The Devil's Party
Satanism in Modernity
1st Edition
Published on 26. October 2012
352 pages
978-0-19-977937-6 (ISBN)
Description
Recent years have seen a significant shift in the study of new religious movements. In Satanism studies, interest has moved to anthropological and historical work on groups and inviduals. Self-declared Satanism, especially as a religion with cultural production and consumption, history, and organization, has largely been neglected by academia. This volume, focused on modern Satanism as a practiced religion of life-style, attempts to reverse that trend with 12 cutting-edge essays from the emerging field of Satanism studies. Topics covered range from early literary Satanists like Blake and Shelley, to the Californian Church of Satan of the 1960s, to the radical developments that have taken place in the Satanic milieu in recent decades. The contributors analyze such phenomena as conversion to Satanism, connections between Satanism and political violence, 19th-century decadent Satanism, transgression, conspiracy theory, and the construction of Satanic scripture. A wide array of methods are employed to shed light on the Devil's disciples: statistical surveys, anthropological field studies, philological examination of The Satanic Bible, contextual analysis of literary texts, careful scrutiny of obscure historical records, and close readings of key Satanic writings. The book will be an invaluable resource for everyone interested in Satanism as a philosophical or religious position of alterity rather than as an imagined other.
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Persons
Per Faxneld is a research fellow at the department of the History of Religions at Stockholm University, Sweden. He has written several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on Satanism and Western Esotericism, co-edited Förborgade Tecken ("Hidden Signs" H:Ströms, 2010) - a book on Esotericism in literature - and is the author of Mörkrets apostlar ("Apostles of Darkness", Ouroboros, 2006), a study of early Satanism. His research focuses on gender issues in Satanism, and the literary roots of contemporary religious constructions of the Devil as a hero and helper.
Jesper Aagaard Petersen is associate professor at the Programme for Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He has published extensively on modern Satanism, is the editor of Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology (Ashgate, 2009) and the co-editor of Controversial New Religions (Oxford, 2005) and The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of Satanism (Prometheus, 2008). He has a Ph.D. from the Department of Archaeology and Religious Studies at NTNU with the thesis Between Darwin and the Devil: Modern Satanism as Discourse, Milieu, and Self (2011).
Content
Contents
Introduction: At the Devil's Crossroads
Per Faxneld and Jesper Aa. Petersen
The Question of History: Precursors and Currents
1. "It is better to believe in the Devil": Conceptions of Satanists and Sympathies for the Devil in Early Modern Sweden
Mikael Häll
2. Sex, Science and Liberty: The Resurrection of Satan in 19th Century (Counter) Culture
Ruben van Luijk
3. Witches, Anarchism and Evolutionism: Stanislaw Przybyszewski's fin-de-siècle Satanism and the Demonic Feminine
Per Faxneld
The Black Pope and the Church of Satan
4. Categorizing Modern Satanism: An Analysis of Anton LaVey's Early Writings
Amina O. Lap
5. Sources, Sects, and Scripture: The Book of Satan in The Satanic Bible
Eugene V. Gallagher
6. Hidden Persuaders and Invisible Wars: Anton LaVey and Conspiracy Culture
Asbjørn Dyrendal
The Legacy of Dr. LaVey: The Satanic Milieu Today
7. Conversion to Satanism: Constructing Diabolical Identities
James R. Lewis
8. The Carnival of Dr. LaVey: Articulations of Transgression in Modern Satanism
Jesper Aa. Petersen
9. The Making of Satanic Collective Identities in Poland: From Mechanic to Organic Solidarity
Rafal Smoczynski
Post-Satanism, Left-Hand Paths and Beyond: Visiting the Margins
10. The Left-Hand Path and Post-Satanism: The Temple of Set and the Evolution of Satanism
Kennet Granholm
11. Luciferian Witchcraft: At the Crossroads between Paganism and Satanism
Fredrik Gregorius
12. Secret Identities in The Sinister Tradition: Political Esotericism and the Convergence of Radical Islam, Satanism and National Socialism in the Order of Nine Angles
Jacob C. Senholt
