Satanism and magic

Lecture by Per Faxneld, Professor in the Study of Religions at Södertörn University, Sweden.

Abstract

In the heresiological propaganda of late antiquity, heretics were often portrayed as devil-worshipping practitioners of magic. Medieval and early modern magicians, who viewed themselves as Christians, were commonly demonised by Church authorities as Satanists casting spells with the aid of the Prince of Darkness. Similarly, Satanists in literature and cinema frequently employ magic to their nefarious ends. But what of actual Satanists? This lecture discusses the role of magic in several forms of Satanism and how its conceptualisation tends to be intimately linked with the overall goals and cosmology of the specific varieties.

Bio

Per Faxneld is a professor in the Study of Religions at Södertörn University, Stockholm. He is currently conducting a four-year project on spirituality in Japanese martial arts, funded by the Swedish Research Council. His specialisations include esotericism, alternative spirituality, new religious movements and how these currents relate to secularity, gender, popular culture, literature, and the arts. His books include Satanism: A Reader (co-edited with Johan Nilsson; Oxford University Press 2023), Det ockulta sekelskiftet (The Occult Turn of the Century; Volante 2020), Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture (Oxford University Press, 2017), The Devil’s Party: Satanism in Modernity (co-edited with Jesper Aa. Petersen; Oxford University Press 2013), Förborgade tecken: Västerländsk esoterism i litteraturen (Hidden Signs: Western Esotericism in Literature, co-edited with Mattias Fyhr; H:Ströms, 2010), and Mörkrets apostlar: Satanism i äldre tid (Apostles of Darkness: Satanism in Older Times; Ouroboros, 2006).

All are welcome.