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…
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…
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,…
The Church of Satan is the organization founded by Anton LaVey in 1966. Its official account describes Satanism as atheistic and gives Satan a symbolic role.
The different holiday calendars published by the Church of Satan and The Satanic Temple, with dates and organizational meanings.
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…
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.
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…
An initiatory order whose Draconian system brings together Qliphoth, Goetic magic, alchemy, and other esoteric traditions.
A late nineteenth-century British initiatory order that shaped modern ceremonial magic, Tarot, and Hermetic Qabalah.
A modern esoteric society with stated aims of fraternity, comparative study, and investigation of nature and human capacities.
A nontheistic Satanic organization whose public principles emphasize self-determination, compassion, and responsibility.
Traditions associated with the rose and cross, the early modern Rosicrucian manifestos, and later initiatory societies.
The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious organization whose public principles and activism differ from those of the Church of Satan and from theistic Satanist devotion.
An introduction to contemporary Pagan traditions, including Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry, and their different uses of older sources.
The public holiday of 31 October, including lanterns, visiting customs, disguise, and its Celtic and Christian histories.
A term for ritual inversion of Christian worship, with Huysmans's literary portrayal and a modern distinction from Satanic Mass.
The Temple of Set is an initiatory organization whose identity centers on Set and Xeper. Its relationship with Satanism requires attention to both historical origins and later self-description.
A German magical fraternity whose teaching gives Saturn a central symbolic and initiatory role.
A school of the Western mysteries associated with Paul Foster Case, Ann Davies, Tarot, and Qabalistic study.