust. (16th century, Germany) Many instructions, in German and in Latin, for making a pact with the Devil were attributed to him. These were collected and published in Germany in a few of the volumes of Das Kloster (1845–1849).
- Urbain Grandier (17th century, France). Although set up by the Catholic Church, a very famous document, in Latin, of a pact with the Devil he allegedly wrote has been preserved.
- People involved in the Poison affair, such as Catherine Deshayes and Etienne Guibourg (17th century, France). The documentation from their trial is the principal Medieval source for information on the Black Mass.
- The Marquis de Sade (18th century, France), described by Iwan Bloch as being a fanatic Satanist. His works graphically described blasphemy against the Catholic Church, such as an orgy resembling a Black Mass conducted by Pope Pius VI in the Vatican (in his novel Juliette).
- In 1865, the anti-Vatican Italian poet Giosuè Carducci, published his poem Inno a Satana ("Hymn to Satan"), praising Satan as the god of reason and expressing hatred towards Christianity.
- Many adherents of the Decadent movement, such as the Polish author Stanisław Przybyszewski, the Belgian artist Félicien Rops, and the French poet Charles Baudelaire either called themselves Satanists, or created overtly Satanist artwork and literature.[16]
- Some French movements widely described as being Satanist by French writers of the time (Late 19th to early 20th centuries). The most well-known description available in English is the 1891 novel Là-Bas by Joris-Karl Huysmans. However, there were numerous other well-known personalities in France that were related to the circles Huysmans describes, such as Joseph-Antoine Boullan, Stanislas de Guaita, Henri Antoine Jules-Bois, and Joséphin Péladan, who either wrote about Satanism in France, or were accused of being Satanists themselves.
- Freemasonry was described as being Satanist in the completely discredited Taxil hoax
- At least two Satanic (or "Luciferian") sects existed in France in the 1930s. One was led by Maria de Naglowska, and had rituals dedicated to Satan and Lucifer Another, led by a former Catholic priest, celebrated an inversion of the Latin Mass (a "Luciferian Mass"), which included the phrase "In nomine Domini Dei nostri Satanae Luciferi Excelsi" (a phrase that re-appeared 30 years later in Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible).
Islam
The Yazidis, a minority religion of the Middle East who worship Melek Taus, are often referred to as Satan worshipers by some Islamic sectors.
Atheistic/Deistic Satanism
Atheistic or Deistic Satanism is generally the same as Ethical egoism, in that the highest good is acting in one's own interest. Satanism has essentially been called "Egoism with ritual".
LaVeyan Satanism
Main article: LaVeyan Satanism
LaVeyan Satanism is a religion founded in 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey. Its teachings are based on individualism, self-indulgence, and "eye for an eye" morality. Unlike Theistic Satanists, LaVeyan Satanists are atheists, agnostics and apatheists who regard Satan as a symbol of man's inherent nature. According to religioustolerance.org, LaVeyan Satanism is a "small religious group that is unrelated to any other faith, and whose members feel free to satisfy their urges responsibly, exhibit kindness to their friends, and attack their enemies". Its beliefs were first detailed in The Satanic Bible and it is overseen by the Church of Satan.
Symbolic Satanism
Symbolic Satanismis the observance and practice of Satanic philosophies, customs and rituals. In this interpretation of Satanism, the Satanist does not worship Satan in the theistic sense, but is an adversary to all spiritual creeds and religions.
Theistic Satanism
Theistic Satanism (also known as Traditional Satanism, Spiritual Satanism or Devil Worship, is a form of Satanism with the primary belief that Satan is an actual deity or force to revere or worship. Other characteristics of Theistic Satanism may include a belief in magic, which is manipulated through ritual, although that is not a defining criterion, and theistic Satanists may focus solely on devotion. Unlike the LaVeyan Satanism founded by Anton LaVey in the 1960s, Theistic Satanism is theistic as opposed to atheistic, believing that Satan is a real being rather than a symbol of individualism.
Luciferianism
Main article: Luciferianism
Luciferianism can be understood best as a belief system or intellectual creed that venerates the essential and inherent characteristics that are affixed and commonly given to Lucifer. Luciferianism is often identified as an auxiliary creed or movement of Satanism, due to the common identification of Lucifer with Satan. Some Luciferians accept this identification and/or consider Lucifer as the "light bearer" and illuminated aspect of Satan, giving them the name of Satanists and the right to bear the title. Others reject it, giving the argument that Lucifer is a more positive and easy-going ideal than Satan. They are inspired by the ancient myths of Egypt, Rome and Greece, Gnosticism and traditional Western occultism.
Palladists
Main article: Palladists
Palladists are an alleged Theistic Satanist society or member of that society. The name Palladian comes from Pallas and refers to wisdom and learning. It is of no relation to the palladian style of Andrea Palladio.
Our Lady of Endor Coven
Our Lady of Endor Coven, also known as Ophite Cultus Satanas (originally spelled "Sathanas"), was a satanic cult founded in 1948 by Herbert Arthur Sloane in Toledo, Ohio. The group was heavily influenced by gnosticism (especially that found in the contemporary book by Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion), and worshiped Satanas, their name for Satan (Cultus Satanas is a Latin version of Cult of Satan). Satanas (or Satan) was defined in gnostic terms as the Serpent in the Garden of Eden who revealed the knowledge of the true God to Eve. That it called itself "Ophite" is a reference to the ancient gnostic sect of the Ophites, who were said to worship the serpent.
Pseudo-Satanism
Casual or adolescent Satanism
Adolescents use satanic symbols like the inverted pentagram, the trappings of the black mass, or demonic imagery to provide the impression of satanism. This is a liminal experience, reserved primarily for shock value, and does not necessarily imply actual interest, or even belief, in the rites, symbolism, and philosophies of the various forms of Satanist religious practice cited above.
Relationship to popular music
Black metal music has often been connected with Satanism, in part to the lyrical content of several bands and their frequent use of imagery often tied to left hand path beliefs (such as the inverted pentagram). More often than not, such musicians say they do not believe in legitimate Satanic ideology and often profess to being atheists, agnostics, or religious skeptics. In some instances, followers of right hand path religions use Satanic references for entertainment purposes and shock value.
Glen Benton, vocalist and bassist of the band Deicide, once openly claimed to be a practitioner of Theistic Satanism, and has spoken publicly on numerous occasions to profess staunch anti-Christian sentiment. Mercyful Fate singer King Diamond has also openly admitted to practicing Satanism, which is widely and explicitly present in the album Don't Break The Oath. The late and controversial Dissection frontman Jon Nödtveidt, spoke about his "chaos-gnostic" satanic beliefs, being a member of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, and claimed his band and music being sonic (satanic) propaganda devices. Norwegian black metal artists such as Euronymous from Mayhem and Infernus from Gorgoroth have also identified themselves as Satanists and actively promoted their beliefs. Numerous church burnings that covered parts of Norway in the early 1990s were also attributed to youths involved in the black metal movement, which included people claiming to have theistic Satanic beliefs and strong "anti-LaVeyan" attitudes. However, the legitimacy of such actions as Satanic endeavors, rather than simply rebellious actions done for publicity, is something that has been doubted by even those who contribute to the genre.
