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Encyclopedic Sourcebook of Satanism
In the public imagination Satanism is associated with bizarre rituals, perverse hedonistic lifestyles, heavy metal music, immature adolescents acting out, horror movies, and rumors of ritual abuse. But what are the facts behind the urban legends and the "moral panics" that periodically sweep the country regarding this countercultural phenomenon? This authoritative reference work gathers together scholarly studies of Satanism and original source material, focusing on two major aspects―organized religious Satanism and the Satanic Ritual Abuse hoax that was prevalent in the 1980s and early 1990s. The contributors first examine modern Satanism, a decentralized movement whose only coherence is based on certain themes that date back to the writings of Anton Szandor LaVey, especially his Satanic Bible. Among other factors, the authors discuss how the emergence of the Internet as a form of communication has created some coherence among disparate groups through cross-reference.Many articles are devoted to the Satanic Ritual Abuse scare, an erroneous belief in a vast underground network of Satanists who were abusing children. For years members of the law enforcement community and numerous therapists, encouraged by the hype of mass media, bought into this panic.Other topics include the role of the media in the perceptions of Satanism and Satanic Ritual Abuse, juvenile delinquency and Satanism, and police pursuit of satanic crime. The volume concludes with primary source material, including a report from the Ritual Abuse Task Force and selections from current Satanism groups.This objective reference work will be useful for professionals in many fields and members of the public interested in sorting out the facts from the myths surrounding this controversial subculture.
- GenresSatanismNonfiction
748 pages, Hardcover
First published February 19, 2006
136 people want to read
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February 28, 2009
This book is a mixed-bag, but a few outstanding essays keep it from being a total disappointment. It suffers from an unclear objective on the part of the editors' - although they state in the Introduction that Satanism is worthy of study as a religious movement in itself, they dedicate more than 3/5 of the book (and about half of the Intro) to discussion of Satanism as a kind of "moral panic" in non-Satanist society. Many of the essays have been printed before, mostly in the early nineties, and are thus outdated as well as available in any University library. The short Introduction mostly discusses the phenomenon of Satanism (and anti-Satanism) itself, and does not adequately clarify why certain essays were included and others not; particularly the selection of "primary sources" in the back of the book is not defended as representative. Illustrations and pictures appear at random throughout the text – in most cases completely unconnected with the essays they accompany, and in some cases appearing to contradict the author’s thesis.
The rest of this review will discuss the five sections of the book in order of their value to this reviewer, with certain essays highlighted as especially interesting.
Section IV, "Modern Satanism," is the one most aligned with the goal of exploring Satanism as a new religious movement, and the essays were by far the most enjoyable to read. They are laid out in roughly chronological order, allowing the reader to trace the development of academic interest in the subject over a period of nearly over thirty years. Had this section been larger (or indeed had the whole book followed this model), this would have made the re-use of older essays much more justifiable, and the term “Encyclopedic Sourcebook,” far more appropriate. The first two essays, published in the seventies, are Edward J. Moody’s and Randall H. Alfred’s reports on fieldwork conducted in the Church of Satan during its heyday as a school of Black Magic (1967 to 1975). As pioneering essays, both suffer from a certain lack of direction – the authors have no methodological models from which to work – but also have a certain charming naivety and enthusiasm, much as the Church itself did. Both are fairly positive in their assessments of the religious aspects of Satanism, although Moody in particular is wont to dismiss Satanists as “deviants” or people in need of psychiatric help. Self-confessed Christian investigator Kathleen Lowney’s essay, “Teenage Satanism as Modern Youth Subculture” (1995) might seem at first to be in danger of making the same mistake, but turns out to be a highly open-minded and well-informed. For this reader, this was the most informative essay, introducing the most new data. Lowney studied a group calling itself “the Coven” which formed in a Georgia suburb whose High School society centered around the Mall and the local football team. The counter-cultural expression of Satanism, in her view, becomes a highly nuanced critique of the dominant culture. Editor James R. Lewis’s essay “Who Serves Satan: A Demographic and Ideological Profile” (2001) is readily findable online, and thus not as exciting, but interesting for any who have not read it previously. It reports the results of a survey given online to participants in Satanist-themed listservs and websites, and draws some demographic conclusions that will surprise those not already familiar with the culture. The final three essays in the section are contributed by Northern Europeans, but unfortunately do little to clarify national distinctions (if any) between groups of Satanists. Merja Hermonen reports on interviews with forty Finnish Satanists, mostly very young, and concludes the existence of a “Rationalistic Satanism,” distinct from its “Occult” and “drug-oriented” wings. Editor Petersen discusses the online Satanic community in a paper presented in 2001 that appears to be more of a preliminary proposal than a report of results. In any event, it includes almost no original source work. The last essay, based on work done in 1995 by Graham Harvey, is very interesting, although it has problems. The essay is in essence an analysis of the Temple of Set in Britain, based upon questionnaires and follow-ups with eleven members, but it contains brief discussions of the Church of Satan and the Order of the Nine Angles for contrast. From his eleven responses, Harvey concludes that there are about fifty active Setians in Britain, which he estimates represent half of the Satanic community in the UK. Both conclusions are questionable, and would be outdated fourteen years later in any event. More discussion of the content of the questionnaire and less extraction of unprovable conclusions would have been helpful.
