Satan, Satanism

Traditional Satanism

Phillips Keith successfully summoned a being whom he identified as the archetype of evil under many names, including Satan. Each person sees him in whichever aspect seems most natural to the beholder. An inverted pentagram represents represents Satan, Goat of the Sabbath. His followers believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is ruled by God, but that earth is ruled by Satan. If he grants them happiness here on earth, they are willing to forsake celestial joys. "They meet in hidden places—the cellars of ancient houses or ruined churches—on Walpurgis Eve and other unhallowed nights. Candles, fashioned from the corpse-fat of unbaptized infants, light their devotions to the Prince of Darkness. An unfrocked priest presides over the altar; the altar which is the naked, living flesh of a woman. All boast of their sins, and confess penitently their good deeds. Then, as the Lord’s Prayer is recited in reverse, a parody of the Mass is held. The Mass of St. Secaire, the unholy ritual of Gilles de Retz, and the Marquis de Sade. A sacrifice is given to Satan, and celebrants drink of a red wine which is truly human blood. All do homage to the Father of Evil, who grants them then their dark desires." [RB Hell (online text)]

In New England colonial times, Cotton Mather remarked that "Satan’s prevalencie of this Age is most clear in the marvellous number of Witches abounding in all places." Each witch or warlock is assigned a familiar, a servant spirit who appears in animal form and is nourished by blood from its master. The minister Gideon Godfrey defeated a coven of Satanist witches in Roodsford, Maine. [RB Satan]

Asaph Peabody had a copy of the Malleus Maleficarum, which mentioned that "Satan himself deludes in dreams the mind which he holds captive, leading it through devious ways." Peabody also had a copy of Fuga Satanae or The Flight of Satan. [AWD Peabody]

Satan as a Metaphor for Older Beings

The Black Man of the witch cult is actually Nyarlathotep [HPL WitchHouse (online text); RB Faceless, Strange]. In this guise, Nyarlathotep tries to get people to sign their name in the book of Azathoth [HPL WitchHouse].

Audrey Davis had terrible dreams of Yig in the guise of Satan. [HPL Yig (online text)]

After the Flood, new religions disguised the Great Old Ones as demons like Satan. [RB Strange]

Father Brisbois saw parallels between ancient legends of Hastur and Ithaqua and the Christian legend of the forces of Satan [AWD Ithaqua]. Abel Keane was struck by the similarity of the Great Old Ones (3) revolt against the Elder Gods (1), and the revolt of Satan against the forces of the Lord [AWD Sky]. The same parallel occurred to Jefferson Bates [AWD Valley (online text)] and Horvath Blayne [AWD Island].

Prof. John Kirowan claimed that Muhammedans view Satan as a synonym for Malik Tous, and the essence of the evil of all the universes. [REH Dig (online text)]

Satan as a Lesser Evil Than the Old Ones

Father Andrada wrote of the Cthulhu cult in Peru: "Yet I am not unaware of a strong aura of danger, of mortal menace which abounds everywhere—not the evil of Satanism, but a greater evil beyond that, more primal and terrible. I cannot define it, but I feel that my very soul is in the greatest danger." [AWD Gorge]

Azédarac said that he had "Satanic and pre-Satanic facilities" sufficient to defend himself from addlepated bigots such as Brother Ambrose. [CAS Holiness (online text)] Azédarac may thus have regarded Satan as a real being with powers, but not as old as beings such as Iog-Sotôt (Yog-Sothoth) and Sodagui (Tsathoggua) that were discussed in his copy of the Book of Eibon.

Paul Tregardis found a copy of the medieval French version of the Book of Eibon that had been owned by many generations of sorcerers and Satanists. [CAS Ubbo (online text)]

John Carnby and Helman Carnby were Satanists who had "celebrated the Black Mass together and . . . were attended by the same familiars." They were "in the service of Satan and of Those who were before Satan." [CAS Return (online text)] "Those who were before Satan" are presumably the beings discussed in John Carnby's copy of the Necronomicon.

Other References

Lord Northam dabbled in Satanism in the 1890's. [HPL Descendant (online text)]

When Denis de Russy killed Marceline Bedard, he felt that he had fought the legions of Satan. [HPL Medusa (online text)]

Aka: Abaddon; Adversary, the; Ahriman; Asmodeus; Azriel; Beelzebub; Black Goat of the Sabbath; Black Man; Devil, the; Elder Shepherd; Fallen Angel; Father of Lies; Goat of the Sabbath; Lord of the Sabbath; Lucifer; Malik Tawis; Master of the Great Black Lodge; Mephistopheles; Nodens; Prince of Darkness; Sammael; Sathanus; Set; Typhon; Yama; Zamiel.

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