Culture & Ethics
Pentagram
A pentagram is a five-pointed star figure used in different religious and esoteric settings. Orientation and surrounding imagery matter, but do not establish one universal meaning.
Results for “religious organization”
Theistic Satanism
Luciferianism
Luciferianism describes different religious and philosophical approaches that give Lucifer a positive role. Belief, practice, and identity vary among writers and communities.
Theology & Cosmology
Monotheism and dualism
Monotheism and religious dualism concern different questions about ultimate reality. The presence of an adversary does not automatically establish two equal divine principles.
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.
Texts & Sources
Isaiah 14 and the morning star
Isaiah 14 addresses the downfall of a ruler through an image of a fallen morning star. Later religious interpretations connect the passage with Lucifer and Satan.
Devotional Practice
Occult diaries and record keeping
An occult diary records religious or magical work as it occurs. Separating observations from interpretations makes reflection and comparison more reliable.
Theology & Cosmology
Modern Paganism
An introduction to contemporary Pagan traditions, including Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry, and their different uses of older sources.
Devotional Practice
Black Mass
A term for ritual inversion of Christian worship, with Huysmans's literary portrayal and a modern distinction from Satanic Mass.
History
Gnosticism
A modern umbrella term for several ancient religious movements and texts concerned with saving knowledge and divine origins.
History
Rosicrucianism
Traditions associated with the rose and cross, the early modern Rosicrucian manifestos, and later initiatory societies.
Demonology & Spirits
Leviathan
Leviathan appears in biblical poetry and later religious symbolism. The vivid descriptions belong to different literary contexts and should be interpreted accordingly.
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.
Organizations & Traditions
Builders of the Adytum
A school of the Western mysteries associated with Paul Foster Case, Ann Davies, Tarot, and Qabalistic study.
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
Occultism and Western esotericism
Occultism and Western esotericism provide an important historical and intellectual background for many forms of modern Satanism, but neither term is a synonym for Satanism. Western esotericism is an academic field encompassing currents such as Renaissance Hermetism, alchemy, astrology, Christian theosophy, Kabbalistic reception, Rosicrucianism, ceremonial magic, spiritualism, occultism, and later…
Theistic Satanism
Demonolatry
Demonolatry refers to devotion to demons or daemonic beings. Modern accounts vary in theology, authority, and their relationship with historical grimoires.
Organizations & Traditions
Theosophical Society
A modern esoteric society with stated aims of fraternity, comparative study, and investigation of nature and human capacities.
Culture & Ethics
Halloween
The public holiday of 31 October, including lanterns, visiting customs, disguise, and its Celtic and Christian histories.
History
Anton LaVey
The founder of the Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals.
Texts & Sources
Grimoires
A grimoire is a book or manuscript containing magical knowledge, ritual procedures, charms, conjurations, talismans, spirit catalogues, astrological instructions, prayers, or other techniques intended to produce supernatural or occult effects. The term is most strongly associated with European magic, but scholars use it within a much wider history of magical books and written ritual technologies.