Satanism

This is a current and concise overview of Satanism from early modern Europe through contemporary controversies and court cases.

Joseph P. Laycock (Author)

9781009479370, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 March 2024

84 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.1 cm, 0.27 kg

What is Satanism? The word has functioned as a powerful indictment of one's rivals, an expression of rebellion against authority, and sometimes to describe the deliberate worship of dark, supernatural forces. This Element provides a concise overview of Satanism from its origins in early modern Europe through the present. It covers such topics as legends of the black mass, hell-fire clubs, the Romantic Satanism of Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, and nineteenth-century occultists who expressed reverence for Satan. It describes modern Satanic religions including the Church of Satan, The Temple of Set, The Order of Nine Angles, The Satanic Temple, and others. It also addresses contemporary Satanic Panic from the 1980s through QAnon. This Element should prove useful to anyone seeking to learn more about this complicated and frequently misunderstood tradition.

1. What is Satanism?
2. Imagining the black mass
3. Satanic sympathizers
4. The church of satan
5. The temple of set and esoteric satanism
6. Satanic panic
7. Contemporary developments in satanism
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: History of religion [HRAX]