Hello John.
 
I think that is a pretty stereotypical assessment of Satanism and a somewhat romanticized view of history as well. You might benefit from this book:
 
http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754652861
 
If you scroll down, you can even read the introduction for free.
 
Best,
 
Jesper.


From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Power
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 3:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] CFP: Satanism conference (Stockholm University, Sweden, Sept 25-27, 2011)

Satanism is very reactionary: why lock yourself into a dualism with the thing you most dislike, when a simple 'fuck 'em all' will suffice to set off on a holistic path. The History might however be interesting, when the likes of Baudelaire and many Symbolists felt the need to react against the far worse establishment of their day. Nice to give the media simpletons something to rage about though.

-----Original Message-----
From: David Green <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:31
Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] CFP: Satanism conference (Stockholm University, Sweden, Sept 25-27, 2011)


Satanism is a subject that has always drawn a lot of media attention as
well as interest from the general public. Scholarly studies of the subject,
however, have more often focused on socially constructed "Satanic Panics"
than on Satanism as a religious alternative in itself. Recently, this has
begun to change, and anthologies such as "Contemporary Religious Satanism"
(Ed. Jesper A Petersen, Ashgate, 2009) have started to fill the gaps in
scholarly knowledge concerning Satanism. A further attempt to remedy the
situation was made when the first ever international scholarly conference
on Satanism was organized in Trondheim, Norway, in 2009. The conference was
a great success, and resulted in an anthology that will be published by
Oxford University Press later this year. In September 2011, we welcome you
to Stockholm, Sweden for the follow-up to 2009's gathering of specialists.

Keynote speaker: Marco Pasi

Deadline for abstracts: May 22, 2011.
Submit your abstract to: [log in to unmask] and
[log in to unmask]
(remember to submit abstracts to both organisers).

Papers dealing with most aspects of Satanism are welcome (including
Satanism in literature, cinema, etc). However, we discourage papers
treating "the Satanic panic", "Satanic ritual abuse", etc, as these themes
have received sufficient scholarly attention.

Conference fee will be announced later.
http://www.erg.su.se/pub/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=16068



__._,_.___