The next most interesting section is Section III, “Satanism and the Media.” While much of this section is devoted to debate over the role of the media in creating or inflating a “moral panic” over Satanism, some of the essays provide insights into the ways in which Satanists represent themselves to the outside world, and thus contributes to our understanding of Satanism as a religious movement. Especially strong in this sense is the second contribution of Kathleen Lowney, “Speak of the Devil: Talk Shows and the Social Construction of Satanism,” an analysis of all programs using this format that discussed Satanism from 1984 to 1991 (13 shows in total). She demonstrates the ways in which the programs pushed an agenda that was antithetical to the message any representatives of the movement might attempt to bring, and that the format was such that hearing “unbiased” information was all but impossible. One matter which is not discussed, but would be of great interest, would be an analysis of the change in numbers of self-identified Satanists during and after the period of the greatest panic. It could be found that there is no such thing as bad press, after all.
Section V, the “Primary Sources” section contains some interesting material in spite of its lack of context. The longest essay, Kenneth Lanning’s “Investigator’s Guide to Allegations of ‘Ritual’ Child Abuse” (beginning on page 666, first printed 1992) was important in stopping the progression of “moral panic” about Satanism into the abuse of civil rights of the accused, and thus is indisputably important if already familiar. It is preceded by a “Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force,” (1989) which is illustrative of the dangerous misinformation being circulated in law enforcement circles prior to Lanning’s report. The next three, very short, primary sources come from Satanists and are the most problematic part of the book. No effort is made to explain why these sources are to be seen as “representative” of Satanism as a new religious movement, nor to suggest sources that might differ. They range in quality from sophomoric (Kaiden Fox’s “Epistemology” essay) to indecipherable (the “Nine Satanic Postulates” of the Satanic Reds), and thus serve in no way to support the argument that Satanism should be taken seriously as a religious movement. The longest piece is by the “former High Priest of the Temple of Lylyth” an organization whose website admits that they cannot afford a PO Box(!). It is unclear why contributions by legitimate long-standing organizations such as the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set were not solicited; their websites each include material of a much higher caliber than that presented here.
The first two sections are dedicated to discussions of Satanism in terms of “moral panic” and “demonologies,” which are to all intents and purposes interchangeable. Indeed, the last essay in the “Demonology” section is titled, “Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behavior,” suggesting that the editors and authors were themselves unclear about the distinction. By now, the story is tiresomely familiar – in the 1980’s certain psychologists and fundamentalist Christians began explaining symptoms of “Multiple Personality Syndrome” as traumatic reactions to abuse by underground Satanic organizations with incredible power and subtlety. Investigations turned up no physical evidence, and eventually Kenneth Lanning’s findings exposed the whole fraud. These essays are by various academics who got on the bus late to add their voices to Lanning’s thesis (or who wrote before Lanning, and were ignored because their work was hidden in academic journals). Only one essay in these sections manages to rise above this tripe. Bill Ellis’s essay, “The Devil-Worshippers at the Prom: Rumor-Panic as Therapeutic Magic,” turns the focus around to study the process of urban mythology by which one community convinced itself of a Satanic conspiracy in its midst. As the subtitle suggests, Ellis finds that the locals are engaging in a kind of Magic themselves to regain a sense of control after the shock of an unexplained teenage suicide, regardless of the existence or non-existence of practicing Satanists. This sort of research into modern folklore does tell us much about the culture in which Satanism exists, if not much about Satanism itself.
