Satanism
The word Satan began as a Hebrew noun meaning adversary, not a proper name for a fallen angel. In the Book of Samuel, David is called the satan of the Philistines, and in Numbers, an angel acts to oppose Balaam. Jewish communities later developed the idea that this figure rebelled against Jehovah and was cast out of Heaven with his followers. This account appeared in texts like the Book of Enoch before entering the New Testament. Early Christian writers presented him as a tempter who tried to lead Jesus into sin during a fast in the wilderness. By the early Middle Ages, Christianity had transformed the concept into the archrepresentative of evil. The term Satanism entered English from French satanisme during the Reformation era between 1517 and 1700. Catholic and Protestant groups used these labels to attack rival sects rather than to describe actual devil worship. A Roman Catholic tract from 1565 condemned Protestant heresies as sathanismes, while an Anglican work from 1559 called Anabaptists swarmes of Satanistes. These accusations served to mark opponents as deviants from true Christianity without claiming they literally worshipped a demon. During the 19th century, the label expanded to describe those leading broadly immoral lifestyles. It only reached its modern meaning in the late 1800s when applied to individuals believed to consciously venerate Satan. Earlier Swedish usage by Bishop Laurentius Paulinus Gothus described devil-worshipping sorcerers as Sathanister between 1615 and 1630.
Estimates suggest that between 40,000 and 60,000 people were executed for witchcraft across Europe and North American colonies between 1560 and 1630. Most historians agree that the majority of those persecuted were innocent of any involvement in Devil worship. The earliest recorded accusation within Western Christianity occurred in Toulouse in 1022 when two clerics were tried for venerating a demon. Accusations spread to groups like the Cathars, Waldensians, and Hussites who were labeled as deliberately worshipping the Devil. The Knights Templar faced charges of worshipping an idol known as Baphomet while Lucifer appeared at their meetings as a cat. In the Affair of the Poisons between 1677 and 1682 under King Louis XIV, 36 people were executed in a Satanic panic involving poisoning and witchcraft. At least some accusers implicated themselves under torture to save their lives. These reports included what may be the first account of a satanic mass using a woman as an altar. By the late 20th century, a moral panic arose from claims that Devil-worshipping cults committed sexual abuse and murder. Michelle Remembers, a 1980 book by psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder, detailed repressed memories of his patient Michelle Smith claiming babies were sacrificed in rituals. Allegations against the McMartin family in California resulted in a lengthy trial where all accused were eventually cleared. Ken Lanning, an FBI agent investigating 300 allegations in 1990, found no evidence for Satanism or ritualistic activity in any case. A Department of Health study by Jean La Fontaine noted that while half revealed genuine child molestation, none involved wider Satanist groups. By 1994, the hysteria had died down in the US and UK though it persisted in parts of continental Europe.
John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost published in 1667 featured Satan as the protagonist rather than a mere villain. Milton was a Puritan who never intended his depiction to be sympathetic yet humanized him as a victim of pride rebelling against God. Readers like Voltaire translated the work into French and interpreted Satan as a rebel against tyranny. The English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley praised the serpent as a force for good in his poem Laon and Cythna influenced by Milton. Lord Byron included Satanic themes in his 1821 play Cain which dramatized the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Alfred de Vigny wrote Eloa in 1823 making Satan's fall from Heaven central to his cosmogony. Victor Hugo outlined his own cosmogony in La Fin de Satan where he made the character's rebellion a key aspect. These writers saw Satan as a metaphor to criticize church power and champion reason and liberty. The figure appealed to radical leftists during the American Revolution of 1775, 83 and the French Revolution of 1789, 99. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon embraced Satan as a symbol of liberty while Mikhail Bakunin called him the eternal rebel and first freethinker. Moses Harman named her anarchist periodical Lucifer the Lightbearer after this Leftist Satan concept. The idea declined during the 20th century but left a legacy of using Satan as a strategic symbol rather than a religious object. Romantic Satanism formed no organizations and did not worship Satan but broke away from the traditional Christian figure doomed to failure.
Religious Satanism began in 1966 with the founding of the Church of Satan by Anton Szandor LaVey in San Francisco, California. A gigantic media circus developed around LaVey who shaved his head, wore a goatee, and performed Black Masses with nude women serving as altars. He invited celebrities to his satanic parties and appeared on national talk shows. His 1969 Satanic Bible sold nearly a million copies despite having very little connection to actual Satan or its worship. LaVey based his theology on the Romantic literary concept of Satan as a rebel anti-hero defying God's tyranny. Ayn Rand argued that selfishness is a virtue and became a major influence alongside Friedrich Nietzsche and Aleister Crowley. LaVey rejected Christian principles like altruism and humility while praising the seven deadly sins as virtues. He called for celebrating humanity's animal nature and satisfying the ego's desires to enhance pride and self-respect. Human social equality was dismissed as a myth leading to mediocrity and support of the weak at the expense of the strong. LaVey envisioned a true Satanic society consisting of free-spirited individuals who would neither need nor tolerate external protection. He combined nine parts respectability with one part outrageousness to balance appeal and provocation. The church maintained an ambivalent relationship with far-right groups like the United Klans of America without endorsing them. LaVey died in 1997 but the church maintains a purist approach to his thought dismissing other groups as pseudo-Satanists.
