Culture

Devil Worship History

Devil worship was a cross-cultural pagan revivalist movement believed to have begun around the 11th century C.E., with many roots reaching back to Babylon, although the first formal mention of it was during the thirteenth century. After Paganism was outlawed in Europe a lot of original scripture and practices were lost to the public. Some peasant classes with resentment against the ruling Establishment of the Church at the time, began secretly looking for ways to practice a faith other than the mainstream take on Christianity. The Catholic Church was known to give lists and names of specific "demons" to communities. This was originally done as a way to replace or condemn communities who had built a culture around a specific folk spirit or deity. The people were told that this spirit was "Demon X," and they should instead pray to "Saint Y." The name of their village would then be changed to said saint, and the spirit would then from that point on only be referred to as the given demon name. Over time, the name of the original spirit would be lost, as well as how to worship it, for example Beelzebub, "Ba'a Zebub," arguably derived from Ba'al Hadad. Radicals would then take to worshiping said demon in secret. The demonization of various polytheistic Gods especially feminine spirits, follows the timeline of the spread of Abrahamic laws throughout human history. This contributed to the diversity of the Goetic pantheon, hosting facets of spirits that can be seen in Norse, Hellenic, and even as far back as Ancient Sumer, the first civilization.

It is hard to separate between fact and fiction in a lot of mentions of devil worship from these times. We know that it existed in some capacity, and some family lines claim to have come from these European descendants, tracing their faith back hundreds of years. An example of this is Luciferianism documented by the Vox in Rama called for by Pope Gregory IX in the 1230's. A lot of our culture stems from our hidden history. Rituals had to be done in the dark, or at night, as the punishment for dealing in such affairs was at the very least, execution, and very often it would be accompanied by some form of torture. As such, reverence for the dark became an integral part of worship and scripture. We see this in our holidays, the largest of which is the day after the winter solstice, sometimes referred to as "Satan’s Day." The longest night of the year is celebrated with revelry, feasts and drink, and celebration of the year's accomplishments. It is during the night that both humans, and the spirits, can act freely. Another place this is seen is in our funeral rites. A traditional funeral would be burning everything the witch used to practice their faith. This became mythologized, of course, as the witch being sent over to the other side with everything that contained her spirit, allowing an easier passage over to the other side. However, this originally had a mainly practical purpose, that being disposing of evidence. As such, much of our practices were carried on by word of mouth. This was not uncommon for persecuted religions of the time.

You may be thinking “there are no written sources of such a thing happening, therefore none of this ever existed.” But, there most certainly were. They are just mixed with slander and the hysteria that existed at the time, and continue to go on today. Often accounts of devil worship were given after their execution. It is then they added accusations of human sacrifice, incest, sexual crimes, and other atrocities. None of this is ever proven, so scholars took to the idea later that all of it must have been entirely made up, therefore, people must have never truly worshiped the devil at all. While it is true the establishment of the Church often used these accusations to eliminate heretics and rivals, there is a different historical viewpoint; one that we saw actually happening in other areas of the world, albeit, in different ways.

Serfdom did not end in Europe until 1789. Serfs could not leave their land, they could not own property, they had no say in their own life, and did not live for themselves. This was the life for a majority of people in medieval Europe. It was estimated that 75% of the population were serfs during its peak. These were people oppressed by landowners, nobles, and their ruling church establishment, with everything around them functioning to keep them in line. Many of them could not read or write. Given these circumstances, that in all of the time between when Paganism was made illegal in 392 C.E., until freedom of religion as we know it today became commonplace, that no group of people ever thought ,“This god, if he’s responsible for this natural order, then I’m going to go worship the other guy, because this way of life is miserable.”

In the days of European serfdom, a peasants may have their hands cut off by their landowners as punishment for not picking crops fast enough, so it is not shocking to see how those forced into servitude were angry enough to start looking for another religion, or cling to the whispers of the prior faiths lost. In other parts of the world where populations were cast into bondage, forcedly disenfranchised, and colonized was commonplace, this process is well documented. Folk religions being born out of a need to regain power or to spite their masters can be found in many different forms. In varying forms and degrees, this can be seen in Voodoo, Santeria, Umbanda, and Quimbanda. Quimbanda especially is of note, as great effort went into avoiding full blown assimilation by Christian colonization, preserving practices of the root religion itself. As such, we can see many similarities between it and modern day Diabolos. Some practitioners may even pluralistically the worship of the Goetia with the Exus and Pomba Giras. It is with great pride that our church welcomes practitioners of such pluralism and their allied spirits as a part of our congregation.

The earliest documented example of true Devil Worship comes from the 13th century. A group of peasants in Germany took to calling themselves Luciferians. They believed that Satan and his demons had been unfairly expelled from Heaven, and that someday he would return to overthrow Yahweh and his angels. These people had no fear of Hell, as they believed paradise laid with Lucifer and had no desire to get into Heaven. Accounts of this group comes from over six different sources, and were not given during torture; freely given information - believed to be the “truest” accounts of devil worship. While the rituals and practices of this group have been slandered and exaggerated, this is no reason to completely deny their existence. Unlike other so-called accounts of devil worship of the time, these were not a Christian sect that needed to be stomped out due to heresy. These were true Theistic Satanists, who caught the attention of the Ruling Catholic Church through the openness of their practices. Whereas before we saw the establishment of Church use devil worship as a scapegoat for killing off radicals, here it was very evident the worship of Daemons was actually taking place.