The rest of this review will discuss the five sections of the book in order of their value to this reviewer, with certain essays highlighted as especially interesting.
Section IV, "Modern Satanism," is the one most aligned with the goal of exploring Satanism as a new religious movement, and the essays were by far the most enjoyable to read. They are laid out in roughly chronological order, allowing the reader to trace the development of academic interest in the subject over a period of nearly over thirty years. Had this section been larger (or indeed had the whole book followed this model), this would have made the re-use of older essays much more justifiable, and the term “Encyclopedic Sourcebook,” far more appropriate. The first two essays, published in the seventies, are Edward J. Moody’s and Randall H. Alfred’s reports on fieldwork conducted in the Church of Satan during its heyday as a school of Black Magic (1967 to 1975). As pioneering essays, both suffer from a certain lack of direction – the authors have no methodological models from which to work – but also have a certain charming naivety and enthusiasm, much as the Church itself did. Both are fairly positive in their assessments of the religious aspects of Satanism, although Moody in particular is wont to dismiss Satanists as “deviants” or people in need of psychiatric help. Self-confessed Christian investigator Kathleen Lowney’s essay, “Teenage Satanism as Modern Youth Subculture” (1995) might seem at first to be in danger of making the same mistake, but turns out to be a highly open-minded and well-informed. For this reader, this was the most informative essay, introducing the most new data. Lowney studied a group calling itself “the Coven” which formed in a Georgia suburb whose High School society centered around the Mall and the local football team. The counter-cultural expression of Satanism, in her view, becomes a highly nuanced critique of the dominant culture. Editor James R. Lewis’s essay “Who Serves Satan: A Demographic and Ideological Profile” (2001) is readily findable online, and thus not as exciting, but interesting for any who have not read it previously. It reports the results of a survey given online to participants in Satanist-themed listservs and websites, and draws some demographic conclusions that will surprise those not already familiar with the culture. The final three essays in the section are contributed by Northern Europeans, but unfortunately do little to clarify national distinctions (if any) between groups of Satanists. Merja Hermonen reports on interviews with forty Finnish Satanists, mostly very young, and concludes the existence of a “Rationalistic Satanism,” distinct from its “Occult” and “drug-oriented” wings. Editor Petersen discusses the online Satanic community in a paper presented in 2001 that appears to be more of a preliminary proposal than a report of results. In any event, it includes almost no original source work. The last essay, based on work done in 1995 by Graham Harvey, is very interesting, although it has problems. The essay is in essence an analysis of the Temple of Set in Britain, based upon questionnaires and follow-ups with eleven members, but it contains brief discussions of the Church of Satan and the Order of the Nine Angles for contrast. From his eleven responses, Harvey concludes that there are about fifty active Setians in Britain, which he estimates represent half of the Satanic community in the UK. Both conclusions are questionable, and would be outdated fourteen years later in any event. More discussion of the content of the questionnaire and less extraction of unprovable conclusions would have been helpful.
The next most interesting section is Section III, “Satanism and the Media.” While much of this section is devoted to debate over the role of the media in creating or inflating a “moral panic” over Satanism, some of the essays provide insights into the ways in which Satanists represent themselves to the outside world, and thus contributes to our understanding of Satanism as a religious movement. Especially strong in this sense is the second contribution of Kathleen Lowney, “Speak of the Devil: Talk Shows and the Social Construction of Satanism,” an analysis of all programs using this format that discussed Satanism from 1984 to 1991 (13 shows in total). She demonstrates the ways in which the programs pushed an agenda that was antithetical to the message any representatives of the movement might attempt to bring, and that the format was such that hearing “unbiased” information was all but impossible. One matter which is not discussed, but would be of great interest, would be an analysis of the change in numbers of self-identified Satanists during and after the period of the greatest panic. It could be found that there is no such thing as bad press, after all.
