What is Satanism?
Satanism is belief or thought that reveres Satan, the devil who in Christianity opposes God. It is known through images such as the inverted cross, Baphomet with a goat’s head and the midnight “Black Mass,” and is a staple of horror films and urban legends.
“Devil worship” as an accusation
Historically, “devil worship” is said to have been used largely as a label for accusing people rather than as a real belief. In the 14th-century trials of the Knights Templar, charges including the worship of idols were listed against the knights. In the witch hunts that raged across Europe from the 15th to the 17th centuries, confessions that people had “made pacts with the devil and worshipped him at gatherings (sabbaths)” were extracted through torture.
In 17th-century France, testimony that Black Masses had been held caused a great uproar during a poisoning scandal (the Affair of the Poisons) that involved the court of King Louis XIV.
Modern Satanist organizations
In 1966, Anton LaVey in the United States founded the Church of Satan. However, this group does not worship a supernatural devil; it espouses an atheistic philosophy that treats Satan as “a symbol of individual freedom and the self.” The Satanic Temple, founded in the 2010s, is known for political and social activism, such as advocating the separation of church and state.
The Satanic Panic and conspiracy theories
In 1980s America, rumors spread that “secret organizations of Satanists are abusing children in rituals,” and daycare workers were accused one after another (the Satanic Panic). However, investigations, including by the FBI, found no evidence of organized ritual abuse.
Conspiracy theories that celebrities or secret societies such as the Illuminati practice devil worship are still told online, but they are almost all baseless rumors. Labeling particular people or groups as devil worshippers can amount to defamation and discrimination.