Given that serfdom was still very common during that time, and given the contexts which existed for serf life, it is not hard to understand how this group existed in the capacity which it did. If you can begin to believe the accounts of six witnesses, and the Church itself, that this group did indeed exist, then perhaps one could entertain the idea that this could also possibly happen elsewhere in secret. Consider all the time that has passed where Christian-sponsored doctrine had been enforced as law. The example of the Lucifarians occurred in the 13th century. This was nearly a thousand years since Paganism had been outlawed in 392 C.E.. Heresy and blasphemy, of which even open non-belief in any god was considered both, would continue to be illegal for over another 500 years. So, it is the congruent statement of Devil Worshippers today, that our faith and practices are from a historical lineage, and while not always directly traceable, is noticeable and contextually plausible. Furthermore, its advancement and reconstruction are in part an effort to maintain and assemble this lineage.

What does it mean to serve a community? Community service is more than large scale events like food & clothing drives, or getting a group together to pick up litter. To serve a community is to act as one with a community. A community is built by the small gestures like exchanging food with your neighbors, helping a friend move, or offering a ride to kin without transportation. It is the threads that sew a quilt together.

Serving a community turns daily life into a glorious exchange. We reap the benefits of belonging when we have built a place to belong. Community service goes beyond monetary movement. Respecting nature and aiding its survival is an act of community service, not just to the land, but those who inhabit it. The connection between human and beast is holy, "...for man was as beast until he was awakened by the light of the black flame." It is very easy to lose track of this divine connection when faced with consumerism and other societal influences. We must not forget that we are one with our animal brethren, and one with the spirit of our great mother, Earth, herself.

The objective for the Infernal Family is to be the place for all those who have no place to turn. IF is for the homeless trans or queer individual kicked out by their family, attempting to get into a rehab that will gender them correctly. IF is for the young lady who desperately needs a ride to a clinic, or the one who was disowned for having gone there. IF is for adult-entertainers who want religion, want a place to pray, and a faith based community that will embrace them without judgment. IF is for the neurodivergent individuals who have been mocked for questioning mainstream religious settings, looking to find true faith for the first time. We are for the people who can’t go to a mainstream religious institution for help, who can’t even safely ask for food or money without fear of being chastised or persecuted. There are such individuals, and they are not at fault.

Satan is the God of Freedom, the God of Justice, the Savior of the Disenfranchised. Lucifer is the light and hope to the disillusioned, the hopeless and desolate. There is no reason why we cannot be what every other church claims to be. IF's goal is to become a legalized institution to offer mutual aid to those who truly need it. We wish to turn being queer into a matter of fact rather than a curse. Satan blesses all of us with the ability to bring this about. It’s a real hope for change, and the work you put into making it bigger, better, and stronger will be a direct line into that change. Simply seek ways to help, seek Satan and your faith, the Gods and spiritual leaders will help guide you along your journey.

Who is a Theistic Satanist?

Who is The Infernal Family?

Ultimately, these two statements should be one and the same. Our identity is based on our Diabolist faith, the pantheon of the Goetia. Our culture is based on our history. Our way of life is rooted in our Magick. The Infernal Family as a coven was established in the spring of 2023, observing our Foundation Day on the 28th of April in the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania. The catalyst for further organizing what was once an informal coven, was catching word of the potentially impending Project 2025. The Infernal Family's founding High Priestess, Saelisi Enki, with a degree in Theater under the pathway of Social Justice, saw this potential encroachment of theocracy in our current nation, as a call to action.

A sibling of The Infernal Family stands by their fellow kin. They serve the Daemonic Gods in whatever way they can, not out of pure obligation, but out of passion for the faith and one another. We resist oppression. We master the art of dark magick, and use it to avenge the wronged and advance ourselves. We are warriors at heart. We are a community that strives to bring hope and sanctuary to those who need it. We study our faith, and we know our arts by heart. We master a form of magick to use for the benefit of our family.

We are loyal to the faith and to our kin with ferocity and unyielding passion. We bring into this world a true force of witches and warlocks not to be underestimated. We are hope, and we are change. We are the witches they whisper about, the warlocks they turn their heads from. We go where others do not, we find holiness in those who others do not, and we do so willingly and excitedly. We see the injustice the Abrahamic institutions have created, and we live a life that exemplifies resistance to it.

We are open, we are without judgment. We live without shame or guilt for what we do with our own bodies. We are empowered, and embrace the wild and animalistic side of life. We help each other in the paths to discover who we truly are. We support the decisions of our siblings, so long as they are not hurting anyone. We embrace what heals, and we do not seek to define that for anyone. We toss aside all preconceived notions of morality, and seek to define that for ourselves; for if a man needs a god to dictate what his morals are, must never have had any at all. To be primal is to be free. We may dance by the moonlight, wear pendants made of animal bones, drink wine by the fire. The seemingly “savage” are the “sane.” We celebrate the oldest of ancestors, a time not defined by race, nationality, or orientation. We all have them, and we are all allowed to connect with them without agenda or condemnation. Our forgiveness is true forgiveness, as it is never expected from us.

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