Texts & Sources
Grand Grimoire
A grimoire best known for its staged encounter and pact with Lucifuge Rofocale.
Results for “popular culture”
History
Éliphas Lévi
A nineteenth-century French occult author associated with ceremonial symbolism and the influential image of Baphomet.
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”…
Culture & Ethics
Baphomet
Baphomet is an occult figure whose history connects the medieval trial of the Knights Templar, nineteenth-century ceremonial symbolism, twentieth-century Satanic iconography, and the modern public imagery of The Satanic Temple. The familiar goat-headed, winged, androgynous figure is not a medieval portrait of a secret Templar god. It was created in the nineteenth century by the French occultist Éliphas…
History
Modern theistic Satanism
Modern theistic Satanism refers to contemporary religious currents in which Satan is understood as an independently real deity, spirit, intelligence, or metaphysical presence and is approached through devotion, ritual, prayer, magic, contemplation, or other religious practices. It is part of the wider field of modern Satanism but differs from explicitly non-theistic movements that use Satan primarily as…
Devotional Practice
Ritual in theistic Satanism
Ritual is patterned action given special religious, symbolic, social, or transformative significance. Ritual can mark time, establish sacred space, communicate with a deity, express commitment, create community, memorialize the dead, enact a transition, or focus attention on a chosen purpose. In theistic Satanism, ritual commonly includes devotional action directed toward Satan or other spirits…
Theistic Satanism
Symbolic and theistic Satanism
Symbolic and theistic Satanism are broad labels used to distinguish Satanist traditions according to how they understand Satan’s reality. In theistic Satanism, Satan is ordinarily regarded as a real deity, spirit, intelligence, or independently existing being. In symbolic or non-theistic Satanism, Satan is understood primarily as a symbol, literary figure, archetype, cultural adversary, or name for a…
High Satanic Church
The High Satanic Church
The High Satanic Church is an independent theistic Satanist religious organization and online congregation centered on the worship of Satan as a real deity. Its public website describes the Church as theistic, devotional, and unaffiliated with both the Church of Satan and The Satanic Temple. The organization maintains public material on beliefs and practice as well as member accounts, lodges, writings,…
Demonology & Spirits
Azazel
Azazel is a figure associated with the Day of Atonement in Leviticus, a rebellious Watcher in 1 Enoch, and a demonological and occult figure in later traditions. This article traces the development of Azazel from ancient Jewish texts through later demonology and modern Satanic interpretations.
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
Myth and literal belief
A religious myth can organize meaning while also receiving literal belief. Literary form, personal interpretation, and historical evidence should be discussed as related but distinct questions.
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.
Culture & Ethics
Unverified personal gnosis
Unverified personal gnosis identifies a spiritual claim or interpretation whose source is personal experience rather than established textual or communal authority.
Demonology & Spirits
Vine
A Goetic spirit with royal and comital rank, associated with hidden things, walls, and stormy waters.
Demonology & Spirits
Samael
Samael appears in Jewish interpretive literature in roles that vary between texts. His relationship with Satan, the serpent, and other figures should be described source by source.
Demonology & Spirits
Astaroth
Astaroth appears in early modern spirit catalogues and later illustrated demonology. Source editions matter when comparing the figure’s rank, appearance, and supposed knowledge.
Texts & Sources
Dictionnaire infernal
Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire infernal gathered supernatural traditions in a dictionary format. Its 1863 entries and illustrations remain influential in modern depictions of spirits.