Updated May 31, 2022 62.1K votes 14.6K voters 1.2M views
Over 14.6K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Things You Never Knew About Satanism
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Satanism - it conjures images of darkness, violence, esotericism, ritualistic sacrifice, blood-fueled orgies, and generally undesirable anti-social behavior. But what is the religion really about? How do we define Satanism? What do Satanists actually believe? Is Satanism really the same thing as devil worship? Is that kid in a Behemoth shirt actually gonna go home, kill a pig, and drink its blood? Answers to most of these questions, and many more WTF facts - including the Catholic Church's involvement in the creation of Satanism - appear in this brain-tingling list examining the many facets of Satanism.
Baphomet is a major figure in modern Satanism, a demon with a goat's head, nude female torso, and cloven animal legs. The goat is closely associated with Satanism in the same way sheep figure prominently in Christianity–the goat is an individual, sheep flock.
The first reference to Baphomet occured in 1098 CE, and subsequent medieval references to Baphomet all come from the Middle East, where knights were on the Crusades. It's widely accepted Baphomet is a derivation of Mahomet, an old French word for the Prophet Mohammed. Thus Baphomet, an enemy of Christianity through association with Satanism, arose from Mohammed, an enemy of Christianity at the time of the Christian attack on the Holy Lands.
Satanists see Lucifer as the ideal individual, but not everyone with that point of view is a Satanist. If that sounds a little confusing, it is. There's a philosophy known as Luciferianism that focuses on the rejection of accepted ways of existence in favor of individual enlightenment.Those who follow this philosophy don't see Lucifer and Satan as one and the same.
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Satan Was A Feminist
Some people, including Stockholm University professor Per Faxneld, see Satan as the original feminist and liberator of women. It was, after all, Satan who encouraged Eve to eat the fruit of knowledge in the garden of Eden, thereby freeing herself from slavery to God. Throughout history, Satan has been associated with women who fight patriarchy, oppression, and traditional gender roles while seeking equality, sexual liberation, and autonomy.
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Satanism Blew Up In The Second World As The Berlin Wall Came Down
In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet states had their own little Satanic moment. Countries like Lithuania and the staunchly Catholic Poland were hit with a rash of supposedly Satanic crimes, and news reports and public hysteria believed tens of thousands of people were practicing devil worship.
In Poland, murdered corpses were turning up near upside down crosses and Satanic messages. Reports indicate the criminal and antisocial behavior was not actually the work of organized religious Satanism, but disaffected youth suffering from extreme economic depression. They used Satan as a means of defying Catholicism, the country's main oppressive authority.
Satanism is kind of like Buddism – while some Buddhists believe Buddha is a god, others see him as a mortal man with great ideas. The same is true of Satanism. Theistic Satanists believe in Satan as a deity, and worship him. Atheistic Satanists see Satanism as a philosophical school of thought, and try to practice the moral and ethical teachings of that philosophy.
Prometheus, a figure from Greek mythology, stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. He was severely punished for this act, which is seen as a metaphor for giving humans knowledge that would allow them to exist without the gods—they could now “see in the dark.” Lucifer's rejection of God in the Christian tradition is seen as a similar act of defiance and empowerment.
