Devil worship is a term referred to the religious Satanism or spiritual Satanism. It consider Devil as a super natural force which is worthy of worship and supplication. The religious Satanism considers Satan as objectively existing supernatural force. The institutions unhold traditional Satanism and its belief. The theistic Satanism practices various types of magic.
Satan is another name of the Devil. In Christianity, we know him as Lucifer also. This entity is seen in the Abrahamic religions, which seduces people into falsehood. Lucifer is seen as an agent subservient to Yahweh in Judaism. He is seen in Islam and Christianity as a fallen angel. When it comes to the Quran, we know Shaitan as Iblis. It is an entity that is created by fire. He was cast out of Heaven as he didn't bow before Adam.
When it was the Middle Ages, in Christian theology devil played a minimal role. He was used as a comic relief figure in mystery plays. When the early modern period ran, demonic possession and Witchcraft became more prevalent.
Devil Worship:
Besides, Satanism is a combination of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Satanism started its journey by establishing the atheistic Church in the United States in 1966.
Previously before the public practice, Satanism existed primarily as an accusation by various Christian groups toward perceived ideological opponents rather than it as a self-identity. Artists and entertainers have used the concept of Satan for symbolic expression.
Theistic Satanism is known as religious Satanism, spiritual Satanism, or traditional Satanism. It is an umbrella term for religious groups that consider Satan to be an objectively existing deity, supernatural entity, or spiritual being which is worthy of worship and supplication whom individuals may contact, convene with, and even praise, rather than just an archetype, a metaphor, or an idea as in LaVeyan Satanism.
Some organizations uphold the belief system and detect these as theistic Satanists. These are mostly too small and affiliated loosely. Sometimes, these may be independent groups and plots and conspiracies that have self-marginalized.
Its characteristic is the use of different types of magic, and it is very prominent. The original theistic Satanist groups are primarily available in the latest ideologies and models. Many groups are not dependent on the Abrahamic religions.
Devil Worship History:
When it was the first half of the 1990s, the network has boosted communication, visibility, etc. Besides, it has spread various beliefs and currents even more among Satanists. As a result, it has created more conflicting and diverse groups. However, Satanism remains a pluralistic, heterogeneous, and decentralized religious movement for always. A few like Religion academics, scholars of New religious movements, and sociologists of religion who focused on Satanism have categorized the currents based on the esoteric/theistic or rationalist/atheistic. They indicate or mean this working practice with a literal Satan as "traditional" Satanism.
Generally, the theistic Satanist believer accepts theological and metaphysical canon that involves one or more gods. He considers them as Satan or a conception of Satan that incorporates adversarial gods from other religions such as Enki.
Although the number of these self-professed theistic Satanists has repeatedly been increasing since the 1990s, most region scholars still consider it a minority group within Satanism.
There are plenty of theistic Satanists who believe that their concepts rely on pieces of all of the diverse conceptions of Satan. According to them, the concepts are based on their inclinations and sources of spiritual guidance. A few of these can prefer to live out the myths and stereotypes. But the thing you should know about Christianity is that it is never the primary reference frame for theistic Satanists.
The region might rely on these factors: Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Neo-Paganism, Left-Hand Path, black magic, ceremonial magic, Crowleyan magick, Western esotericism, and occult traditions. Some Satanists base their faith on Christian ideas about Satan. They are known, Diabolists. However, other Satanists call them "reverse Christians." They could see the concept of Satan as undiluted. Besides, they also worship an interpretation of Satan.
Peter H. Gilmore, who is the recent leader of the atheistic Church of Satan, refers to "Devil-worship" as a Christian heresy.
Historical mentions of Satanism:
The age of accusations: If you see the history of Christianity, you can find that the worship of Satan was an accusation caused frequently since the Middle ages. It is the Albigensians who were accused previously as the first Devil-worshippers. This one was a Gnostic Christian heretical movement that the Roman Catholic Church persecuted. Pope Innocent III convened the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, and this Council formulated the charge during the Catholic Inquisition. Knights Templar or minority religions or some groups or individuals were culprits also against whom the charge of Devil-worship has been made.
In 1307 trails were made of the Knights Templar. Templars' writings mentioned the old French corruption term Baphomet. The people those who accused Templars falsely portrayed the term as a demon.
This charge of worship was used previously against the people charged in the witch trials in early modern Europe & other witch-hunts and occurred during the era of reformation, Counter-Reformation, and European wars of religion.
We still don't know whether accusations of groups who used to worship Satan during the witch trials accused those who considered themselves Satanists, or those who were suffering from mass hysteria, or against whom the charges were made like the individuals who have a mental illness.
Confessions are not trustful as they used to be obtained under torture. However, Jeffrey Burton Russell, a Professor Emeritus of the California University located at Santa Barbara, has created a huge argument in his book Witchcraft in the Middle Ages. After doing a deep study of the source documents, he concludes that those who were involved in the Poisons were accused of Satanism and Witchcraft.
The term Satanist was a pejorative word for the people who had opinions that had differences from predominant religious or moral beliefs. According to Paul Tuitean, Inquisition was the creator of acts of "reverse Christianity," whereas George Bataille believes that inversions of Christian rituals like Mass might exist before their descriptions.
Grimoire Satanism:
When it was the 1700s, different types of famous "Satanic" literature started to be generated in France. The Grimorium Verum and the Grand Grimoire are the two most noticeable things.
When it was the 19th century, Éliphas Lévi published his books written in the French language. In the year of 1855, he also made his famous drawing of the Baphomet. This drawing has still been used by a few Satanists today. It is the basis of the sigil of Baphomet. The non-theistic Satanist group was the first one who adopted this first. They are known as the Church of Satan.
At last, in 1891, Joris-Karl Huysmans published a Satanic novel that is named Là-bas. It came with a detailed description of a Black Mass.
In recent times, Quotations from Huysmans' Black Mass are still used. The reason is that it remains one of the sources that can purport to describe the words used in a Black Mass.
The Là-bas Satansiam suggests and describes that prayers are said to the Devil, hosts are taken from the Catholic Church, and sexual acts are combined with Roman Catholic altar objects. And rituals to produce a variety of Satanism, which exalts Satan and degrades the God of Christianity by inverting Roman Catholic rituals.
According to George Bataille, the description about Black Mass from Huysman is "indisputably authentic ." In Protestant majority countries, the Mass is not a part of Evangelical Modern Christianity; therefore, not all the theistic Satanists today routinely perform the Black Mass.
Organized Satanism:
There was a small group of the previous verifiable theistic Satanists. The group is known as the Ophite Cultus Satanas, generated in Ohio in 1948. The Ophite Cultus Satanas was inspired by the ancient Ophite sect of Gnosticism and the Horned God of Wicca. This group relied on the leader of the group.
Michael Aquino published a rare text in his book The Church of Satan. This 1970 text is of a Church of Satan Black Mass that is called the Missa Solemnis. On the flip side, Anton LaVey published a separate Church of Satan Black Mass in his book named The Satanic Rituals. This independent Church is known as the Messe Noire.