Michael Aquino left the Church of Satan in 1975 taking 28 members to found the Temple of Set in Louisville, Kentucky. Aquino disagreed with LaVey's materialist philosophy arguing that Satan as symbol was only part of the truth. On the night of the 21st of June 22, 1975, Aquino held a ritual where Satan allegedly told him to reconsecrate the temple under the name Set. The Temple of Set focuses on enlightened individualism through personal education and initiation while members remain divided on whether Set is real or symbolic. The Order of Nine Angles rose to public recognition in the early 1980s claiming established in the 1960s. This movement expressed that groups like the Church of Satan were too benevolent to be true Satanists. Their writings encourage human sacrifice referring to victims as opfers who must demonstrate character faults marking them worthy of death. No cell has admitted carrying out a sacrifice though members have joined police and military to carry out killings. Pekka Siitoin founded the Turku Society for the Spiritual Sciences in Finland on the 1st of September 1971 promoting nationalist activity and Aryan spirituality. Several perpetrators of the Kursiivi printing house arson in November 1977 were members of this society. The Temple of the Black Light founded in Sweden in 1995 espouses Chaosophy asserting Chaos rules over Cosmos with Satan as one of 11 dark gods. Jon Nödtveidt frontman of Dissection was introduced to the group at an early stage before committing suicide in 2006.
The Satanic Temple based in Salem, Massachusetts became active since 2012 and claims 700,000 members worldwide as of late 2023. Unlike older organizations its congregants do not believe in a supernatural Satan but use it as a metaphor for pragmatic skepticism and personal autonomy. They perform pranks like a Pink Mass over the grave of Fred Phelps' mother claiming to convert her spirit into a lesbian. The temple demands privileges government affords Christians such as erecting statues on public property and distributing materials in schools. Members volunteer to clean highways and help homeless people to demonstrate civic mindedness rather than evil intent. Lucien Greaves described the organization as progressive updating LaVey's doctrines while accusing the Church of Satan of fetishizing authoritarianism. The Satanic Reds founded in 1997 by Tani Jantsang blend Marxist-communist politics with Lovecraftian occultism and Central Asian folklore. This unique organization uses communist symbols merged with Satanist ones focusing on social welfare advocacy online. The First Church of Satan splintered from LaVey's original during the 1970s attempting to rediscover Aleister Crowley's teachings. Karla LaVey re-founded The First Satanic Church in San Francisco in 1999 making it more exclusive and producing annual Black X-Mass concerts.
Common questions
When did the word Satanism enter English and what was its original meaning?
The term Satanism entered English from French satanisme during the Reformation era between 1517 and 1700. Early usage by Catholic and Protestant groups labeled rival sects as deviants rather than describing actual devil worship.
What were the earliest recorded accusations of Devil worship in Western Christianity?
The earliest recorded accusation within Western Christianity occurred in Toulouse on the 1st of October 1022 when two clerics were tried for venerating a demon. Estimates suggest that between 40,000 and 60,000 people were executed for witchcraft across Europe and North American colonies between 1560 and 1630.
How did Romantic writers like John Milton use Satan as a literary figure?
John Milton published his epic poem Paradise Lost in 1667 featuring Satan as the protagonist rather than a mere villain. These writers saw Satan as a metaphor to criticize church power and champion reason and liberty without forming organizations or worshipping Satan.
Who founded the Church of Satan and when did religious Satanism begin?
Religious Satanism began in 1966 with the founding of the Church of Satan by Anton Szandor LaVey in San Francisco, California. His 1969 Satanic Bible sold nearly a million copies despite having very little connection to actual Satan or its worship.
What is the difference between the Temple of Set and the Church of Satan regarding their beliefs about Satan?
Michael Aquino left the Church of Satan on the 21st of June 1975 to found the Temple of Set where members remain divided on whether Set is real or symbolic. The Temple of Set focuses on enlightened individualism through personal education and initiation while rejecting LaVey's materialist philosophy.
When was the Satanic Temple established and how many members does it claim to have?
The Satanic Temple based in Salem, Massachusetts became active since 2012 and claims 700,000 members worldwide as of late 2023. Unlike older organizations its congregants do not believe in a supernatural Satan but use it as a metaphor for pragmatic skepticism and personal autonomy.