History
Solomon in magical literature
Solomon’s name supplies authority to several magical and religious works. Attribution to the king must be distinguished from the date and authorship of the surviving text.
Results for “Reading religious primary sources”
Devotional Practice
Divination
Divination consists of practices that interpret signs as answers, indications, or guidance. Methods differ in their religious assumptions and in the kinds of claims they make.
Theology & Cosmology
Wicca
Modern Pagan religious witchcraft, its Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions, ritual practice, and relationship to Satanism.
Culture & Ethics
Satanism and heavy metal
How Black Sabbath and Venom used dark or Satanic imagery, and why a song, stage character, and religious affiliation are different evidence.
History
Aleister Crowley
The author and religious figure associated with Thelema, The Book of the Law, and a large body of magical instruction.
Theistic Satanism
Theistic Satanism
Theistic Satanism is a family of religious positions in which Satan is understood as an actually existing spiritual being, deity, intelligence, or metaphysical presence, rather than only a literary symbol or political metaphor. It is not a single church or creed. The term is best used as an umbrella for practitioners and groups whose beliefs differ on the nature of Satan, the status of other spirits,…
Theology & Cosmology
Lucifer
Lucifer is a name whose religious meaning developed from an ancient expression for the morning star into one of the best-known names associated with the Devil, fallen angels, occult illumination, and modern Luciferian religion. The word itself is Latin: lūcifer means “light-bringer” or “light-bearer” and was used for the planet Venus when it appeared before sunrise. The later equation “Lucifer = Satan”…
Demonology & Spirits
Lilith
Lilith is a figure whose history spans ancient Near Eastern demonology, Jewish folklore, medieval protective magic, Kabbalah, literature, feminist reinterpretation, modern occultism, and contemporary Satanic or Luciferian religion. She is often introduced today as “Adam’s first wife,” but that familiar story is medieval rather than biblical. Earlier sources describe beings called lilith or lilin in…
Demonology & Spirits
Belial
Belial appears in biblical religious language and later spirit catalogues. These uses should be distinguished rather than treated as one unchanged biography.
Culture & Ethics
Tarot
Tarot developed as playing cards before becoming an influential tool of occult interpretation. The history of the cards differs from later claims about their hidden origins.
Devotional Practice
Invocation and evocation
Invocation and evocation are terms used for related but differently framed religious or magical actions. Their definitions vary between authors and practice systems.
Culture & Ethics
Satan in Paradise Lost
Milton’s Paradise Lost gives Satan an influential literary characterization. His persuasive speeches must be read alongside the narrator’s account and the consequences of his actions.
Texts & Sources
Book of Abramelin
A grimoire built around religious preparation, the guardian angel, and subsequent work with spirits and magical squares.
Texts & Sources
Testament of Solomon
The Testament of Solomon is a pseudepigraphal religious narrative in which Solomon questions and commands spirits. It differs from later procedural Solomonic grimoires.
Texts & Sources
Satan in Zechariah
Zechariah 3 presents Satan accusing Joshua the high priest within a vision of judgment and restoration. The scene has a specific religious and literary purpose.
History
Satanic Panic
The Satanic Panic refers to a wave of allegations concerning organized Satanic abuse, especially in the late twentieth century. Actual evidence of harm must be distinguished from expansive conspiracy claims.
Theology & Cosmology
Spiritualism
A religious movement centered on mediumship and continued personal identity after death, with church teachings and spirit photography.
Culture & Ethics
Left-hand path
The left-hand path is a modern esoteric category used for religious and magical currents that emphasize themes such as individual self-direction, antinomianism, self-deification, initiatory transformation, or deliberate engagement with symbols rejected by dominant religious culture. It overlaps with some forms of Satanism, Luciferianism, Setianism, and modern occultism, but the terms are not synonymous.
Demonology & Spirits
Watchers
The Watchers are heavenly beings whose descent, teachings, and punishment are narrated in 1 Enoch. Their literary identity must be distinguished from later religious interpretations.
Texts & Sources
Book of Enoch
1 Enoch brings together accounts of heavenly beings, judgment, celestial order, and righteousness. It is a composite work rather than a single continuous biography of Enoch.