Results for “witchcraft history”

Aleister Crowley

The author and religious figure associated with Thelema, The Book of the Law, and a large body of magical instruction.

Anton LaVey

The founder of the Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals.

Kenneth Grant

A British occult writer associated with the Typhonian current, Thelema, and the work of Austin Osman Spare.

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”…

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.

Order of Nine Angles (O9A)

Beelzebub

Beelzebub and related spellings appear in distinct biblical contexts. Later demonological interpretations should not be retroactively read into each earlier occurrence.

John Dee

An English scholar whose records of spirit conversations became a major source for later angelic magic.

Satanic symbolism

The images, names, and gestures used by Satanic traditions, whose meanings depend on their religious and historical setting.

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.

Buer

Buer is a spirit associated in magical catalogues with learning and healing. The well-known radial illustration belongs to later printed demonology.

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.

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.

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.

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.

David Myatt

The life and writings of David Myatt, covering his extremist activism, later philosophy, and disputed identification as Anton Long.

Life of Adam and Eve

The Life of Adam and Eve is a group of related apocryphal narratives about the first humans. Its versions expand the Eden story through accounts of repentance, the Devil’s hostility, illness, burial, and hoped-for restoration.

Fallen angels

Fallen angels are heavenly beings portrayed as losing their place or proper condition through transgression. Enochic descent, Satan’s refusal to honor Adam, and the war in Revelation are distinct accounts that later interpretation can bring together.

Temptation of Jesus

The temptation of Jesus is an encounter with Satan in the wilderness narrated by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Its differing forms connect hunger, divine sonship, scriptural argument, worldly rule, and worship.

Modern Paganism

An introduction to contemporary Pagan traditions, including Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry, and their different uses of older sources.