Organizations & Traditions
Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
A modern Rosicrucian organization, usually called AMORC, that teaches through lessons and local study groups.
Results for “religious organization”
Theology & Cosmology
Thelema
The religious and philosophical tradition associated with Aleister Crowley and The Book of the Law.
Theology & Cosmology
Wicca
Modern Pagan religious witchcraft, its Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions, ritual practice, and relationship to Satanism.
Theology & Cosmology
Spiritualism
A religious movement centered on mediumship and continued personal identity after death, with church teachings and spirit photography.
Devotional Practice
Altar
An altar is a designated place or surface used for religious devotion, ritual, offerings, sacred objects, or symbolic focus. Altars occur in many religious traditions, but their forms and meanings vary widely. In modern theistic Satanism an altar may function as a place for Prayer, Ritual, Offerings, meditation, spirit work, or the display of symbols connected with Satan and other beings.
History
Aleister Crowley
The author and religious figure associated with Thelema, The Book of the Law, and a large body of magical instruction.
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
Satanic symbolism
The images, names, and gestures used by Satanic traditions, whose meanings depend on their religious and historical setting.
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.
Theology & Cosmology
Setianism
The religious philosophy associated with the Temple of Set, the Egyptian name Set, and the idea of Xeper.
Demonology & Spirits
Demonology
Demonology is the study, classification, and interpretation of demons and related spirits. In Western religious history it has included theological arguments about the nature and powers of demons, lists of named spirits, explanations of possession and temptation, magical techniques for summoning or constraining spirits, and folklore about dangerous supernatural beings. Modern theistic Satanists and…
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…
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.
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.
Texts & Sources
Three Books of Occult Philosophy
Agrippa’s Renaissance synthesis of natural, celestial, and religious magic.
Texts & Sources
Book of Abramelin
A grimoire built around religious preparation, the guardian angel, and subsequent work with spirits and magical squares.
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.
Texts & Sources
Corpus Hermeticum
The Corpus Hermeticum is a collection of philosophical religious dialogues concerning mind, the divine, the cosmos, and human knowledge. It should be distinguished from later works marketed as Hermetic teaching.
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.