Section V, the “Primary Sources” section contains some interesting material in spite of its lack of context. The longest essay, Kenneth Lanning’s “Investigator’s Guide to Allegations of ‘Ritual’ Child Abuse” (beginning on page 666, first printed 1992) was important in stopping the progression of “moral panic” about Satanism into the abuse of civil rights of the accused, and thus is indisputably important if already familiar. It is preceded by a “Report of the Ritual Abuse Task Force,” (1989) which is illustrative of the dangerous misinformation being circulated in law enforcement circles prior to Lanning’s report. The next three, very short, primary sources come from Satanists and are the most problematic part of the book. No effort is made to explain why these sources are to be seen as “representative” of Satanism as a new religious movement, nor to suggest sources that might differ. They range in quality from sophomoric (Kaiden Fox’s “Epistemology” essay) to indecipherable (the “Nine Satanic Postulates” of the Satanic Reds), and thus serve in no way to support the argument that Satanism should be taken seriously as a religious movement. The longest piece is by the “former High Priest of the Temple of Lylyth” an organization whose website admits that they cannot afford a PO Box(!). It is unclear why contributions by legitimate long-standing organizations such as the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set were not solicited; their websites each include material of a much higher caliber than that presented here.
The first two sections are dedicated to discussions of Satanism in terms of “moral panic” and “demonologies,” which are to all intents and purposes interchangeable. Indeed, the last essay in the “Demonology” section is titled, “Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behavior,” suggesting that the editors and authors were themselves unclear about the distinction. By now, the story is tiresomely familiar – in the 1980’s certain psychologists and fundamentalist Christians began explaining symptoms of “Multiple Personality Syndrome” as traumatic reactions to abuse by underground Satanic organizations with incredible power and subtlety. Investigations turned up no physical evidence, and eventually Kenneth Lanning’s findings exposed the whole fraud. These essays are by various academics who got on the bus late to add their voices to Lanning’s thesis (or who wrote before Lanning, and were ignored because their work was hidden in academic journals). Only one essay in these sections manages to rise above this tripe. Bill Ellis’s essay, “The Devil-Worshippers at the Prom: Rumor-Panic as Therapeutic Magic,” turns the focus around to study the process of urban mythology by which one community convinced itself of a Satanic conspiracy in its midst. As the subtitle suggests, Ellis finds that the locals are engaging in a kind of Magic themselves to regain a sense of control after the shock of an unexplained teenage suicide, regardless of the existence or non-existence of practicing Satanists. This sort of research into modern folklore does tell us much about the culture in which Satanism exists, if not much about Satanism itself.
July 7, 2025
The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of Satanism is a comprehensive reference that brings together scholarly studies and original source materials on Satanism. The volume focuses on two major aspects: organized religious Satanism (such as the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set) and the broader cultural phenomenon, including popular fears and misconceptions about Satanism.
The book stands out for its authoritative approach, compiling articles from respected scholars in the field. It offers in-depth analyses of the history, beliefs, rituals, and organizational structures of various Satanic groups, as well as critical examinations of the “Satanic panic” and the ways in which Satanism has been portrayed in media and public discourse. This dual focus provides readers with both insider perspectives and a broader sociological context.
One notable strength is the inclusion of original documents and writings from Satanic organizations, which gives readers direct access to primary sources. However, some reviewers note that the collection, while massive, sometimes leans more toward exploring societal fears about Satanism than offering a balanced overview of the religion itself.
Overall, this sourcebook is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the academic study of new religious movements or the cultural history of Satanism.
The book stands out for its authoritative approach, compiling articles from respected scholars in the field. It offers in-depth analyses of the history, beliefs, rituals, and organizational structures of various Satanic groups, as well as critical examinations of the “Satanic panic” and the ways in which Satanism has been portrayed in media and public discourse. This dual focus provides readers with both insider perspectives and a broader sociological context.
One notable strength is the inclusion of original documents and writings from Satanic organizations, which gives readers direct access to primary sources. However, some reviewers note that the collection, while massive, sometimes leans more toward exploring societal fears about Satanism than offering a balanced overview of the religion itself.
Overall, this sourcebook is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the academic study of new religious movements or the cultural history of Satanism.
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